VALUING NON-MARKET GOODS USING CONTINGENT VALUATION

Abstract. Contingent valuation is a technique being developed by economists for the valuation of environmental commodities not traded in markets. This paper discusses the major problem areas associated with this method of value estimation. These comprise bias (strategic, hypothetical and design biases); the discrepancy between willingness-to-pay and compensation demanded; the aggregation procedure; the choice of question format; and non-use values. Some evidence from comparative studies is reported, and comments made on the accuracy of contingent valuation answers, Finally, the conditions under which contingent valuation seems to operate best are set out.     

REDUNDANCY, NATURAL TURNOVER AND THE PARADOX OF STRUCTURAL CHANGE

The properties of the labour market are such that moderate employment shifts can be accommodated by, and might even encourage, the natural movement of labour between jobs. But the scale and extent of employment adjustments in recent years has produced an altogether different response. Voluntary movement has fallen dramatically as unemployment has risen. Redundancies have increased in importance in absolute and relative terms. The pace of adjustment in recent years has reduced the natural flexibility of the labour market and has created a serious impediment to the optimal distribution of labour. Moreover, an economic doctrine which emphasizes the importance of flexibility and personal choice in the labour market, has effectively reduced both.     

Financial flows of large corporations and a region’s socioeconomic development: The case of Krasnoyarsk krai

The issues of exterritoriality of big business capital and the clash of interests between big capital owners and regional economic policy are discussed with special reference to the Krasnoyarsk krai economy. The stages in the establishment of major integrated business groups (IBGs), the formation of their financial flows, and their influence on the region’s economy are analyzed.     

Global Current Account Imbalances: American Fiscal Policy versus East Asian Savings*

We consider the origins of global current account imbalances. We first discuss how the expansion of the US current account deficit and the decrease in global real interest rates can be reconciled with the widespread view that American expansionary fiscal policy is partly the source of current trends. We then investigate empirically the medium‐term determinants of the current account using a model that controls for factors related to institutional development. In addition to the conventional macroeconomic factors, we examine a series of environmental factors, including the degree of financial openness and the extent of legal development. We find that for industrial countries, the government budget balance is an important determinant of the current account balance; the budget balance coefficient is 0.10 to 0.49 depending on model specifications. These varying estimates lead us to conclude that fiscal factors might be as important as excess savings arising from East Asia.     

Effects of organizational process change on responsibility accounting and managers’ revelations of private knowledge

We report the results of a nine-year field study that examines how responsibility accounting (RA) is used to manage horizontal relationships among several responsibility center (RC) managers including those who work on committees or cross-functional teams. We find theory-consistent evidence that the goal-congruent design or redesign of accounting and participation practices in general, and of RA in particular, depends on the magnitude, scope, and speed of organizational process change. When there is a change in the magnitude, scope, and speed of organizational process change, we find that the measurability of RC managers’ financial performance can change, and we also find that using RA to manage RC boundaries is an important mechanism for achieving goal-congruent behavior and avoiding dysfunctional behavior. Moreover, we show that several accounting and participation practices (e.g., activity-based costing, open book accounting, project budgeting, cross-functional teams) support RC boundary management that involves framing or reframing RC boundaries so as to influence competitive or cooperative behavior among RC managers. Finally, this study contributes by introducing a new research method to the accounting literature that is effective in structuring and interpreting longitudinal field data in relation to theoretical expectations.     

International Terrorism: Causes,Consequences and Cures

A popular view is that international terrorism is on the increase, that it is religiously motivated and that it has important adverse consequences. This paper investigates this view. It examines the empirical evidence on the causes of international terrorism from the late 1960s to the early 2000s and discovers that, while religion has had a part to play, explanations based on economics and politics appear to be consistent with the facts. Terrorists come from relatively poor and undemocratic countries and commit attacks in relatively rich and democratic ones. The paper then examines the micro, macro and global economic effects of international terrorism from both a theoretical and empirical angle, and discovers that the negative effect on domestic aggregate demand is temporary and the effect on aggregate supply insignificant. Finally, the paper explores policies to deal with international terrorism and demonstrates that this is complex. Analogies with conventional crime may be unhelpful.     

Annsprakelijkheid der leden van coöperatieve vereenigingen

Amsterdam, Maart 1913Prevention is better than cure.