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Since the 1940s research has suggested that higher education has a liberalizing influence on sociopolitical orientation, although none has demonstrated how this might occur. In the U.S. there is an increasing trend among conservative politicians and media to depreciate the value of a college education, by alleging that college turns people into liberals. To examine the charge that 'college turns people into liberals', I conducted biographical narrative interviews with 24 American college-educated young adults who changed their sociopolitical orientation from conservative to liberal. Utilizing Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and habitus clivé, and grounded theory methods of analysis, I developed a processual model of such transformation. Findings from this study refute narratives of professorial or institutional indoctrination. Instead, the model indicates a more complex process of habitus transformation, that in most cases begins before college students arrive on campus. This study is important because a successful democracy requires an educated populace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopted historical research and in-depth interviews with artists, dealers, art writers, and collectors in addressing two overarching questions, which are (1) How have state actions manifested as the impetus and impediments to art market development in Nigeria and (2) To what extent is Bourdieu's artistic field model applicable to the Nigerian art world? As the boost in artistic production and consumption in Renaissance Italy was attributed to the wealth generated from banking by the Medici, the research also shows that the art market in Nigeria emerged as an upshot of the economic policy of financial deregulation, which manifested as an "implicit" cultural policy. The financial sector liberalization policy was aimed at addressing the economic depression that stemmed from the drastic global fall in crude oil prices in the 1980s. It stimulated the proliferation of banking and other financial services institutions in Nigeria, which engendered intense competition that lured operators into harnessing esthetics for competitive advantages. This bolstered art collection and patronage, underpinning the emergence of the contemporary art market in Nigeria with an auction segment that grew from about $250,000 in 1999 to over $5.5 million in 2017. Paradoxically, the research also revealed that inadequacies resulting from the lack of "explicit" state plans for the cultural sector constitute impediments to the optimization of the market's potential. As a mark of power, high art and advanced taste have always been associated with elitism. Thus, the research also establishes a high degree of applicability of Bourdieu's artistic field model in exploring the dynamics of power structures in the Nigerian art world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research study aims to analyze the impact of visa liberalization on increasing the standard of living and quality of life in Kosovo. Visa liberalization is a process that can have a profound impact on raising the sustainable standard and developing the quality of life in a country. The study focuses on the analysis of the benefits and changes brought about by visa liberalization in the context of Kosovo. Through a detailed analysis of various sources, including previous studies, reports of international institutions, and empirical data, the main factors influencing the increase in the standard and quality of life after visa liberalization in Kosovo are identified. These factors include increased economic opportunities, improved living conditions, personal development, and education, increased foreign direct investment, and increased tourism and exports. Visa liberalization is a process that can have a profound impact on raising the sustainable standard and development of quality of life in a country. This process aims to facilitate the movement of citizens across different countries without the need for visa restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of economic and financial globalization and its impact on banking liberalization. It discusses how globalization affects international relations in various dimensions and highlights the integration of local financial markets with the global economy. The article emphasizes the positive and negative effects of financial globalization on the banking system, including increased competition and the entry of non-banking institutions as competitors. It also discusses the challenges and advantages of banking liberalization, such as improved bank performance and the possibility of foreign banks dominating the market. The text concludes by emphasizing the importance of global economic developments in promoting banking liberalization. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Yearbook of Antitrust & Regulatory Studies is the property of University of Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose -- The study examines the nexus between financial liberalization and the economic growth of ECOWAS member states. Method -- The longitudinal and latitudinal survey research design (expo-facto) is used in this study. Data are sourced from the World Bank and IMF Data Set for 2012-2020 and employed panel co-integration and system GMM for analyses. Result -- We found that financial liberalization significantly impacts the economic growth of selected ECOWAS member countries. Similarly, the domestic economy's openness significantly impacts economic growth. While financial development exerts a positive impact, exchange rate and inflation negatively impact economic growth, the impact of interest rate is positive but insignificant. Contribution -- The study provides cross-country evidence on the empirical nexus between financial liberalization and the economic growth from ECOWAS member states. To the best of authors' knowledge, the study is one of the few studies on cross-country financial liberalization and the economic growth and used the panel data regression analysis. By this, the study covers a methodological gap, using a technique that can account for endogeneity and omitted variable problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many markets are liberalizing by opening up their economies to foreign competition, with the expectation that this will increase economic growth. While foreign competitors with superior technology and management practices pose serious threats to incumbent firms, they also provide them an opportunity to gain new marketing knowledge. How do incumbent firms respond to liberalization? Can incumbent firms' marketing-mix responses affect their performance following liberalization? Addressing these questions, the authors examine incumbent firms' marketing-mix responses to liberalization and the impact of these responses on performance, using the quasi-experiment of liberalization reforms in India. Estimation results from a panel of 3,927 firms in the period 1989–2000 suggest that while all incumbent firms intensified their product and promotions in response to liberalization, only incumbent firms with greater domestic market knowledge intensified their advertising and distribution responses. Furthermore, incumbent firms' marketing-mix responses significantly affect their performance outcomes. The research's findings extend theory and provide practical guidelines on how incumbent firms can design marketing-mix responses to liberalization to improve performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deutsche Bank was once an acclaimed US-style investment bank but is now struggling. The rise of US finance is often explained as an outcome of financial liberalization that motivated other banks to abandon their traditional industrial support to chase profit opportunities within global securities markets. This story, however, underestimates how the transition to US-led financialization was deeply entangled with managerial struggles and the contradictions of adopting US financial innovations from a peripheral position. By contrast, I use the concept of extroverted financialization to portray Deutsche Bank's transformation as an outcome of its attempts to integrate new funding practices connected to US money markets, called liability management. I argue that this process generated a difficult-to-manage business model and, ultimately, Deutsche's decline. Because of these extroverted strategies, the bank is now caught between opposing logics of banking, within neither of which it can regain its previous powerful position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity markets have been liberalized worldwide, but the success of country specific experiences varied widely. Consumers’ behavior is among the key factors for successful liberalization experiences namely regarding the decision to switch operator. This decision has been shown to be influenced by a multiplicity of factors. The goal of this article is to explore the analysis of the drivers for switching operator in a liberalized electricity market. With that purpose, we focused on the residential Portuguese case using a questionnaire. The logit estimation showed that men are more likely to switch supplier than women and that larger families are less likely to do so probably, due to the perception of high information search costs. Other sociodemographic variables were not found to be statistically significant. Regarding specific determinants, our results showed that past experiences with a supplier, dissatisfaction with the current operator, and family and friends’ experiences were the most important determining factor for the decision to switch operator. Hence, the price was not the most important determinant. We also explored if different income groups had differentiated responses regarding the main drivers but concluded that there was no evidence that the income group affected the importance given to the price or to the other determinants for the decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

S. C. Dube's contributions to the understanding of social change are as relevant today as these were in the decades of the twentieth century. He cautioned saying "good economics is not always good sociology." Decades following economic liberalization inequalities have continued to rise, socioeconomic distress and more recently farmers resistance to proposed agricultural reforms revalidate some of his prophecies. He cautioned that if cultural norms and the "hold traditional agricultural practises have on people's way of life are ignored, reforms will be resisted." In this presentation, an attempt is made to revisit some of his invaluable contributions in understanding farmers protest movement that lasted for more than a year and was withdrawn only after a public announcement by the Prime Minister of India that the three laws against which persistent protests were organized are unequivocally withdrawn. This Dube Memorial Lecture was presented on the invitations of Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists on February 22, 2021, when the protest movement was on for nearly 8 months. Tarrow's construct of protest movements and inherent contestations in movements provides theoretical framework to explore longevity and outcome of this prolonged resistance on reforms and restructuring of political configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liberalization of the petroleum sector in Morocco has a significant effect for petroleum product distributors. Since the beginning of December 2015, fuel prices are freely determined. This event presents many constraints affecting the balance of the sector plus the competition among its economic players. As all fuel products are imported, we will be interested in the evolution by making forecasts of the price of fuels in the Moroccan market. In this context, our paper aims mainly to study the time series of diesel and gasoline in order to provide precise forecasts to the company and to respect the permissible error margin of 3%. To this end, the harmonic dynamic regression model through the proposed process approach yielded excellent forecasting results for the first quarter of 2017 with an average error margin of 1.617%. Compared to ARIMA model, the harmonic dynamic regression proves its strength manifested in the low rate of error. In addition, the assumption that the residuals are a Gaussian white noise has always been verified. The forecasts obtained are very crucial for managers to take good decisions at the strategic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the independence of 1947, India adhered to a mixed model of nationalist and socialist policies in the early years, with protectionism and closed-borders attitude dominating its approach to foreign relations and global economy. In the aftermath of the economically precarious circumstances during the 1980s, and the subsequent economic crisis in the early 1990s, paradigmatic reforms, widely known as liberalization, were officially announced. However, considering Indian liberalization as a gradually evolving process, rather than a one-off project, this paper adopts a political economy approach and employs historical analysis in order to scrutinize the pre-1991 contextual trajectory through which India underwent liberalizing its economy. The paper explicates the implemented economic approaches by studying the key primary sources, the Five-Year Plans in particular, and the relevant secondary sources. The authors propound the notion that India, since its independence until the early 1990s, appears to have been caught in a cycle of oscillations between protective measures on the one hand, and attempts to move towards a liberalized economy on the other. The statist model of development that overwhelmingly disfavored interaction with the global economy at the outset was gradually replaced by a decentralized model that sought to open up the Indian economy to the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, Venezuela has gone through a process of autocratic consolidation. This consolidation has taken place amid substantial economic reforms that have allowed the government of Nicolás Maduro survive sustained international and domestic pressure. In this article, we analyze this process of autocratic consolidation. We explain how, by focusing on the establishment of an "interim-government" in 2019, the Venezuelan opposition has been unable to coordinate an inclusive strategy to successfully bring about a democratic breakthrough and instead became further divided. We address the economic transformations witnessed in the country as policies of fragmented liberalization through opaque privatizations and an uneven multi-currency system, which have resulted from a deep recession, the collapse of the oil economy and sanctions. Finally, we discuss the implications of these political and economic processes for the social fabric of the country. We highlight that despite the government's attempts at criminalizing autonomous activism, the relative strengths of civil society allowed the survival of minimal democratic spaces that have spurred dialogue and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Yearbook of Antitrust & Regulatory Studies is the property of University of Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Conventional wisdom highlights civil society as an integral component of a democratic society. Due to the dominance of the state in all aspects of life, civil society was largely absent in Uzbekistan until the change of government in 2016. The new President Mirziyoyev's liberalization policy towards media gave birth to a strong group of opinion formers visible on social media platforms, otherwise known as "bloggers". This paper seeks to identify how Mirziyoyev's liberalization policy affects Uzbekistan's path to consolidate its democracy. It argues that the recent political liberalization showed early signs of the emergence of civil society groups. To support this argument, the paper uses the case of two unrelated incidents: large scale demolition of people's properties by the khokimiyat in Urganch, and forced labor of public servants in the Bukhara region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite external and domestic pressures seeking liberalization and privatization, Ethiopia, until recently, maintained a highly centralized, vertically integrated, single service provider model of state monopoly of telecommunications. However, in 2019, the Ethiopian House of Representatives passed the Communications Service Proclamation, a historic bill that deregulated the Ethiopian telecommunications sector, paving the way for domestic and foreign companies to invest in one of the last remaining state-controlled telecommunications markets in the world. By probing the limitations of Ethiopia's monopolistic arrangement in telecommunications akin to state vanguardism as well as critically examining the potential pitfalls of the impending liberalization of the sector and privatization of the sole telecommunication operator Ethio-Telecom, this article makes the case for instituting a commons-based approach that is pro-poor, pro-development, and contextually streamlined. It concludes by proposing three avenues of telecommunication commons, namely: infrastructure commons; last mile commons; and digital commons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the installation of the Communist Regime and rejection of the democratic elections in Albania in 1945, the relations with the West worsened. The rulers of that time implemented the Stalinist economic system, which testifies to the friendly relations between the Soviet Union and Albania, and later with the People's Republic of China. Through this research, we aim to highlight the transformation of the economic system in Albania, the state that in 1967 was declared as the first atheist in the world. The communist system of government and protectionism led to the violation of fundamental human rights and values, the isolation of the inhabitants from the rest of the world, and a ruined and destroyed economy. Using the descriptive and statistical method, we will reveal how Albania has benefited immediately after the collapse of the communist system and the centralized economy, replacing it with the democratic system and free trade. We will see how the economic trend in post-communist Albania has substituted, starting with the transition from state to private property, to Albania's participation in the international trade arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity is certainly the most noble energy form and the most important factor for the economic development of a country. The management of electricity has over a century long history and it is not an economic activity which is in the phase of maturity or decline, but on the contrary, this activity has a bright future. Therefore, the elaborated issue is very much up-to-date, considering the fact that it covers the vital economic components related to the electricity market including the imports dependency of the Republic of North Macedonia and the liberalization of the electricity market within the European Union and the Republic of North Macedonia. As part of the above mentioned, the main attention in this paper will be focused on the detailed and practical processing of the domestic economy dependence on import of electricity and the country's financial means spent for this purpose. In addition, the electricity market liberalization process will be reviewed, which full implementation starting from January 2019 will directly impact the creation and improvement of the competitiveness between the electric power companies, including the establishment of real market price of electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the effect of European Competition Policy as the means of the EU in global political economy. Competition policy can be identified as an important tool for the EU in its external relations. It both helps to increase the chance of domestic producers to reach foreign markets and regulates foreign firms and their products within the single market. Thus, the competition policy carries the EU up in the international political economy and helps the EU to be recognized as an international actor. Within the Single Market the EU exercise an exclusive power through competition policy. Externally, competition policy is one of the most effective international powers that EU exercises as it has the ability to regulate international mergers or even initiate cartel investigations. Alongside assessing the competition policy, this study focuses especially on some selected international cases of which the EU is a party through its competition law. It is argued, in this article, that the international power of the EU stemmed considerably from its competition policy which is integral in global political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulation of the banking and finance industry may lead to a more equal distribution of income if regulators pursue goals in the public interest. Alternatively, the economic theory of regulation predicts that regulatory and supervisory processes may be captured by the banking industry, leading to policies that promote the industry's interests. The liberalization of the banking and finance sector since the 1980s has produced more intense banking supervision and prudential regulation. In this study we find that banking supervision regulation is associated with greater income inequality. These findings are consistent with the economic theory of regulation. We interpret these results as evidence that regulatory capture in the banking and finance industry can have pernicious effects on the distribution of income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze eight of the 15 existing Japanese economic partnership agreements (EPAs) from 1997 to 2012. First, we construct bilateral measures of trade barriers for Japan and its partners using input-output and trade data. Next, we conduct panel regressions using those measures and find that when Japan forms an EPA, the tariff-equivalent barrier between the two countries falls approximately 2% to 3%. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this suggests that Japan's EPAs may not be merely "window dressing" after all. This has implications for larger trade agreements in the works, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union, it experienced civil war and strife for more than a decade. In late 2003, the peaceful Rose Revolution installed a new government that began a series of radical market‐liberal reforms. However, the effectiveness of these reforms was controversial. We offer a rigorous evaluation of these reforms via the synthetic control method which creates a credible counterfactual. Compared to the synthetic controls, we find that the reforms enacted after the Rose Revolution led to significant improvements in Georgia's social and economic development, albeit with temporary side effects and argue that this case provides some support for the effectiveness of rapid, multidimensional reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study focuses on the modernization of states and constitutes a further development of learning theories. Political change is caused by policy-learning. Furthermore, learning approaches can contribute to a better explanation of policies. They often do this when they are designed complementary to and integrated into actor-centred institutional approaches. This has the advantage that such central categories as power and interests do not remain underexposed. Strictly speaking, change is not triggered by institutional factors or actor constellations. These factors merely stimulate change. Ultimately, there are other components, which initiate a learning process and change in cooperation with the aforementioned contextual factors. Crucial for this happen is a political and economic pressure setting and, inter alia, the factors of time and space. Therefore, the probability that political change will follow in the wake of learning processes is higher if the aforementioned factors that promote learning meet up with favourable contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to investigate the transformation of South Korean economy from strict state regulation to liberalization and to fill in the gap in the historical analysis of the transition from import-substitution to export-oriented economy of South Korea. The study relies on the methods of comparative-historical, historical-typological, and historical-genetic analysis to consider the evolution of South Korean economic system, the change in economic development model, and the transition to a new economic strategy. The study also implies the use of interdisciplinary methods to systematize the empirical material, applying political-geographic, economic, and complex approaches. The paper gives periodization of South Korean economic development and investigates the reasons of country's successful modernization and transition to export-oriented economy. Large corporations began to emerge in South Korea in the mid-1960s due to the active support from the state. They established the production of steel, marine vessels, automobiles, and electronic devices. The well thought-out government program brought notable success by the late 1990s, and South Korea gained the developed industrial base and powerful export potential. The afflux of foreign investments and the competitiveness of Korean products were mostly provided by low wages, traditional diligence, and Confucian education. Since the Korean strategy of economic development happened to be successful, there is a need for examining the experience of modernization as it can be useful for developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial sector has acquired great prominence in most developed economies. Some authors argue that the growth of finance is at the root of the financial and economic difficulties of the past decade. This article aims to analyze this claim by looking at financialization in the European periphery, focusing on the Portuguese case. The emergence of this phenomenon is contextualized from a historical, economic and international perspective. Based on the analysis of several indicators, the article concludes that the Portuguese economy exhibits symptoms of financialization that are typically found in Southern European countries and that these differ significantly from the patterns characterizing financialization processes in more advanced economies. The article discusses how the increasing importance of financial actors and motives in the Portuguese economy played a decisive role in the emergence of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, it was analysed the sugar market in the context of the liberalization of the European market, taking into account both the situation at national and at European level. Also, there were analysed the evolution of the areas under sugar beet and sugar cane, sugar production, prices and sugar consumption. It was also demonstrated the economic theory affirming that: by reducing the price level of a particular food, the quantity bought is higher than consumed, thus resulting in the stocks. Studying the evolution of all elements of the sugar market, there were identified the main effects of the quotas elimination on this market. The conlusion was that the liberalization of the sugar market and the abolition of quotas in fall 2017 will lead to the increase of sugar beet and sugar production, to a decline of sugar price and to higher stocks of sugar as consumption is not expected to raise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, changes in European energy policy priorities and policies have brought many challenges. It is nessery to solve especially the changes in the global climate, ever-decreasing oil and gas reserves and the rapid rise of energy prices, reduced energy safety. The aim of this contribution is to point out the positive effects of the liberalization of the energy market in Slovakia. Therefore, we will analyze the timing of the creation of a single gas energy market in the household sector. We have used the Herfindahl-Hirschmann index, switching to reflect the relationship between the concentration rate and the number of companies, which are operating on market. To achieve this goal, we have used a variety of methods, from collecting information, especially from scientific works from both, foreign and home authors. From the scientific methods we used mainly coupled methods of induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis and to better illustrate of the results obtained, we used graphical and mathematical methods, which are mainly used for the clear presentation of our results in tables and charts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly asserted that economic liberalization increases income inequality in advanced industrial societies. However, the empirical evidence is inconclusive. The current investigation thus attempts to shed light on this important topic by presenting the argument that economic liberalization indirectly augments income inequality given its tendency to expand financial activity. This contention is tested using a panel dataset of 20 developed economies for the years 1988 to 2009. According to the fixed effects two‐stage least squares models, economic liberalization is positively associated with financialization, while financial activity is positively connected to income inequality. These results are found to be consistent across a variety of regression parameters and robustness checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 29 May 2014, during the meeting of Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Presently, the EAEU consists of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and the Kyrgyz Republic. Nonetheless, the EAEU is lobbying for an ambitious plan of enlargement and is aiming to expand across the entire Eurasian region. The EAEU claims to be the second union after the European Union with the deepest integration aspirations, containing similar institutions and decisionmaking approaches. This article argues that there are a number of challenges for the effective functioning of EAEU and that its Member States are not yet fully committed to liberalization in practice, contrary to the aspirations they are advocating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Literature, spanning industrial organization and strategic management disciplines, uses variance decomposition to understand the relative importance of firm, industry and business group effects in shaping profitability variations. Some literature analyzes firm profitability under transition to liberalization. Previous research has taken a static before-and-after view on institutional change. This paper aims to focus on the dynamic process of liberalization in India, analyzing how different institutional regime changes alter firm behavior leading to changes in profitability patterns.Design/methodology/approach Based on a panel data set of several thousand Indian firms, spanning the 26-year period between 1980-1981 and 2005-2006, the authors determine the relative importance of firm, industry and business group effects in explaining manufacturing firms’ profitability variances across different institutional phases. The authors evaluate three propositions that help assess transition dynamics between phases. They determine the quantum of catch-up or falling behind by firms.Findings Different industries emerge as profitability leaders, as the economy progresses through different liberalization phases. Business groups that have been more effective in resource appropriation, rent-seeking, politician management and non-market activities in a controlled regime are replaced as profit leaders by those that, in a free-market economy, can be capable of intra-business resource allocation tasks and leveraging corporate capabilities.Originality/value The approach demonstrates how to analyze the underlying detailed structure of firm-level data, and performance outcomes, to derive nuanced interpretation of factors giving rise to the effects that explain profitability variances, and how to assess the way these effects behave over time. The dynamic evidence-based approach highlights what factors matter, where, when and why, in influencing profitability variances, which are a key dimension of industrial and economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liberalization radically changed India's Foreign Exchange sectors the trade habit and transaction related to the business has become more international. The business and education with its new makes the foreign exchange sector more and more competent. The variation in the foreign exchange rate makes very big effect in the economy of the country as well as business. That is why it is considered as most sensitive part of the international business. In the emerging economy like India has tremendous opportunity for the foreign exchange business. Most of the companies in India going to internationally for expand market, increase profit and reduce risk. Thomas Cook India Limited is the most dominant company in the field of foreign exchange services. The supreme brand image of the company and the circumstances in the foreign exchange system of India comes to generate various dimensions. Moving with the phases of the globalization there are occurred a series of changes in the field of foreign exchange services. To expand the business of any company the Market survey is very essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the European Union (EU) is promoting a liberal model of welfare through social regulation. Focusing on the liberalization and regulation of the electricity sector, the article asks how and for what reasons social protection of vulnerable consumers was introduced into this sector, and what kind of welfare policy this represents. This article shows that social measures grew substantially between the second and third directives on electricity sector liberalization (2005–2009), advanced by the European Parliament and reluctantly adopted by the Commission. This development runs counter to our understanding of electricity sector reform as focused primarily on liberalization, competition and efficiency. It is argued that the introduction of social protection advanced the process of economic reform, even when the measures introduced were in themselves inefficient. This social regulation, however, not only reflects a liberal, targeted and minimal understanding of welfare, but also pushes social policy in member states in this same direction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The European Union's (EU) energy sector is changing due to major policy reforms. In this article, we examine the impact of major legislative changes which were designed to induce competition in the energy sector: the three liberalization packages. Competition was expected to benefit the industry by phasing out inefficient firms. EU citizens were also expected to benefit as competition was likely to promote a more efficient energy sector and more consumer choice of energy products and services. However, this legislative change occurred during a period of extreme market turmoil. We examine the impact of all these changes on the risk profile of the sector. Our results show that the liberalization legislation significantly increased systematic risk exposure of the sector, reducing its role as a defensive investment asset. We also show that commodities had relatively little impact on sector returns, but this was expected as utilities can offset commodity risk in hedging markets. We compare our results to those obtained in neighbouring EU sectors and find the impacts are isolated to the energy sector. This article makes a major contribution to energy policy by empirically showing the change in risk as a result of sector liberalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial transmission rights (FTR) are financial products that entitle their holder to receive a payment based on the degree of congestion in a transmission system. In many liberalized electricity markets, FTR are sold at auction by the local electricity system operator. This paper addresses several questions about the performance of FTR auctions in Ontario's restructured electricity market, including whether auction market clearing prices approximate realized payouts and whether there is any evidence that the competitiveness of auctions, as measured by the number of bidders, affects the forward market unbiasedness or informational efficiency of the auctions. The paper finds that the auction process is inefficient in the sense that market clearing prices are substantially and systematically lower than realized payouts, resulting in substantial transfers away from consumers. However, there is some evidence that the auction market is more efficient when there are three or more bidders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows that the liberalization of the residential market for electricity in Chile may achieve important welfare gains. We built a model to assess two policy scenarios: partial and full liberalization. Simulations of the model provide equilibrium prices, the distribution toll, and welfare estimations on factual and counterfactual scenarios. Our policy recommendation is to partially liberalize the residential market for electricity. That is, to allow the entrance into this market but regulate both the incumbent's tariffs for residential customers and the distribution toll. Full liberalization, in which only the distribution toll is regulated, produces a lower increase in welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the impact of EU liberalization policy tools on the rate of supplier switching in order to assess whether the objective of increased competition in the natural gas sector has been achieved. Three dynamic models are applied to a panel of 22 EU members between 1998 and 2013 to test the efficacy of eleven policy tools including privatization, in bringing competition to the market. Panel econometrics suggests that the liberalization tools implemented positively influence competition, although jointly rather than on a stand-alone basis. The implementation of pro-market regulations is associated with more competition in the sector. Among the various instruments, the virtual trading point, market-based balancing, market opening, and privatization have the greatest competition-enhancing potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the previously investigated macro-sociological models which analyze the consequences of economic development, income inequality, and international migration on social mobility, this article studies the specific contextual covariates of intergenerational reproduction of occupational status in post-communist societies. It is theorized that social mobility is higher in societies with democratic political regimes and less liberalized economies. The outlined hypotheses are tested by using micro- and macro-level datasets for 21 post-communist societies which are fitted into multilevel mixed-effects linear regressions. The derived findings suggest that factors specific to transition societies, conventional macro-level variables, and the legacy of the Soviet Union explain variation in intergenerational social mobility, but the results vary depending which birth cohorts survey participants belong to and whether or not they stem from advantaged or disadvantaged social origins. These findings are robust to various alternative data, sample, and method specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the effects of regulation and political stability on the allocation of mobile telecommunication investments in the African continent between 2001 and 2011. To better understand the dynamics of investment in telecommunications, a framework was developed to assess factors that determine investments in the telecom industry at the country and industry level, particularly institutions, market size/demand level, market structure and investing cost. The results show that investments in the mobile telecommunications industry are dependent on regulation and liberalization; however, no statistical evidence was found for the effect of political stability as measured by the democratic process. Furthermore, the study has shown that market structure factors, especially competition, market size and the cost of investing in a country, are important in determining the allocation of mobile telecommunications investments among African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1980s and to the present, airports in many developed and developing countries are experiencing major changes, especially in terms of airport management and operation. There has been a transition from public to private sector management. The privatization process of the airports is mainly associated with the transfer of the management and operation from public to private companies. This change was accompanied by the formulation and execution of different forms of privatization. The present article describes and analyzes the different reasons and motivations that originated and promoted this transformation, as well as its development and evolution, from a scientific perspective. As a case study is presented the process of airport privatization that was developed in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article conveys the current state and dynamics of Ukraine currency market. As banks are deemed key currency market players the authors have shown macrotrends in the banking system reflecting banks' currency market activity. The authors also outlined influential factors of the Ukrainian foreign currency market and applied to the "new normal" concept as the reference point after the fundamental change of market conditions for further monitoring of the market development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission has the initiative to foster the sector of renewable energy and to build an Energy Union, with a common energy market at the level of the European Union, but is this only a utopic vision or is this possible to achieve? The topic of clean energy is very new and of great interest for the European Union, which is shown by the fact that the European Commission recently adopted on the 30th November 2016 the package 'Clean Energy for All Europeans', which contains proposals for the modernization of the energy market at the level of the European Union. But which are the challenges such a project is confronted with? According to the literature, such challenges are related to the process of liberalization of electricity markets. Conflicts between national interest and international actors of the energy market might occur. Due to the oligopolistic structure of the energy market, there are several barriers to the market entry. In order to answer to the research questions, case studies regarding the liberalization of the energy market will be analyzed in a comparative manner, offering an international overview. Furthermore, the legal provisions on which the common energy policy of the European Union relies, will be analyzed, as well as their economic and social impact. The package 'Clean Energy for All Europeans' comprises a proposal of the revised Renewable energy Directive, energy efficiency measures and issues related to the Energy Union Governance. It contains as well proposals for the electricity market design, which will be analyzed and the present paper outlines the contribution of this proposal in building a common energy market of the European Union. What role does competition play in implementing the common energy market of the European Union? Which role do competition authorities have in this context? These are interesting aspects to be analyzed in the present paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the effect of delays in updating prudential regulation on the likelihood of a country experiencing banking crises, and it disentangles the impact of different aspects of regulation on crisis onset. I argue that delays in revision to banks' prudential regulation allow banks to adopt risky behavior, which increases a country's vulnerability to systemic banking crises. This effect, however, is conditional on the level of liberalization of the financial market. At lower levels of liberalization, banks have stronger incentives to escape the constraints of regulation and to take advantage of regulatory lags. At high levels of liberalization, the effect of regulatory lags is curbed, possibly by market discipline. Statistical analyses on a sample of developed and developing countries from 1974-2005 support this argument and help rule out the competing learning hypothesis. These results suggest that the effects of institutions can vary with the passage of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that federal systems in Canada and the United States allow for the successful pursuit of sub-federal offensive and defensive priorities in the negotiation of international trade agreements. It is also clear, however, that the coercive American intrastate system limits the relevance of American states in this process, especially when compared to Canada's relatively cooperative interstate model. Canadian provinces and territories also benefit from ideational considerations, including policy expertise and trust-ties with federal negotiators, which further strengthens sub- federal legitimacy and influence in this policy area. This study evaluates the incremental and significant impact of Canadian and American sub-federal governments across a number of sectors on the negotiations and final legal texts of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relation between economic liberalization, regulation and welfare. It asks how the state regulates, delays or prevents service disconnection due to debt and arrears, and what this kind of policy implies regarding the use of regulation as a form of social policy. This is done through a comparative study of the electricity and water sectors in Israel after liberalization. It finds that after initial economic reform, both sectors saw a growth in regulation intended to compensate for the social effects of reform, in what may be termed the 'regulatory welfare state'. However, this form of social protection has been residual and incoherent. The article argues that trying to separate economic reform from its social consequences is unrealistic and may lead to adverse social and economic results. Second, findings raise concerns regarding the potential of the regulatory welfare state to deliver effective and fair social policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most scholars have highlighted the commonalities of labour market reforms under austerity in Europe, mostly in terms of liberalization. We argue that a more differentiated analysis is in order, as empirical developments point to distinct reform trajectories. We analyse in detail the two Southern European cases where pressure for austerity was intense, but governments maintained a degree of discretion as they were not subjected to direct bailout conditions: Italy and Spain. We examine the period since 2010, which includes a major labour market reform in each of the two states in 2012. Using a theoretical framework that allows distinguishing forms of liberalization, we find that reforms in the two states indeed differed markedly. In Spain, flexibilization and declining coverage of protection prevailed, whereas in Italy flexibilization was combined with improved protection of workers at the margin of the labour market. The differing influence of the centre-left helps to explain this divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arab regimes have struggled to reform effectively and, as a consequence, have continued to perform poorly in terms of output and employment growth. Some Arab autocracies have experimented with partial liberalization, yielding benefits mainly for connected parties or cronies. There has been a chronic inability to craft policies capable of commanding widespread support in the population. Instead, the main groups in the economy have coalesced around the preservation of rents at the cost of achieving wider benefits. The paper attributes this not only to a combination of lack of credibility as well as issues of time consistency, but also to the failure to develop and present a coherent case for reforms capable of conferring benefits on the wider population, rather than concentrated benefits for a few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European energy utilities face a range of policy induced challenges that are materially affecting their financial returns. Accordingly, in this paper we examine the impact of liberalization, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and security of supply legislation on European energy utilities' returns between 1996 and 2013. We implement an event study portfolio analysis using a comprehensive list of major regulatory changes, the largest utility sample to date, and a novel asset pricing model that controls for sector-level stock-market, term premium, and commodity risk factors. The results show EU policies that focus on liberalization and energy efficiency have a significant negative impact on the energy sector's financial returns. This reflects changes in the fundamental risk-reward trade-off of European energy utilities and investors' recognition of the economic impact of EU legislations on the sector. Contrary to assertions by the financial press, renewable energy objectives have no significant impact on returns at sector-level; the impact is mostly concentrated on the natural gas utilities. Our results highlight a tension between liberalization and environmental objectives, negatively impacting the sector's ability to raise the estimated $2.2 trillion investment capital needed to ensure reliable and increasingly environmentally-friendly energy supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of late, technology entrepreneurship and ecosystem for technology based start-ups are attracting the attention of policy makers and empirical researchers alike, across the world. In India, Bangalore has been receiving increased global recognition as a tech start-up hub; as of now, Bangalore is considered to be the home for the largest number of tech start-ups in the country and third largest in the world. An important factor that contributed to this 'status and recognition' of Bangalore is the emergence of a unique entrepreneurial ecosystem, which supports and promotes tech start-ups. Given this, it is important to understand how a favorable entrepreneurial ecosystem for tech start-ups emerged in Bangalore. What are its major components? What role do these components play in different stages of the life cycle of tech start-ups in Bangalore? How mature is the ecosystem of Bangalore to support the emergence, sustenance and growth of tech start-ups to nurture them? What are the key lessons that can be derived out of the Bangalore tech hub experience? This article is an attempt to shed light on these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the potential impact of agricultural trade liberalization on Sub-Saharan Africa. We used the Agricultural Trade and Policy Simulation Model to estimate the potential effects of agricultural trade liberalization, mainly in the US and EU, on the world-market prices of agricultural commodities. We then used the estimated price changes to assess the impact of these reforms on net-food importers as well as other Sub-Saharan African countries that enjoy preferential trade agreements with the EU and US. The results indicate that the world market prices of all commodities imported by Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to rise while the prices of the key export commodities of the region would either decline or remain unchanged. Given that the prices of major food commodities are expected to rise, net-food-importing countries will experience increasing import bill, thus leading to welfare loss. Major Sub-Saharan Africa sugar exporters who are beneficiaries of preferential agreements such as the EU sugar protocol and US AGOA initiative will become losers as preferences erode due to global liberalization. Thus, the region is expected to generally become a net loser from the current WTO reform modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]