Systematic Political Grass–Root Support for Tariffs

The leading political–economy–of–trade models are virtually silent on two fundamental questions raised by Rodrik in 1995. Why are trade policies systematically biased against trade? And why are tariffs rather than more efficient production subsidies adopted to redistribute income? This paper shows that systematic political grass–root support for trade–restricting and inefficient tariffs emerges when the government has a revenue goal and collecting taxes is costly. Even if no tax instrument enjoys an advantage with respect to collection costs and the factor ownership distribution is unbiased, more people support tariffs than import or production subsidies. More generally, the presence of tax–collection costs creates a grass–root support bias for taxes over subsidies as instruments to redistribute income.     

Death is not an option, how you die is--reflections from a career in oncology nursing

With a combined career of over 60 years in oncology nursing, the authors reflect on the critical elements in the question, "How can we afford to die?" Three high-profile patient scenarios in three different decades promised to improve use of advance directives but did not. Recent societal events, including the debates about health care reform, have brought attention again to end-of-life issues and care. Quickly approaching a "perfect storm" of an aging population, an inefficient and costly illness-oriented health care system, and health care profession shortages, the United States will not be able to afford delivering futile interventions. Nurses, who are consistently seen as the most trusted professionals, must take action in strategies the authors present.     

The growth of the French videotex system and its implications for consumers

The French telecommunications authority (DGT) is embarked on the world's most ambitious effort to make videotex into a mass medium. The decision to distribute terminals (Minitels) free of charge as well as a unique approach to pricing services have generated substantial interest in the French Télétel system. This article describes and analyzes: (a) the reasons why this multibillion dollar gamble was undertaken, (b) the major elements of the French videotex system, (c) various measures of the system's progress to date, (d) the major types of services offered, (e) patterns of consumer use, (f) consumer problems and policy issues associated with the videotex medium, and (g) the prospects of the French videotex system taking hold in other nations.

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Die Entwicklung des französischen Videotextsystems und seine Bedeutung für die Verbraucher

Zusammenfassung Die französische Behörde für Telekommunikation macht im internationalen Vergleich die stärksten Anstrengungen, Videotext zu einem Massenmedium zu machen. Sowohl die Tatsache, daß die Terminals (Minitels) kostenlos zur Verfügung gestellt werden, wie auch die besondere Form der übrigen Preispolitik haben zu einem großen Interesse an dem französischen Télétel-System geführt.Der Beitrag beschreibt (a) die Gründe, aus denen dieses millionenschwere Unterfangen begonnen wurde, analysiert (b) die Elemente des französischen Videotextsystems, behandelt (c) verschiedene Indikatoren zur Erfassung der bisherigen Entwicklung des Systems, nennt (d) die wichtigsten Arten der Angebote, die das System macht, skizziert (e) die Nutzergewohnheiten der Konsumenten, diskutiert (f) Verbraucherprobleme und politische Aspekte, die mit dem neuen Medium verknüpft sind, und prüft schließlich (g), welche Zukunftsaussichten des französischen Videotextsystems auch für andere Länder gelten dürften.

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Robert N. Mayer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.The author wishes to acknowledge the special assistance of Claire Ancelin of the Service de la Prospective et des Etudes Economiques of the Direction Générale des Télécommunications, Montrouge, and of Pierre Noel of the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel, Bry-sur-Marne.     

Shopping from a List: International Studies of Consumer Online Experiences

In response to the growth of online shopping, consumer groups from around the world participated in two mystery shopping exercises. These exercises, conducted during the Christmas holiday seasons of 1998 and 2000, involved buying a variety of products from web sites located both domestically and abroad. A number of serious problems were identified within the research, especially lack of disclosure of key consumer information and failures in delivering goods and refunding consumers when goods were returned. The research has been used by consumer organizations to enhance consumer education and to lobby governmental and self-regulatory bodies for greater consumer protection in the online environment.     

Finanzielle Repression — ein Instrument zur Bewältigung der Krisenfolgen?

Financial repression committed by central banks has been put forward as a means to secretly reduce the real burden of high public debts. Financial repression has allegedly played an important role in the impressive reduction of the US debt ratio after World War II. A mix of conventional budget consolidation and rapid growth was the main driver in this relative debt reduction with a minor role for financial repression. But does financial repression really exist? The authors express different opinions on evidence for this concept. Those authors who find that there are indicators of financial repression fear redistributive tendencies between debtors and creditors and high opportunity costs in the form of savings and investment distortions. Therefore, financial repression is not a “cure” for the high public debts amassed in the euro area during the recent sovereign debt and banking crisis. Furthermore, the high sovereign debts in the euro area may threaten economic development and impose high costs on society. Therefore, reducing these debts is politically highly relevant, and fiscal policy should be characterised by a modest reduction in government spending and/or tax increases, combined with a policy promoting economic growth. Macroprudential regulations should supplement this financial policy.     

My Boss is Morally Disengaged: The Role of Ethical Leadership in Explaining the Interactive Effect of Supervisor and Employee Moral Disengagement on Employee Behaviors

The popular press is often fraught with high-profile illustrations of leader unethical conduct within corporations. Leader unethical conduct is undesirable for many reasons, but in terms of managing subordinates, it is particularly problematic because leaders directly influence the ethics of their followers. Yet, we know relatively little about why leaders fail to apply ethical leadership practices. We argue that some leaders cognitively remove the personal sanctions associated with misconduct, which provides them with the “freedom” to ignore ethical shortcomings. Drawing on moral disengagement theory (Bandura 1986, 1999), we examine the relationship between supervisor moral disengagement and employee perceptions of ethical leadership. We then examine the moderating role of employee moral disengagement, such that the negative relationship between supervisor moral disengagement and employee perceptions of ethical leadership is stronger when employee moral disengagement is low versus high. Finally, we examine ethical leadership as a conditional mediator (based on employee moral disengagement) that explains that relationship between supervisor moral disengagement and employee job performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Results from a multi-source field survey provide general support for our theoretical model.     

IMF surveillance as a signal to attract foreign investment

Poor governance and endemic corruption hamper the efforts of some developing countries to attract foreign investment. Incentive schemes based on verifiable signals of varying costs and quality can be helpful in encouraging their governments to intensify corruption-control efforts. This paper ranks alternative signals, including surveillance by the IMF and other IFIs (International Financial Institutions), as catalysts for private foreign investments. We demonstrate that the ranking crucially depends on the bargaining strength of governments relative to foreign investors. If foreign lenders control the bargain, IFI signals are the first choice. If governments are in control, IFI signals become the choice of last resort.