Assessing the prospects for the development of the poultry market in Russia in the context of the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization

An attempt to assess the effects of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the domestic poultry market is made. The measures of public control over the national poultry market are outlined, a simple model for assessing the effect of import duties on the domestic market is developed, and the midterm prospects of Russia’s poultry market in the context of the country’s accession to the WTO are predicted.     

Methods for assessing the condition of agricultural and food markets

An original method for generating an integral estimate of the commodity market and partial estimates of its production and processing spheres is validated. The key criteria used are indicators reflecting internal efficiency, comparative advantages, and the consumption proportions of industry products. The results of the experimental testing of the method are illustrated by the case of the wheat market.     

Development of Sunflower Oil Exports in Russia and the EEU: Main Trends,Prospects, and Evaluations by the Gravity Model

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to assess the major trends, factors, and prospects of development of Russian and EEU sunflower oil exports. The sanctions resulted in an increase of sunflower oil exports in 2014 to a peak value, which allowed the producers to accumulate revenues in hard currency. The gravity models findings for Russia and for the EEU show that the sanctions stimulated the growth of sunflower oil exports. As distinct from a common language, a common border also encourages the development of Eurasian exports to third countries. The tariff size in the importer country is strongly and negatively connected with exports both from Russia and from the EEU. The effect of regional integration within the EEU is insignificant for the development of sunflower oil exports, while regional integration processes in the CIS have a positive impact on exports.     

The Image of Spain as Tourist Destination Built Through Fictional Cinema

Fictional cinema is one of the cultural agents that shapes the international image of each country. It colonizes spectators' imagery, and it can influence their choice of tourist destinations. Spanish cinema's international diffusion has allowed the exhibition of movies that spread and renew the image of Spain in different ways. In this respect, we propose a three‐fold typology of films focusing our attention on their content and the ways in which they build the image of Spain: Icon Films, Pastiche Films, and Tourist Poster Films. These films may stimulate the increase of a cultural tourism very different from the traditional one that inspired many to come to Spain mainly looking for sunny beaches.     

A Theory of Brinkmanship, Conflicts, and Commitments

Many conflicts and negotiations can be viewed as dynamic gamesin which parties have no commitment power. In our model, a potentialaggressor demands concessions from a weaker party by threateningwar. The absence of commitment makes a continuous stream oftransfers a more effective appeasement strategy than a lump-sumtransfer. As long as both sides have constant marginal utilityof consumption, it is possible to construct a self-enforcingpeace agreement even if transfers shift the balance of power.When marginal utility of consumption is decreasing, a self-enforcingpeace agreement may not be feasible. The bargaining power ofthe potential aggressor increases dramatically if she is ableto make probabilistic threats, for example, by taking an observableaction that leads to war with a positive probability. This "brinkmanshipstrategy" allows a blackmailer to extract a positive streamof payments from the victim, even if carrying out the threatis harmful to both parties. Our results are applicable to environmentsranging from diplomacy to negotiations within or among firmsand are aimed to bring together "parallel" investigations inthe nature of commitment in economics and political science.     

Fiscal risks and their impact on banks' capital buffers in South Africa

South Africa's fiscal balances have deteriorated significantly over the last decade, although the economy has been recording disappointing economic growth rates even prior to the COVID-19 crisis. In this paper, we estimate a series of equations to test how sovereign risk premia affect capital buffers, while controlling for variables identified in the literature, such as size of banks and the economic cycle. Unlike other studies, we use actual capital buffers. We show that these are substantively different to the proxy buffers calculated using the common approach in the literature, indicating that results based on proxy measures should be interpreted with caution. Our overall results show a positive relationship between the sovereign risk premium and capital buffers. This suggests that banks are accumulating capital to mitigate against fiscal and other domestic policy risks. It is likely that this is contributing to higher lending rates.     

Sentimental Sustainability: Does What Companies Say Tell More Than What Companies Do?

Based on a sample of more than eleven thousand unique 10-K reports of US companies filed with SEC in period 2013 to 2018, this study examines the relationship between actual sustainability performance of companies, evaluated by MSCI ESG performance scores, and the extent and the scope of environmental, social, and governance information disclosure in their annual reports. The study shows empirical evidence supporting the signalling theory view of voluntary disclosure of ESG information in annual reports for most industries, while environmentally unfriendly companies belonging to the Mining industry division show excessive reporting behavior favoring environmental topics, which is consistent with incentives to improve public image and mitigate social, political, and legal risks in line with the legitimacy theory of information disclosure. When differentiating between forward-looking and non-forward-looking ESG statements, the study shows that companies providing more forward-looking ESG information in annual reports show better next-year ESG performance. This study implements established content analysis techniques with focus on ESG reporting and performance, building up on the study of Baier, Berninger, and Kiesel (2020) that proposed an ESG-tailored dictionary for textual analysis purposes.