A Façade of Collaboration

Abstract

The study presented in this article examined the relationship between philanthropic foundations (PFs) and the government in social policy-making. The Yaniv Project, which aimed to establish collaboration between PFs and the Israeli government in the field of children and youth at risk in Israel, is analysed as a case in point. The findings reveal that the collaboration that emerged was ceremonial and symbolic. The government and the PFs perceived the collaboration more as a technical means of achieving their own goals and gaining control than as a relationship that benefits both parties. The article discusses the implications of those relationships for PFs and the government.     

Evaluating changes in the monetary transmission mechanism in the Czech Republic

We investigate the evolution of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in the Czech Republic over the course of the 1996–2010 time period through the use of a time-varying parameters Bayesian vector autoregression model with stochastic volatility. We evaluate whether the response of GDP and the price level to exchange rate or interest rate shocks has changed over time, focusing on the period of the recent financial crisis. Our results suggest that prices have become increasingly responsive to monetary policy shocks. However, in terms of credible intervals, the stability of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in the Czech Republic cannot be rejected. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the exchange rate pass-through has largely remained stable over time.     

Lost in translation: Exploring the ethical consumer intention–behavior gap

Ethical consumerism is a burgeoning movement, yet ethically-minded consumers rarely purchase ethically. Understanding obstacles to ethical consumption is limited. This study explores the underlying mechanics of the ethical purchase intention–behavior gap in the context of consumers' daily lives. The study employs multiple qualitative methods across multiple sites, explores the intention–behavior gap in observed modes of shopping behavior, and uses an interpretive approach. The analysis reveals four interrelated factors affecting the ethical intention–behavior gap: (1) prioritization of ethical concerns; (2) formation of plans/habits; (3) willingness to commit and sacrifice; and (4) modes of shopping behavior. Awareness of these four factors provides both strategic and tactical implications for marketing managers seeking to reach the elusive ethical consumer. Understanding and enhancing ethical consumption – closing the gap – has positive outcomes for the future sustainability of economies, societies and environments.     

Experiences of Auditors and Tax Advisors with Accounting Errors: Empirical Evidence from the Czech Republic

International Advances in Economic Research -     

Encouraging Tax‐Time Savings with a Low‐Touch,Large‐Scale Intervention: Evidence from the Refund to Savings Experiment

Low‐ and moderate‐income households often struggle to save, but the annual tax refund represents a prime opportunity for these households to save toward their financial goals or build their emergency savings. This paper presents the results of a randomized, controlled experiment embedded in a free tax‐preparation product offered in 2013 to low‐ and moderate‐income households. The experiment involved approximately 470,000 filers and assessed the impact of behavioral interventions on their savings behaviors. The results show that filers exposed to the treatments, which involved the established behavioral‐economics techniques of anchoring, choice architecture, and persuasive messaging, were more likely than a control group to save their tax refund and, on average, saved more of the refund. A follow‐up survey of these tax filers found that the treatments were associated with saving more of the tax refund six months after filing. The findings also show that anchors encouraging filers to deposit certain amounts are more effective than persuasive messaging emphasizing savings.     

Infrastructure endowment,financial constraints and willingness to engage in PPPs: The case of Poland

Public-private partnership (PPP) is widely considered to be a solution to overcoming a public infrastructure gap while providing value for money. A growing body of empirical research papers suggests that value for money is not the only reason for a government setting up PPPs. This paper presents a detailed analysis of why local municipalities in Poland have chosen the PPP route to develop public infrastructure.

IMPACT

Government’s investment opportunities are often restricted by debt limits. That is why a PPP can be an attractive solution. Municipalities in Poland seem to opt for PPPs to keep their debt figures low. There is a risk that they are choosing the PPP route for the wrong reasons. Therefore we suggest that legislation is needed that requires greater financial transparency of PPP projects. This could help verify whether PPPs are being compiled according to EUROSTAT rules and to assess if PPP really is the best available option in terms of value for money.     

Fiscal developments and financial stress: a threshold VAR analysis

We use a threshold VAR analysis to study the linkages between changes in the debt ratio, economic activity and financial stress within different financial regimes. We use quarterly data for the US, the UK, Germany and Italy, for the period 1980:4–2014:1, encompassing macro, fiscal and financial variables, and use nonlinear impulse responses allowing for endogenous regime-switches in response to structural shocks. The results show that output reacts mostly positively to an increase in the debt ratio in both financial stress regimes; however, the differences in estimated multipliers across regimes are relatively small. Furthermore, a financial stress shock has a negative effect on output and worsens the fiscal situation. The large time-variation and the estimated nonlinear impulse responses suggest that the size of the fiscal multipliers was higher than average in the 2008–2009 crisis.     

Mispriced index option portfolios

In model-free out-of-sample tests, we find that the optimal portfolio of a utility maximizing investor trading in the S&P500 Index, cash, and index options bought at ask and written at bid prices stochastically dominates the optimal portfolio without options and yields returns with higher mean and lower volatility in most months from 1990 to 2013. Unlike earlier claims of overpriced puts, our portfolios include mostly short calls and are particularly profitable when maturity is short and volatility is high. Similar results are obtained with the CAC and DAX indices. Neither priced factors nor a nonmonotonic stochastic discount factor explains the excess returns.     

Sharing or gambling? On risk attitudes in social contexts

Experimental Economics - Decisions under risk are often embedded in a social context that we usually abstract from when studying decision-making in the laboratory. In contrast to that practice, our...