Governance Reforms and Growth: Some Ideas from Economic Theory

Ideas from the theory of incentives and organization are deployed to examine how some aspects of economic governance—primarily protection of property rights, enforcement of contracts, and oversight regulation—can be improved for achieving better economic growth and development. Some suggestions for reform of governance institutions in developing countries are offered.     

Domestic technology,consumption economies of scale and poverty: evidence from Sri Lanka

While it is well known that new technologies enhance consumer welfare, the manner in which these technologies impact the ability to realize economies of scale in consumption is not well understood. We use Sri Lankan household data to examine how the adoption of new technologies by households positively impacts their ability to achieve household economies of scale. This suggests that new technologies not only deliver a greater variety of consumption goods to consumers, but they may also play an important role in enabling large households to escape poverty by lowering the per-capita costs of maintaining a given standard of living. Given the importance of consumption economies of scale in the measurement of poverty, this study provides some insights on the extent to which the number of poor households changes when food consumption scale economies due to technology adoption in the domestic sphere are incorporated.     

Relevance of corruption on the effect of public health expenditure and taxation on economic growth

We investigate whether corruption distorts the positive effect of public health expenditure and taxation on growth through panel data analysis of 75 developing countries for the period from 1995 to 2014. The findings indicate that, although both public health expenditure and taxation can increase economic growth, in countries with more corrupt governments this effect is reduced.     

Liberalization,Regulatory Delays and Vulnerability to Systemic Banking Crisis

This work aims at contributing to the improvement of the early warning systems of banking crises using a new approach accounting for model uncertainty. We show that a multinomial logit model based on Bayesian model averaging (BMA) is a good strategy to predict banking crisis. To do this, we argue that differences in vulnerability to banking crisis can be largely explained by an asymmetry between financial market evolution and regulation update on a sample of 49 developed and developing countries between 1980 and 2010. When markets are liberalized, competition pushes bankers to take more risks and take advantage of regulatory delays thus increasing crises probabilities. Our empirical evidence supports that crisis probability is higher in country liberalizing their banking system when regulation is not updated. We developed an early warning system for systemic banking crises based on the multinomial logit model. Its main difference to existing prediction models and its contribution to the literature is that it is intended to identify and resolve what is called by Bussiere and Fratzscher [(2006). Towards a new early warning system of financial crises. Journal of International Money and Finance, 25(6), 953–973] as post-crisis bias in binomial models and to develop a new methodology of leading indicators selection based on BMA. Overall, our model predicts all banking crises during our sample period.     

Risk identification in product innovation projects: new perspectives and lessons learned

The paper addresses the improvement of innovation project (IP) risk identification by applying the RBS (Risk Breakdown Structure) method, and represents a follow-up analysis of the subject (a case of IP before and after applying the method). The activities of risk identification are an initial phase in most of risk management processes and classifications. High-level risk-taking is one of the key characteristics of IPs, due to the fact that this type of projects is related to implementation of new ideas. An example illustrates the combination of RBS/WBS for evaluating the risk concentration, called Risk Breakdown Matrix. This research has proven that implementation of the presented approach in the context of the Serbian market can improve efficiency of all phases of the project, especially those related to planning phase.     

Deploying strategic resources: comparing members of farmer cooperatives to non-members in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Primary producers in global value chains, like any other firm, aim for entrepreneurial success through deploying strategic resources, collective action, strategic intent, and a supportive institutional environment. In the current article, we analyze the extent to which members of farmer cooperatives in Ethiopia succeed in deploying strategic resources. We find that non-members utilize resources more efficiently and that the potential for collective action is not realized. The potential for collective action remains unrealized due to the institutional environment. We suggest pathways for further research.     

The impact of more complex family structure upon marital earnings premiums

This article employs a unique data set from Trinidad and Tobago to examine the impact of their more complex family structures upon marital earnings premiums. While family structure includes the single married couple structure common in the US, families in Trinidad and Tobago often have more adults living in the household, multiple married couples living in the same family, and multigenerational families. Marital premiums for family members most likely to invest in labor market production are estimated to increase with more complex family structure. In contrast, estimated marital premiums for members most likely to invest in home production are decreased with more complex family structure. Results suggest that specialization within the larger family help explain the existence of marital premiums.     

基于工作过程的外贸单证实务课程教学模式研究

外贸单证实务是国际贸易实务专业的核心课程,具有实践性、操作性强的特点,依靠传统的教学模式,很难培养出适应外贸单证员岗位的应用型人才。外贸单证实务课程教学应以职业能力培养为重点,构建以"以职业能力为本位,工作过程为主导,融教学作为一体"的课程教学模式。文章从该课程教学现状分析入手,对外贸单证实务课程基于工作过程的教学模式进行了探索。     

对政府投资项目廉政风险点管理的思考

加强政府投资项目廉政风险点管理,是新形势下加强反腐倡廉工作的需要。政府投资项目廉政风险点存在于政府投资项目从申报、决策、实施到建成、投入使用的不同阶段、不同环节,因此,应从项目决策投资控制、建设资金管理使用、招标投标、物资采购及质量安全管理等环节加强管理。     

工程的定义、划界与定位——兼论现代工程的正义理念与实现途径

通过比较工程的几种定义,结合工程实际,对工程进行了重新定义和解读——工程是人类在集成科学、技术、社会、人文与经验知识的基础上,基于项目管理范式创造物质存在的完整的社会组织活动。对工程与科学、技术、工业和生产等相近概念作了划界,并将工程定位于科学-技术-工程-产业-经济-社会构成的价值链中考察。现代工程的正义理念包括人与自然的正义和人际间正义两个维度,现代工程唯有借助正义之钥,才能开启和谐之门,保障人与自然、人与人之间的权利平衡。