Evaluating IMF intervention ten years after the Russian crisis: modelling the impact of macroeconomic fundamentals and economic policy

The ongoing global financial crisis has become prominently visible since September 2008. This crisis affected the whole world and enhanced the importance of policy implementation to mitigate financial crises in future. Many academics blamed insufficient domestic regulation as the reason of crises, others pointed to the lack of overseas financial regulation and inappropriate actions by international organizations, such as the IMF and World Bank. This whole discussion encouraged a look back and analyzes of a previous crisis in a small country such as Russia. This paper evidently shows the inefficiency of IMF policy during the Russia Crisis in 1998 by implementing a new monetary balance- of-payment model in Russian data. This model identified the role of macroeconomic fundamentals and international economic policy implications on the likelihood and the timing of the currency crisis in Russia. For the period from December 1995 to December 1998 it was found that, the increase in domestic credit growth gradually undermined confidence in the fixed exchange rate regime. The most dangerous point was at the end of 1998, when the collapse probability was above 90 percent. This result called to doubt the IMF’s July packet 1998 and revealed the political aspects of this financial help

POLICY OF NATIONALISM GUIDANCE THROUGH IN TRADITIONAL MARKET MANAGEMENT IN CENTRAL JAVA

A research on policy nationalism guidance through in traditional markets management in the province of Central Java is implemented in “Pasar Gede Solo” with qualitative methods. The reason for selecting “Pasar Gede Solo” because of Solo City has a lot of cultural heritages that are still held strong until today. The cultural heritage is the local identity. The Local identity can develop into the province identity, then to be the national identity. A strong national identity shows high Nationalism which reflected from loyalty, passion and pride of the nation itself. The number of local identities in “Pasar Gede Solo” is likely to evolve into national identity should be encouraged to preserve the Government's policy to strengthen Indonesia Nationalism

ROLE OF REGIONAL HEAD OF STATE’S ATTITUDES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF FINANCE POLICY ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING STANDARDS IN INDONESIA

ndonesian state financial policies have undergone major changes since the release the Law on State Finance package in 2003 and 2004 as well as the Law on Local Government Package of 2004. The legislation has been set up clearly financial management with a transparent and accountable as well as the financial management in the region from President to the Regional Head. This implies a stronger role of the Regional Head in implementing the financial policy in the local government. The financial policy communication to local governments are often disruption whereby the policy is not communicated clearly and consistently. This study is a single case study for examining the phenomenon in which the object of research is the Semarang City Government as the only one that has been implemented government accounting standards accrual-based policy. In adequately of the financial policy’s communication about implementation of government accounting standards accrual-based policy from the central government to the local government can be overcome by the attitude of the Regional Head avoiding uncertainty (uncertainty avoidance) and has a vision for the future (confucian dynamism) so to encourage the attitude of the staff at the local government and also encourage the emergence of support from external parties to support the implementation of the financial policy of the country

The demand for local bus services in England

This paper examines the demand for local bus services in England. The study is based on a dynamic model relating per capita bus patronage to bus fares, income, and service level, and is estimated using a combination of time-series and cross-section data for English counties. The results indicate that patronage is relatively fare-sensitive, with a wide variation in the elasticities

Firm Location Decisions and Information Needs

A significant portion of Georgia's economic development policy is targeted towards attracting businesses to locate in Georgia. In this process, businesses weigh their alternatives and select a location based on certain criteria. In order for businesses to accurately assess location alternatives, they must have appropriate information to assist in their decision process. In Georgia, a portion of this information comes from the Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and/or another economic development entity within the state. There is a gap in our knowledge, however, about how business prospects considering a location in Georgia perceive both the information that Georgia provides and the incentives that are offered in actual economic development deals. Business prospects include not only actual firms, but also the group of professional site location consultants around the country. In order to place Georgia in its most competitive position as well as to provide the most useful information to business prospects, it is important to understand the viewpoint of business prospects and the prospecting community in their business location decision process. This report documents the information needs of businesses seeking to relocate and perceptions of the usefulness of information provided in that process. Report #9

The practice of discounting in economic evaluations of healthcare interventions

Objectives: Discounting of costs in health-related economic evaluation is generally regarded as uncontroversial, but there is disagreement about discounting health benefits. We sought to explore the current recommendations and practice in health economic evaluations with regard to discounting of costs and benefits. Methods: Recommendations for best practice on discounting for health effects as set out by government agencies, regulatory bodies, learned journals, and leading health economics texts were surveyed. A review of a sample of primary literature on health economic evaluations was undertaken to ascertain the actual current practice on discounting health effects and costs. Results: All of the official sources recommended a positive discount rate for both health effects and costs, and most recommended a specific rate (range, 1% to 8%). The most frequently specified rates were 3% and 5%. A total of 147 studies were reviewed; most of these used a discount rate for health of either 0% (n = 50) or 5% (n = 67). Over 90% of studies used the same discount rate for both health and cost. While 28% used a zero rate for both health and cost, in 64% a nonzero rate was used for both. Studies where the health measure was in natural clinical units (direct) were significantly more likely to have a zero discount rate. Conclusion: The finding that 28% of studies did not discount costs or benefits is surprising and concerning. A lower likelihood of discounting for benefits when they are in natural units may indicate confusion regarding the rationale for discounting health effects

Identifying Opportunities To Inform And Inspire: Tribal Casino Employee Perceptions Of Tribal Self Sufficiency And Philanthropy

While the business case for employee engagement and satisfaction is well documented in the service profit chain and the cost savings of employee retention are easily quantified, the means to achieving these related goals in the casino industry is not well known. The pathway to employee engagement and satisfaction is even less well known in the tribal government gaming industry. This paper finds that employees in casinos that are owned by tribal governments in the United States find particular pride in sharing the tribal government’s self-sufficiency, community engagement, and philanthropic activities with casino guests, who often wonder “where the money goes.” The paper supports our case with data collected from tribal casino employees in four Southern California casinos that demonstrate that employees are a good source to share crafted messages with casino guests. We put these philanthropic and charitable contributions in the larger context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies that commercial casino companies have implemented through their trade association, the American Gaming Association, in order to manage perceptions of the gambling industry in the United States

Trust Value of a Dividend : an Evidence From Indonesia

Even though there are many issues surrounding dividend policy, dividend remains one of the main goals for investors to achieve. The aim of this study is to find out determinants of dividend policy in Indonesia. Most of the samples in observed period have varieties of dividend policies. Data for this study was collected from 258 business entities in the period between 2009 and 2012. For hypotheses testing, a binary logistic regression and factor analysis were used. The result from binary logistic regression showed that share price, earnings per share and current ratio are significant factors for dividend policy, while debt to equity ratio and corporate tax are insignificant. The insignificance of debt and tax was probably due to current ratio affected by accounting adjustments. Even though debt and tax are insignificant, they could not be ignored. Using factor analysis, it is confirmed that, most companies in this study have a similar objective through dividend policy, which is to maximize their share value in the stock market by considering profitability and liquidity on cash availability and also debt and tax. Dividends as a form of “trust value” offered by companies to their shareholders stimulate the trust of investors or shareholders and resulting the increase of share price