The concise economic history of Portugal – a comprehensive guide

Most research on British business in Latin America has concentrated on the free-standing companies, such as the railways, which characterised British investment before 1914. Apart from Royal Dutch Shell, the most important new British investments thereafter were manufacturing companies, which steadily increased their presence in the region. Some began to arrive before 1914, but several more made significant investments between the wars, especially in Argentina and Brazil, with a further wave of new investment after 1945. This paper utilises corporate archives, as well as those of the British government and Bank of England, to investigate the financial aspects of their growth. While the provision of finance for fixed investments and working capital was relatively straightforward before World War II, thereafter it became more difficult due to government regulation on both sides of the Atlantic, leading to ingenious solutions to overcome financial challenges.     

TRAFFIC LIGHTS: WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRACTION,DANGER AND DELAY

Since my 2006 article in Economic Affairs proposing traffic system reform, there has been a growing interest in the subject. Trials in deregulation have produced the results that students of the subject predicted – congestion‐free roads and sociable interaction between road‐users.     

上市公司会计寻租动因分析

"寻租是运用稀缺资源去追求人为地创造财富转移的费用",会计作为一种工具通过资本市场对资源配置的作用,使得会计寻租具有了经济后果。由于会计管制的存在、会计领域产权不清晰、会计信息不对称以及上市公司在我国经济生活中的特殊地位和作用,导致了上市公司会通过会计寻租来达到其自身利益目的不良行为。根据组织行为学和经济学的相关理论对上市公司会计寻租的动因进行分析,不仅能在深层次了解会计寻租产生的根源,而是对治理和消除寻租行为具有一定的理论和现实意义。     

Capital inflows: Macroeconomic implications and policy responses

This paper examines the macroeconomic implications of and policy responses to surges in private capital inflows across a large group of emerging and advanced economies. In particular, we identify 109 episodes of large net private capital inflows to 52 countries over 1987–2007. Episodes of large capital inflows are often associated with real exchange rate appreciations and deteriorating current account balances. More importantly, such episodes tend to be accompanied by an acceleration of GDP growth, but afterwards growth has often dropped significantly. A comprehensive assessment of various policy responses to the large inflow episodes leads to three major conclusions. First, keeping public expenditure growth steady during episodes can help limit real currency appreciation and foster better growth outcomes in their aftermath. Second, resisting nominal exchange rate appreciation through sterilized intervention is likely to be ineffective when the influx of capital is persistent. Third, tightening capital controls has not in general been associated with better outcomes.     

Reassessing the Costs and Benefits of Imposing Capital Controls: The Case of Chile (1991–98)

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to highlight some of the less-mentioned costs and benefits of imposing capital controls (in particular, on inflows) in lower income countries (LICs). The impact of controls on the effectiveness of conventional policy tools, as well as the limitations of the latter, are studied in the context of Chile's imposition of unremunerated reserve requirements (URRs) in the early 1990s. Then, using better data and a slightly different specification from earlier studies, an error-correction model for Chile's real exchange rate (RER) is set up with a view to assessing controls' impact thereon. The key finding, contrary to earlier studies, is that controls did depreciate the real exchange rate in the short-run. At the same time, an enhanced controls variable (“the effective” tax implied by the reserve requirement, a la Gallego et al., 1999) was seen to possess an inverse relationship with the equilibrium real exchange rate, suggesting the possibility of controls having facilitated an equilibrium RER appreciation in the long-run.

RESUMEN. El propósito de este documento es esclarecer en cierta medida algunos de los costos beneficios mencionados con menor frecuencia, resultantes de la imposición de controles de capital (especialmente sobre los flujos de entrada de capital) en países con menor renta (LICs–lower income countries). El impacto de los controles sobre la efectividad de las herramientas inherentes a las políticas convencionales, así como la limitación de los últimos han sido estudiados en el contexto de la imposición chilena sobre las exigencias establecidas para las reservas no remuneradas (URRs) a comienzo de los años 1990s. En ese entonces, utilizando una fuente de datos más apropiada y especificaciones levemente distintas a las usadas en estudios anteriores, elaboramos un modelo de error-corrección para la tasa real cambiaria chilena (RER–real exchange rate), con el objeto de evaluar el impacto ejercido por los controles. El descubrimiento clave, contrariamente a lo encontrado en los estudios anteriores, muestra una variable de control mejorada (el impuesto “efectivo” inherente a las exigencias de la reserva, a la Gallego et al., 1999), que se observó tenía una relación con el equilibrio de la tasa cambiaria real, sugiriendo por ende que, a largo plazo, existía la posibilidad de que los controles facilitasen una apreciación RER equilibrada.

RESUMO. Este estudo pretende destacar alguns dos custos e benefícios, pouco divulgados, sobre o controle da imposição de capital (particularmente, das entradas) nos países de baixa renda (LICs). O impacto do controle na eficácia dos instrumentos políticos convencionais bem como as limitações destes instrumentos são estudados no contexto da imposição do Chile dos depósitos compulsórios não remunerados (URRs), no início dos anos 90. Então, utilizando dados melhores e uma especificação um pouco diferente de estudos anteriores, um modelo de correção de erros para a taxa de câmbio real do Chile (RER) é estipulada, visando uma avaliação do impacto do controle, a partir deste momento. A descoberta principal, contrária aos primeiros estudos, é que o controle, definitivamente, deprecia a taxa de câmbio real a curto prazo. Ao mesmo tempo, uma variável de controle aumentada (um imposto “efetivo” implícito no depósito compulsório, conforme Gallego et al., 1999) parece conter uma relação contrária à taxa de câmbio real de equilíbrio, sugerindo a pos-sibilidade de que o controle tenha facilitado uma estimativa do equilíbrio da RER a longo prazo.     

The interdependencies of intra- and inter-organisational controls and work practices—The case of domestic care of the elderly

The paper gives a grounded account of inter-organisational controls and work practices in the public sector to complement previous literature's strong focus on inter-organisational customer–supplier relationships in the private sector. We draw theoretically on Hopwood's (1974) administrative, social and self controls, which enable us to analyse the influence of non-managerial controls on behaviour. Empirically, a case study of inter-organisational cooperation between home help units and health centres is used as the basis of analysis. Most inter-organisational controls were developed locally and involved a mix of administrative, social and self controls. Intra- and inter-organisational social and self controls were important forms of control which impacted on intra- and inter-organisational work practices and we see the need for a broad conceptualisation of control (Van der Meer-Kooistra and Scapens, 2008). Inter-organisational social controls created an informal hierarchy that by-passed the formal hierarchies of the two organisations. Self controls reinforced the importance of being flexible to accommodate pensioner's wishes and needs in specific care situations. We also show the importance of the internal financial situation of home help units for the analysis of the interdependencies of intra- and inter-organisational controls and work practices.     

Strategy,Environment, and Controls–An Empirical Analysis of Their Interrelationships Among Malaysian Firms

ABSTRACT

Discriminant analysis was used to study the interrelationships among strategy, environment, and control system attributes in a sample of 96 manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The discriminant functions revealed significant relationships between business strategy and environment and control system attributes, and these could be used to classify Firms into strategy types. Limitations of the research and areas for further investigations are discussed.     

GNP and military mobilization

The remarkable shift from a limping United States recovery from the Great Depression of the 1930's to the relatively rapid and immensely successful World War II mobilization of the 1940's was far from an easy and orderly transition. The first official national income estimates in the United States were prepared in 1933 and were valuable in monitoring the recovery programs. They were especially helpful in determining the maximum potential resources for the wartime mobilization. This information was essential in setting goals that were both ambitious and feasible. Many difficulties were encountered in a feasibility dispute between civilian and military organizations and leaders. Changes in personnel, reorganizations and top level coordination led to massive production of armaments and truly making the United States the Arsenal for Democracy.     

Environmental problems and policy in the Single European Market

The paper analyzes the direct and indirect environmental impacts of the completion of the Single European Market, both internally and with respect to the Rest of the World. Moreover, the principles of environmental policy are described. The main conclusion is that if the European Community and the member states develop effective and efficient policy instruments the positive effects of the completion of the Single Market could substantially outweigh the negative impacts.     

山东高校科技成果转化现状与对策

本文通过对山东高校“八五”期间科技成果转化状况的调查分析，指出了来自工厂企业、学校内部以及宏观管理体制三个方面的制约因素，并密切联系科技经济发展的需要，提出了进一步加强和改善高校科技成果转化工作的对策建议。