Intergovernmental Fiscal Arrangements and Provincial Consumption Risk Sharing in China

This paper utilizes a panel data set on two major fiscal reforms in China—the fiscal contract system (FCS) in 1980-93 and the tax-sharing system (TSS) after 1994—to examine how the various aspects of intergovernmental fiscal arrangement affect the ability of the fiscal system to facilitate risk sharing. The high revenue decentralization and the proliferation of extrabudgetary revenue items in the FCS generally weakened the central government's ability to support interprovincial risk sharing. This situation was reversed in the TSS period. In addition, the effect of central-to-local transfer (transfer-in) and local-to-central transfer (transfer-out) on risk sharing was asymmetric in the sense that transfer-out enhances risk sharing but transfer-in does not.     

How Exhausting!? Emotion Crossover in Organizational Social Networks

Does emotional exhaustion cross over between employees? Departing from the traditional within-person view, we draw on the crossover model to argue and test an interpersonal model of emotional exhaustion. We conducted a sociocentric social network study in a U.S. construction company and found that employees had similar levels of emotional exhaustion to co-workers with whom they had interaction and advice ties and structurally equivalent network positions, but that they did not have similar emotional exhaustion to friends or supervisors. We advance scholarly understanding of emotion crossover by theorizing and simultaneously testing important organizationally structured patterns of interaction and transfer previously unexamined, examined only in isolation or examined in a piecemeal manner. Our results highlight the importance of exploring the influence of structural and relational patterns embedded in the organization’s formal and informal structures and provide a theoretical and methodological platform to advance our understanding of crossover, emotional contagion and important outcomes at work.     

Should Cruise Ports Market Ecotourism? A Comparative Analysis of Passenger Spending Expectations within the Panama Canal Watershed

This study examined the expected spending patterns of cruise ship passengers as they debarked ships at ports within the Panama Canal Watershed. Results suggest that targeting marketing efforts toward ecotourism opportunities may increase long‐term ecological and economic benefits to port communities and local businesses. Most respondents were interested in ecotourism‐related activities in the Panama Canal Zone and nearby coastal areas. Furthermore, the ecotourism‐related market segments expected to spend significantly more money in port than conventional tourists. The growing ecotourism market represents an important opportunity for the cruise industry to partner with local ecotourism operators, enhancing profitability while simultaneously supporting sustainable development. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mortgage lending in Chicago and Los Angeles: A paired testing study of the pre-application process

In 2000, the Urban Institute paired African-American and Hispanic testers with whites and sent the pairs to visit lenders in Chicago and Los Angeles, in order to inquire about information on obtaining a home mortgage. In Chicago, African Americans and Hispanics systematically received less information and assistance than comparable whites; while in Los Angeles, the treatment of minority and white testers did not differ statistically from each other. Multivariate analyses for Chicago indicate that large lenders treat minorities more favorably than smaller lenders and that lenders with substantial numbers of applications from African-Americans treat African-Americans more favorably than lenders with predominantly white application pools.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAPITAL STOCK, UNEMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN NINE EMU COUNTRIES

The focus of this paper is to investigate the importance of the capital stock in the determination of wages and unemployment in a range of EMU countries and to compare the results across countries. A time‐series analysis is conducted in the case of nine euro area countries, which were selected solely on the basis of data availability and consistency: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. The paper begins with a short review of the literature on capital stock and unemployment, before it deals with the theoretical model. This is followed by estimation and testing of the theoretical model put forward, using both time‐series and panel data. The results are supportive of the main hypothesis of the paper: capital stock is an important determinant of unemployment and wages in the countries considered for the purposes of the paper.     

The Euro: Reflections on the first three years

In the first three years of its (virtual) existence, the euro has seen a general decline in its value (notably against the dollar). In this paper we look at this issue and reflect on the implications of the decline for the future of the euro.The paper begins by briefly reviewing some of the explanations that have been put forward for the weakness of the euro, which might be seen as temporary factors or factors that do not arise from the creation of the eurozone per se. These explanations include the decline in the value of the euro as being a reaction to previous rises, interest rate differentials as favouring the dollar and the decline in the euro as being the obverse of a rise in the value of the dollar reflecting the strength of the US economy. These explanations are found to be unconvincing, and the view is advanced that there are serious weaknesses within the eurozone itself and in the construction of the eurosystem, along with its operation, that could be undermining the value of the euro. The divergent euro area may be one of the more significant factors contributing to the euro decline.     

Fiscal policy under New Labour

This paper seeks to provide an evaluation of fiscal policy underNew Labour in the decade from its election in May 1997 to date.It begins with a brief review of macroeconomic performance overthat period. It outlines the main features of the approach ofthe Labour government to fiscal policy including the ‘goldenrule’ of public finance, and provides a critique of thatrule and the general approach to fiscal policy. It considershow far the policy rules have been observed in practice. Finally,it argues that the relative macroeconomic stability since 1997has not resulted from the fiscal policy pursued, but ratherthat changes in the fiscal stance have fortuitously offset variationsin private expenditure.     

Auditor quality,audit fees,organizational structure,and risk taking in the US life insurance industry

Using a system of simultaneous equations, this study examines the relation among external audit monitoring, in the US life insurance industry. We find insurers with higher leverage risk and surplus risk are more likely to use Big‐4 auditors and to pay higher fees. In return, insurers hiring Big‐4 auditors and paying higher audit fees have lower leverage risk and surplus risk. Second, the results suggest that mutual life insurers have a higher leverage risk and surplus risk than stock life insurers. This evidence is in contrast to that for property–liability insurance companies. Third, we find insurers are less likely to hire Big‐4 auditors and to pay higher audit fees after implementation of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX). Finally, life insurers with Big‐4 auditors or paying higher audit fees are more likely to take lower risks after the implementation of SOX.