Mises on Monetary Reform: the Private Alternative

This paper discusses Ludwig von Mises's proposals for monetary reform. We will largely focus on technical aspects—the concrete practical steps he recommended—without detailing how these relate to his general conceptions of money and of a sound monetary order. We will highlight two characteristic features of Mises's proposals. One, he stressed the role of the competitive market process and of private initiative in establishing a monetary order based on gold, effective gold coin circulation, and 100% reserve banking. Two, he presented an original scheme for privatizing the control of the money supply.     

Una successione di approssimanti per difetto della probabilita' di rovina

In[1] abbiamo stabilito un confine inferiore della probabilità di rovina ψ (u) cioè, psstoR=1-ψ si è mostrato che (*) $$R(u) \leqslant \frac{{1 - \tfrac{a}{c}}}{{1 - \tfrac{{a\mu }}{c}\int_0^u {(1 - F(x)) d x} }} = R(0)k_1 (u), u \geqslant 0$$ dovele costantia, c e μ e la funzioneF hanno il significato che è precisato nel seguito. Noi mostreremo l'esistenza, nella classeC _b delle funzioni continue e limitate, della soluzione dell'equazione integrale (2), cui soddisfa la funzioneR, prescindendo dalla continuità dell'operatore associato all'equazione, ma facendo ricorso soltanto a condizioni di monotonia e alla scelta diR(0)k ₁ quale funzione da cui fare partire il processo iterativo; processo che, ad ogni stadio, porge un confine superiore diR migliore del precedente, e che converge uniformemente sui limitati di [0,+∞) verso la soluzione di (2).     

Estimating the economic costs of electricity deficit using input–output analysis: the case of Brazil

The objective of this article is to present a methodology to estimate the marginal cost of electric energy deficit in the long-term using input–output (I–O) analysis. We obtain a deficit marginal cost (DMC) curve that is not limited to a small number of levels, such as the curve used currently in Brazil, which is limited to four levels. The marginal cost of deficit is an important exogenous parameter used in the model’s chain to calculate the operation’s marginal cost and short-term market pricing. The electric energy deficit is a temporary lack of continuity in meeting demand, which is usually predictable and involves prior notice to the consumer. The cause of this deficit may be a lack of investment and/or low water inflows that impact the production of hydroelectric power plants. In this study, the marginal cost of the deficit is obtained from restrictions on the provision of electricity for productive sectors and by calculating the corresponding impact on the gross domestic product. The proposed methodology can be used with data from the I–O matrix of any country to estimate its marginal cost of electric energy deficit.     

CSR Business as Usual? The Case of the Tobacco Industry

Tobacco companies have started to position themselves as good corporate citizens. The effort towards CSR engagement in the tobacco industry is not only heavily criticized by anti-tobacco NGOs. Some opponents such as the the World Health Organization have even categorically questioned the possibility of social responsibility in the tobacco industry. The paper will demonstrate that the deep distrust towards tobacco companies is linked to the lethal character of their products and the dubious behavior of their representatives in recent decades. As a result, tobacco companies are not in the CSR business in the strict sense. Key aspects of mainstream CSR theory and practice such as corporate philanthropy, stakeholder collaboration, CSR reporting and self-regulation, are demonstrated to be ineffective or even counterproductive in the tobacco industry. Building upon the terminology used in the leadership literature, the paper proposes to differentiate between transactional and transformational CSR arguing that tobacco companies can only operate on a transactional level. As a consequence, corporate responsibility in the tobacco industry is based upon a much thinner approach to CSR and has to be conceptualized with a focus on transactional integrity across the tobacco supply chain. Guido Palazzo is Assistant Professor for Business Ethics at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). He graduated in Business Administration at the University of Bamberg (Germany) and earned his PhD in Political Philosophy (1999) from the University of Marburg (Germany). His research interests are in Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Branding, Democratic Theory, and Organizational Ethics. Ulf Richter is a doctoral student at the University of Lausanne. He is writing his thesis on Corporate Social Responsibility, conceptualizing the concept from a multidisciplinary perspective. He has studied in Germany, Peru and the US, and graduated from the European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel, majoring in International Management and Real Estate.     

Budget balances in OECD countries: what makes them change?

Fiscal balances have deteriorated quickly in recent years, bringing back to the foreground the question what factors explain such sharp changes. This paper takes a broad perspective at the issue regarding countries included, the range of potential explanatory variables, and the time-span covered. The empirical analysis shows that changes in budget balances are affected by debt growth, macroeconomic developments and political factors. In particular, we find that the run-up to EMU induced additional consolidation in Europe and that budget balances deteriorate markedly in election years. Asset prices also affect budgets, but the impact remains limited in normal times.      

The southward enlargement of the EC

On January 1, 1981 the southward extension of the EC starts with the accession of Greece. Spain and Portugal are to follow suit in the near future. The consequences in the industrial sphere will be less spectacular than those in agriculture but still of considerable importance for the process of integration in a Community of Twelve.     

Reshoring: Does home country matter?

The role of the country, either home or host, in firms' internationalization has been widely analysed in the International Business field. A large number of studies have shown that home country shapes many aspects of firms' internationalization processes such as investment decisions, location selections, and entry modes. However, these studies mainly focus on the firms' foreign expansion. Little is known about the relations between firms’ home country and reshoring processes. This paper aims to analyse whether and how reshoring projects are different across countries, thereby further exploring the underlying home country-related factors contributing to reshoring peculiarities. By using a dataset including 529 cross-industry reshoring projects developed by companies headquartered in five countries (i.e., US, Germany, UK, France, and Italy), the study shows that these projects differ in terms of industry, entry mode, firm size and motivations. Thus, reshoring turns out to be a phenomenon where each country has its own peculiarities. The research further sheds light on the possible institutional, cultural/cognitive and industry/resource-related factors underlying these specificities.This study contributes to both reshoring and international business literature by highlighting how reshoring differs across countries. It also provides policy and managerial implications, at a time when several governments are considering the economic and employment potential of this phenomenon.