Incremental vs. Comprehensive Reform of Economic Regulation: Predictable Outcomes and Unintended Consequences

A bstract . Examination of the theory and politics of reform of government regulatory policy leads to the conclusion that comprehensive reform of economic regulation is desirable and possible, given that we understand how existing regulatory decision-making processes operate and how reform efforts in the past have failed. Options exist along a dimension of magnitude of change: incremental versus comprehensive reform. Under certain conditions regulatory reform is best achieved through comprehensive change and equilibration to new policy, rather than marginal adjustments to existing policy that often lead to more rather than less government regulation.
Comprehensive reform is held to be complete or nearly complete relaxation of government control over price, market entry and other aspects of competition among firms across an entire industry , or assumption by government of new , broad-scale controls over private lector market behavior. Comprehensive reduction of government control, i.e., deregulation , is in accord with the observation that government decision-makers sometimes behave as if economic efficiency were an important objective.     

Diversification strategy and systematic risk: An empirical inquiry

This paper presents some empirical tests of the impact of strategic diversification on a market-based measure of firm risk. Instead of considering merely the consequences of isolated diversifying mergers, as most previous work in this area has done, the study examines the impact of all quoted acquisitions over a five year period using a sample of 100 large companies and a period of intense merger activity. The results cast further doubt on risk reduction as a general motive for diversifying merger, although they do not support the positive association between systematic risk and conglomerate status found in many US studies.     

Cultural Values and Social Planning: A Control Theory Approach to Satisfying a Social Welfare Criterion

A bstract . A method of social planning is presented which can be used to fulfill a social welfare criterion with normative values. The purpose is to show how a social welfare model which includes cultural norms can be optimized using classical control theory. Current literature stresses the importance of incorporating social indicators in welfare economics. Given a social welfare function which actively includes a hierarchy of cultural values , control theory can be used to set social policy to reach social goals. The approach is to define a set of desired cultural norms at some future time and then determine the social policy necessary to reach this state. Control theory is used to find the social plan consistent with attaining the set of desired values.     

4D cadastres: First analysis of legal,organizational, and technical impact—With a case study on utility networks

The increasing complexity and flexibility of modern land use requires that cadastres need an improved capacity to manage the third dimension. As the world is per definition not static, there also will be needs in relation to the representation of the temporal (fourth) dimension either integrated with the spatial dimensions or as separate attribute(s). In this paper, registration of utility networks in cadastre are considered in this 3D + time (=4D) context. A number of countries in the world have developed methods to register utility networks complying with their legal, organizational, and technical structure. We researched the different approaches of three specific countries: Turkey, The Netherlands and Queensland, Australia. These are analysed to evaluate a solution that matches legal, organizational, and technical cadastral requirements in the most optimal way.     

城市圈建设过程中耕地保护AHP-SWOT分析及其策略选择——以湖北赤壁为例

研究目的:探讨城市圈建设过程中的耕地保护策略。研究方法:在实地调查的基础上,采用AHP-SWOT分析方法。研究结论:赤壁市耕地保护的自身优势有后备资源优势、异地占补平衡优势和法律制度保护优势等,相对劣势表现在耕地数量持续减少、耕地质量总体不高、产权不明晰、基层对耕地保护认识不足等,外部机遇有新一轮规划、三农问题备受重视、农业税的取消、农产品市场建设等,外部威胁来自城市圈建设占用耕地、退耕还林政策、农业结构调整、农产品比较收益较低等。AHP分析表明,城市圈建设占用耕地是最严重的外部威胁,耕地异地占补平衡则是要充分利用的自身优势,新一轮规划是推动赤壁市耕地保护的最佳外部机遇,耕地数量持续减少则是最不利的劣势。     

Uncertain outlays in time-to-build problems

In this paper we analyze investment projects in which there is uncertainty in the total investment cost in addition to uncertainty in the completed project value. We deal with an uncertain time-to-build. Uncertainties in investment cost are quite common in long-term, large-scale, path-breaking undertakings such as some R&D projects. We find that the inclusion of uncertainty in investment cost tends to mitigate the impacts of the uncertainty of completed project value. The implications of the results are significant. First, when uncertainty of investment cost is ignored, the value of the project is underestimated and a tendency toward underinvestment will result; and second, the existence of uncertainty in investment cost will cause long-term projects to require larger declines in value before discontinuation of investment should occur.     

Continental Mergers Are Different

In recent years, business has been heavily preoccupied with two themes: merger and acquisition activity, and the development of the Single European Market. The topic of this paper combines the two: Continental mergers. The authors argue that the costs and benefits of Continental mergers are different from those of their domestic counterparts, and they need to be handled in different ways. This has implications both for the form of integration and for the way in which it is implemented. Most important, it is relevant to the selection of the right partner.     

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD POLICY

The paper reviews the events leading up to the 1985 Food Security Act. Attention is also drawn to four other legislative initiatives having a direct bearing on the farm sector. These are: deficit reduction; tax reform; trade protectionism; and agricultural credit. The case against mandatory supply controls is reviewed and reasons are given for believing the 1985 bill will put U.S. agriculture back on the road to prosperity.     

A method for examining learning in negotiation

The impact of feedback on interpersonal learning in negotiation was examined. An interactive computer program was developed to isolate the effect of individual judgment on performance. Subjects negotiated three times with a computerized opponent whom they were led to believe was another subject. Some subjects received a complete diagnosis of their opponents' interests following each negotiation (full feedback); others only learned about their opponents' payoffs (outcome feedback); some did not receive any information about the opponent (control). The prediction was that subjects who received a complete diagnosis would make more accurate judgments about their opponents' interests and reach more integrative agreements in subsequent negotiation situations. The results provided weak support for the model. Two indices of performance were studied: negotiators' ability to recognize compatible issues and logrolling, or the ability to make mutually beneficial tradeoffs among issues. The pattern of findings was dramatically different for the two performance measures: Whereas logrolling improved as negotiators gained experience, recognition of compatible issues worsened over trials. The degradation of performance for compatible issues was curbed for negotiators who were provided with full feedback. The feedback did not affect logrolling performance.The research reported in this article was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation #SES89211926.