Strengthening The Global Financial Stability: Lessons From The European Monetary Union

The paper describes the different broad systems of corporate governance existing in Continental Europe (the insider system) and in the UK (and the US, the outsider system), identifies certain differences in the concentration and nature of corporate ownership between both systems and comments on the consequences that these discrepancies have in terms of agency costs and the development of mechanisms to separate ownership (cash flow rights) and control (voting rights) both at the level of the firm and through corporate law. Then, a reference is made of the important question of whether corporate governance structures in the different European countries will competitively converge with one another. To than end, proper amendments in corporate structures, most notably corporate law reform, must be initiated.corporate governance, corporate law, Europe

NAFTA: Old and New Lessons from Theory and Practice with Economic Integration

ABSTRACT The approval of Nafta in 1992-1993 brought Mexico into the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and motivated a number of studies in an effort to assess the empirical content of international trade theory. In this paper we review the experiences from customs unions formed before and after World War II. A review of the European Union follows, including a discussion of the Treaty of Rome, of the Single European Act, and of recent experiences toward monetary union. In each case, we try to relate the experiences gained to NAFTA. Although NAflA is not an advanced form of economic integration, the lessons of history provide useful insights for NAFTA

The Credit Constraints of Market-Oriented Farmers in Chile

Using data from two surveys conducted in 2006 and 2008 with 177 farmers, this article determines whether market-oriented farmers in central Chile are credit constrained, and it identifies the main factors that influence formal credit provision. In so doing, this study explicitly tests whether social capital variables play a role in determining credit constraints. That is, the authors explore the determinants of classifications into four categories of credit provision and rationing, using a panel multinomial logit model. The results suggest that most market-oriented farmers are unconstrained. Empirical evidence supports the importance of relationship variables for improving access to financial capital