The investment policy of the railroad sector under reform

The feasibility of the railroad sector reaching its long-term development goals and developmental factors and limitations are analyzed against the background of structural changes in the sector. Investment policy, investment attraction mechanisms under limited financial resources, the principles of development of regional investment policies, and regional investment programs and projects are discussed. The sector’s internal development reserves during its investment policy are analyzed.     

Russian Nanotechnology Market: High-Technology Industry or Statistical Phenomenon

This article presents a medium-term forecast of the development of the Russian nanoindustry, taking into account the assumed transition of the industry from the formation stage to the investment growth stage. Problems associated with the estimated output volumes of products in the Russian nanoindustry are considered, since the trends recorded in the primary statistical data are very far from reflecting the real situation due to the imperfection of the system of statistics of nano-containing products, as well as a reduction of state funding and a decline in the intensity of research in the industry. It is concluded that a full-fledged industry has not been yet completely formed in Russia and it actually exists only as a statistical phenomenon; in addition, the project really set different objectives from the declared creation of a breakthrough high-technology branch.     

The Resource Dependence, Service and Control Functions of Boards of Directors in Hong Kong and Taiwanese Firms

Since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990's, there have been numerous calls for the reform of East Asian corporate governance. Without reform, fears abound that the crisis will return. However, a baseline understanding of corporate governance in East Asia needs to be established before reform efforts can begin. In the West, three major functions of boards are commonly recognized: resource dependence, service, and control. These functions have yet to be examined in the context of boards of directors of Overseas Chinese firms in East Asia. In this exploratory study, we examine the extent to which these functions are performed, primarily by outside board members, in Overseas Chinese firms in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We find that the service and control functions are less pronounced for East Asian boards than what would be expected in the West, while the resource dependence function is more pronounced. We also findthat the governance of the region is being moved closer to international practices by a new generation of leaders that have been exposed to Western influences and intense global competition. The implications of our findings for managers, educators, and researchers are discussed.     

ACCOUNTING FOR HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION: A PROTOTYPE SATELLITE ACCOUNT USING THE AMERICAN TIME USE SURVEY

This paper presents a satellite account where households are treated as production units. It extends previous work that treats consumer durables as investment and that values nonmarket household production activities such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Services from consumer durables and government capital related to household production are also valued. In constructing the updated accounts, this paper incorporates new time use data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the harmonized time use data from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS). This paper also discusses and incorporates recommendations made by the U.S. National Academies panel on nonmarket accounts.     

The demand for money during a period of inflationary expectations. Some FIML based estimates for Greece

This paper estimates and tests a model of the demand for money function, which uses the public's expectations of future inflation as a proxy of the opportunity cost of holding money. The hallmark of the paper is that expectations are rational inMuth sense. The cross-equation rational expectations restrictions are derived and then tested, using quarterly Greek data of the high inflation period 1973I to 1981 IV. The paper concludes that the evidence is consistent with the rational expectations assumption and supports the adopted specification of the money demand function.