National and International Factors in Pickle Markets

This report presents global and domestic information regarding production, trade and market developments for pickled cucumbers. U.S. cucumber production and trade are commonly divided into two categories: fresh and pickling. Michigan is the largest producer of pickling cucumbers in the country, accounting for 18 percent of total U.S. production. Like many agri-food industries, this processed product sector has gone through numerous changes in the past decade which have influenced production and marketing trends, and assessing the influence of individual factors is difficult. However, using production and trade data it is possible to infer some possible drivers of trends and outcomes for the industry. Year-round supply from other countries, quality products at more competitive prices, changing consumer preferences, and more service-oriented business models have introduced new marketing structures likely to continue driving future trade and production patterns. The information presented in this report is important in order to assess competitiveness and develop a broad and well-informed perspective for the pickling industry in Michigan. The report is structured as follows: first, we present information on global volume produced in the period 1992 to 2004, including rates of change in production and shares of total world production by country. Second, we compare total acreage trends in the U.S and production and acreage trends in Michigan during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Third, we highlight information on pickled cucumber import and export volumes by country. Finally, we present a brief description of historic trends in food marketing and globalization that are likely to continue influencing the pickling industry in the future.Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

The Italian Stabilization of 1947: Domestic and International Factors

The paper examines the 1947 monetary stabilization in Italy, tracing the domestic and international political dynamics that allowed ideas and theoretical concepts developed within the Bank of Italy to be applied in a successful action to subdue spiraling inflation. The combination of events and circumstances necessary for the good outcome in a critical juncture of Italian economic history was the fruit of the efforts made by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi in both the domestic and international political arenas and of the collaboration he received from Luigi Einaudi and Donato Menichella. The Government’s economic action in this crucial episode constitutes perhaps the first outstanding example of cooperation between politicians and experts in the annals of the Italian Republic.Economic history; Stabilization; Italy; United States; De Gasperi; Menichella; 1947

Wages and international factors’ mobility

The labor wage is the result of market variables and institutional settings of a country. In an open economy the determination of the market wage rate may be further affected by the extent of international mobility of both factors of production, labor and capital. Labor mobility is represented by migration in and out of a country, while capital mobility relates mostly to the extent of foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows and inflows. Migrants may represent an addition to the native labor force of a country and, in some cases, play a substitute role with respect to incumbent workers. FDI, in particular of the greenfield category, represents either a supplement to or a reduction of the domestic capital and, by and large, changes the opportunity set of a firm’s CEO with respect to the corresponding company operating in a closed economy. International factor mobility and domestic market variables, such as unemployment and productivity, interact in the wage setting process. In this paper, we derive a theoretical wage equation following the above premises, and perform pooled mean group estimates of its parameters on panel data for a group of 13 European countries with quarterly time observation over the period 1996-2007. We find that capital outflows have a robust negative effect on the wage rate. The effects of migration inflows, on the other hand, are not so clear-cut, as they can be nullor negative depending on the sample of countries considered

Building Democracy: National and International Factors

Based on the promising democratic changes around the world during the late twentieth century, what are the favorable factors for building democracy? In the 1990s, research on democratization mushroomed, exploring how to explain reasons for democracy around the world. The global spread of democracy resulted in numerous conclusions about national and international favorable factors for democracy. More recently, the global democratic upsurge seems to have halted with worrying tendencies toward new forms of authoritarianism, hybrid regimes of both democratic and authoritarian institutions and fragile democracies. Recent studies have argued how authoritarianism has gone global and challenge the previous global spread of democracy. Based on a literature review of the bulk of studies on democracy building, this chapter identifies the main national and international favorable factors for democracy. It is argued that research has had a domestic focus up until the 1990s, but how international factors have come to play an important role in explaining democracy. Today, research must focus on the interplay between national and international factors to democracy building embedding both an actor and a structural dimension

Forecasting Unemployment Rates with International Factors

In this paper we study international linkages when forecasting unemployment rates in a sample of 24 OECD economies. We propose a Global Unemployment Factor (GUF) and test its predictive ability considering in-sample and out-of-sample exercises. Our main results indicate that the predictive ability of the GUF is heterogeneous across countries. In-sample results are statistically significant for Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and United States. Robust statistically significant out-of-sample results are found for Belgium, Czech Republic, France, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States. This means that the inclusion of the GUF adds valuable information to predict domestic unemployment rates, at least for these last seven countries

Forecasting Unemployment Rates with International Factors

In this paper we study international linkages when forecasting unemployment rates in a sample of 24 OECD economies. We propose a Global Unemployment Factor (GUF) and test its predictive ability considering in-sample and out-of-sample exercises. Our main results indicate that the predictive ability of the GUF is heterogeneous across countries. In-sample results are statistically significant for Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and United States. Robust statistically significant out-of-sample results are found for Belgium, Czech Republic, France, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States. This means that the inclusion of the GUF adds valuable information to predict domestic unemployment rates, at least for these last seven countries

The failed liberalisation of Algeria and the international context: a legacy of stable authoritarianism

The paper attempts to challenge the somewhat marginal role of international factors in the study of transitions to democracy. Theoretical and practical difficulties in proving causal mechanisms between international variables and domestic outcomes can be overcome by defining the international dimension in terms of Western dominance of world politics and by identifying Western actions towards democratising countries. The paper focuses on the case of Algeria, where international factors are key in explaining the initial process of democratisation and its following demise. In particular, the paper argues that direct Western policies, the pressures of the international system and external shocks influence the internal distribution of power and resources, which underpins the different strategies of all domestic actors. The paper concludes that analysis based purely on domestic factors cannot explain the process of democratisation and that international variables must be taken into more serious account and much more detailed

The Internationalization of Agency Actions

U.S. agencies routinely base their domestic regulations on international considerations, such as the benefits of coordinating American and foreign standards or the foreign policy advantages of a particular policy. I refer to this phenomenon as the internationalization of agency actions. This Article examines what the internationalization of agency actions means for agency decision-making processes, institutional design, and legal doctrine. It creates a stylized model of how agencies determine whether to coordinate their standards with foreign regulations. Among other institutional design findings, it shows that court opinions that reduce the stringency of judicial review when agencies implement internationally coordinated standards make such coordination more likely to occur, but they simultaneously deprive the executive of bargaining power because U.S. agencies cannot credibly threaten that any coordinated agreement must align more closely with U.S. values or risk being overturned in U.S. courts. This Article also develops a taxonomy of international factors relied on by agencies and applies that taxonomy to help clarify the doctrinal issue of whether and when agencies can use international factors to justify their actions in court. This taxonomical approach shows how the Supreme Court’s opinion in Massachusetts v. EPA can reasonably be read to allow agencies to invoke a far broader range of foreign policy rationales than some prevailing views suggest

The Outbreak of the Russian Banking Crisis

Russian banks have been strongly influenced by the worldwide financial crisis which started in the second half of 2008. This was caused by a combination of domestic, regional and international factors. We estimate an early warning model for the Russian crisis. We identified 47 Russian banks which failed after September 2008. Using the Bankscope data set, we show that balance sheet indicators were informative about possible failures of these banks as early as 2006. The early predictive indicators include especially equity, net interest revenues, return on average equity, net loans, and loan loss reserves

International Factors Impacting Corporate Social Responsibility at STEM Organizations

poster abstractCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gained significant attention over the past decade and continues to grow as a rising global effort in STEM organizations across multiple industries. Many countries have a longstanding history of practicing CSR and have adopted or adapted the Western model of corporate volunteerism. However, little research has been conducted to determine cultural factors that impact this practice such as volunteer motivation, satisfaction, and project types. This study explores the CSR efforts of, Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), whose annual day of service provides employees across the globe the opportunity to serve various organizations and their communities through diverse projects. This research aims to determine the influence of culture dimensions and societal norms on multiple aspects of Lilly’s volunteer efforts such as the acceptance of the practice and perspectives of volunteers