Falling Tax Compliance and the Rise of the Virtual Budget in Russia

The decline in cash revenue in Russia has been the key macroeconomic policy failure of the transition. During 1994-98, a sharp deterioration in cash compliance was offset by a rise in non-cash revenue, as the government increasingly financed its spending through mutual arrears write-offs. This paper argues that the fall in cash compliance emerged when money printing was replaced with a method of budget financing that did not, in the short run, compromise the government's goals of low inflation, a stable exchange rate, and low interest rates, but which ultimately has led the government into a low cash revenue trap. Copyright 2002, International Monetary Fund

Measuring trade policy intervention : a cross-country index of relative price dispersion

In the debate about the relationship between trade policy and growth, various measures for trade intervention have been used. The author presents a new measure based on a country's relative price structure and the structure of relative world prices. This measure, he argues, conforms more closely than existing measures to the concept of trade intervention. The relationship between openness and trade liberalization is more complicated than is often believed. Whether a country intervenes does not tell the whole story about its trade policy, and misses an essential aspect of intervention: which goods are favored by subsidies and which are protected by tariffs. The debate has been confused by the failure to distinguish between trade intervention and outward orientation. Trade intervention implies policies that distort the flow or pattern of trade; outward orientation implies incentives to export that are greater than incentives for import substitution. The two may be related but a heavily interventionist policy could be outwardly oriented. The index of relative price dispersion that the author develops has the advantage that it is objective, measures intervention in both exports and imports, is comparable across countries, and is independent of fluctuations in exchange rates caused by macroeconomic mismanagement.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets

Do domestic firms benefit from foreign direct investment? Evidence from panel data

Many developing countries now actively solicit foreign investment, offering firms subsidies, tax holidays, and exemptions from import duties. One justification for subsidizing these firms is the so-called spillover of technology from foreign to domestic firms. Using panel data -- following more than 4,000 Venezuelan firms from 1975 through 1989 -- The authors explore two aspects of the effect of foreign direct investment. First, they examine the relative performance to joint ventures and domestic firms. They find that increases in foreign equity participation are strongly correlated with increases in plant productivity. Second, they measure the impact of joint ventures and foreign subsidiaries on plants with no foreign investment. Facing fewer data limitations than in previous studies, they find that foreign investment negatively affects the productivity of domestically owned plants. These results suggest that whatever technology gains occur through foreign investment are captured entirely by joint ventures.Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade and Regional Integration,Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Foreign Direct Investment

Spillovers, Foreign Investment, and Export Behavior

Case studies of export behavior suggest that firms who penetrate foreign markets reduce entry costs for other potential exporters, either through learning by doing or through establishing buyer- supplier linkages. We pursue the idea that spillovers associated with one firm's export activity reduce the cost of foreign market access for other firms. We identify two potential sources of spillovers: export activity in general and the specific activities of multinational enterprises. We use a simple model of export behavior to derive a logit specification for the probability a firm exports. Using panel data on Mexican manufacturing plants, we find evidence consistent with spillovers from the export activity of multinational enterprises but not with general export activity.

Do Domestic Firms Benefit From Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence From Venezuela

Governments often promote inward foreign investment to encourage technology \u27spillovers\u27 from foreign to domestic firms. Using panel data on Venezuelan plants, the authors find that foreign equity participation is positively correlated with plant productivity (the \u27own-plant\u27 effect), but this relationship is only robust for small enterprises. They then test for spillovers from joint ventures to plants with no foreign investment. Foreign investment negatively affects the productivity of domestically owned plants. The net impact of foreign investment, taking into account these two offsetting effects, is quite small. The gains from foreign investment appear to be entirely captured by joint ventures

Wages and Foreign Ownership: A Comparative Study of Mexico, Venezuela and the United States

This paper explores the relationship between wages and foreign investment in Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. Despite very different economic conditions and levels of development, we find one fact which is robust across all three countries: higher levels of foreign investment are associated with higher wages. In Mexico and Venezuela, foreign investment was associated with higher wages only for foreign-owned firms -- there is no evidence of wage spillovers leading to higher wages for domestic firms. In the United States there is evidence of wage spillovers. The lack of spillovers in Mexico and Venezuela is consistent with significant wage differentials between foreign and domestic enterprises. In the United States, wage differentials are smaller.

Spillovers, Foreign Investment, and Export Behavior

Case studies of export behavior suggest that firms that penetrate foreign markets reduce entry costs for other potential exporters, either through learning effects or establishing commercial linkages. We examine whether spillovers associated with one firm\u27s export activity reduce the cost of exporting for other firms. We identify two sources of spillovers: export production in general and the specific activities of multinationals. From a simple model of export behavior we derive a probit specification for the probability that a firm exports. Using panel data on Mexican manufacturing plants, we find evidence of spillovers from multinational enterprises but not from general export activity

The Seven Words of the Virgin: Identifying Change in the Discourse Context of the Concept of Virginity in Early Modern English

No abstract available

Mechanical alloying of a hydrogenation catalyst used for the remediation of contaminated compounds

A hydrogenation catalyst including a base material coated with a catalytic metal is made using mechanical milling techniques. The hydrogenation catalysts are used as an excellent catalyst for the dehalogenation of contaminated compounds and the remediation of other industrial compounds. Preferably, the hydrogenation catalyst is a bimetallic particle including zero-valent metal particles coated with a catalytic material. The mechanical milling technique is simpler and cheaper than previously used methods for producing hydrogenation catalysts

Mechanical alloying of a hydrogenation catalyst used for the remediation of contaminated compounds

A hydrogenation catalyst including a base material coated with a catalytic metal is made using mechanical milling techniques. The hydrogenation catalysts are used as an excellent catalyst for the dehalogenation of contaminated compounds and the remediation of other industrial compounds. Preferably, the hydrogenation catalyst is a bimetallic particle including zero-valent metal particles coated with a catalytic material. The mechanical milling technique is simpler and cheaper than previously used methods for producing hydrogenation catalysts