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Using a refined version of our multi-country AB-SFC model of a Monetary Union the paper aims at providing a tentative assessment of the economic effects of transforming the European Monetary Union into an Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Union (IFTU) with its own fiscal capacity. Countries contribute proportionally to their GDP, whereas funds are redistributed according to a mechanism that gives more funds to countries performing worse than the average of the Union in cyclical terms. Our simulations show that an IFTU inspired by such a redistribution principle acts as a stabilizer of international trade, allowing us to stabilize and improve the Union GDP performance without affecting the stability of public finances. When the Union is allowed to borrow on capital markets, i.e. in a Fully Fledged Fiscal Transfer Union (FFFTU), these effects are enhanced and a part of the public debt burden shifts from the national to the Union level, leaving the total burden almost stable. An interesting result to assess the political acceptability of the proposal is that "core" countries eventually benefit the most from the introduction of this mechanism, despite being more frequently net contributors. Finally, we show that an FFFTU with common debt might help to soften the impact of an exogenous demand shock, while, because of the fact that it mainly operates as a stabilizer of aggregate demand, it does not seem to provide beneficial effects when facing a supply shock to production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic literature has made an effort to demonstrate the positive effects of privatisation reforms on government performance and economic growth. However, there is no sufficient evidence to support the benefits of privatisation in terms of government spending efficiency. This study analyses the correlation between privatisation and government spending efficiency. Our empirical results do not support a positive effect of privatisation on government spending efficiency. These findings are relevant because they suggest that, although privatisation has been usually seen as a tool to balance public finances, it does not mean that government spending efficiency will be higher after privatising State‐owned enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every couple of years, it seems, the debt limit shows up to wreak havoc in American law and public finance. By capping the face value of government securities that can be "outstanding at one time," the statutory limit regularly threatens the Treasury's ability to raise the revenue needed to fund required government spending. Brinksmanship over the limit has shut down the government, cost the country billions of dollars, and mired financial markets in uncertainty. And yet, despite its obvious and longstanding importance, the limit remains poorly understood. Commentators attribute its beginnings to 1917 and 1941, before which it is assumed that Congress itself designed each debt instrument and did so only during rare emergencies. For some, the presumed recency of the limit makes it easy to dismiss. It is regarded as a quixotic provision that can and should yield to more significant spending mandates, or a provision that is itself unlawful--at odds with the Fourteenth Amendment's cryptic command that public debts "shall not be questioned." For others, the limit is regarded as either a cataclysmic threat to the financial system, or a necessary hindrance to runaway government spending, or both. We are warned, by politicians and commentators alike, that a binding debt limit will lead to default, and the cratering of the American economy--and also that having no limit would be an "irresponsible" concession to our profligate spending instincts. But each piece of this conventional wisdom is wrong. Debt limits--authorities for the Executive Branch to borrow that come with limits attached--have existed since 1790, and flow naturally from the Constitution's reservation of the borrowing power to Congress. I provide a corrective account of those early limits and draw on public laws and Treasury borrowing records to provide an overview of the Executive Branch's borrowing authority between 1790 and 1910. That historical excavation has important doctrinal and policy implications for how we think about public finance today and helps clear the myth and confusion surrounding the debt limit. Under current doctrine, the limit is lawful. It is a form of statutory direction and commitment that was common at the ratification of both the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment. The limit is binding. When the limit conflicts with spending provisions, longstanding practice suggests that it is spending--and not the limit--that must yield. And, finally, the implications of the modern limit remain woefully misunderstood. There is no good reason to think that default follows from a binding limit: tax revenue is more than sufficient to cover debt service. But there is excellent reason to think that the modern limit has become so divorced from its original appropriations purpose--which was to make spending cheaper, not harder--that the case for reform is ripe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how cooperation influences firm performance, utilizing pooled regression and instrumental variables on LAIS data covering firms from 2007 to 2017 across 10 Latin American countries. The findings indicate that cooperating firms outperform non-cooperating counterparts, especially when collaborating within their economic group. Furthermore, I find that cooperation is particularly advantageous for small firms, and access to public or private finance enhances returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Budgets are often thought of as boring, invoking the tedium of bookkeeping. The summer of 2020 suggested otherwise. As America's plague of police brutality combined with the death-dealing blows of the COVID-19 pandemic and a wave of urban uprising gripped US cities, activists turned their organising attention to municipal budgeting. From Seattle to Atlanta, demands rang out for cities to #defund the police, rethink public safety and adopt budgets for the people. Since then, the people's budget movement has grown in strength at the municipal level, including in Los Angeles, Chicago, Louisville, Jacksonville, Minneapolis and Nashville, among other cities. What should urban studies scholars make of these struggles and from the aspirations and visions that impel them? This paper uses a case study of the Nashville People's Budget Coalition (NPBC) to examine how municipal budgeting processes and public financing have become new sites of theorisation, debate and political intervention. We demonstrate how the people's budget movement offers a new calculus for municipal budgeting that radically reconceptualises the logics of value and care that underpin economic thought and public accounting practices. We conclude by considering avenues through which a scholarly agenda for economic democracy in solidarity with movement organisers could be expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial globalization has enabled multinational corporations to shift profits between jurisdictions to lower their tax rate, undermining public finances and concerning policy makers. While policy efforts have focused on the jurisdictions that enable lower taxes, scholars increasingly recognize the importance of micro-level actors. We geographically map corporate tax advisors, influential micro-level actors in tax avoidance, using a novel empirical approach based on LinkedIn. We show that tax advisors are generally located in large cities in the EU and OECD, rather than in places targeted as 'tax havens'. Using multiple regression analysis, we find that the location of tax advisors is not correlated with the location of corporate profits, financial secrecy, or economic activity. Rather, it correlates with managerial and financial activity. We find that tax advisors are disproportionately placed in the countries writing the blacklists rather than the countries blacklisted. We argue that effective regulation of tax avoidance needs to focus on tax advisors, not only on the destination of financial flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa's economic growth has been slow since the 1980s due to inefficiencies in the manufacturing, mining and quarrying, ICT, electricity, gas, and water sectors. This article uses the theoretical framework and growth rates to identify key reasons for this slowdown. Key issues include inefficiencies within the gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) and inadequate infrastructure, primarily due to government behavior. This article used secondary data to perform the desktop analysis. To promote economic growth, the South African government and allied stakeholders should consider increasing investments in public infrastructure and financing research and development. This article argues that economic growth is driven by government expenditure, easy access to financing, and technological advancements. To promote economic growth, a comprehensive approach is needed, including tax breaks, loan guarantees, and pro-business legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines the patterns of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Kazakhstan and draws comparisons with global trends. Based on statistical data spanning from 2000 to 2022, the study reveals that the growth of FDI in Kazakhstan has exhibited greater volatility and speed compared to developed nations. However, it is strongly associated with global FDI inflows and the growth of gross domestic product (GDP). This article aims to examine the patterns and determinants influencing FDI in Kazakhstan and to juxtapose these patterns with global trends. The main approach used in the study was systematic. The article's contribution lies in its provision of novel insights into the dynamics of FDI in Kazakhstan and its correlation with economic growth. Furthermore, the article elucidates the various factors that contribute to the expansion of FDI in Kazakhstan, while also offering suggestions for the development of public policy in this domain. The article provides a comprehensive examination of FDI patterns in Kazakhstan, comparing them to global trends and identifying the factors that influence the dynamics of FDI. Furthermore, the article offers suggestions for expanding the economic base of Kazakhstan beyond its reliance on the oil and gas industry, enhancing focus on high-tech and innovative sectors, and enhancing the institutional framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of local revenue, egovernment, and capital expenditure on the financial performance of local government and how e-government mediates the effect of local revenue on financial performance. The population of this study includes 29 regencies and 6 cities in the Central Java Province, Indonesia. The purposive sampling technique was utilized to compile 76 samples. Descriptive statistical analysis and partial least squares testing with structural equation modeling were used for data analysis. The results indicate that local revenue has no significant impact on financial performance, while e-government has a positive effect, and capital expenditure has a negative effect. Moreover, local revenue has a positive impact on e-government, and e-government mediates the effect of local revenue on local government financial performance. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the importance of establishing effective budgets to improve regional revenue and invest in e-government for local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco 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.)

The granting of authority based on regional autonomy should be able to create local government independence to manage their own finances through local own-source revenue and promote sustainable economic growth. However, many previous studies have found the flypaper effect phenomenon in Indonesia. This research aims to determine the effect of local own-source revenue, intergovernmental transfers, and local government financing on local government expenditure and detect the flypaper effect phenomenon in Indonesia. This quantitative method with a purposive sampling technique has been used to obtain data from 467 regencies/cities in Indonesia for the fiscal year 2021. Hypothesis testing in this research employs multiple linear regression analysis. The research result shows local own-source revenue, general allocation fund, special allocation fund, and revenue sharing fund do not affect local government expenditure, and local government financing positively affects local government expenditure. This research did not find the flypaper effect in local governments in Indonesia but identified other funding mechanisms to meet the needs of local government expenditure derived from local government financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the sustainability of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia from a fiscal and territorial perspective. The importance of collaboration between the nation and local entities for the management, protection, and sustainability of this heritage recognized by UNESCO in 2011 is highlighted. It is concluded that there are fiscal weaknesses that limit the capacity for self-management and the development of landscape protection and conservation programs. Additionally, the dependence of municipalities on national transfers and royalties is mentioned, reflecting a structural flaw in decentralization and limited capacity for generating their own resources. [Extracted from the article]

Many Muslim jurists in the later Middle Ages conceived of money as carrying the moral consequences of its origins, whether as a result of unjust taxation or other forms of oppression. This posed a problem for a cash-strapped Ḥafṣid regime in Tunis around the year 1300. Facing the constant threat of civil war and unable to collect taxes effectively outside major cities, the Ḥafṣid government in Tunis became heavily reliant on income from foreign trade, including the wine trade. Ḥafṣid officials in this period sold the wine import tax farm to Italian Christian merchants, who bid against each other for the right to collect it; however, this also incentivized them to greatly increase the importation of wine, which led to tensions with the regime. In this article, I compare late medieval Ḥafṣid chronicles with Italian notarial and diplomatic evidence to show how the wine trade became a uniquely contentious issue, both in Christian-Muslim relations in late medieval Tunis and in the context of the struggle for religious and political legitimacy within Ifrīqīya itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Anglophone neoliberal jurisdictions, policy highlights the private goods associated with higher education but largely neglects the sector's contributions to public good not measurable as economic values, including non-pecuniary individual benefits and collective social outcomes. Governments are silent on the existence and funding of most public goods. The paper reports on understandings of the public good role of higher education in England after nearly a decade of full marketisation. The study, part of a cross-national comparison of 11 countries, consisted of a review of major policy reports, and 24 semi-structured interviews in universities (13) and among higher education policy professionals (11) including regulators, national organisations and experts. England has no policy language for talking about outcomes of higher education other than attenuated performative outputs such as graduate salaries, research impact, knowledge exchange and widening participation, understood as individual access to education as a private good. Awareness of multiple public goods has been suppressed to justify successive fee increases and the imposition of a market in the centralised English system. This has coincided with a shift from direct government funding and collaborative stewardship by state and institutions, to student funding and top-down regulation. Nevertheless, most interviewees, including regulators, advocated an open-ended public good role and provided many examples of public goods in higher education, though the concepts lacked clarity. The policy notion of a zero-sum relation of private and public outcomes, corresponding to the split of private/public costs, was rejected in favour of a positive-sum relation of private and public outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of today's modern taxation approach, generally accepted taxation principles are taken into account when taxation is carried out. States plan and implement the tax practices that they include in their tax systems in accordance with the principles of taxation by adhering to certain rules. Various taxation principles have been identified in the public finance literature over time, and the principle of fairness is at the top of these principles. The concept of ability to pay is of critical importance in taxation in accordance with the principle of justice, which envisages the fair and equal distribution of the tax burden among taxpayers. Although the indicators of ability to pay are income, expenditure and wealth, these indicators are insufficient to fully grasp the ability to pay. Therefore, in order to accurately determine the ability to pay in tax systems, in addition to these indicators, the techniques of progressivity, minimum subsistence allowance and the principle of separation are utilized. In this study, in which the aforementioned techniques within the framework of the principle of fairness in taxation are discussed theoretically together with positive and negative opinions, tax practices serving the relevant techniques in our country have been evaluated; in this context, it has been understood that the technique of progressive proportionality has been adopted in different tax types and the separation principle technique has been adopted with the minimum subsistence allowance in wages, which is one of the elements of income.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing number of people aged 60+ in the world's population structure means that more different generations are living together than ever before. This transition in the demographic process affects the lives of everyone, young and old alike, and raises concerns that macroeconomic and social gains will diminish and it will result in the erosion of the welfare state. In terms of public finance, the main concern is that while public revenues will decrease, expenditures will increase, causing financing problems. In this study, only the tax policy dimension of the aging of the society is addressed through a literature review, and answers are sought as to which concerns should be expressed and to what extent, and what should be done. The fact that the elderly dependency ratio is increasing day by day and that the issue is not sufficiently addressed in the context of tax policy increases the importance of the study. The conclusion is that the concern is appropriate, but each country's dimension is different, and countries should find solutions according to their own realities. This is because different country experiences do not make it possible to offer a standardized common solution to everyone on this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We analyze how economic shocks affect the partisan nature of budgetary trade‐offs and use data from the U.S. Census Annual Survey of Government Finance to illustrate it. Methods: We propose a compositional approach to model trade‐offs among 10 budgetary categories across both time and space in U.S. states. Results: We find support for the notion that partisanship drives the allocation of budgetary expenditures. However, during times of negative economic shocks, either within a state or in neighboring states, Democratic and Republican governors have a similar budgetary response. Conclusions: The results show the effects of economic and political shifts, as well as the implications of spillovers from other states, on partisan decisions about trade‐offs in government budgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are public policies effective in enhancing gender balance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate education? Although the literature is rich in studies that prescribe micro‐level interventions to promote gender balance in specific STEM areas or institutions, there are surprisingly few studies that quantitatively evaluate existing macro‐level policies. Using Germany's Excellence Initiative as an event study, I analyse changes in cohorts of doctorate recipients in STEM fields and investigate whether the Excellence Initiative's graduate school line of funding, which is a large‐scale public policy that aimed to create and sustain STEM graduate programs, also succeeded to increase women's share among STEM doctorate recipients. Assessing difference‐in‐differences in natural sciences and mathematics doctorate recipients between 2000 and 2014, I find no statistically significant evidence that the Excellence Initiative led to any significant increase in women's participation in STEM studies beyond already existing trends in these fields. I find, however, significant differences between funded and non‐funded STEM graduate programs in their rate of internationalization, which was another major policy target of the Excellence Initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a large discrepancy in European countries between the measured impact of immigration on the welfare state and how this impact is perceived by citizens. This study examines the determinants of individuals' perception of the impact of immigration on the welfare state. A number of hypotheses at both the individual and contextual level are tested using a multilevel model with data from the European Social Survey. I find that the institutional features of welfare states are associated with different views on the impact of immigration on welfare states: generous contributory social welfare benefits are associated with more favourable attitudes about immigrants, while generous non-contributory benefits, by contrast, are associated with more pessimistic assessments about the fiscal impact of immigration. I argue that this can be because the latter potentially signals to natives that migrants could access generous benefits without any requisite work history. At the individual-level, the results indicate that subjective risk and general opposition to immigration are powerful individual-level predictors: people who feel more economically insecure or who are generally opposed to immigration are more likely to think that it constitutes a burden for the welfare state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debt is a fundamental component of modern economic systems. It serves as a source of financing for government, business, and individual projects. Many earlier studies concentrated on the direct relationship between debt and economic performance using different econometric methodologies. This work investigates the effect of debt on production efficiency, extracted from the estimated production function. Unlike previous econometric approaches, we employ a production stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) on data for 18 OECD countries spanning from Quarter 1, 2015, to Quarter 3, 2021, to capture the short-run effect of debt on the production efficiency and, thus, output growth. The results show that, in the short run, as debt increases by $1 billion, efficiency increases by 0.04%. Additionally, we found that the most indebted countries are the most efficient countries. In our sample, those were the UK and France. Furthermore, the average efficiency for the 18 OECD countries was 70.07. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a neglected yet crucial feature of public investment policies in the European Union (EU): the politics of statistical harmonization and off-balance-sheet policymaking. Drawing upon the instrument-centred approach and the sociology of quantification and accounting, it refines the concept of 'fiscal ecosystem' by highlighting the controversial and evolving nature of the boundary between on- and off-balance-sheet recording. It is argued that the accounting aggregates giving effect to EU fiscal rules favour marketized and privatized modes of public service delivery, including 'market-based but state-led' off-balance-sheet investment tools such as public–private partnerships. However, the effectiveness of this policy has decisively hinged upon the work of harmonizing public finance statistics carried out by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the EU. This contested process has led to acute power struggles between statistical agencies and governments, and a substantial increase of Eurostat's power in the wake of the Eurozone crisis. The comparison of the two main Belgian regions highlights contrasting responses to this European strategy of governing (sub)national investment policies through fiscal rules and statistical harmonization: while Flanders has consolidated the financialization of its investment policy, Wallonia has so far opposed this trend. This demonstrates that although financialization of public investment is promoted by EU fiscal integration, it is not inevitable; governments do have some leeway to follow an alternative path. As Wallonia also benefited from extraordinary economic and political circumstances, it remains to be seen whether its distinctive investment policy will withstand rising interest rates and tighter fiscal rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how cross‐border ownership and restrictions affect commercial policies optimally chosen by the government of an importing country. Focusing on import competition in an oligopoly market served by two local producers and a foreign firm, we study and compare two partial ownership arrangements without corporate control: unilateral ownership by the foreign firm over a local producer and bilateral ownership between the two entities. The main findings are as follows: (i) When foreign ownership is unilateral, the optimal trade and industrial policies are an import tariff and a production subsidy, respectively. (ii) When foreign ownership is bilateral, the trade policy can be an import subsidy, and the industrial policy is a production subsidy. These results differ from the benchmark equilibrium without ownership, under which the optimal policy mix consists of an import tariff and a production subsidy. (iii) Unilateral foreign ownership always reduces domestic welfare. However, bilateral foreign ownership can increase domestic welfare when local producers' cost disadvantages are substantially high. (iv) Considering the usual lump‐sum transfer for a balanced budget, bilateral ownership entails a lower public burden than two other scenarios for the government to finance its strategic use of trade and industrial policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal 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.)

Copyright of FiFo Berichte is the property of University of Cologne, FiFo Institute for Public Economics 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.)

Recent research shows that populist governments in general depress countries' economic growth and fail to improve income distribution. We study the short‐term macroeconomic consequences of populist policies implemented in Poland since 2015. Using the augmented synthetic control method, we find that the populists boosted the gross domestic product per capita by almost 8% between 2016 and 2019. We do not find any effect of populism on inflation and estimate only small labor market impacts. The populists improved tax revenue collection and reduced public debt. A generous child benefit program and other redistributive policies introduced by the populists significantly reduced overall poverty and almost eradicated absolute child poverty. Our results suggest that antiestablishment populists may have macroeconomic viability, at least in the short term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political debate regarding the consequences of the German "debt brake" continues. The arguments against its current design are similar to the arguments brought forward in 2009, when the rule was first introduced. One hot-button issue has always been whether the German debt brake constrains public investment. A recent study by Feld et al. (2024) applies the synthetic control method to address this question. Mühlenweg et al. (2024) criticise their approach, building on well-known arguments against the German debt brake. This article counters their arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greening the environment cannot be achieved satisfactorily, considering that the private sector lags behind the public sector in participation levels. The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons behind the gap in green finance between the two sectors using numerically derived outcomes. Six-year data in the form of total shareholder returns, comprising capital gains and dividends paid from the largest banks in China, the USA, and Europe involved in financing fossil fuels, were extracted from Yahoo.com finance and Macrotrends public forums. Equity premiums were calculated from the total shareholder returns and risk-free rates. A 95% confidence interval was established to determine the lower and upper limits of the equity premiums. The resulting upper limits were used to project premiums that could attract the private sector by 2030. Equity premiums averaged 2.73%, 9.73%, and 4.31% for China, the USA, and Europe, respectively, indicating the substantial task in the USA of attracting the private sector compared to Europe and China. The projections of total shareholder returns showed the same patterns in equity premiums among China, the United States (USA), and Europe. To bridge the gap, the significant need for economic benefits for the private sector should ideally be addressed through green bonds, tailored to green financing projects that are earmarked for revenue generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to identify residents' perception of such aspects of public finances as transparency and credibility, in particular, their level of interest and needs regarding increasing the scope of financial reporting at the local level. The study was conducted in 2023 among residents of the 12 largest Polish cities, using the computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) technique on a sample of N = 400 residents of each city. A total of 4,800 respondents took part in the survey. The qualitative study was conducted using the focus group interview technique (FGI online). The research results indicate a noticeable lack of demand for information regarding local finances and a lack of trust in the transparency and honesty of public funds management. Bearing in mind that residents rely on economic experts and financial analysts as sources of information with the highest credibility, a large field opens up for experts such as independent auditors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the growing trend of fiscal recentralization in Polish local finance, evident in the increase of intergovernmental transfers, leading to expanded budgetary expenditures, known as the "Flypaper Effect" (FPE). It aims to identify the causes and extent of the FPE in Polish municipalities and cities with county rights from 2010 to 2020, using descriptive and panel data analyses. Empirical research confirms the presence of the FPE in Polish local governments, more pronounced in rural municipalities than in urban counterparts and cities with county rights. The rise in public budgetary expenditures results from limited fiscal autonomy and the ongoing process of recentralization in public finance, further amplifying the FPE. The strength of the FPE varies depending on the specific types and characteristics of intergovernmental transfers. Additionally, the article highlights significant flaws in Poland's local funding legislation and its consequences, proposing potential paths for local finance reforms. In conclusion, it underscores the increasing trend of fiscal recentralization in Polish local finance driven by the FPE and emphasizes the pressing need for reforms to address these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments provide many crucial services from limited budgets, yet often subsidize the profitable, private businesses in professional sports leagues in the United States. Policing represents one important public service. Policing typically constitutes large portions of government budgets and also generates revenue through fines and forfeitures. Existing evidence suggests that large municipal expenditures in other areas can have an ambiguous effect on policing outcomes. This paper addresses the question of whether large public expenditures on sports facilities affect drug asset forfeiture using two-way fixed effects (TWFE) and generalized dynamic model specifications (GDMS). The results are similar across estimation methods, with static TWFE results suggesting a treatment effect of $1,274–5,589 in additional forfeiture per million in subsidies and results from the newer GDMS estimators suggesting $7,703 per million in subsidies. The results imply that, beyond generating no tangible local economic benefits, public subsidization of sports facilities also leads police to make up budget shortfalls by more aggressive policing, which has important implications for racial equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the understanding of the speed of the effects of publicly funded research – R&D grants – on firm R&D, innovation and innovation behaviour. We argue that while the speed of the positive effects on R&D (i.e. input additionality; IA) tightly relates to public support programmes' requirement of private contribution in R&D spending, the positive effects on innovation (i.e. output additionality; OA) and innovation behaviour (i.e. behavioural additionality; BA) are temporally delayed, linked to the explorative nature of learning associated with publicly funded projects and obstacles to changes in the innovation behaviour of firms. We empirically test our theoretical framework for a sample of R&D‐intensive UK firms to find that while IA occurs in the year following receipt of R&D grants, BA takes 3 years after receipt of R&D grants to occur. We do not find that grants have a positive effect on either product or process innovation. In measuring BA, we employ a 'classical' treatment and control group evaluation without relying on firms' perceptions of how the receipt of grants affected their innovation behaviour. Our findings have significant implications for both management practice and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of fiscal policy on economic activity is still a matter of great debate. And, ever since Keynes first commented on it, interwar Britain, 1918–39, has remained a particularly interesting and contentious case—not least because of its high-debt environment and turbulent business cycle. This debate has often focused on the effects of government spending, but little is known about the effects of tax changes. In fact, a number of tax reforms in the period focused on long-term and social objectives, often reflecting the personality of British Chancellors. Based on extensive historiographical research, we apply a narrative approach to the interwar period in Britain and isolate a new series of exogenous tax changes. We find that tax changes have a sizable effect on GDP, with multipliers exceeding 2 within two years. Our estimates provide new evidence on the effects of tax changes, contribute to the historical debate about fiscal policy in the interwar period and are also consistent with the sizable tax multipliers found after World War II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax regulation issues have been the focus since the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent EU energy crisis. From the Keynesian approach, the expansionary fiscal policy of states can contribute to stimulating aggregate demand and, as a consequence, economic growth, on the other hand, the post-crisis macroeconomic policy trend has become fiscal compression (budget consolidation), corresponding to the neoliberal paradigm. This policy has been actively promoted by the supranational institutions of EU, which, with the help of various instruments of fiscal regulation, have effectively imposed budgetary consolidation on member countries. Considering that the European Commission continues to urge countries to better the sustainability of their public finances and believes that the situation with the tax system is only safe in some EU countries, while in others it finds significant imbalances, particularly high levels of public debt, which need to be corrected by the Stability and Growth Pact mechanisms, the relevance of this study is beyond doubt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Financial barriers in substance use disorder service systems have limited the widespread adoption-i.e., provider-level reach-of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for youth substance use disorders. Reach is essential to maximizing the population-level impact of EBPs. One promising, but rarely studied, type of implementation strategy for overcoming barriers to EBP reach is financing strategies, which direct financial resources in various ways to support implementation. We evaluated financing strategies for the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) EBP by comparing two US federal grant mechanisms, organization-focused and state-focused grants, on organization-level A-CRA reach outcomes. METHOD: A-CRA implementation took place through organization-focused and state-focused grantee cohorts from 2006 to 2021. We used a quasi-experimental, mixed-method design to compare reach between treatment organizations funded by organization-focused versus state-focused grants (164 organizations, 35 states). Using administrative training records, we calculated reach as the per-organization proportion of trained individuals who received certification in A-CRA clinical delivery and/or supervision by the end of grant funding. We tested differences in certification rate by grant type using multivariable linear regression models that controlled for key covariates (e.g., time), and tested threats to internal validity from our quasi-experimental design through a series of sensitivity analyses. We also drew on interviews and surveys collected from the treatment organizations and (when relevant) interviews with state administrators to identify factors that influenced reach. RESULTS: The overall certification rates were 27 percentage points lower in state-focused versus organization-focused grants (p = .01). Sensitivity analyses suggested these findings were not explained by confounding temporal trends nor by organizational or state characteristics. We did not identify significant quantitative moderators of reach outcomes, but qualitative findings suggested certain facilitating factors were more influential for organization-focused grants (e.g., strategic planning) and certain barrier factors were more impactful for state-focused grants (e.g., states finding it difficult to execute grant activities). DISCUSSION: As the first published comparison of EBP reach outcomes between financing strategies, our findings can help guide state and federal policy related to financing strategies for implementing EBPs that reduce youth substance use. Future work should explore contextual conditions under which different financing strategies can support the widespread implementation of EBPs for substance use disorder treatment.

This study aims to analyze how two different types of investments (local domestic and foreign direct investments at the provincial level) and revenues (booked by the provincial governments, general allocation funds, special allocation funds, local taxes, and retribution) affect investment loan decisions by local government banks in Indonesia. The study uses panel data applying ordinary least squares and multiple linear regression. Thus, 144 data were sampled from 2013 to 2021 from 16 local government banks out of Java Island in 21 provinces in Indonesia. The study found that local domestic investment at the provincial level affects investment loan decisions by local government banks. In contrast, foreign direct investment did not affect lending decisions, indicating that local domestic investment contributes to the real local economy at the provincial level. Different results were found in provincial revenues in the form of general and special allocation funds, which negatively affected loan investment decisions, possibly due to provincial revenues utilized to cover the financial deficit and capital expenditure spent chiefly on imported goods. Additionally, local taxes at the provincial level also negatively affect investment loan decisions, possibly due to fluctuations in local tax collection during COVID-19. However, the study found that local retribution contributes to predicting loan investment decisions, suggesting revenue collection by the governments considering local economic conditions. The study findings suggest that provincial governments should direct investments that can impact the local economy and spend their revenues on goods and services that can drive local economic growth. AcknowledgmentThe investment loan made by local government banks, which is associated with local investment and revenue, is part of a research grant project from the Economics and Business Faculty of Hasanuddin University. This project is a result of collaboration with national and international researchers. In carrying out this research, some inputs from people working in local government banks, financial service authorities, and provincial and regency governments are addressed.Thanks to Ahmadi Usman for secondary data and Syahidah Ulhaq for some application programs enabling mapping literature, as well as Israa Natiq Jabar for supervising the result and applied some inputs in the section of research method.

Abstract Although the 2022 cryptocurrency market crash prompted despair among investors, the rallying cry, “wagmi” (We’re all gonna make it.) emerged among cryptocurrency enthusiasts in the aftermath. Did cryptocurrency enthusiasts respond to this crash differently compared to traditional investors? Using natural language processing techniques applied to Twitter data, this study employed a difference-in-differences method to determine whether the cryptocurrency market crash had a differential effect on investor sentiment toward cryptocurrency enthusiasts relative to more traditional investors. The results indicate that the crash affected investor sentiment among cryptocurrency enthusiastic investors differently from traditional investors. In particular, cryptocurrency enthusiasts’ tweets became more neutral and, surprisingly, less negative. This result appears to be primarily driven by a deliberate, collectivist effort to promote positivity within the cryptocurrency community (“wagmi”). Considering the more nuanced emotional content of tweets, it appears that cryptocurrency enthusiasts expressed less joy and surprise in the aftermath of the cryptocurrency crash than traditional investors. Moreover, cryptocurrency enthusiasts tweeted more frequently after the cryptocurrency crash, with a relative increase in tweet frequency of approximately one tweet per day. An analysis of the specific textual content of tweets provides evidence of herding behavior among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Abstract Cryptocurrency adoption has gained significant attention across various fields owing to its disruptive potential and associated challenges. However, companies' adoption of cryptocurrencies remains relatively low. This study aims to comprehensively examine the factors influencing cryptocurrency adoption, their interrelationships, and their relative importance. To achieve this objective, we employ a Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach coupled with network analysis tools. By adopting a practical approach rather than a purely theoretical one, our unique contribution lies in the valuable insights derived from experienced Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of various companies with experience in both traditional finance and cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, the unique blend of analytical rigor and industry expertise supports the study's relevance, offering nuanced insights that are not only academically robust but also immediately applicable in the corporate landscape. Our findings highlight the paramount importance of safety in transactions and trust in the chosen platform for companies considering cryptocurrency adoption. Additionally, criteria such as faster transactions without geographical limitations, lower transaction fees, seamless integration with existing systems, and potential cost savings are identified as crucial drivers. Both the DEMATEL approach and network analysis reveal strong interconnections among the criteria, emphasizing their interdependence and, notably, their reliance on transactional safety. Furthermore, our causes and effects analysis indicates that CFOs perceive company-led cryptocurrency adoption to positively impact the broader cryptocurrency market.

Abstract This paper employs wavelet coherence, Cross-Quantilogram (CQ), and Time-Varying Parameter Vector-Autoregression (TVP-VAR) estimation strategies to investigate the dependence structure and connectedness between investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and eight different energy-focused sectors. We find significant evidence of dependence and connectedness between the stock returns of AI and those of the energy-focused sectors, especially during intermediate and long-term investment horizons. The relationship has become stronger since the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, results from the wavelet coherence approach show a stronger association between the stock returns of energy-focused sectors and AI, while results from the CQ analysis show that directional predictability from AI to energy-focused sectors varies across sectors, investment horizons, and market conditions. TVP-VAR results show that since the COVID-19 outbreak, AI has become more of a net shock receiver from the energy market. Our study offers crucial implications for investors and policymakers.

Abstract We propose a new predictor—the innovation in the daily return minimum in the U.S. stock market ( $$\Delta {MIN}^{US}$$ Δ MIN US )—for predicting international stock market returns. Using monthly data for a wide range of 17 MSCI international stock markets during the period spanning over half a century from January 1972 to July 2022, we find that $$\Delta {MIN}^{US}$$ Δ MIN US have strong predictive power for returns in most international stock markets: $$\Delta {MIN}^{US}$$ Δ MIN US negatively predicts the next-month stock market returns. The results remain robust after controlling for a number of macroeconomic predictors and conducting subsample and panel data analyses, indicating that $$\Delta {MIN}^{US}$$ Δ MIN US has significant predictive power and it outperforms other variables in international markets. Notably, $$\Delta {MIN}^{US}$$ Δ MIN US demonstrates excellent predictive power even during the periods driven by financial upheavals (e.g., Global Financial Crisis and European Sovereign Debt Crisis). Both panel regressions and out-of-sample tests also support the robust predictive performance of $$\Delta {MIN}^{US}$$ Δ MIN US . The predictive power, however, disappears during the non-financial crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic, which is originated from the health sector rather than the financial sector. The results provide a new perspective on U.S. extreme indicator in stock market return predictability.

Abstract Modeling implied volatility (IV) is important for option pricing, hedging, and risk management. Previous studies of deterministic implied volatility functions (DIVFs) propose two parameters, moneyness and time to maturity, to estimate implied volatility. Recent DIVF models have included factors such as a moving average ratio and relative bid-ask spread but fail to enhance modeling accuracy. The current study offers a generalized DIVF model by including a momentum indicator for the underlying asset using a relative strength index (RSI) covering multiple time resolutions as a factor, as momentum is often used by investors and speculators in their trading decisions, and in contrast to volatility, RSI can distinguish between bull and bear markets. To the best of our knowledge, prior studies have not included RSI as a predictive factor in modeling IV. Instead of using a simple linear regression as in previous studies, we use a machine learning regression algorithm, namely random forest, to model a nonlinear IV. Previous studies apply DVIF modeling to options on traditional financial assets, such as stock and foreign exchange markets. Here, we study options on the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which poses greater modeling challenges due to its extreme volatility and the fact that it is not as well studied as traditional financial assets. Recent Bitcoin option chain data were collected from a leading cryptocurrency option exchange over a four-month period for model development and validation. Our dataset includes short-maturity options with expiry in less than six days, as well as a full range of moneyness, both of which are often excluded in existing studies as prices for options with these characteristics are often highly volatile and pose challenges to model building. Our in-sample and out-sample results indicate that including our proposed momentum indicator significantly enhances the model’s accuracy in pricing options. The nonlinear machine learning random forest algorithm also performed better than a simple linear regression. Compared to prevailing option pricing models that employ stochastic variables, our DIVF model does not include stochastic factors but exhibits reasonably good performance. It is also easy to compute due to the availability of real-time RSIs. Our findings indicate our enhanced DIVF model offers significant improvements and may be an excellent alternative to existing option pricing models that are primarily stochastic in nature.

In this essay, I argue that Christophers’ description of asset-manager society is best characterized by a logic of ‘acquire and extract’. I build on his insights to delve into the less-explored world of emancipatory alternatives. I argue for radical transformations – what I term ‘democratic ruptures’ – that shift the investment logic of asset managers toward one of ‘build and nourish’. With insights from the failure to establish economic democracy over large pools of finance by unions in the postwar period, I argue that the crucial missing ingredient in the social and ecological disaster of asset-manager society today is democracy. I conclude with a radical reimagining of financial democracy for the twenty-first century.

Abstract In South Asia, Pakistan has a long and deadly history of floods that cause losses to various infrastructures, lives, and industries. This study aims to identify the most appropriate flood risk mitigation strategies that the government of Pakistan should adopt. The assessment of flood risk mitigation strategies in this study is based on certain criteria, which are analyzed using the fuzzy full consistency method. Moreover, flood risk mitigation strategies are evaluated by using the fuzzy weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) method, considering previously prioritized criteria. According to the results, lack of governance, lack of funding and resources, and lack of flood control infrastructure are the most significant flood intensifying factors and act as major criteria for assessing flood risk mitigation strategies in Pakistan. Adopting hard engineering strategies (e.g., dams, reservoirs, river straightening and dredging, embankments, and flood relief channels), maintaining existing infrastructure, and adopting soft engineering strategies (flood plain zoning, comprehensive flood risk assessment, and sophisticated flood modeling) are identified as the top three flood risk mitigation strategies by the fuzzy WASPAS method. The highest weight (0.98) was assigned to the adoption of hard engineering strategies to mitigate flood risks. The study introduces a novel dimension by analyzing the real-time impact of the unprecedented 2022 floods, during which approximately one-third of the nation was submerged. This focus on a recent and highly significant event enhances the study’s relevance and contributes a unique perspective to the existing literature on flood risk management. The study recommends that the government of Pakistan should prioritize hard engineering strategies for effective flood risk mitigation. It also recommends that the government should incorporate these strategies in the national policy framework to reduce flood losses in the future.