Revisiting the objectives of worker-managed firms: An empirical assessment

This paper provides new evidence on the objectives pursued by worker-managed firms (WMFs). The basic neoclassical model assumes that WMFs maximizes net income per member instead of total profits (Ward, 1958). Even though it has been largely criticized, the Ward model has dominated the self-management literature. Alternative models suggest that WMFs are not only concerned about income per worker but also about the level of employment. However, the empirical content of these competing theoretical models has been rarely analyzed. This paper contributes to fill this gap by estimating the parameters of a generic welfare function, following the methodology proposed by Craig and Pencavel (1993). These parameters determine the relative importance that a WMF places on income per worker vis-a-vis the level of employment. Estimates are based on a long micro-panel of Uruguayan firms covering the entire population of Uruguayan worker-managed firm and conventional firms in 31 3-digit sectors over the period April 1996-December 2005. Following a strictly neoclassical framework, but simply allowing a more general specification of the WMF goals, we show that the assumption of the basic neoclassical model of the WMF is misleading. Our results support the view that WMFs are concerned with both employment and income per worker.     

Learning to choose a commodity-money: Carl Menger's theory of imitation and the search monetary framework

This paper studies Carl Menger's theory of the emergence of a commodity money. We propose an interpretation of Menger's learning by imitation process based on the search theoretical formal framework. We show that there exists a tension between the importance of intrinsic properties of commodities and the pure conventional self-fulfilling expectations of agents. This confirms the role of imitation in the emergence of monetary equilibria in search theory. We conclude that Menger's approach may support the idea that the fundamental property of a commodity-money (namely its great liquidity) is the result of its emergence process and not necessarily of its original intrinsic properties.     

Community views of ecotourism

Ecotourism can be an incentive for conservation, especially when it triggers positive economic change. Yet it introduces many changes to communities:positive and negative, social and economic. The full range of change is seldom evaluated in direct relation to conservation at the local level. In this study of three Amazon ecotourism projects, local leaders discussed changes from ecotourism in their communities. Economic benefits were mentioned, but so were new restrictions on time, decreased reciprocity, and social conflict. Other changes included heightened self-esteem and greater community organization. Such shifts should be considered in relation to conservation as they affect the stability of local institutions and the prospects for long-term collective action for resource management.     

Institutional design and governance of airport regulators: The case of Latin America

This paper offers a cross-country assessment of the governance of airport regulators in Latin America. The analysis links the institutional design of airport regulators, whether in the form of independent regulatory agencies or government departments, to their overall governance. It examines four dimensions of regulatory governance: autonomy, transparency, accountability, and bureaucratic quality. Independent regulatory agencies in the Latin American airport sector seem to provide a better framework for transparency and bureaucratic quality than government departments. It is not conclusively found, however, that independent regulatory agencies contribute to a more autonomous decision-making or to an enhanced accountability of regulators to other branches of government and airport users. Overall, governance indicators of airport regulators in Latin America are well below the threshold that defines good governance.     

Green Public Procurement: A Neglected Tool in the European Green Deal Toolbox?

Intereconomics - Public procurement amounts to around 14% of European Union GDP and, given this size, could well represent an important tool to foster the green transition. However, green public...