‘An Incomplete Contract Approach to Eurozone Fiscal Governance’ – Commitment vs. Flexibility

In this paper, we take an incomplete contract approach to Eurozone Fiscal Governance between the European Commission (EC) and any heavily debt member state, Greece in particular. Incomplete contract approach makes possible to put a long process of Eurozone Fiscal Governance into an extensive form game in which a renegotiation procedure is incorporated. We theoretically reveal the conflict of interests between the EC (Germany) and Greece over the Greek debt repayment plan proposed in 2015. We show that the Greek’s position is consistent with incomplete contract theory, but that the EC (Germany) does not allow the renegotiation for restructuring for growth-oriented debt repayment program proposed by the Greek government because the EC (Germany) judges that the commitment effect (on fiscal austerity) is greater than the flexibility one (pro-growth effect). This will undoubtedly provide a novel and interesting approach to Eurozone Fiscal Governance.     

Finite-dimensional utilities

Summary. Sufficient axioms are identified for the existence of a finite- dimensional quasilinear utility function whose lexicographically ordered vectors preserve a decision maker's preference order on a mixture set . It is shown that those axioms are also necessary for the linear lexicographic representation when the underlying set is a mixture space. Received: August 20, 1998; revised version: December 14, 1998     

Reflexive Organizing for Knowledge Sharing: An Ethnomethodological Study of Service Technicians

This study examines how organizing is done reflexively through practice in the context of knowledge sharing. Organizing concerns reduction of equivocality and sensemaking so that actions can be interpreted and coordinated. Reflexivity refers to the fact that this organizing is done through talk, and that talk is an action that requires organizing. To examine how this reflexive organizing is accomplished, detailed analysis of video‐recorded interactions among photocopier service technicians revealed various interactional methods to make actions of requesting and offering assistance understandable and relevant. To explain these methods, Goffman's concept of embedding is applied. By embedding other social situations in the current talk, one can project a certain sense of one's talk. This reflexive organizing clarifies that organizing is part of, not separate from, any practice and that knowledge sharing is accomplished not through a retrospective narrative but through reflexive construction of the situation in which talk is made possible.     

The Impact of the International Coffee Agreement on Producing Countries

Simulations of a global coffee model incorporating a vintagecapital approach to production are run. Over the recent periodof operation of the International Coffee Agreement's exportquota system, the authors find that the quota system had a stabilizingeffect on world coffee prices. The quotas reduced real exportrevenues for most small exporting countries, but large producersgained. Most small countries gained, however, in terms of riskreduction. If a brief suspension of the quota occurs from timeto time, caused, for example, by adverse weather which resultsin a shortfall in world supply, the quota system works likea buffer stock scheme; on average, producing countries as awhole lose transfer benefits but gain risk benefits.     

Factor price equalization and a factor offer analysis of international trade

This paper presents a general equilibrium analysis of international trade which exploits the univalence condition of the factor price equalization theorem to derive such concepts as factor trade indifference curves, factor offer curves, and factoral terms of trade in the factor space, parallel to the traditional development in the commodity space. The analysis accommodates some instances of variable factor supplies. It also serves to synthesize the comparative statics of factor growth in the standard two-factor as well as the multi-factor models of trade.     

Major Psychological Factors Affecting Acceptance of New Breeding Techniques for Crops

New plant biotechnologies called new breeding techniques (NBT), which will follow the present genetically modified (GM) technology, have appeared and are attracting attention worldwide. The first purpose of this study was to show consumer attitudes toward traditional plant breeding, GM, and NBT crops. The second purpose was to verify the validity of a psychological model determining the acceptance of NBT crops. A survey was conducted in Japan with 657 randomly selected adult participants. The results showed that perceived risk, perceived benefit, trust, sense of bioethics, anxiety, and anger play an important role in the personal and public acceptance of NBT and indicated that trust and anxiety are especially important factors in both situations.     

Welfare implications of commodity price stabilization with partially flexible production,private storage and buffer-stock costs

Zusammenfassung Wohlfahrtsimplikationen einer Stabilisierung der Güterpreise bei partiell flexibler Produktion, privater Lagerhaltung und Kosten einer buffer-stock-Politik. - In diesem Aufsatz wird die traditionelle Literatur von Waugh-Oi-Massell zur Stabilisierung der Güterpreise auf ein Modell mit rationalen Erwartungen ausgedehnt, das eine partiell flexible Produktion, eine private Lagerhaltung zu Wettbewerbsbedingungen und die Kosten der Stabilisierungsbeh?rde für ihre buffer-stock-Politik umfa\t. Die Stabilisierung der Preise verbessert die Wohlfahrt jeder Gruppe, wenn die St?rungen im eigenen Bereich auftreten, vermindert aber die Wohlfahrt, wenn die St?rungen die Nachfrage oder das Angebot anderer Gruppen betreffen. Der private Sektor insgesamt gewinnt unzweideutig von der Preisstabilisierung, w?hrend die Stabilisierungsbeh?rden immer verlieren. Die Preisstabilisierung mag vielleicht die gesamte Gesellschaft (d.h. den privaten und den ?ffentlichen Sektor) einige Zeit besserstellen, im Endergebnis dürfte sie aber einen Verlust an potentieller sozialer Wohlfahrt verursachen.

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Résumé Des implications de bien-être d’une stabilisation de prix avec production partiellement flexible, stockage privé et co?ts de stock régulateur. - Cet article étend la littérature traditionnelle de Waugh-Oi-Massell sur la stabilisation de prix à un modèle d’expectative rationnelle qui inclut une production partiellement flexible, un stockage privé compétitif et des co?ts des autorités pour les opérations de stock régulateur. Une stabilisation de prix améliore le bien-être de chaque groupe, si les perturbances se passent dans leurs domains, mais elle réduit le bien-être si les perturbances affectuent la demande ou l’offre d’autres groupes. Le secteur privé en ensemble gagne sans aucun doute de la stabilité de prix pendant que les autorités de stabilisation perdent toujours. Une stabilisation de prix pourrait améliorer la situation de la société entière (c.-à.-d. les secteurs privés et publiques) pour quelque temps, mais éventuellement pourrait générer une perte de bien-être potentiel social.

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Resumen Implicaciones para el bienestar de la estabilización de precios de materias primas bajo productión parcialmente flexible, almacenamiento privado y costos de buffer stocks. - Este trabajo extiende el modelo traditional de Waugh-Oi-Massell de estabilización de precios de materias primas a uno de expectativas racionales con production parcialmente flexible, almacenamiento privado competitivo y costos de operaciones buffer stock. La estabilización de precios aumenta el bienestar de cada grupo con respecte a sus propias perturbaciones y reduce el bienestar con respecte a perturbaciones que inciden sobre la demanda o la oferta de otros grupos. El sector privado claramente gana con precios estables, mientras que las autoridades responsables de la estabilización siempre pierden. La estabilización podría mejorar el bienestar de la sociedad entera (o sea de los sectores privado y estatal) por un eierte tiempo, mas posiblemente daría lugar a una pérdida potencial de bienestar social.