Generic Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Plan for State-Level Transportation Agencies, Research Report 11-01

The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20 (HSPD-20) requires all local, state, tribal and territorial government agencies, and private sector owners of critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR) to create a Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Plan (COOP/COG). There is planning and training guidance for generic transportation agency COOP/COG work, and the Transportation Research Board has offered guidance for transportation organizations. However, the special concerns of the state-level transportation agency’s (State DOT’s) plan development are not included, notably the responsibilities for the entire State Highway System and the responsibility to support specific essential functions related to the State DOT Director’s role in the Governor’s cabinet. There is also no guidance on where the COOP/COG planning and organizing fits into the National Incident Management System (NIMS) at the local or state-level department or agency. This report covers the research conducted to determine how to integrate COOP/COG into the overall NIMS approach to emergency management, including a connection between the emergency operations center (EOC) and the COOP/COG activity. The first section is a presentation of the research and its findings and analysis. The second section provides training for the EOC staff of a state-level transportation agency, using a hybrid model of FEMA’s ICS and ESF approaches, including a complete set of EOC position checklists, and other training support material. The third section provides training for the COOP/COG Branch staff of a state-level transportation agency, including a set of personnel position descriptions for the COOP/COG Branch members

Regional integration and economic development: A theoretical approach

We use a model of combined endogenous growth and economic geography to study the impact of regional economic integration on the member and non-member countries of a regional union. Regional integration affects growth through interregional technology diffusion symbolized by knowledge spillovers generated at home and spreading to the partner countries. Spillovers flow from the leader to the follower. Following integration, the lagging country has access to a bigger stock of knowledge that fosters an increase in its rate of growth and extends the diversity of its products. Trade in goods - or in FDI - and flows of ideas are two faces of the same coin. We show that the progressive decrease in transaction costs through the phasing out of barriers to trade together with product imitation can foster growth and convergence in the member countries. However, in order to avoid eventual trade and investment diversions, the non-member should envisage to join the integrated zone

Upgrading Local Economies in Central and Eastern Europe? The Role of Business Service Foreign Direct Investment in the Knowledge Economy

This article introduces the main themes of the special issue on the role of business service foreign investment in Central and Eastern Europe and its propensity to upgrade regions and localities. The debate is firmly set in the context of an increasing emphasis on the knowledge economy. We point to conceptual and data problems which make it difficult to accurately gauge quantitative and qualitative trends. A connection is made between the drivers of offshoring and the potential benefits for localities. The importance of linking research findings to policy issues is underlined

Do Multinational Enterprises Substitute Parent Jobs for Foreign Ones? Evidence from Firm Level Panel Data

This paper analyzes the demand for labor by home multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Europe. To this end we use a unique firm level panel data set of more than 1,200 European multinational enterprises and their subsidiaries that are located in either the European Union, Central and Eastern Europe or both. We investigate whether employment in the MNEs' subsidiaries are substitutes for home employment or in other words we investigate whether European MNEs can easily relocate employment between the parent and their daughter(s). Our main findings can be summarized as follows: (i) We find evidence for substitution effects between parent and foreign employment. A decline of 10% in MNE affiliate's wage costs is associated with a decline in parent employment of between 1.5% and 2% on average. (ii) This effect is mainly driven by firms that operate in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, the substitution effects mainly take place between EU parents and their affiliates located within the EU, rather than affiliates located in Central and Eastern Europe. (iii) We also report results for the non-manufacturing firms, where we find no substitution effects between parents and daughters in the service sectors, while we do find positive substitution effects between parents and their affiliates in Central and Eastern Europe for the firms operating in the wholesale trade and construction sectors. Our results suggest that on average the competition from low wage countries in Central and Eastern Europe did not contribute to a relocation of domestic jobs to Central and Eastern Europe. Substitution effects do take place, however, they mainly occur between parent firms and their affiliates that are located in the European Union.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39755/3/wp371.pd

On the Development Strategy of Countries of Intermediate size - An Analysis of Heterogenous Fims in a Multiregion Framework

This paper compares two policies: trade cost reduction and firm relocation cost reduction using a three-country version of a heterogeneous-firms economic geography model, where the three countries have different market (population) size. We show how the effects of the two policies differ, in particular, for the country of intermediate size. Unless the intermediate country is very small, it will gain industry when relocation costs are reduced, but lose industry when trade costs are reduced. The smallest country loses industry in both cases, but only experiences lower welfare in the case of lower relocation costs. Thus, the ranking of the policies from the point of view of the two small and intermediate countries tends to be the opposite.Agglomeration; firm heterogeneity; multi-country model; trade liberalisation; relocation costs

Toward Closing the Loop between Infrastructure Investments and Societal and Economic Impacts

The long-term value proposition of transportation infrastructure investments can be significantly distorted if the short term effects of spatial externalities on land-use patterns, economic expansions, and migration patterns are not properly included in the analysis. Some of these effects occur over a short period of time and soon after the investment materializes, while others take longer and follow more steady patterns. In this paper, we develop a novel dynamical model of a primal society with constructs that are specifically geared toward transportation infrastructure expansions and investments. The model quantifies the impact of these expansions on some key performance indicators and on the overall utility and production capacity of the society. We argue that traditional analytical models that work on the premises of stationary behavior and a static response of society to changes in infrastructure do not correctly capture these effects. The land use patterns and spatial expansion computed from the model are validated against existing theory on land use. Preliminary results on how to use the model for value proposition analysis are also presented using simple case studies

Brexit and the provision of financial services into the EU and into the UK

Brexit is likely to lead to the relocation of UK financial services firms to the EU in order to be able to access EU markets, mainly through the EU passport. The same applies to the EU firms intending to be active on the UK markets. The access conditions to the EU markets are numerous and complex, laid down in EU and national legislation and regulation, and applied by the national supervisory authorities. The European Supervisory Authorities or "ESAs" have published elaborate statements, called Opinions, on the detailed access conditions and the way they intend to apply these. The two main objectives are the full application of EU law, and the avoidance of authorizing EU firms that would be "empty boxes" for activity that would in fact be exercised in the UK, and this mainly by delegating activities to another firm. Underlying is a policy of competition between national economies for relocations of EU firms, or of business activities to be developed on the UK financial markets

Federal Employees: Human Resources Management Flexibilities for Emergency Situations

Federal executive branch departments and agencies have available to them various human resources management flexibilities for emergency situations involving severe weather, natural disaster, and other circumstances. At various times, the Office of Personnel Management issued guidance on these flexibilities, which supplements the basic policies governing staffing, compensation, leave sharing, and telework in Title 5 of the United States Code and Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Some examples of when issuances have occurred include following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005; in response to pandemic influenza in 2006; and in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017

International Tax Planning in the Age of ICT

The increased use of information and communication technologies (ICT) leads to new ways of doing business internationally. Nowadays, firm-specific intangible assets as well as services often constitute the most important factors for the creation of value. Besides, geographic distances tend to be less relevant. The main objective of international tax planning consists of minimising the effective tax rate of the whole company or group. In this paper, it is examined for several instruments of international tax planning whether new chances of minimising the effective tax rate emerge with the use of ICT and to what extent new risks occur. The analysis comprises the (re)location of a company?s residence, the (re)allocation of functions and risks, the implementation of a transfer pricing system, the choice of the form and location of investments abroad as well as hybrid forms of co-operation. For each instrument, both current and non-current tax issues are considered. We conclude that, due to ICT, it is easier to make use of the international tax differential by choosing the optimal location and form of investment and by allocating functions and risks. Thus, companies can pay more attention to the tax-optimal choice between international locations and the importance of this instrument to reduce the effective tax rate is further strengthened by the use of ICT. --International Company Taxation,Tax Planning,Information and Communication Technologies,Electronic Commerce