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Antitrust law has a race problem. To spot an antitrust violation, courts inquire into whether an act has degraded consumer welfare. Since anticompetitive practices are often assumed to enhance consumer [...]

Abstract In 2015-2016, Brazil endured the deepest recession in its history. GDP fell by 7.3% in 2 years. Unlike recent crises in other emerging markets, characterized by a balance of [...]

The rapid journey from central planning to euro area (EU) membership stress-tested the social learning processes of the former transition economies (FTEs). The desire for a higher standard of living, to be anchored to the West and to enter the EU spurred major reform waves and led to the very rapid introduction of institutions that had evolved as best-practice in highly developed countries. Although social learning accompanied this process, in many FTEs it was not fast enough to keep pace with the rapid reforms, leaving new institutions with social norms that were not sufficiently strong to maintain them. As a result, widespread reform reversals emerged in the region. Such reform reversals appeared as formal reversals, which changed legislation, and behavioral reversals, which eroded the quality of an institution by materially changing the way it worked. It was frequently the interaction of reversals in different sectors that created a full-blown reform reversal episode, with the financial sector particularly prone to behavioral reversals, both in public and private institutions. External anchors such as the Washington institutions played a dominant role in shaping the transition process. The EU and EU accession acted as a strong anchor that could prevent or reverse formal reform reversals in areas covered by EU law, but could play a much weaker role in the case of behavioral reversals. The ultimate solution to prevent reform reversals is to accelerate social learning processes that strengthen the national ownership of reforms. It is also important to focus on the quality and internal coherence of reforms and newly created institutions.Keywords Reform reversals * Social norms * Institution building * European Union * Transition economiesJEL Classification E6 * H5 * G2 * J48 ? 05 ? P2, IntroductionSeveral former transition countries (FTEs) that joined the EU after 2004 have reversed economic reforms in recent years, sometimes central reforms. The reversals in Poland and Hungary, previously star performers [...]

This is a survey of progress with the postcrisis global (G20) reform of the financial system, in five key areas of new regulation: (1) making financial institutions more resilient; (2) ending 'too-big-to-fail'; (3) making derivatives markets safer; (4) transforming shadow banking; and (5) improving trade competition and market transparency. The resiliency reforms, particularly bank capital regulations, have been increasingly successful in improving financial stability, but have been accompanied by some reduction in secondary-market liquidity. I review specific areas where reforms are far from complete, or have even been counterproductive. History: Accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance. Conflict of Interest Statement: The author's webpage at http://www.stanford.edu/~duffie/ provides related research and disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Keywords: financial regulation * banking * repos * leverage ratio * failure resolution, 1. Introduction 'You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.' --Rahm Emanuel (former White House chief of staff), (1) This report offers a brief assessment of the postcrisis [...]

China's agricultural sector in 1978 has generally been seen as a poor and weak segment of the nation's economy, although recognized for some achievements. This paper argues, however, that at that time China was not only the fifth largest world economy, but also a world leader in the production of primary agricultural goods: grain, wheat, corn, rice, carry-over stocks of cereals, meat, aquatic products, sugar and cotton. China came close to or out produced not only India and Brazil, but even the U.S.A, the USSR, and Japan. This article analyzes some fundamental drawbacks of the Chinese regime: its economic structure, per capita agricultural production, efficiency of the agricultural labor force, efficiency of governmental agricultural expenditures, farm machinery scale, export/import potential, and a per capita GNP, which provoked, along with other causes, future comprehensive reforms of the country. It predominantly uses materials drawn from the US, China, the USSR, the UN, and the World Bank's official statistics, as well as other useful sources. Key Words: Agriculture, China, USA, USSR, Japan, 1978., Introduction Historically, China's outstanding requirement necessary to facilitate further successful development of the economy was a strong agricultural sector. This article therefore focuses on Chinese agricultural production between 1952-1978, especially [...]

Economists began developing the theory of network effects in the 1970s. Significant progress was made through the 1990s, just in time for the birth of the new economy. The basic [...]

This paper documents important changes in real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of six large Latin American countries. The main results can he summarized as follows. First, there is evidence of a structural break in real GDP toward stronger mean growth and a substantial reduction in volatility. Second, the timing of the breaks suggests that the important changes in economic policies of the [1980] s and [1990] s have been effective in permanently improving economic growth in the region. These changes in the growth processes imply recessions that are shorter in duration and milder in amplitude. The sustained increase in commodity prices observed in recent years explains an important share of growth in the region since [2003]. But after accounting for the effect of commodity prices, there is even stronger evidence of a structural break in real GDP growth. (JEL E32), I. INTRODUCTION In recent years. Latin American (LatAm) countries have experienced an unprecedented period of booming asset prices and investment, appreciating real exchange rates, and strong output growth (Izquierdo, Romero, [...]

Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' [...]

Under the auspices of the two Acts on the Single Market (2011, 2012) and the Europe 2020 Strategy, and given that the financial risks involved and the tight connection between the public and private environments may transform public procurement into a vulnerable area faced with unfair commercial practices, with the 2007-2013 programming period providing numerous such examples in Romania, there has been a need for a new approach to procurement. This has implied, on the one hand, the adoption of clear, coherent, stable and predictable legislation (transposed from European legislation), and on the other hand, the reconfiguring and broadening of granting procedures. Keywords: public procurement, value thresholds, subcontractors, direct payments, competition, granting criteria, The creation of the Single Market, the core and principal economic engine of the European Union, is a permanent exercise and a central element in the European programme of measures [...]

The special interest group model of government, employed throughout public choice theory, models the outcomes of government as a function of special interest group activity. Early work in this area [...]

1. Preamble In the wake of the 2007-2009 financial and economic meltdown, a lot of intellectual and practical work is being done in the area of monetary and economic reform. [...]

This article highlights the interfaces between micro-level livelihoods, social networks, and macroeconomic trends and policies. Specifically, it analyzes the role of farmer groups in livelihood adaptation of smallholder maize producers in southern Mexico. We show how neoliberal market changes have shaped the local social structure with constraining and enabling effects on households' ability to adapt, while in turn the outcomes of the neoliberal policy reforms are being (re)shaped by the responses of the farmers, thereby changing the structural context. We provide evidence for the heterogeneity of adaptation processes and show that farmers' participation influences the outcomes of neoliberal policy reforms. Este articulo resalta las interacciones existentes entre las microcomunidades, las redes sociales, politicas y tendencias macroeconomicas y especificamente analiza el papel de los grupos de productores en la adaptacion de los medios de vida de pequenos productores de maiz en el sur de Mexico. El articulo demuestra como los cambios en las politicas de mercado neoliberales han dado forma a la estructura social local con efectos que restringen y a la vez facilitan la capacidad de adaptacion de los hogares, mientras que--a su vez--los resultados de estas reformas neoliberales estan siendo (re)formados por las respuestas de los productores, cambiando asi el contexto estructural. El argumento principal de este articulo trata de la naturaleza vinculada de estos procesos. En el desarrollo del argumento, el estudio arroja evidencia sobre la heterogeneidad de los procesos de adaptacion y muestra que los resultados de las reformas de las politicas neoliberales son influenciados por la participacion de los productores de maiz., Proponents of market liberalization make a strong case that for smallholders to succeed in the global economy, it is necessary to create an entrepreneurial culture in rural communities (Hellin, Lundy, [...]

Ever since the policy of economic renovation (Doi Moi) was initiated in 1986, comprehensive domestic reforms and proactive economic integration have been major pillars of Vietnam 's economy. Deepening cooperation and integration through the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) framework lies at the centre of Vietnam's trade and investment liberalization agenda. Any domestic reforms undertaken in the lead up to the announcement of the AEC by the end of 2015 should engage the ongoing economic restructuring process as well as the country's growth paradigm. Reforms will also entail narrowing the development gap between Vietnam and more advanced ASEAN economies. The Vietnamese government has to weigh adjustment costs from reforms and greater liberalization as well as ensure that benefits are distributed among a diverse set of stakeholders in the domestic economy. Past experiences have shown that stakeholders can be sensitive to adjustment costs and accompanying uncertainties. This paper focuses on three key issues related to managing consensus during the community-building process: (i) increasing consultation with stakeholders during reforms; (ii) building community awareness of potential changes; and (iii) mitigating adverse impacts of reforms. Keywords: Vietnam, ASEAN Economic Community, domestic reforms, consultation., 1. Introduction Until 1986, Vietnam remained an autarky under a central planning regime with some of the following key characteristics: (i) state or collective ownership of all production means, including [...]

The introduction of the Euro in 1999 implied the transfer of the responsibility for monetary policy to the European Central Bank and it eliminated the member countries' nominal exchange rates. The smooth operation of a common currency area requires that independent exchange rates are replaced by other adjustment mechanisms. In the Euro area, wages have not been flexible enough, labor mobility is low, no sufficient central fiscal institutions exist, and the fiscal mles have been weak. This led to large external imbalances and high public debt in some countries. Since the outbreak of the economic crisis, macroeconomic reforms resulted in improved international competitiveness and lower public deficits. Several new institutions have been created on the European level, strengthening mutual economic surveillance and cooperation. Keywords Euro area * Macroeconomic adjustment ? International competitiveness * Fiscal federalism * Banking union JEL Classification E62 * G20 * H62, Introduction With the introduction of the Euro, the exchange rate risk among the member states was eliminated. Financial market participants evidently misperceived the sovereign risks, since the interest rate differential [...]

The profitability of an investment in education in Indonesia has been a discussed issue for the past decades. Both Deolalikar (1993) and Duflo (2001) provided comprehensive estimates of returns to investment in education in Indonesia and both of them argued that schooling was a profitable investment. This paper updates the evidence on the profitability of an investment in education in Indonesia, using OLS and IV approaches. It describes the statistical relationship among market earnings, years of schooling, age and job tenure (experience), and quadratics of age and tenure, marital status, male-female and rural-urban dummies. In the analysis, we use primary data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey 4 (IFLS4). IFLS4 is a nationally representative sample comprising 13,536 households and 50,580 individuals, spread across provinces on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. The earnings function is estimated on three samples: a combined sample of males and females (with a female intercept shift term), and separate samples of male and female workers. The empirical results show that the returns to schooling in Indonesia are 4.72 per cent for the combined sample, 4.36 per cent for males, and 5.26 per cent for females. However, the relationship between years of schooling and earnings is not statistically significant in any of the IV estimations. We also make comparisons with the findings of Duflo (2001), based on earlier data for 1995. These comparisons enable an assessment of any changes in the ability bias over this period of market reform. The IV estimates are the same as, or greater than, the OLS estimates. This is consistent with the literature for developed countries, and suggests that ability does not attract a wage premium but may be correlated with the instruments. Although adopting the IV approach increases the estimated returns to schooling in Indonesia, these returns remain low compared to other Asian as well as less developed countries. Therefore, the market-oriented economic reforms that has been going on over the past several decades should be evaluated by the policy makers considering whether these reforms generating higher jobless growth or not and take proper policy measure, if there is any. JEL Classifications: I21, I22, J30, J31 Keywords: Earnings, Experience, Returns to Schooling, Instrumental Variable, INTRODUCTION Studies of the return to schooling in Western countries have documented a range of important, policy relevant findings. They have shown that schooling is a financially rewarding investment, with [...]

Cuba and Ecuador are very different countries, but they share a common history and are politically linked by principles of the progressive Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) bloc. They are also engaged [...]

How are patterns of delegation between the president and the legislature chosen in multiparty presidential regimes? How do political actors make strategic use of legislative provisions during moments of institutional reform? This essay explores causal mechanisms related to these questions based on a case study of Brazilian budget reform from 1999 to 2008. The main findings are that legislative agenda control can be decisive for the maintenance of delegation patterns that favor governing coalitions; entrepreneurs have a real, but limited, power; and the strategic use of legislative rules may be as relevant for institutional reform as they are for regular policy making. Como padroes de delegacao entre o presidente e o Congresso sao determinados em sistemas presidencialistas multipartidarios? Como atores politicos usam estrategicamente procedimentos legislativos durante momentos de reforma institucional? Este artigo explora mecanismos causais relacionados a essas questoes com base em um estudo de caso do processo orcamentario brasileiro entre 1999 e 2008. Tres implicacoes do argumento sao: o controle da agenda legislativa pode ser decisivo para manter padroes de delegacao favoraveis a coalizao; empreendedores tem poder real, mas limitado, para propor mudancas institucionais; e o uso estrategico de regras legislativas pode ser tao relevante para reformas institucionais quanto e para o processo de formulacao de politicas publicas., How does legislative agenda control matter for the choice of patterns of delegation between the president and the legislature, that is, in different types of institutional equilibria? How successful can [...]

ABSTRACT While questioning the will to change, this note speaks to the political transition from Fidel to Raul Castro. The new administration's financial inheritance is examined and a comparison is [...]

The Trajectory of Capitalist Development: Continuities and Ruptures THE NATURE OF THE REGIME THAT EMERGED FROM THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION WAS THE source of long and bitter debates throughout the twentieth [...]

It has become somewhat fashionable to refer to the vast expansion of the Federal Reserve's power under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. This Act certainly expanded the Fed's authority and its [...]

Myanmar has made an overt move from a de facto multiple exchange rate system to a managed floating exchange system, hut the impact of reform of the foreign exchange market on the economy remains unclear. While reform measures have alleviated segmentation within the foreign exchange market, they have not completely driven out transactions that take place within a pre-existing parallel market. Such transactions may be cost efficient for individual firms, but could hinder the development of the financial sector. Keywords: Parallel foreign exchange market, managed floating, Myanmar., I. Introduction Among the gamut of political and economic reforms launched by President Thein Sein's government since March 2011, the series of reforms affecting the foreign exchange market has yielded [...]

The article entitled 'European Funds, bargaining tools in the European Union' aims to present the obstacles, problems and tensions which existed during the European construction and integration process with a special regard on Central and Eastern Europe. Also, is focusing on a wide variety of European development and regional policies, which represents the solution for a permanent and harmonious development of the European Union. Keywords: European, regional, diversity, community, development, European Union and integration in the European Community developed itself on three basic ways, creation of a common market, development of common institutions and several common policies. Market integration has [...]

Abstract This article explores the role of nationalism in domestic politics in Japan since 2005 by contrasting the Koizumi and the Abe administration of 2012/2013. It argues that the Koizumi [...]

A bank is considered insolvent when its liabilities (deposits) exceed the value of its assets (reserves, loans, and securities). If assets exceed liabilities, any losses experienced on the asset side [...]

Responding to a proposed 1898 law that would racially segregate rail cars in South Carolina, the Charleston News and Courier editorialized the proposal as ridiculous. The newspaper declared of race [...]

Over the last few decades, changes in Australia's retirement incomes policy, including the introduction of compulsory superannuation, have seen governments encourage individuals to provide for their own old age from private means. This process has been described as 'privatisation' of retirement incomes, However, beyond the 'privatisation' thesis, there has been little critical examination of what these changes have meant for the nature and relative importance of the different principles underpinning Australia's retirement incomes system. This paper aims to provide such an examination. Drawing on the principles of deservingness and need, the paper provides an historical analysis of the development of Australia's retirement incomes system, tracing how these two principles underpinned the first age pension and subsequently contributed to the emergence of compulsory superannuation. This approach provides a deeper understanding of how contemporary policy changes have altered the structure of Australia's retirement incomes system, arguing that there are important historical continuities as well as changes. It argues that the phrase 'state-supported private saving', rather than 'privatisation', captures the nature of this contemporary reform process. Keywords: age pension, superannuation, deservingness, need, privatisation, Introduction Over the last few decades, changes in retirement incomes policy across a number of countries have seen governments encourage individuals to provide for their own old age from private [...]

This paper applied the Malmquist productivity index in order to estimate total factor productivity growth and its components (efficiency change and technological progress) in Indian manufacturing during the pre- and post-reform periods. The results illustrate that the economic reforms have not exerted positive effects on productivity growth in Indian manufacturing. However, the impacts of economic reforms differ between sectors and between components of total factor productivity. First, after reform, the productivity of heavy industries increased, whereas the productivity of light industries decreased. Second, reform improves both the efficiency and the technological progress in the heavy industries, but failed to improve efficiency in light industries. The results of this study suggest that specific policies should be implemented in order to improve efficiency as well as technical progress, thus ultimately facilitating long-run productivity growth. JEL Classifications: F13; L60; D24. Keywords: Indian Manufacturing; Economic Reforms; Productivity; Malmquist Index, INTRODUCTION The Indian economy has undergone enormous changes in its underlying policy framework since 1991. The old industrial and trade policy regime was replaced by a set of more liberal [...]

This paper argues that evidence-based policy has clearly made a worldwide impact, at least at the rhetorical and institutional levels, and in terms of analytical activity. The paper then addresses [...]

Over a short span of thirty years, Malaysia has made a remarkable transition from a predominantly agrarian to a successful middle-income economy on the threshold of a final push towards 'developed economy' status. The financial sector played an important role in facilitating growth--initially as a passive concomitant of the development strategy, subsequently taking on a proactive role as the economy deregulated and grew. Until the onset of the Asian financial crisis of 2007, macroeconomic stability and a gradualist approach to financial liberalization helped insulate the economy from the vicissitudes of global financial markets. Since then the challenges of transforming into a developed economy have manifested themselves. The Malaysian experience appears to epitomize the 'middle income' economy trap. Despite several policy initiatives to develop venture capital industry, knowledge based firms are yet to gain traction. The banking sector is still fragmented, with foreign banks demonstrating superior performance. Bank holding companies are yet to realize the benefits of consolidation of commercial banking, investment banking, finance companies and insurance firms. The falling rate of capital formation has stalled growth of capital markets. While there have been improvements in corporate governance, reforms of government linked enterprises is a work in process. Reforms in the political economy of finance, especially portfolio restrictions and directed credit resulting from the Bumiputera policy could yield considerable dividends. Keywords: Malaysia, financial sector reforms, restructuring, governance., I. Introduction Over a short span of thirty years, Malaysia has made a remarkable transition from a predominantly agrarian economy to a successful middle income economy, on the threshold of [...]

Many developing countries undertaking a fiscal adjustment have followed the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) recommendation to create a large taxpayer unit (LTU) to ensure stable or enhanced revenue flows, but the problem is that researchers have not conducted a systematic evaluation (other than a survey) of this recommendation's revenue raising effects. It is important to understand the effects of this reform measure because limited country resources should be allocated carefully to policy reforms that have a reasonable chance of success. In order to address the issue, this paper evaluates the effectiveness of this fiscal reform using economic data. A unique panel data set has been assembled to evaluate performance of LTUs based on each country's tax share (tax revenue divided by GDP) over a seven-year period. Employing a straightforward empirical methodology of comparing changes in the average annual tax share before and after implementation, a surprising 43 percent of countries experienced a decline in the tax share after implementing an LTU. The implication for policy makers is that successful reform not only includes adopting the correct policy, but also taking adequate steps to ensure that the policy is well-implemented. JEL Classification: H39, O23, O57 Keywords: economic development; fiscal adjustment; tax administration reform; large taxpayers' unit, INTRODUCTION When a developing or emerging market country experiences a fiscal crisis, it must undergo an adjustment process that requires country officials to make difficult trade-offs. In most cases, these [...]

The lack of fiscal discipline is a natural and pervasive implication of the perceived separation between the benefits from public spending and the taxes that individuals and interest groups receive [...]

Restoring sustainable public finances in the aftermath of the Great Recession is a key challenge in most EU countries. In order to learn from history, our paper examines consolidation episodes [...]

In 1999, the Nigerian government unveiled new policies aimed at revitalizing the mining, agricultural, tourism, financial services, and manufacturing sectors in a broader effort to diversify the national economy. While this was a response to the reality of underdevelopment in the country, it was also a response to research that has attributed the country's developmental and governance failures to decades of over-dependence on its vast petroleum resources. The new plan has attracted unprecedented attention from foreign and local mining firms to previously under-exploited minerals such as coal, gold, tin, bitumen, talc, limestone, uranium, asbestos, limestone, and iron ore (known collectively in Nigerian government and business circles as 'solid minerals'). Using the coal industry as a case study, this article looks beyond the 'economic diversification' objectives of resource sector reforms and interrogates coal sector revitalization against narratives of entitlement, land dispossession, and repossession in the mining communities. The central question is: how does privatisation impact on the revitalization process, and what role does community memory and material interests in land, play in the emerging conflict between the mining communities and the Nigerian state? The analysis is based on ethnographic data obtained in the South-eastern Nigerian town of Enugu-Ngwo, the country's premier coal mining community. The article also draws lessons from the Nigerian petroleum sector., Economic Reforms and Grassroots Concerns The return to democratic governance in Nigeria in 1999 after almost two decades of military rule coincided with a surge in grassroots militancy in the [...]