American and European Regulation of Over-the-Counter Derivative Securities

This paper describes the major issues in the clearing of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and the current regulative initiatives aimed at removing the market opaqueness. The core of the paper is the comparison of the US Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). The similarities and the major differences of these two regulative approaches are emphasized. The major similarities between EMIR and the Dodd-Frank Act relate to the mandatory clearing for standardized contracts, the scope of the derivatives covered, the exemptions from clearing for end-users and the reporting of cleared and uncleared derivative transactions by nearly all financial counterparties. The major differences arise with the restrictions on bank proprietary trading, with separation of derivative trading activities from commercial banking activities, with central counterparties (CCP) ownership rules and with the establishment of mandatory exchange trading requirement.OTC Derivatives; Centralized Clearing; Regulation; EMIR; Dodd-Frank

AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy,

CONTRACT MARKET VIABILITY

Academia and the finance industry generate many proposals for new contract markets. Unfortunately, many proposed markets lack the critical attributes that promote success. We examine these attributes, and evaluate the potential of several announced proposals. We find that proposals emanating from the academy generally fail to consider the full suite of integrated financial services necessary to support a viable market, while proposals put forward by practitioners are much more likely to do so.Marketing,

FEDERAL GRAZING REFORM AND AVOIDABLE RISK

Recent rangeland reform attempts have increased ranchers'Â’ uncertainty of retaining grazing permits on federal land. This uncertainty is analyzed with a model of grazing on federal land. Ranchers facing this uncertainty will behave differently than if they were guaranteed the renewal of grazing permits at constant real grazing fees. It is shown that the socially optimal outcome may be achieved by adding avoidable risk through targeted rangeland reform. Rangeland reform attempts that create unavoidable risk can make both ranchers and environmental groups worse off.Agricultural and Food Policy,

THE DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS OF LAND CONTROLS IN AGRICULTURE

The paper introduces a framework for analyzing the impacts of land control programs on agricultural production under heterogenous land qualities, heterogenous production technologies and imperfect capital markets. It shows that the introduction of diversion programs tends to benefit land owners while harming operators. Moreover, it tends to increase the separation of land ownership and operation and increase concentration among operators. Diversion programs tend to raise land prices lass than proportional to the increases in rental rates. They encourage the adoption of yield increasing technologies, and may also encourage adoption of cost reducing technologies when credit is a binding constraint. Participation in voluntary government programs tends to be greater in regions with higher costs, less efficient marginal technology and less efficient marginal land.Land Economics/Use,

Endogenous Policy Theory: The Political Structure and Policy Formation

Models of economic systems involving government intervention by definition include some policy variables, or policy instruments, through which the policy in implemented. In general, economists have tended to view these variables as exogenously given. While convenient in dealing with some analytical problems, this attitude is not always adequate, as it abstracts from the realities of political-economic life. Evidently, economic policy is not independent of the economic structure, and policy variables are codetermined with endogenous economic variables within an integrated political-economic structure