The business environment and Moroccan firm productivity

The paper focuses on the role of the business environment in understanding differences in the total factor productivity of Moroccan firms. The business environment is captured by measures which include the investment climate in which firms operate, i.e. access to credit, regulatory and institutional environment and infrastructure. The evidence on the relationship between credit and productivity is strongly indicative of credit resources misallocation in Morocco. We also find that, heavier bureaucracy and differences in regulations appear to have a negative effect on firm productivity. This last result is particularly relevant for small firms, and/or those that do not export and/or those with no access to foreign capital.     

Short Holds,the Distributions of First and Second Sales,and Bias in the Repeat-Sales Price Index

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics -     

Buyer Power and Competition in European Food Retailing,Roger Clarke,Stephen Davies,Paul Dobson and Michael Waterson.

Review of Industrial Organization -     

Risk assessment in the international food safety policy arena. Can the multilateral institutions encourage unbiased outcomes?

Two institutions provide multilateral venues for countries to discuss food safety measures at the international level: the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) and the World Trade Organization. Both institutions encourage their Members to base food safety standards on scientific evidence.     

Anthropometry as an indicator of access to food in populations prone to famine

It is generally believed that anthropometry cannot provide early warning of famine; some would say that even for purposes of relief targeting it has little or no value. This article argues that at the level of the community, anthropometrie status can serve as a proxy indicator of access to food, and that its limitations are in fact common to most of the other indicators commonly used in the assessment of food security. For populations in which dietary austerity is an early response to food insecurity, both early warning and targeting can be improved by monitoring an anthropometrie index of ‘biomass’.     

Assisting the Long-Term Unemployed: Results from a Randomised Trial

Welfare reform in Australia centres on both economic and social participation. The policy concern is that people who fail to participate in economic and social life may become entrenched in disadvantage. In 2000–2001, a randomised trial was conducted by the Department of Family and Community Services to assess whether an intensive interview with follow-ups would result in increased participation for long-term recipients of income support. Participation in the trial led to a reduction in average hours worked, but increased hours spent in study or training. We find evidence of increased social integration associated with participation in the trial.     

Corporate Support for Ethical and Environmental Policies: A Financial Management Perspective

A random sample of 146 fortune 500 firms were surveyed in 1996 to determine whether firm size and industry type affect employers' level of involvement and support of ethical and environmental policies and practices. The study found relationships between firm size and ethical and environmental policies and practices. While the majority of firms (90.3%), regardless of size, have a formal written code of ethics, large firms are more likely to employ an ombudsperson to handle ethical concerns and to have a network confidentiality policy. Although most firms (83.5%) have a formal written environmental policy, large firms are more inclined to invest in new ways to reduce the production of various types of waste. Another interesting twist to the study has to do with the relationships found between industry type and ethical and environmental policies and practices. Industries, such as the computers and electronics and scientific and photographics sectors, that are involved with high precision products and industries, such as mining, crude oil, and petroleum refining, that utilize natural resources are more inclined to have a formal written code of ethics and social responsibility. In addition, industries that utilize natural resources are more likely than other industries to have formal written environmental policies and practices.