25,449 research outputs found
Privatization and Restructuring in Concentrated Markets
This paper examines the restructuring of state assets in markets deregulated by privatizations and investment liberalizations. We show that the government has a stronger incentive to restructure than the buyer: A firm restructuring only takes into account how much its own profit will increase. The government internalizes that restructuring increases the sales price not only from the increase in the acquirerâs profit, but also from a reduced profit for the non-acquirer, whose profits decrease due to its rivalâs restructuring. We also identify situations where a slow sale can significantly reduce the sales price because of strategic investment and product market effects.Privatization, Asset ownership, Restructuring
Corporate Social Responsibility Through an Economic Lens
Business leaders, government officials, and academics are focusing considerable attention on the concept of "corporate social responsibility" (CSR), particularly in the realm of environmental protection. Beyond complete compliance with environmental regulations, do firms have additional moral or social responsibilities to commit resources to environmental protection? How should we think about the notion of firms sacrificing profits in the social interest? May they do so within the scope of their fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders? Can they do so on a sustainable basis, or will the forces of a competitive marketplace render such efforts and their impacts transient at best? Do firms, in fact, frequently or at least sometimes behave this way, reducing their earnings by voluntarily engaging in environmental stewardship? And finally, should firms carry out such profit-sacrificing activities (i.e., is this an efficient use of social resources)? We address these questions through the lens of economics, including insights from legal analysis and business scholarship.Corporate Social Responsibility, Voluntary Environmental Performance
Innovative Strategies to Help Affordable Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OPs) Compete in New Insurance Marketplaces
Outlines provisions in the federal health reform law for CO-OPs, or innovative nonprofit health insurance and care plans designed for individuals and small businesses, challenges, and strategies for long-term sustainability and financial success
Marketing in schools, commercialization and sustainability: policy disjunctures surrounding the commercialization of childhood and education for sustainable lifestyles in England
Capitalist expansion is predicated on consumption and growth driven by citizens following their individual preferences in the marketplace. To promote consumption and influence consumer wants and desire, propaganda is used to persuade citizens to purchase products using a wide and diverse range of techniques. In recent decades, this has involved an increase in the marketing of products and consumerist values to children through the education system and the broader media. This article argues that successive UK governmentsâ public policy in this area has been characterized by inaction, inertia and contradiction and that the resulting policy disjunctures are at variance with their public rhetoric about the commercialization of childhood and professed objectives regarding the promotion of environmental awareness and sustainable lifestyles in schools
Perceptions of Indonesian Politics in the Run-up to the 2009 General Election
Indonesia has had ten years of constitutional democracy since the end of the Suharto era. In 2009 the country heads
again to a national election. In the lead-up period the major parties have been pressing not only to reduce the number of
parties eligible to stand, but to create conditions in which a future president can only come from a major party, which is
not the situation at present. At the same time, there are almost weekly reports in the Indonesian media of corruption
allegations and charges against both local and national politicians. This paper considers survey and interview data on
the opinions of members of the general public in Central Java about the performance of political parties and the political
elite in the run-up to the 2009 election. Selected newspaper coverage of political corruption cases is also considered.
Keywords: Indonesia, Politics, General public, Media, 2009 election
Governing Migration: Immigrant Groups' Strategies in Three Italian Cities - Rome, Naples and Bari
Ethnic networks constitute an important component of immigrantsâ integration in their host societies. This has been a particularly important strategy in Italy, where institutional assistance for immigrants is often paltry and problematic. This paper examines three ethnic communities in Italy that have been particularly successful in using their ethnic social capital for integrating into Italian society at the city level: the Mauritians in Bari, Filipinos in Rome and Chinese in Naples. Sending countriesâ policies and programs, as well as the socio-historical context of ethnic relations within the countries has also influenced the patterns of these networks. The psychological or motivational element behind these groupsâ migration project is also critical to their integration, and is often manifested on a group level. Keywords: Migration, Immigrant, Ethnic group
Political Institutions, Policymaking Processes and Policy Outcomes in Brazil
We found that the driving force behind policies in Brazil is the strong set of powers given to the President by the Constitution of 1988. To have strong powers does not mean unbridled powers. Several institutions constrain and check the power of the President, in particular the legislature, the judiciary, the public prosecutors, the auditing office, state governors and the Constitution itself. The electorate of Brazil holds the President accountable for economic growth, inflation and unemployment. Because of the electoral connection, and perhaps reputational effects, presidents in Brazil have a strong incentive to pursue stable fiscal and monetary policies as their first priority. At least for the past ten years, and particularly in the new administration of Lula, executive power has been aimed at pushing policy towards macro orthodoxy. Although orthodoxy may not lead to short-term growth, international financial markets provide additional incentives for discipline, as deviations are instantly punished, with unfavorable consequences that are readily recognized by the electorate. Achieving stable macro policies required constitutional amendments as well as considerable legislation. To attain their goals, the past administrations (Cardoso and Lula in particular) used their property rights over pork to trade for policy changes. The rationale for members of Congress to exchange votes on policy for pork is that the electorates reward or punish members of Congress based on the degree to which pork lands in their district. With the exception of the devaluation of 1999, macro policy has become more stable over time. We categorize macro policies in Brazil as `stable but adaptable. `
Soviet industry and the Red Army under Stalin : a military-industrial complex?
The paper considers some of the views of the Stalinâera relationship between Soviet
industry and the Red Army that are current in the literature, and disentangles some
confusions of translation. The economic weight of the defence sector in the economic
system is summarised in various aspects. The lessons of recent archival research are
used as a basis for analysing the armyâindustry relationship under Stalin as a
prisonersâ dilemma in which, despite the potential gains from mutual cooperation,
each party faced a strong incentive to cheat on the other. It is concluded that the idea
of a Soviet militaryâindustrial complex is not strictly applicable to the Stalin period,
but there may be greater justification for the Soviet Union after Stalin
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