Finance and economic growth - a review of theory and the available evidence.

The EU's structural reform agenda attaches a considerable weight to the establishment of efficiently working and integrated EU financial markets. While there is a firm consensus that a well-functioning financial sector is a precondition for the efficient allocation of resources and the exploitation of an economy's growth potential, the economic literature is less consensual on how and to what extent finance affects economic growth.  This paper reviews the economic theory and available evidence with particular focus on three questions:  how does financial development affect economic growth;  what are the features of a growth supportive financial structure;  how are financial structures related to structural change and technical progress? financial development, economic growth, financial structures, structural change,technical progress

Efficient allocation of property rights on the planet Mars

This paper examines the need to foster competition in the exploration of the solar system through the motivation of private profit, in contrast to the concepts of communal ownership of space resources as expressed in international treaty law. This paper draws upon recent US governmental policy outlining the objective of exploring and ultimately colonizing the planet Mars. This paper suggests a principle of geographically limited ownership on the Mars based on the historic concept of first possession

International Research Project on Job Retention and Return to Work Strategies for Disabled Workers: Key Issues

[From Preface] The International Research Project on Job Retention and Return to Work Strategies for Disabled Workers breaks new ground by examining the inter-relationships of public and enterprise policies and practices as they affect the retention and return to work of disabled workers. The enquiry encompasses public policies to promote employment of disabled people; benefit and compensation programmes; employment support and rehabilitation services; provision to adapt work and workplace; and measures developed and implemented by the enterprise. The Project aims not only to identify successful policies and practices which are transferable from one country to another but also to inform the development of effective, efficient and equitable job retention and return to work strategies for disabled workers. The ultimate objective is to develop strategies which can be put into effect in the workplace

What is Product-Service Systems (PSS)? A Review on PSS Researches and Relevant Policies

In order to achieve sustainable society, it is necessary to transform industrial structure to the one that does not reduce the Earth's resources. Under this circumstance, a business model of "not selling goods, but selling services" has been expected as a measure of co-existence of business and the environment. This idea, which is called as "Product-Service Systems: PSS" or "Servicizing" etc., has been studied in Europe, the United States and international organisations, and is now studied in Japan. However, the idea of PSS is still not effectively used for policy development.One of the major reasons is that PSS concept itself is under-developed. Under the unclear concept of PSS, researchers are working towards more scientific understanding while policy makers are trying to develop new policy measures, and there is confusion in those communities. In order to develop policy measures, it is necessary to make clear the position of PSS in socio-economic system. This paper overviews previous PSS researches and relevant policy measures conducted in Japan, the US and EU, and tries to grasp the context of researches and policy activities and to find out the agenda of the current status. The characteristics of PSS rest on the innovative relationship between producer and consumer. However, PSS researches are stuck at measurement of environmental loads, and relevant policies tend to be rest on the ones targeting producers. In order to get out of this situation, it is necessary to ask question what is PSS and to make it clear where PSS can be positioned in socio-economic system. PSS is important, because PSS has an element of creating sufficiency as well as eco-efficiency. It is recommended that PSS concept needs to be examined as a research effort, and environmentally sound product policy needs to be systematically organised

SMEs in Focus : Exploring the experience of micro, small and medium enterprise owners in Malta

Report commissioned by the Ministry for Fair Competition, Small Business and Consumers in 2011. In-depth qualitative interviews were carried out on a purposive sample of business owners (n=31) to explore the relational dynamics at the root of doing business. Analysis focuses on two key intersections across macro/micro dimensions: the interface between the State and the Individual; and also that between the Market and the Individual enterprise. Key themes: Entrepreneurial motivation; Process of Process of ‘Rationalisation’ and ‘Regulation’; Enterprise owners’ perceived burdens/assets; Influence of family and gender; Collaboration and CompetitionMinistry for Fair Competition, Small Business and Consumerspeer-reviewe

Review of employment and skills: April 2011

"This Review has its foundation in the Leitch Report published in 2006, which recommended the development of an “integrated employment and skills service to help people meet the challenges of the modern labour market” and for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills to report on the changes required to deliver integrated services. The UK Commission’s 2010-11 Grant in Aid Letter required: “The continuation of a Review that has as its focus progress on integrating employment and skills systems”. This report covers England only. There will be separate reporting for Wales and Scotland after the elections in May 2011." - Page 5

Innovation incentives and the design of value networks

Participation in value networks is vital for companies as competition has moved increasingly to the level of company networks. Consequently, the growing complexity of the globally networked business environment necessitates the use of supportive tools in the management of network relations. This Dissertation studies the value networks from two perspectives. First, as companies expect a return on their contributions to the network, the Dissertation constructs profit-sharing rules that serve as innovation incentives for the network partners. Second, the Dissertation builds models for the identification of network synergies in partner selection. The developments rest on game theory, transaction cost theory, and multi-criteria decision analysis. The results are normative in that the developed models give insight to decision-makers at three levels: (i) the company decision-maker wants to optimise the company's participation in various networks, (ii) the network decision-maker needs to incentivate the network partners to contribute to the network, and (iii) the policy-maker aims to construct socially optimal instruments for the innovation system. Overall, the use of jointly agreed profit-sharing rules and synergetic partnerships supports the attempts to reduce transaction costs, offering benefits to the firms who participate in value networks

Russia in Transition

The history of transition in Russia is analyzed in this paper. Issues ranging from managerial incentives to the changing structure of trade are considered in an attempt to present a comprehensive sketch of the state of the Russian economy. The transition in Russia can be compared with demobilization. Demobilization process is often accompanied by large output declines. For instance, during the post World War II demobilization the US GNP declined by 25%. In light of this, the great contraction of the Russian economy does not appear to be a major outlier when the militaristic nature of the Soviet economy is taken into account. We point out a previously unexplored factor detrimental for incentives of Russian managers, which we call soft taxation. Soft taxation is a free market analog of soft-budget constraints. Due to the inefficiency of institutions, managers have an incentive to take costly actions in order to signal that the profitability of the firm is low. Also, we suggest a few indices of aggregate economic shocks including one based on the structure of foreign trade. The values of the indices of aggregate shocks for the Russian economy are compared to those of several other countries. The data seem to indicate that the changes in the structure of Russian trade have been far greater than in non-transition economies. However, other indices of economic adjustment do not paint a picture of a rapid transition.