Company Tax Reform in Europe and its Effect on Collusive Behavior

We study how harmonization of corporate tax systems affects the stability of international cartels. We show that tax base harmonization reinforces collusive agreements, while harmonization of corporate tax rates may destabilize or stabilize cartels. We also find that bilateral and full harmonization to a common standard is worse from society’s point of view than unilateral harmonization to a minimum tax standard.corporate tax systems, tacit collusion

International Harmonization and the Gains from Trade

International harmonization of standards and regulations is often a goal expressed in trade agreements because it is expected to yield gains from trade. Absence of progress toward harmonization is often interpreted as being motivated by protectionism, with differences in standards and regulations seen as non-tariff barriers. While protectionism may well be the source of resistance to harmonization, there may be other reasons it is not pursued. These alternative explanations have not received much attention from economists. In this article some of these alternatives are outlined - demand effects from altering standards, switching costs, proprietary technologies. The article concludes that proposals for international harmonization need to be scrutinized carefully.demand effects, harmonization, regulation, standards, switching costs, TBT, International Relations/Trade,

Harmonization of Law

Harmonization of the law, in Europe and elsewhere, can be a theory driven process in which law and economics research (J.E.L. code K) can play an important role. With the example of a recent German case, the Waterpenny case, and an established piece of legislation, the Civil Code, it is shown how economic reasoning can enter into the process of jurisdiction, but also legislation. Broader lessons can be drawn from these studiesEconomics ;

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY HARMONIZATION

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Opportunity and accounts consolidation conditions

This paper presents some aspects regarding competition and harmonization in European Union fiscal policy, especially after the last enlargement on 2007. The problem of tax harmonization is connected with tax competition in the context of increasing capital mobility between different countries. Using a panel data for EU countries, analyzed on 1995- 2004, we find significant correlations between the implicit tax rate of business income and corporation profits and the budget deficit, public debt, GDP per capita and the degree of openness of countries, the last variable is used as a proxy for capital mobility.fiscal policy, tax competition, tax harmonization.

International Harmonization of Patent Law: A Proposed Solution to the United States\u27 First-to-File Debate

As trade barriers diminish and global economies continue to expand, harmonization and enforcement of international patent protection becomes increasingly important. This note compares the U.S. system with other countries. It argues that the U.S. should harmonize with the rest of the world. Part I discusses the different systems for determining priority of invention and the recent movement towards harmonization of patent law. Part I also sets forth the recommendations of the 1992 Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform relating to first-to-file. Part II presents the various conflicting arguments both in favor of and against adopting a first-to-file system. Part III argues that the United States should adopt a first-to-file system under the conditions specified in the 1992 Report From the Advisory Commission on Patent Law Reform. This Note concludes that the Commission Report presents a favorable solution to the first- to-file debate that will allow the United States to participate in and benefit from the forthcoming patent harmonization treaty

Ex ante and ex post institutional convergence: Case of the post-Soviet space

Abstract: The paper discusses the interaction of ex ante and ex post institutional convergence in the post-Soviet world, i.e. 12 members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It starts with analysing empirical evidence for institutional convergence in the CIS, and then considers two channels of convergence: institutional competition for mobile capital and ex ante harmonization via interaction in political sphere. In both cases the paper points out potential positive and negative features of the processes from the point of view of institutional transformation. The influence of institutional competition is ambiguous, as both factors of “demand for good institutions” and “demand for bad institutions” influence corporate behaviour. The ex ante harmonization is much less influential and seems to be most successful in preserving semi-authoritarian regimes from potential competitors and therefore supports inefficient equilibrium. Finally, the paper focuses on interaction between ex ante and ex post harmonization, i.e. demand for harmonization from businesses and support of institutional competition environment from the governments. For the governments ex post harmonization could be an attractive way to avoid long and costly bargaining: this factor is probably relevant for the current support of business expansion of Russian corporations by Russian government. For the businesses the situation is more difficult: since historically post- Soviet business did not express significant interest in formal integration (associated with ex ante harmonization), the paper discusses three variables (lobbying, changes in market structure and preferences of the demand side) able to influence their decisions.Institutional convergence, institutional competition, regionalization

International harmonization of product standards and firm heterogeneity in international trade

As free trade areas have proliferated and statutory tariffs have been dramatically reduced in recent decades, non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to international trade have risen in importance. Destination-specific product standards are one of the major types of NTBs as they impose additional costs on exporters and increase the time required to bring a product to market. This paper examines the response of U.S. manufacturing firms to a reduction of this NTB by looking at the harmonization of European product standards to international norms in the electronics sector. Using a highly detailed dataset that links U.S. international trade transactions to U.S. firms and a new industry-level database of EU product standards, the author finds that harmonization increases U.S. exports to the EU and that this increase is due to more U.S. firms entering the EU market –the extensive margin of trade. New entrants to the EU region are drawn mainly from the most productive set of firms already exporting to developing markets before harmonization -the extensive margin of trade composition. These firms are characterized by being smaller and less productive than the firms that were already exporting to the EU before harmonization. Furthermore, harmonization decreases export sales at existing exporters -the intensive margin of trade. These findings are consistent with a model featuring the role of product standards heterogeneity across market destinations and productivity heterogeneity across firms. These results suggest that working toward a harmonization of product rules across markets could be a supportive policy to encourage small and medium size firms'ability to enter new export markets.Markets and Market Access,E-Business,Information Security&Privacy,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies