An empirical analysis of disinvestment policy in India: does ideology matter?

Using panel data estimation for limited dependent variables and sample selection models, we identify political, industry specific, firm specific and macroeconomic variables which influenced the decision to divest central public enterprises in India between 1991–2010. We find that higher partial privatization is driven by a more right-winged coalition, lower ideological spread in the coalition and lower ideological difference between the center and the state in which the public enterprise is located. We also find that after the government selects larger, more experienced and more profitable firms, it divests the relatively less experienced and less profitable firms to a larger extent.     

The effects of bureaucracy on political accountability and electoral selection

This paper examines how bureaucracy affects political accountability and electoral selection, using a three-tier political agency model consisting of voters, politicians and bureaucrats. In the model’s hierarchy, politicians are constrained by elections while bureaucrats are controlled by budgets. If voters and bureaucrats prefer different types of politicians (i.e. they have a conflict of interests), incumbents pass oversized budgets to prevent bureaucrats from engaging in strategic behaviours that damage incumbents’ reputations. If, instead, voters and bureaucrats prefer the same type of politicians (i.e. they have an alignment of interests), bureaucrats cannot obtain a concession from politicians. In the latter case, however, bureaucrats send voters a credible signal regarding an incumbent’s type, which improves electoral selection. This paper also shows that political appointment systems improve political accountability in the conflict-of-interests case while they weaken electoral selection in the alignment-of-interests case.     

Is globalisation undermining the welfare state?

This paper analyses the evolution of the welfare states in themajority of OECD countries during the pre-globalisation (1946–80)and globalisation (1980–2000) periods. Our purpose isto find out whether globalisation has produced a convergencetowards a smaller welfare state, funded increasingly by non-mobilefactors such as labour, property and consumption rather thanby mobile factors such as capital. The data presented here challengethe claims about such a convergence, showing that social publicexpenditures and public employment have continued to expandduring the globalisation period in most OECD countries. We alsoshow that the welfare states remain rooted in the politicaltraditions that have governed them.     

Phoenix rising: Legal reforms and changes in valuations in Finland during the economic crisis

Finland experienced an extremely severe economic depression in the early 1990s. As a part of the government's crisis management policies, significant new legislation was passed that increased supervisory powers of financial market regulators and reformed bankruptcy procedures significantly decreasing the protection of creditors. We show that the introduction of these new laws resulted in positive abnormal stock returns. The new laws also lead to increases in firms’ Tobin's q, especially for more levered firms. In contrast to previous studies, our results also suggest that public supervision of financial markets fosters rather than hampers financial market development.     

Marketing of competence: Exploring the resource-based content of value-for-customers through a case study analysis

In this article, we propose a competence-based view of value-for-customer in business markets. While literature in both strategy and marketing has provided many insights to understand the competence-based roots of value creation, the interface between the two areas is still largely unexplored. Moreover, while the notions of competence exchange and value creation feature strongly in the relational perspective, they occur only once relationships have been established. This begs the question whether competencies could be developed outside established relationships, and then marketed to guide customers' buying behavior. Basing on three case studies from the yarn manufacturing, IT systems, and automotive components industries, we identify key features of competence-based marketing: the alignment of supplier's competencies with the customer's business processes, the experiential communication of supplier's competencies, and the delivery of competencies to the buyer's business processes. Within the strategies for creating value-for-customers, these findings contribute to the understanding of the use of competencies to induce purchases.     

Theoretical activity in sustainable tourism research

There is growing recognition in tourism and sustainable tourism research of the need for a fuller engagement in theoretical activity. The paper examines how different research strategies in recent articles on sustainable tourism have advanced theoretical understanding in this research field. The articles advance thinking through ideas and concepts connected with political ecology, mobilities, transition pathways, and behavioural and systems change. They are evaluated using a typology of research strategies associated with theoretical work, using a broad perspective on this work. The research strategy typology was developed for the paper, and it is explained and illustrated. While the papers on sustainable tourism use a range of strategies associated with theoretical activity, there is only limited engagement with “big” social theories.     

Choice Modelling Approaches: A Superior Alternative for Environmental Valuatioin?

In this paper, we examine some popular 'choice modelling' approaches to environmental valuation, which can be considered as alternatives to more familiar valuation techniques based on stated preferences such as the contingent valuation method. A number of choice modelling methods are consistent with consumer theory, and its focus on an attribute‐based theory of value permits a superior representation of many environmental management contexts. However, choice modelling surveys can place a severe cognitive burden upon respondents and induce satisficing rather than maximising behavioural patterns. In this framework, we seek to identify the best available choice modelling alternative and investigate its potential to 'solve' some of the major biases associated with standard contingent valuation. We then discuss its use in the light of policy appraisal needs within the EU. An application to the demand for rock climbing in Scotland is provided as an illustration.     

自愿出口限制的性质与成因分析

本文以存在剩余劳动的大国和存在政治压力的小国为背景,分析了自愿出口限制(VER)的性质和成因。VER对出口国总是被迫的,是进出口双方力求回避贸易摩擦成本的结果,而厌恶风险的政府对贸易限制结果确定化的要求是VER采取数量限制形式的原因。     

非政府组织——公民政治参与的“领导者”

非政府组织（Non—Government Organizations，缩写为NGO），出现于50年代，兴起于70年代，在过去20年有了飞跃性的发展。如今非政府组织已经渗透到社会生活的方方面面，并且发挥着越来越大的作用。随着世界民主化浪潮波及全球，公民的政治参与成为当代政治生活的重要内容。但是由于种种原因，中国公民的政治参与无论是广度，还是深度都是比较低的，谁能“领导”公民参与政治，非政府组织无疑是最好的领导者!