Measuring voting power in an international institution: the United States and the inter-American development bank

This paper applies a measure of relative voting power to the weighted voting system of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). Almost all assessments of internal governance of the IADB and other international financial institutions make reference to members' votes as a proxy for relative influence. But as this paper demonstrates, voting weights are misleading. The number of votes a country has in a weighted voting system does not necessarily denote its ability to affect outcomes. The conventional wisdom holds that the United States is omnipotent in the IADB because it has a large number (over 30 percent) of all the votes. This paper reveals that the U.S. obtains much more control over outcomes than originally intended by the institutions' designers. Received: September 2000 / Accepted: October 2001     

全球股市低迷 亚洲首当其冲

一年前，当信贷危机在美国和欧洲刚刚崭露头角时，许多投资者都将亚洲股票视为了天堂。时至今日，全球股市经历了6个多月的下跌，而亚洲市场的跌幅位居前列。     

Short and long run movements in U.S. merger activity

This paper uses the NPV approach to merger decisions to select variables which are expected to explain changes in the aggregate number of mergers of US manufacturing and mining firms over time. We test for and estimate a cointegrating relationship between such variables. We find that in the long run the number of mergers and acquisitions is positively related both to the level of manufacturing production and to the level of the nominal bond yield. A short run dynamic model is also presented. Annual changes in merger and acquisition activity were found to be positively related to current changes in Tobin's Q and changes in Q lagged one, two and four years; positively related to changes in the current bond yield but negatively related to changes in the yield in the previous year; and finally that changes in merger activity were related to the degree to which the number of mergers differed from the long run or equilibrium value in the previous year.     

Investing in Eastern Europe: Perspectives of chief financial officers

This study surveyed senior corporate financial executives to determine their views on Eastern European business opportunities. Responses cover a broad range of topics and provide new insight into their perceptions and experiences about key factors that influence investment decisions: expected profitability, risk, resources, and timing. An optimistic view emerged. This is noteworthy in light of the reputation of CFOs for caution, conservatism, and reticence. Their perception of a favorable return-risk ratio may serve as further encouragement for those considering Eastern European ventures. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Offshore Outsourcing: Implications for International Business and Strategic Management Theory and Practice

abstract    In this essay, I discuss the implications of the debate over offshoring for our collective understanding of international business and management theories. I review several core theories in international business expansion and management strategy to assess which elements of these theories may need to be re-specified in light of the offshoring phenomenon and which aspects remain relevant. I then present normative implications and recommendations for public policy and corporate strategy, drawing from emerging insights regarding the global responsibilities of corporations. I suggest that international labour and environmental standards and corporate codes of conduct could mitigate some of the most intense concerns raised about offshoring but conclude that offshoring is likely to present challenges to societies, corporations, and stakeholders for many decades.     

Velocity Effects of Increased Variability in Monetary Growth in Egypt: A Test of Friedman's Velocity Hypothesis

Abstract: This paper tests Friedman's hypothesis that increased variability in the growth of money supply causes velocity to decline, using Egyptian data from the period 1960–99. The monetary aggregates M1 and M2 are decomposed into anticipated and unanticipated components and the variability of money growth is computed as the standard deviation of five years of monetary growth rates. Cointegration tests show that there is a statistically significant long‐run relationship between the variability in money growth and velocity, for both M1 and M2. However, while increased variability in the growth of M2 is found to be associated with lower velocity — supporting Friedman's velocity hypothesis — increased variability in the growth of M1 seems to have no influence on velocity, possibly because the definition of M1 has changed over time. The findings also suggest that anticipated movements in M2 volatility are not neutral, in the sense that they do affect velocity. An important implication is that the scope for discretionary monetary policy in Egypt is somewhat circumscribed in the short run. However, if the Central Bank of Egypt were to make its decisions more transparent and pre‐announce its policies, then velocity would be more predictable and monetary policy more potent.     

Technical Change, Growth and Trade: New Departures in Institutional Economics

This article analyses the main theoretical and policy issues emerging from the literature on the evolutionary-institutional economics of technical change, the four distinguishing characteristics of which are that technology is often proprietary in nature; only a part of knowledge is codifiable in handbooks, blueprints, patents, and so on; there are fundamental variations in the above two points across different technological fields; and the evolution of knowledge is highly path-dependent.     

Casino Revenues and Retail Property Values: The Detroit Case

We analyze the effects of commercial casinos on retail property values in the Detroit urban area. Accounting for property characteristics and proximity to the casinos, casinos are found to have a significantly positive influence on retail property values. The effect is stronger within a 5-mile radius of the casinos, suggesting that casinos have a complementary, rather than substitution, effect on other businesses. This provides some of the first micro-level empirical evidence to support the “drawing power” of casinos and the impact of consumer spending on surrounding businesses. The model developed and tested in this study can be applied to other casino jurisdictions to gain further evidence on the impact of commercial casinos.