The group of G20: Trials of global governance in times of crisis

In spite of the disappointing outcome of some recent summits, notably the most recent in Cannes, the G20 is and should remain the cornerstone of the global financial architecture. Its record of performance in the last three years, reviewed in this paper, is mixed but not as unambiguously negative as critics have said. However, its effectiveness as a decision-maker has diminished over time. Enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of the G20 will require time and action on several fronts, including greater involvement and stronger commitment on the part of political leaders, better internal organisation and the development of a shared mission. Ignazio Angeloni is the editor of the G20 Monitor.

Broad-Based Asset Management Programs

Dealing with high levels of nonperforming assets (NPAs) on bank balance sheets is one of the most challenging aspects of financial crisis management. High levels of NPAs can interfere with both bank profitability and general economic growth by increasing uncertainty about bank solvency and therefore funding costs, tying up resources and attention, and inhibiting new lending. One potential solution to the NPA problem is a centralized, government-driven effort to remove these assets from troubled institutions and then manage and sell them. Though such broad-based asset management (BBAM) programs existed even earlier in history, they appear to have become more common beginning in the 1980s and 1990s with the shift toward market-based financial systems in Africa, South America, and the former Soviet bloc, as well as with the advent of the Asian Financial Crisis. They were also a feature of the response to the Global Financial Crisis. While BBAM programs have been widely used, whether or not such a program makes sense to address a given situation is highly context-specific, and special attention must be paid to the incentives of those involved. Important considerations include the political and legal context in which the program will operate, the nature and extent of the NPAs to be managed, and the availability of the necessary expertise. There is also evidence to suggest that BBAM programs are ineffective in isolation and must be coupled with recapitalization

The Governance of Disease Outbreaks

This edited volume is directed at experts in international law, practitioners in international institutions, and other experts who would like to familiarize themselves with the legal framework of infectious disease governance. Using the West African Ebola crisis as a case study, this book is part of a larger collaborative project on international health governance. Project partners are the Forschungsstätte der Evangelischen Studiengemeinschaft e.V. - Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL). The authors explain the context and substantive legal framework of the Ebola crisis, while also highlighting its human rights aspects, institutional law (such as the debate on the securitization of health), and the limits to a purely legal approach to the subject. The authors are experts in public international law, public health, political science, and anthropology. With contributions by: Elif Askin, Susan L. Erikson, André den Exter, Robert Frau, Wolfgang Hein, Bonnie Kaiser, Hunter Keys, Michael Marx, Edefe Ojomo, Ilja Richard Pavone, Mateja Steinbrück Platise, Christian R. Thauer, Leonie Vierck, Pedro A. Villarreal, A. Katarina Weilert. Der Sammelband richtet sich an ein Fachpublikum von Völkerrechtlern, Praktikern in internationalen Institutionen und anderen Experten, die sich mit den rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen der internationalen Governance ansteckender Krankheiten vertraut machen möchten. Fallbeispiel ist die Ebola-Krise in Westafrika. Der Band geht aus einem breiter angelegten Heidelberger Kooperationsprojekt zur „International Health Governance“ der Forschungsstätte der Evangelischen Studiengemeinschaft e.V. - Institut für interdisziplinäre Forschung (FEST) und des Max-Planck-Instituts für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (MPIL) hervor. Die Autoren beleuchten Kontext und materiellen Rechtsrahmen des Themas, auch unter Hervorhebung menschenrechtlicher Bezüge, institutionelles Recht („Gesundheit als Sicherheitsrisiko?“) sowie die Grenzen eines genuin rechtlichen Ansatzes. Die Autoren sind den Disziplinen Völkerrecht, Public Health, Politikwissenschaften und Anthropologie zuzuordnen. Mit Beiträgen von: Elif Askin, Susan L. Erikson, André den Exter, Robert Frau, Wolfgang Hein, Bonnie Kaiser, Hunter Keys, Michael Marx, Edefe Ojomo, Ilja Richard Pavone, Mateja Steinbrück Platise, Christian R. Thauer, Leonie Vierck, Pedro A. Villarreal, A. Katarina Weilert

The trajectory of regulatory reform in the UK in the wake of the financial crisis

There has been much talk about regulatory reform around the world in the wake of the financial crisis but relatively little action. As a major international financial centre, the UK is very much at the heart of the debate and has a particular interest in the ultimate outcome. The financial crisis has exposed the weaknesses of ‘light touch’ regulation and ‘principles-based’ regulation, which characterised the UK system in the pre-crisis phase. Changes to the institutional structure of regulation recently announced by the new coalition government, combined with changes to regulatory style, are likely to have far-reaching consequences for the practice and intensity of regulation in the UK. This article reviews and assesses recent and proposed regulatory changes and considers the relationship between corporate governance and regulation. It evaluates the impact on the UK system of initiatives undertaken at international and EC levels as well as various interests and incentives within the UK that are likely to be influential in shaping the regulatory regime in years to come

Construction management abstracts : cumulative abstracts and indexes of journals in construction management, 1983-2000

The purpose of this document is to provide a single source of reference for every paper published in the journals directly related to research in Construction Management. It is indexed by author and keyword and contains the titles, authors, abstracts and keywords of every article from the following journals: • Building Research and Information (BRI) • Construction Management and Economics (CME) • Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management (ECAM) • Journal of Construction Procurement (JCP) • Journal of Construction Research (JCR) • Journal of Financial Management in Property and Construction (JFM) • RICS Research Papers (RICS) The index entries give short forms of the bibliographical citations, rather than page numbers, to enable annual updates to the abstracts. Each annual update will carry cumulative indexes, so that only one index needs to be consulted

The future of Cybersecurity in Italy: Strategic focus area

This volume has been created as a continuation of the previous one, with the aim of outlining a set of focus areas and actions that the Italian Nation research community considers essential. The book touches many aspects of cyber security, ranging from the definition of the infrastructure and controls needed to organize cyberdefence to the actions and technologies to be developed to be better protected, from the identification of the main technologies to be defended to the proposal of a set of horizontal actions for training, awareness raising, and risk management

The Ambivalence of Power in the Twenty-First Century Economy

The Ambivalence of Power in the Twenty-First Century Economy contributes to the understanding of the ambivalent nature of power, oscillating between conflict and cooperation, public and private, global and local, formal and informal, and does so from an empirical perspective. It offers a collection of country-based cases, as well as critically assesses the existing conceptions of power from a cross-disciplinary perspective. The diverse analyses of power at the macro, meso or micro levels allow the volume to highlight the complexity of political economy in the twenty-first century. Each chapter addresses key elements of that political economy (from the ambivalence of the cases of former communist countries that do not conform with the grand narratives about democracy and markets, to the dual utility of new technologies such as face-recognition), thus providing mounting evidence for the centrality of an understanding of ambivalence in the analysis of power, especially in the modern state power-driven capitalism. Anchored in economic sociology and political economy, this volume aims to make ‘visible’ the dimensions of power embedded in economic practices. The chapters are predominantly based on post-communist practices, but this divergent experience is relevant to comparative studies of how power and economy are interrelated

System of Tax Law

This contribution deals with the system of tax law. The main aim of the contribution is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis that there is a system of tax law. This can be really tough as in Central and Eastern European countries just a few legal schools accepts tax law as an independent branch of law. If the hypothesis is confirmed, the task is to describe and characterise the system of tax law using the knowledge from the legal theory and other branches of law in the Czech Republic and experience of tax law experts from the other countries in the Central and Eastern European region. Author will use the scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison. "This is a targeted publication on the one topic (Financial Law). It has been requested for inclusion in WOS."Příspěvek se zabývá systémem daňového práva. Jeho hlavním cílem je potvrzení nebo vyvrácení hypotézy, že systém daňového práva existuje. To může být v podmínkách zemí střední a východní Evropy skutečně obtížné, neboť jen velmi málo právních škol akceptuje daňové právo jako samostatné odvětví práva. Pokud je základní hypotéza potvrzena, je nezbytné popsat a charakterizovat systém daňového práva za využití poznatků právní teorie a dalších právních odvětví v ČR a zkušeností expertů na daňové právo z jiných zemí střední a východní Evropy. Autor užívá zejména metod analýzy, syntézy a komparace. "Jedná se o zacílenou publikaci na jedno téma (finacial law). Bylo požádáno na zařazení do WOS."This contribution deals with the system of tax law. The main aim of the contribution is to confirm or disprove the hypothesis that there is a system of tax law. This can be really tough as in Central and Eastern European countries just a few legal schools accepts tax law as an independent branch of law. If the hypothesis is confirmed, the task is to describe and characterise the system of tax law using the knowledge from the legal theory and other branches of law in the Czech Republic and experience of tax law experts from the other countries in the Central and Eastern European region. Author will use the scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges