Open-bank assistance transactions and prompt corrective action

Open-bank assistance (OBA), provided to troubled banking institutions by the FDIC to prevent their failure, has been criticized extensively on grounds that closed-bank transactions, especially early closed bank transactions, are less expensive to the FDIC. This article analyzes a case in which OBA makes public policy sense, under conditions in which uncertainty is introduced into the valuation of a bank's nonperforming assets. Under such uncertainty, the FDIC may play a role by providing to the acquiror of the troubled institution essentially costless (to the FDIC) standby insurance on the ultimate workout values of the nonperforming assets. If properly structured, such an OBA transaction would meet critics' objections by minimizing FDIC cost and creating incentives for the early recapilization of troubled banks.     

打造全新的菲利普斯石油公司

在全球石油业兼并浪潮的冲击下，菲利普斯公司不得不在一体化石油巨头与独立石油公司之间的“夹缝”中寻求生存和发展之路。近几年来，菲利斯审时度势、果断出击，灵活采取合资、兼并等方式进行了大规模的业务结构调整。出资70亿美元收购阿拉斯加油气资产使公司上游业务实力大增；收购美国最大的炼油和销售商之一托斯科公司将使其炼油业务的范围扩大，业务质量明显提升；与杜克能源公司合资经营创立杜克能源服务公司，天然气集输、加工和销售业务得到加强；与雪佛龙公司合资组建世界一流的化工生产企业，使其拥有了提升化工业务利润的规模和实力。上述调整使该公司的业务结构更趋合理，经营业绩明显提升。2000年公司利润增长了206％，净经营收入增长了250％，均创历史最好记录。     

The Contradictions of Free Market Doctrine: Is There a Solution?

The article considers six standard arguments in favour of an unfettered free market: (1) the freedom to consume; (2) the freedom of the seller; (3) the freedom of the producer; (4) freedom from government interference; (5) lower costs; (6) promotion of democracy. It demonstrates that each of these arguments turns out to be incoherent on closer examination. The ground of this incoherence it is shown, is the market doctrine's systematic omission of non-business costs and benefits from its analysis, a methodological blindness which can only be overcome by a wider-lensed comprehension of economic value.     

Profit maximization: The ethical mandate of business

The authors propose a model for business ethics which arises directly from business practice. This model is based on a behavioral definition of the economic theory of profit maximization and situates business ethics within opportunity costs. Within that context, they argue that good business and good ethics are synonymous, that ethics is at the heart and center of business, that profits and ethics are intrinsically related.Marist Father Pat Primeaux is a Professor of Theology at Saint John's University, (New York). John Stieber is a Professor of Finance and Economics at Southern Methodist University's Edwin L. Cox School of Business (Dallas). They have collaborated on several articles on the behavioral dimension of economic efficiency. They have also designed and taught courses in business ethics at both the graduate and undergraduate level.     

THE LOCATION OF NONMETROPOLITAN HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES: A Comparison of Regional Determinants

A study of the location of three classifications of high-tech industries in rural areas was undertaken using ordinary least squares, Tobit, and a two-step estimation procedure suggested by Heckman (1976). The results indicate that the location decision for high tech firms is influenced primarily by the county population, adjacency to an SMSA, and the expenditures on public infrastructure (exclusive of education expenditures). However, location near interstate highways was generally not a significant factor. Results were similar between branch and unit (single ownership) plants. Some differences in signs of orders of magnitude occurred among the estimation procedures. Making a choice between Tobit and Heckman approaches depends upon the goal of the research.     

山东经济——以世界为舞台

引言 山东,古称“负海而扼天下之吭”,是“天下制胜之地”,曾有“山东安而天下皆安矣”的说法。今天,在中国的经济板块中,山东以其实力也属“形胜之地”。刚刚过去的2002年,山东经济亮点频闪,最引人注目的,是山东经济在国际舞台中的上佳表现。经历了经济模式的转变、贸易壁垒的突围、“倾销战”的洗礼,可以说,和着世界的节拍舞蹈,山东越来越从容了。