Output‐based rebating of carbon taxes in a neighbour's backyard: Competitiveness,leakage and welfare

We investigate how, in an open economy, carbon taxes combined with output‐based rebating (OBR) perform in interaction with the carbon policies of a large neighbouring trading partner. Analytical results suggest that, whether the purpose of the OBR policy is to compensate firms for carbon tax burdens or to maximize welfare (accounting for global emission reductions), the OBR rate should be positive in policy‐relevant cases. Numerical simulations for Canada, with the US as the neighbouring trading partner, indicate that the impact of US policies on the OBR rate will depend crucially on the purpose of the Canadian OBR policies. If, for a given US carbon policy, Canada's aim is to restore the competitiveness of domestic emission‐intensive and trade‐exposed (EITE) firms to the same level as before the introduction of its own carbon taxation, we find that the necessary domestic OBR rates will be insensitive to the foreign carbon policies. However, if not only the Canadian carbon tax but also an equally high US tax is introduced, compensatory Canadian OBR rates will be up to 50% lower, depending on the sector and on US OBR policy. If the policy objective is to increase economy‐wide allocative efficiency (welfare) of Canadian policies by accounting for carbon leakage, the US policies will have only a minor downward pressure on desirable OBR rates in Canada. Practical choices of OBR rates hardly affect overall domestic economic performance; thus, output‐based rebating qualifies as an instrument for compensating EITE industries without a large sacrifice in terms of economy‐wide allocative efficiency.     

Top management team incentive heterogeneity,strategic investment behavior,and performance: A contingency theory of incentive alignment

Research summary : We develop and test a contingency theory of the influence of top management team (TMT) performance‐contingent incentives on manager–shareholder interest alignment. Our results support our theory by showing that although TMTs engage in significantly higher levels of acquisition investment when their average incentive levels increase, investors' responses to those large investments are generally negative. More importantly, however, we further find that within‐TMT incentive heterogeneity conditions that effect, such that investors evaluate TMTs' large acquisition investments more positively as the variance in those top managers' incentive values increases. Thus, within‐TMT incentive heterogeneity appears to increase manager–shareholder interest alignment, in the context of large acquisition investments. Managerial summary : We find that as the average value of TMTs' incentives increase, relative to their total pay, they invest more in acquisitions and investors' respond negatively to the announcement of those deals. However, we further show that investors respond more positively to acquisitions announced by TMTs whose members' incentive values vary (some TMT members hold higher incentives and others hold lower). Results imply that when TMT members hold differing incentives levels, they approach investments from divergent perspectives, scrutinize those investments more heavily, and make better decisions, relative to TMTs with similar incentives. They also suggest that boards seeking tighter manager–shareholder interest alignment may benefit from introducing variance into TMT members' incentive structures, as doing so appears to create divergent preferences that can improve team decision making. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wie eine Finanztransaktionssteuer funktionieren kann

Die Finanztransaktionssteuer wird zumindest in Deutschland immer popul?rer. Nachdem sie lange nur von Kapitalismuskritikern gefordert wurde, fi nden sie auch unter den Mitgliedern der Euro-Zone immer mehr Anh?nger. In diesem Beitrag werden verschiedene Ans?tze diskutiert, wie eine solche Steuer ausgestaltet werden k?nnte.     

Automatic transfer payments to developing countries

As a more critical view is being taken of traditional development aid concepts, alternative means of advancing the resource transfer between industrialized and developing countries have attracted increasing attention in recent years. A system of tendentially automated transfer payments to developing countries is one of these alternatives. The author of the following article examines whether such a system has a chance of meeting common interests of industrialized and developing countries and how it could be elaborated to make it more effective.     

The diffusion of e-participation in public administrations: A systematic literature review

Research on e-participation has grown significantly in the last years. This review focuses on public administrations, which are central actors in the solicitation and organization of e-participation and in the process of diffusion of more democratic decision-making in government contexts. However, research indicates that public administrations often struggle with technological and organizational changes, which suggests that e-participation initiatives may fail due to barriers within public administrations. Although researchers have paid considerable attention to the diffusion of e-participation in public administrations, research so far is multi-disciplinary and fragmented. The aim of this literature review is to structure and systematize the literature regarding phases of e-participation diffusion (adoption, implementation and institutionalization) and levels of analysis (micro, meso, and macro) to map the extant field of e-participation diffusion research and to provide a starting point for future research. The analysis shows that research has concentrated on the phases of adoption and implementation, and on the external context of public administrations (macro) and the organizational (meso) level. Overall, the review identifies major research gaps and offers avenues for future research.     

Designing a European restructuring mechanism without taxpayers’ money

The European Commission’s approach to the supervision and restructuring of the EU banking system has numerous shortcomings. As an alternative, this article proposes a European Resolution Authority and a European Restructuring Fund for systemically important banks and the implementation of a levy paid by banks in accordance with their systemic relevance. This levy should be designed to reduce the risk of future bailouts and the moral hazard inherent in implicit government guarantees.     

Towards a European Recovery Programme for the crisis countries

Austerity measures alone will not suffice to generate the growth needed for recovery in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy. A European Recovery Programme is necessary to stimulate growth through structural reforms and fiscal stimulus. This contribution describes policy areas where non-fiscal instruments are required to boost growth and identifies fields where public and private expenditures can generate significant positive spillovers for the economy or pave the way for new growth potentials.     

Der Dauerstreit um Chinas Währungspolitik

China hat im Juni angekündigt, seine starre W?hrungspolitik zu lockern. Die chinesische Zentralbank l?sst aber wohl auch künftig nur geringfügige ?nderungen des Wechselkurses zu. Die M?glichkeiten des IWF, der WTO oder einzelner Staaten dieser W?hrungspolitik entgegenzutreten, werden hier erl?utert.