Charter value, Tobin's Q and bank risk during the subprime financial crisis

Charter value is important in the banking industry because of its ability to reduce the moral hazard incentives that result from government-provided deposit insurance. Previous research suggests that geographic deregulation in the 1970s and 1980s increased competition and eroded charter values. Yet, a common proxy for charter value, Tobin's Q, increased significantly in the 1990s and beyond even as bank deregulation continued. We show that Tobin's Q is a poor cardinal measure of charter value though it still has merit as an ordinal measure. Our findings suggest that charter value has been declining through time, contributing to the increase in risk-taking that led to the subprime financial crisis.     

Local and Global Competition in Information Technology

We examine the implications of changing competitive dynamics in global information and communications technology (ICT) markets for government demand-steering policies whose goal is local rents. Both computing and telephony are undergoing changes in global industry structure and changes in the nature of competition. The convergence of computing and telephony and the rapid technological change (and accompanying technological uncertainty) driving this convergence reinforce trends toward vertical competition. The emergence of global ICT markets lowers entry barriers, likely encouraging government-supported local entrants into global ICT markets. There are, however, strongly offsetting disadvantages. The underlying economics of ICT markets under vertical competition will work to reinforce the dominant position of U.S.-based incumbents in many segments. The prospects for exports, command of rent-related standards, and large rents from exports are not very bright. We expect to see far more demand-steering attempts than successes. J. Japan. Int. Econ., December 1999, 13(4), pp. 336–371. Landau Economics Building, Department of Economics-6072, Stanford, California 94305-6072; and International Computer Services Research, Stanford Computer Industry Project, Landau Economics Building, SIEPR 144, Stanford, California 94305-6016. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: L5, F110.     

Do Community Characteristics Influence Environmental Outcomes? Evidence from the Toxics Release Inventory

This research uses neighborhood characteristics (at the zip code level) in 1990 to explain toxic releases in 1993. It combines the Toxics Release Inventory data with demographic data from the 1990 U.S. Census. We first analyze the location of manufacturing facilities in a particular neighborhood using a sample selection model, and then estimate the relationship between releases in 1993 and the demographic characteristics of the neighborhood in 1990. We conduct the analysis for the entire U.S. as well as for different geographic regions to study regional differences in determinants of environmental outcomes. Releases in nonurban areas of the southeastern U.S. exhibit a pattern suggesting that race might be an important determinant of release patterns. Economic characteristics of neighborhoods (such as income levels and unemployment) also affect releases. Our variables that proxy the propensity for communities to engage in political action exert greater influence on environmental outcomes in nonurban areas.     

Walking up the Down Escalator: Public Investment and Fiscal Stability

When growth-promoting spending is cut so much that the presentvalue of future government revenues falls by more than the immediateimprovement in the cash deficit, fiscal adjustment becomes likewalking up the down escalator. Although short-term cash flowsmatter, too tight a focus on them encourages governments toinvest too little. Cash-flow targets also encourage governmentsto shift investment spending off budget by seeking private investmentin public projects, irrespective of its real fiscal or economicbenefits. To deal with this problem, some observers have suggestedexcluding certain investments (such as those undertaken by publicenterprises deemed commercial or financed by multilaterals)from cash-flow targets. These stopgap remedies may help protectsome investments, but they do not provide a satisfactory solutionto the underlying problem. Governments can more effectivelyreduce the biases created by the focus on short-term cash flowsby developing indicators of the long-term fiscal effects oftheir decisions, including accounting and economic measuresof net worth, and, where appropriate, including such measuresin fiscal targets or even fiscal rules. JEL codes: O23, E62, H60, H54     

The Role of Nonattenuated Rights in Positive Economics: A Critical Appraisal

This article assesses the institutionalist elements of Friedrich Hayek's neoliberal political economy by presenting his views on the entangled relations between the state and markets in capitalism. Through the analysis of Hayek's work, the article contributes to further consolidating the view that neoliberalism is an ideological project of institutional transformation which, despite some enduring myths, has an irreplaceable role for a state with many important functions in a more limited democracy. Markets, for their part, are politically contested social constructions that depend on previous non-market institutions for their existence and legitimation. This paper argues that Hayek's work corroborates this institutionalist claim.     

Designing randomized response surveys to support honest answers to stigmatizing questions

Review of Economic Design - Randomized response survey methods use noise to mask respondents’ answers to stigmatizing questions in an attempt to elicit honest responses. Respondents weigh the...     

Adding Value to Applied Policy Models： The Case of the WTO and OECD Support Classification Systems

Both the OECD and the WTO have accumulated systematic data on the magnitude of support going to farmers as a result of farm policies. The datasets are collected for different purposes, but both give a detailed picture of the evolution of these policies. This paper extends recent work on the compatibility or otherwise of the two attempts at policy monitoring by considering the categorization of individual policy instruments in Norway, Switzerland, the US, and the EU. The results show how the OECD dataset, particularly with respect to the link between direct payments and production requirements, complements that of the WTO. Many payments classified in the WTO Green Box require production, raising the possibility that they may distort production and trade. Though the issue of correct notifications to the WTO is the province of lawyers, the implications for modeling and policy analysis are of interest to economists, and the broader question of improving the consistency of the two datasets is of importance in the quest for transparency in the interpretation of changes in farm policies.