Shutting up shop: understanding the international exit process in retailing

Internationalisation is a much-studied phenomenon. Exit from international markets has been less analysed. Where it has been studied, most work has been on motives and causes, with relatively little on processes. This article explores the process of international exit in a retail context. It examines the run-up to, announcement of and fall-out from the decision by Marks and Spencer (one of Britain's leading retailers) to close its French stores. The article concludes that understanding the process of market exit is at least as important both for theoretical and practical reasons as understanding the decision to exit or divest. Further research needs to be undertaken on market exit and the processes involved, in order to contribute further to the theory and practice of internationalisation.     

Some Reflections on U.S. Treaty Commitments

Abstract

The world oil price has risen significantly since the late 1990s and reached a record high in 2008. The recent oil price hike raises concerns regarding the possible negative effects of the rising oil price on the economy as in the 1970s. We investigate the effects of the oil price hike on the Korean economy using a Bayesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DGSE) model. We explicitly model the small open economy nature of the Korean economy and its oil usage and estimate the constructed model within a unified Bayesian framework. We also examine possible changes in the effects of world oil shocks on the Korean economy using counterfactual simulations. We find the adverse effects of world oil shocks as well as their importance in Korean business cycles have diminished due to reductions in the relative usage of crude oil in the economy, while world oil shocks themselves have changed relatively little over time.     

新保守主义与布什的单边主义政策

新保守主义作为一种政治思想，从里根、老布什、克林顿、小布什、到现在的奥巴马政府。在不同的时期都对美国的外交政策产生了不同程度的影响，经历了它的产生、发展、繁极一时、最终一蹶不振。那么新保守主义对布什政府的外交产生了什么影响呢？在奥巴马时期又有什么变化吗？     

浅论微型企业从小企业中独立出来的意义

微型企业虽然比较小,但不管是在发达国家还是发展中国家其在增加就业、促进经济增长、增加雇员收入方面是一致的。然而我国对微型企业的重要性认识比较晚,直到2011年才把微型企业单独划型出来。文章从理论、政府、金融机构和微型企业本身四方面来对微型企业从小企业中独立出来的意义进行探讨。     

金融危机下加快启动农村消费市场问题的思考

改革开放以来,我国经济迅速增长,但从拉动经济增长的因素消费、投资、净出口三者的关系看,三者对我国经济增长的贡献不平衡,其中消费需求中的农村消费需求尤为不足。启动农村消费市场,将农村消费市场培育成新的消费热点,促进农村消费稳定增长,不仅是诱导当前我国消费快速增长的关键所在,而且是今后国民经济持续、稳定、健康发展的基本保障。     

推动企业生态经济管理的政策系统研究

推动企业生态经济管理的政策系统可由来政府与非政府两方面的强制、激励、压力和支持四大系统构成，本文详细分析了这四大系统，并指出综合政策系统的结构重心应由强制性与支持性政策措施为主逐渐转向基于激励与压力性政策措施。     

企业低碳行为与股东价值关系的实证研究

结合我国低碳政策背景，实证检验了我国企业低碳行为与股东价值的关系，研究发现：总体而言我国企业低碳行为有利于股东价值的提升，环境敏感行业的低碳行为与股东价值的关系更显著，但是与被动的低碳行为相比，主动低碳行为并来获得更大的股东价值。这表明我国政府制定的低碳政策取得了一定的效果，但是还需要进一步培育低碳产品需求、明确碳交易或碳税等低碳政策，从而使企业主动低碳行为获得应有的更大市场回报。     

Real wage rigidities and optimal monetary policy in a small open economy

The main objective of the study is to provide a theoretical analysis of optimal monetary policy in a small open economy where households set real wage in a staggered fashion. The introduction of real wage rigidities plays a important role to resolve main shortcomings of the standard new Keynesian small open economy model. The main findings regarding the issue of monetary policy design can be summarized as three fold. First, the optimal policy is to seek to minimize variance of domestic price inflation, real wage inflation, and the output gap if both domestic price and real wage are sticky. Second, controlling CPI inflation directly or indirectly induces relatively large volatility in output gap and other inflations. Therefore, both CPI inflation-based Taylor rule and nominal wage-inflation based Taylor rule are suboptimal. Last, a policy that responds to a real wage inflation is most desirable.     

Corporate Interest Rates and the Financial Accelerator in the Czech Republic

We analyze the determinants of corporate interest rates and the financial accelerator in the Czech Republic. Using a unique panel of 448 Czech firms from 1996 to 2002, we find that selected balance sheet indicators significantly influence the firmspecific interest rates. Debt structure and cash flow have significant effects on interest rates, whereas indicators on collateral play no significant role. Monetary policy has stronger effects on smaller firms than on medium-size and larger firms. Finally, we find no asymmetric effects in the monetary policy over the business cycle.     

Can banks default overnight? Modelling endogenous contagion on the O/N interbank market

We propose a new model of the liquidity-driven banking system focusing on overnight interbank loans. This significant branch of the interbank market is commonly neglected in the banking system modelling and systemic risk analysis. We construct a model where banks are allowed to use both the interbank and the securities markets to manage their liquidity demand and supply as driven by prudential requirements in a volatile environment. The network of interbank loans is dynamic and simulated every day. We show how the intrasystem cash fluctuations alone, without any external shocks, may lead to systemic defaults, and what may be a symptom of the self-organized criticality of the system. We also analyze the impact of different prudential regulations and market conditions on the interbank market resilience. We confirm that the central bank’s asset purchase programmes, limiting the declines in government bond prices, can successfully stabilize banks’ liquidity demands. The model can be used to analyze the interbank market impact of macroprudential tools.