Technology and the future bioeconomy

New discoveries in life sciences and the challenge of climate change are leading to the emergence of the bioeconomy where basic methods of advanced biology are applied to produce a wide array of products while also improving environmental quality. The emergence of the bioeconomy is a continuing evolutionary process of transition from systems of mining nonrenewable resources to farming renewable ones. This transition benefits from the modern tools of molecular biology that have expanded the human capacity to breed new organisms and utilize them to increase productivity in agriculture and fisheries as well as produce a wide array of products that were extracted in the past. This transition is leading to the integration of the agricultural sector with the energy and mineral sectors. The introduction of biotechnology has already improved the productivity of medicine as well as agriculture but, in the case of agriculture, has encountered resistance and regulatory constraints. The evolution of the bioeconomy requires continuous public investment in research and innovation as well as the establishment of a regulatory framework and financial incentives and institutions that would lead to continuous private sector investment in the development and commercialization of new products. One of the biggest challenges is the development of a regulatory framework that would control possible human and environmental externalities from new biotechnology products and, at the same time, not stifle innovation.     

Estimating worldwide life satisfaction

Whilst studies of life satisfaction are becoming more common-place, their global coverage is far from complete. This paper develops a new database of life satisfaction scores for 178 countries, bringing together subjective well-being data from four surveys and using stepwise regression to estimate scores for nations where no subjective data are available. In doing so, we explore various factors that predict between-nation variation in subjective life satisfaction, building on Vemuri and Costanza's (Vemuri, A.W., & Costanza, R., 2006. The role of human, social, built, and natural capital in explaining life satisfaction at the country level: toward a National Well-Being Index (NWI). Ecological Economics, 58:119-133.) four capitals model. The main regression model explains 76% of variation in existing subjective scores; importantly, this includes poorer nations that had proven problematic in Vemuri and Costanza's (Vemuri, A.W., & Costanza, R., 2006. The role of human, social, built, and natural capital in explaining life satisfaction at the country level: toward a National Well-Being Index (NWI). Ecological Economics, 58:119-133.) study. Natural, human and socio-political capitals are all found to be strong predictors of life satisfaction. Built capital, operationalised as GDP, did not enter our regression model, being overshadowed by the human capital and socio-political capital factors that it inter-correlates with. The final database presents a stop-gap resource that, until robust surveys are carried out worldwide, allows comparisons of subjective life satisfaction between nations to be made with reasonable confidence.     

Corporate Governance Reforms in the Post-1997 Asian Crisis: Is There Really a Convergence to the Anglo-American Model?

Abstract

Following the 1997-Asian crisis, a number of crisis-hit countries were committed to the rapid transformation of the corporate governance system to one that is modeled after the Anglo-American system. This, as the article argues, is based on a false premise, that what may have worked in the United States/United Kingdom can also be applied in East Asia. In this regard, the convergence at the firm level is seen to be more in “form” rather than in “substance”. This study assesses Singapore's corporate system in terms of its recognition of the merits of the Western model. It then details the corporate governance style of Temasek Holdings Limited (THL), a state- owned enterprise (SOE) in charge of monitoring government investments in companies. The choice of THL as a case study is based on the premise that THL operates very much like a private sector corporation. In addition, it has the ability to influence the standard of corporate governance of Singaporean SOEs. Because the SOEs are large players in their respective industries, the corporate governance of SOEs establish the standards and expectations for monitoring in non-SOEs. There are indications to suggest that the THL has taken into consideration certain aspects of corporate governance practices that may not necessarily be in line with those advocated by the Singapore government. The article argues that selective adaptation such as the style adopted in the THL more realistically portrays the corporate governance practices of East Asian corporations.     

The Environmental and Economic Impact of the Carbon Tax in Australia

To fulfil its emission reduction target pledged in the Copenhagen accord, the Australian Government has determined to introduce a carbon tax from July 1st 2012. This paper simulates the effects on the environment and on the economy of a carbon tax of A$23 per tonne of carbon dioxide proposed by the government with, and without, a compensation policy. We employ a computable general equilibrium model with an environmentally extended Social accounting matrix. According to the simulation results, the carbon tax can cut emissions effectively, but will cause a mild economic contraction. Because the price signal is intact, the proposed compensation plan has little impact on emission cuts while significantly mitigating the negative effect of a carbon tax on the economy.     

The Industry Council Plan as an Instrument of Reconstruction

This paper looks at the doctrines of ‘Wicca’, or what might be termed as pagan or white magic by its adherents, in terms of the economics of religion. The primary focus of the paper is the issue of the degree of product differentiation involved from established religion in terms of two things: the concept of God (or deities) and the ideas of sin. The main contribution of the paper is that it presents (for the first time ever, so far as the author is aware) an economic analysis of the doctrine of a ‘rebound’ effect of any attempts to do harm to other people through the practice of magic. Some basic microeconomic concepts suggest that the moral force of this rebound law is a difficult one to sustain except under very unreasonable assumptions.     

Ecological footprint of Gansu Province, China between 1997 and 2002： changes and inducement

The calculation of Ecological Footprint （EF） on the basis of Input-Output model （I-O model） was advanced by Bicknell, and modified and improved hy Ferng who corrected the footprint＇s aggregation to each sectors. For the lack of sufficient teehnique to deal with the trade between the research areas and the rest of the world, it it necessary to improve this method. And a dynamic analysis of the change of footprint based on I-O model, which could explore the factor impacting the footprint using the ,special advantage of I-O model, ought to be put into practice. After introducing the new method in detail, we calculate and compare the EF and the change of Gansu Province in the northwest of China in 1997 and 2002. The result shows that there was an increase of EF in 2002 caused by final domestic demand. Further; the inerement in EF export was 2.0 × 10^5 ha and 1.6 × 10^6 ha in import. The out-of- region support dropped from 22.6% to 18. 6%. We introduce three factors causing the EF change based on the character of I-O model： the productivity of the resourve which is explained by the change of resource used to obtain one unit output in a sector, the improvement of the economics and the final demand. Finally, we find that the effects of the three factors on the EF change are not identical except the industry sectors and the change of factors in the agriculture and the industry sectors works notably.     

The Effect of Internal Control Certification Regulatory Changes on Real and Accrual-based Earnings Management

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effect of changes in internal control certification requirements (ICCR) on the earnings management choices of Australian firms in the period 2007–2015. The Australian setting is unique as the certification requirements change from voluntary in 2004–2007 to mandatory in 2008–2014, before being abolished in 2015. Consistent with the notion that real earnings management (REM) is less susceptible to detection, the results suggest that firms place greater reliance on REM than on accrual-based earnings management (ABEM) when having to comply with certification requirements. In particular, I find voluntary certifiers have lower REM and ABEM relative to first-time certifiers in the mandatory period between 2008 and 2014, and there is an increase in REM activities among first-time mandatory period certifiers. Moreover, firms that discontinue certification, after the abolition of the requirement in 2015, switch from REM to ABEM. This suggests that regulatory ICCR changes affect firms’ earnings management choices.     

Seasonality in Canadian treasury bond returns: An institutional explanation

This paper empirically investigates the seasonality in quarterly bond returns in the Canadian government bond market. Four equally weighted bond return indices were calculated for each quarter in the period from 1963:Q2 to 1990:Q3. The seasonality in these quarterly returns was tested and the results support the existence of seasonality in quarterly bond returns in the Canadian government bond market. It appears that bond returns in the last quarter of the year are significantly higher than in any other quarter of the year. This finding contrasts to the results in U.S. studies on Treasury bond returns. An institutional explanation is offered for the documented seasonality in bond returns, linking it to the annual Canada Savings Bond campaign in the last quarter of the year, a unique Canadian phenomenon. This hypothesis is supported by empirical evidence based on a regression analysis. Such finding is consistent with the fact that no seasonality in Treasury bond returns is found in the U.S., at the U.S. Savings Bonds are sold regularly throughout the year.