Corruption,workforce selection and mismatch in the public sector

We examine the impact of corruption on workforce selection and personnel allocation in the public sector. Using Italian data, we find that the selection of public employees in terms of human capital worsens in comparison to that of their private sector counterparts in areas with higher levels of corruption. Moreover, corruption is associated with educational mismatch in the allocation of human resources and, in particular, with an increase in the rate of under-qualification. These results are robust to several alternative indicators and specifications, including IV estimation using past dependence on public spending and the historical relevance of foreign domination as exogenous sources of variation for current corruption.     

Fiscal transparency,government effectiveness and government spending efficiency: Some international evidence based on panel data approach

The global financial crisis and the debt crisis of the EU countries revealed serious weaknesses in fiscal reporting. As a consequence, uncertainties regarding the real situation of the public accounts of the countries raised doubts in relation to the effectiveness of government policies. Since then, countries are undertaking reforms in order to improve fiscal transparency. This paper analyzes whether countries are making efforts to enhance fiscal transparency, and whether fiscal transparency affects government effectiveness and government spending efficiency. We consider two channels through which this effect occurs. The first channel is indirect and it works through public debt. The second channel is the direct effect that transparency has on government effectiveness and government spending efficiency once transparency enhances accountability and thus the task of resource allocation. We use a sample of 82 countries (68 developing and 14 developed) for the period 2006–2014, and panel data analysis. Comparing the scores of fiscal transparency between 2006 and 2014, we observe that approximately 80 per cent of the countries made efforts to improve fiscal transparency. The results suggest fiscal transparency is important to reduce public debt and to improve government effectiveness and government spending efficiency.     

Can Empathy Explain Gender Differences in Economic Policy Views in the United States?

This paper shows that different levels of empathy of men and women explain the well-documented gender differences in interventionist government economic policy views in the United States. Using the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to measure empathy, the study finds that more empathic people support more interventionist policies. While greater empathy leads both men and women to support more government action, there is no gender difference in the effects of empathy on policy views. When policy views are separated by area, gender differences on policies concerning poverty, inequality, and social welfare disappear once empathy is accounted for, though they persist in views on free markets.     

PUBLIC INVESTMENT,TAXATION AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

A low‐wage developing economy (South) is interested in accessing and attracting superior technology from a high‐wage developed economy (North) with firms having heterogeneous quality of technology. To improve upon the initial market equilibrium, which shows that relatively inefficient technologies will move to the South, the host government invests in infrastructure financed through taxing the foreign firms. We discuss the problem of existence of such a tax‐transfer mechanism within a balanced budget framework. We argue that such a policy can increase tax revenue as well as instigate the transfer of better quality technology. It turns out that this policy is more likely to be successful when the production concerns high‐value, high‐price products in low‐wage economies. Our results improve upon the conventional strategy of a tax break.     

Bargaining in distribution channels

This study empirically assesses the impact two fundamental dimensions of distribution channels have on channel member bargaining behavior, namely, (1) the expected duration of the channel bargaining relationship and (2) the channel member dependence on the bargaining. The following findings were observed from a laboratory study using 160 business students: low dependence produced fewer bargaining sessions ending in agreement compared to high dependence among buyer-seller dyads. Low dependence bargainers made more extreme initial offers, conceded less, and used the pronoun we less than did high dependence bargainers. The sellers emerged better off than the buyers from the negotiations. Sellers achieved this advantage by making more extreme initial offers than buyers, conceding more than buyers, but emerging with the better deal.     

Public Debt,Economic Growth and Inflation in African Economies

We analyse the relationship between public debt, economic growth and inflation in a group of 52 African economies between 1950 and 2012. The results indicate that the limits of public debt are negatively related to economic growth and exhibit, from a given level of debt, an inverted U behaviour regarding the relationship between economic growth and public debt. Briefly, the high levels of public debt are coincident with reduced rates of economic growth and rising levels of inflation. Our results for three specific geographical areas resemble those of the overall analysis, despite some differences. In North African countries, the growth rates of the gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation also show an inverted U behaviour as the ratio of public debt/GDP increases. The highest rate of economic growth is recorded when the ratio of public debt/GDP is below 30% of GDP and corresponds to an average inflation rate of 5.33%. An identical behaviour of the GDP growth rates and inflation also appears in Sub‐Saharan countries until the third interval (60–90%). However, the highest growth rate of the GDP and GDP per capita is registered when the public debt/GDP ratio is in the second interval (30–60%). For the countries of the Southern Africa Development Community, the highest average rate of economic growth (6.8%) is similar to North African countries, when the ratio public debt/GDP is below 30% of GDP, with an average inflation rate of 11%. A number of robustness analyses were performed and the great majority of them confirm the general analysis.     

The influence of power strategies in AIS implementation processes

This study is based on a longitudinal in-depth case study, conducted in a Portuguese public-sector organization, where the accountants adopted a strategic business partner role and promoted the implementation of two new accounting information systems (AIS), under the context of increasing business competition. Given their role, we examined how the implementation processes of such AIS were influenced by the accountants’ power strategies, adopting an organizational power narrative inquiry grounded on the four power dimensions proposed in Hardy’s (1996) framework: power over resources, power over decision-making processes, power over meanings and power of the system. As a result, this study contributes to the literature available on AIS by discussing the strategic business partner role of (management) accountants in a specific case; and by offering new insights into AIS research under the topic of accounting change through the exercise of power. Our research also contributes to the literature on organizational power by providing theoretical developments to Hardy’s (1996) power framework.     

“单身经济”的舆论场视角探析——自我、权力、异化

“单身经济”作为一种流行经济趋势,愈发展现其独特性和竞争力,给社会生产生活造成重要影响。舆论场是人们意见交锋、沟通借鉴的一种时空环境,处于舆论场效应中的大众往往会受到其中有关舆论的辐射带动,从而作用于本我。以舆论场视角为主线,对当前方兴未艾的单身经济做出一定的梳理和展望,有助于明晰单身经济的形态架构,可以获得一些多维度、深层次的启示,利于人们重新审视“单身经济”,以期明确自身定位、“勇立时代潮头”。     

A market-financed and growth-enhancing investment plan for the euro area

In this paper, we analyze the problem of public debt-to-GDP stability in the Eurozone. We suggest that a feasible solution might be the realization of a market-financed, growth-enhancing investment program, which would be particularly welcome because of the positive short- and long-term repercussions it would have on GDP growth and the stabilizing effects on interest rates. Some simulations allow us to quantify these effects. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic further reinforce our policy implications in terms of public debt sustainability.     

疫情如何影响企业发展预期?——基于压力传导机制的实证研究

公共卫生事件对企业微观经济行为的影响尚未引起足够的关注。立足于中国当前的疫情背景和制度环境,本文利用最新的“企业开工力”问卷调查数据,考察了新冠肺炎疫情对企业发展预期的影响和机制。研究发现,疫情降低了企业在未来开展经济行为的意愿;机制分析表明,紧张的现金流是疫情降低企业行动意愿的重要途径,具体表现为疫情分别通过提高来自现金流、违约金、还付贷款和员工工资等方面的资金支付压力,进而降低企业的发展预期。进一步分析表明,企业在疫情爆发前的活跃程度越高、所在市级地区的营商环境越好,疫情对企业发展预期的负向影响会越强;而且,疫情与企业发展预期间的关系在不同程度上受到企业所在地区疫情状况以及企业产权性质、所属产业类别等异质性因素的影响。在使用一系列稳健性检验后,上述结论依然稳健。本研究将企业经济行为的影响因素拓展至公共卫生安全领域,不仅揭示了公共卫生事件影响企业经济行为的微观机理,而且还为疫情防控下政府出台扶持企业相关政策提供了决策参考。