The liberalization of trade and foreign direct investment: a political economy analysis

Abstract

In theory, the IMF could influence fiscal and monetary policy via several channels, among them advice to policy makers, conditionality, and the moral hazard it induces with the borrowers. This article tries to disentangle those effects empirically. Using panel data for 98 countries over the period 1975–2000 it analyzes whether IMF involvement indeed influences fiscal and monetary policy in program countries. There is evidence that participation in IMF Standby and Extended Fund Facility arrangements improves economic policy. Money disbursed and the degree to which a program is implemented does not have any systematic influence. The same is true for future availability of resources as measured by exhaustion of a country’s quota with the Fund. The final section discusses policy implications.     

Unter Strom

Zusammenfassung  Wundbehandlung durch Elektrostimulationstherapie — Für die Elektrostimulation gibt es viele Anwendungsgebiete. W?hrend Verfahren wie Herzschrittmacher aus der Medizin nicht mehr wegzudenken sind, sind Behandlungsformen wie die galvanische Feinstromtherapie umstritten. In der Wundheilung allerdings macht man sie sich seit Jahren zunutze.     

Further Evidence on the Link between Finance and Growth: An International Analysis of Community Banking and Economic Performance

We try to contribute to both the finance-growth literature and the community banking literature by testing the effects of the relative health of community banks on economic growth, and investigating potential transmission mechanisms for these effects using data from 1993 to 2000 on 49 nations. Data from both developed and developing nations suggest that greater market shares and efficiency ranks of small, private, domestically owned banks are associated with better economic performance, and that the marginal benefits of higher shares are greater when these banks are more efficient. Only mixed support is found for hypothesized transmission mechanisms through improved financing for small and medium enterprises or greater overall bank credit flows. Data from developing nations are also consistent with favorable economic effects of foreign-owned banks, but unfavorable effects from state-owned banks.     

The impact of direct marketing appeals on charitable marketing effectiveness

Building on behavioral decision research, this article provides guidelines to charitable marketing managers regarding the effect of charitable direct marketing appeals on donor decision judgments. Several charitable direct mail appeals (factors) were empirically tested simultaneously in a factorial experimental design involving 18,144 potential donors to determine how donor decision strategies influenced choice judgments about whether to give and estimation judgments about how much to give. The results indicate that suggested anchors and framing influence response rate (choice) but not size of gift. Reference information (factual/statistical and narrative/experiential) influences size of gift (estimation) but not response rate. Implications for charitable marketing managers are discussed. He received his D.B.A. from Boston University, M.B.A. from Harvard University, and B.A. from Brandeis University. His research interests include managerial pricing, marketing communication strategies, and customer value. His work has been published in theCalifornia Management Review, Sloan Management Review, Pricing Strategy and Practice, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing Communication, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, andJournal of Promotion Management, among others. He earned his S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. He is coauthor ofDirect Marketing Management (Prentice Hall) andCases in Business Statistics (Allyn & Bacon). He has published a variety of articles in journals such asManagement Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Direct Marketing, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Business Forecasting, American Statistician, andJournal of Finance.     

An Applied Econometricians' View of Empirical Corporate Governance Studies

The economic analysis of corporate governance is in vogue. In addition to a host of theoretical papers, an increasing number of empirical studies analyze how ownership structure, capital structure, board structure, and the market for corporate control influence firm performance. This is not an easy task, and indeed, for reasons explained in this survey, empirical studies on corporate governance have more than the usual share of econometric problems. This paper is a critical survey of the recent empirical literature on corporate governance – to show which methodological lessons can be learned for future empirical research in the field of corporate governance, paying particular attention to German institutions and data availability.     

Rezensionen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Rückversicherung Versus Indemnity Type Insurance Linked Securities: Eine Arbitrageanalyse

This paper compares insurance linked securities and traditional reinsurance on a structured technical level. Goal is to mathematically capture and compare both risk transfer mechanisms on a conceptual basis. Starting with the basic P&L position of a non-life insurance company, the alternative coverage structures are developed and formally captured with increasing degrees of complexity. While the focus rests on pure insurance risk, additional pricing relevant cost and risk aspects are addressed as well.     

A performance analysis of the Third World

The dispute between the proponents of the market-economy road to development for the countries of the Third World and the advocates of the socialist road is an old one. Too often have the arguments been based on ideology rather than on facts. The recent publication by the World, Bank of comprehensive and comparable data for almost all the countries of the Third World makes it possible to compare the achievements of these two alternative roads on the basis of empirical evidence.