Maximum residual levels of pesticides and public health: best friends or faux amis?

The purpose of this article is to analyze the relation between public health and the regulations of Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) of pesticides. Many authors underline the role of trade protectionism in fixing these limits, whereas these regulations should be intended for public health protection. We first establish the link between the MRL for a given chemical in plant products and its level of toxicity. In order to perform this analysis, we cross the FAS USDA MRL database and the classification of the long‐term toxicological effects (LTE) for active substances provided by SAgE pesticide. We then compute a synthetic and polyvalent tool, namely, “Health Score,” which provides a first overview of the link between LTE and MRL by country. Then this score is regressed in a logit model in order to identify the relationship between the countries’ Health Score and the socioeconomic and political characteristics of such areas. Results highlight the importance of public health expenditures in determining the settings of MRL toward stricter levels.     

Europe,the Green Line and the Issue of the Israeli-Palestinian Border: Closing the Gap between Discourse and Practice?

The article analyses how the Europeans (meaning European states and the EC/EU) have progressively turned a discourse about the Israeli-Palestinian border into a foreign policy practice. While much of the literature highlights the existence of a ‘gap between discourse and practice’ when it comes to Europeans’ foreign policy stance towards the Arab-Israeli conflict, we argue that the gap is dynamic and has changed across time. In the absence of an internationally and locally recognised border between Israel and Palestine, the Europeans have aimed at constructing one on the 1949 armistice line, the so-called Green Line. They have done so in stages, by first formulating a discursive practice about the need for a border, then establishing economic practices in the late 1980s-early 1990s, and most recently practicing a legal frame of reference for relations with Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) based on the Green Line. The outcome is that, for what concerns European countries and EU legislation, the Green Line has been increasingly taken as the Israeli-Palestinian border. However, gaps never fully close and more contemporary events seem in fact to point to a re-opening of the gap, as the article explores.     

Risk management and finance along value chains of Small Island Developing States. Evidence from the Caribbean and the Pacific

The paper analyses agricultural risks and risk management in selected Small Island Developing States which are part of the African Caribbean Pacific country group. Focus is on the value chains of fruits, vegetables and spices. A survey was conducted in Grenada, Jamaica, Fiji and Vanuatu, aimed at identifying sources of risk which are most important to value chain stakeholders; the nature and quality of existing and potential risk management mechanisms; and the possibility of enhancing them in view of improving the functioning of the value chains. The sample included farmers, processors, traders, retailers, extension agents, Government officials and private services providers. Results reveal limited ability to handle price and production variability, due to lack of both horizontal and vertical co-ordination along value chains, reduced use of support services, notably credit and underinvestment in equipment. In addition, lack of demand contributes to make insurance markets incomplete and characterised by undersupply or lack of customised products. Promoting light forms of vertical and horizontal co-ordination, such as production contracts and producers’ associations, as well as value chain-based credit and finance may address some of the issues highlighted.     

Is less information better information? Evidence from the credit rating withdrawal

This paper examines the stock market reaction to two different types of credit rating withdrawals by Moody’s. The first type of withdrawal occurs when a firm stops being rated. This happens, for example, when firms choose to no longer pay for a rating. We find that the stock market reaction depends on the information which remains available. The second type of withdrawal is due to Moody’s policy of removing the issuer rating and keeping the corporate family rating for the same firm. The corporate family rating is usually more favorable than the issuer rating. The paper shows that the removal of the issuer rating leads to positive stock market reaction. We conclude that lower disclosure of rating information is not necessarily associated with higher cost of equity. Instead, our findings emphasize the incentive for firms to engage in ratings shopping by publishing only the most favourable ratings.     

Debt deleveraging and the exchange rate

Deleveraging from high debt can provoke deep recession with significant international side effects. Swings in the nominal exchange rate and large variations in consumption, output, and terms of trade can happen during the adjustment. All these movements are inefficient and interesting trade-offs emerge from the perspective of global welfare. The optimal adjustment to global imbalances should not necessarily require large movements in the nominal exchange rate. A global liquidity trap can be desirable when countries are more open to trade.     

New development: Where there's a will,there's a way—acting beyond cutbacks

A sustainable solution to the recent financial crisis requires a sea-change in governments' thinking, rather than just cutting expenses. Governments need to re-examine the managerial and cultural factors that lie beyond the crisis: the way budgets are prepared, the (lack of) strategic management, the limited room left for innovation, and excessive reliance on public entities for the solution of social problems.     

Profit‐maximizing behaviour replaces social sanctions in urban microcredit marketsThe case of Italian MAGs1

Poor local information networks and weak social sanctions in urban settings make joint liability unable to guarantee high repayment rates to microlenders. Yet, microcredit programmes in Western Europe report good performance even if the majority of them require no collateral. We collected data from three Italian microcredit institutions which operate in urban areas, granting individual loans without collateral to single entrepreneurs and teams (associations and cooperatives). We found that teams repay with higher probability. On this basis we developed a microlending instrument which, like joint liability implemented in rural economies, mitigates informational problems but, unlike joint liability, fits the urban context in that it reproduces a cohesion among entrepreneurs based on profit‐maximizing behaviour and not on social capital.     

The Introduction of a Non-Traditional and Aggressive Approach to Banking: The Risks of Hubris

This study integrates institutional theory and social cognitive theory to describe how peripheral organizations can accidentally bring about radical change even in highly institutionalized and change-resistant fields. The empirical context is the field of banking in Ireland (1995–2001), where a peripheral bank triggered a shift away from traditionally conservative and risk-averse banking values toward aggressive values of entrepreneurial risk taking. The introduction of a new approach to banking was attributed to three factors: (1) a benevolent environment, which made this innovation feasible and timely, (2) the state of the field, which had gaps that could be addressed through specialization, and (3) prior successes, which created hubris in the senior managers, thereby increasing the pace and scope of adoption of this approach. Eventually, what started as a specialized and entrepreneurial approach led to the spread of a risky approach to banking across the entire field. The study highlights the risks of hubris, in that media praise and early successes can increase the pace of adoption of innovations which offer short-term gains but are detrimental in the long term.     

The Changing Relationship Between CAMEL Ratings and Bank Soundness during the Indonesian Banking Crisis

During the recent Southeast Asian financial crisis, numerous banks failed quickly and unexpectedly. This study uses a unique data set provided by Bank Indonesia to examine the changing financial soundness of Indonesian banks during this crisis. Bank Indonesia's non-public CAMEL ratings data allow the use of a continuous bank soundness measure rather than ordinal measures. In addition, panel data regression procedures that allow for the identification of the appropriate statistical model are used.We argue the nature of the risks facing the Indonesian banking community calls for the addition of a systemic risk component to the Indonesian ranking system. The empirical results show that during Indonesia's stable economic periods, four of the five traditional CAMEL components provide insights into the financial soundness of Indonesian banks. However, during Indonesia's crisis period, the relationships between financial characteristics and CAMEL ratings deteriorate and only one of the traditional CAMEL components—earnings—objectively discriminates among the ratings. The panel data results indicate systemic economy-wide forces must be explicitly considered by the rating system.