114 research outputs found
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Financial Intermediation versus Direct Financing: A Meta-Analytic Comparison of the Growth-Enhancing Effect
Full text linkThis study is the first meta-analysis to compare financial intermediation and direct financing in terms of their growth-promoting effects. Meta-synthesis of 1693 estimates extracted from 168 previous studies strongly suggest that, in general, financial development has a positive effect on economic growth and the synthesized effect size of the direct financing study exceeding that of the financial intermediation study. The two exceptions are when the average estimation year is limited to 1989 or before and when the target region is restricted to Latin America and the Caribbean. Results from meta- regression analysis and tests for publication selection bias show, however, that some synthesis results cannot be reproduced when literature heterogeneity and publication selection bias are taken into consideration
A Contrast of Two Ideas: Big is Beautiful vs. Small is Beautiful and Lost Wisdom in Iran
Full text linkPolicymaking or planning for national development arises from theoretical and conceptual platforms, which need to be put on the agenda of government based on social facts and fundamental issues in the community. General policymaking and economic evolution plans are presented in the form of outlooks, general policies, and development plans. A very significant economic policy debate in the transition process to sustainable development is the selection of a development strategy focused on the size of enterprises and industries. In this respect, there are two development strategies: "small is beautiful", which deals with the development of small and medium-sized enterprises; and "big is beautiful", concerned with the development of big enterprises. In terms of political economy, these two approaches are translated into "small government" and "big government" attitudes. In line with the economic and political analysis of the size of the enterprise, the findings of this study suggest that the strategy of sustainable economic development hinges on the measures and policies adopted by big and developmental states with targeted intervention in planning and policymaking, with a concentration on big and efficient industries and the acceleration of growth in the capacities of the national economy. The efficiency of the economic development strategy is dependent on the capacity of the government institution to raise the production capability of large firms. Finally, this article challenges industrial policy in Iran's fundamentalist system
The Italian State Monopoly in Life Insurance: The Organisational and Management Model of the INA
Full text linkDuring the first two decades of the twentieth century in Italy, in addition to the development of mutual insurance companies, the state was involved in safeguarding the interests of various social partners in expanding the concept of social security and, at the same time, increasing the importance of its central role as investor in the Italian economy. Life insurance – through the creation of a National Institute (INA) which carried out its activities in a relative monopoly regime for about a decade (1912–1923) – was the first sector in which the expansion of state intervention began. The simplicity of the organisation consisted in the way in which the INA’s insurance activity was structured, and it represented the real element of novelty. The research, largely based on documentary sources from the INA historical archive in Rome, sheds light on this particular moment in the Italian insurance and entrepreneurial history, connecting in an articulated way with the historical and economic contexts of reference: the strong political and economic implications, the legislative precedents of the project, the first economic results and the reactions – national and international – to the state monopoly
Rediscovering Economic Policy in Europe?
Full text linkThis paper, on the one side, deals with developments in economic policy as a discipline and, on the other, tries to check whether the recent pandemic has had (or could have) an influence on the direction of changes of the European Union institutional design, which was born under the influence of free-market doctrine and the Ordnungspolitik, now outdated. The provisions implemented due to the pandemic could (or could not) be a durable route for pursuing a number of targets, among which promotion of economic growth and reduction of inequality within and among European countries
The Role of Institutions in Economic Development: The Case of Iran
Full text linkThis article examines the role of institutions in economic development from a new perspective based on the social contract between the government and the individuals in any society. The basic element in this social contract is to improve the living standards of all the members of society, as it is impossible to imagine that a rational society would vote for the deterioration of the well-being of its members. Meanwhile, the laws enacted by the governments disrupt economic activities at times and create rent for some interest groups in society. In this regard, the necessity of forming institutions to observe the element of justice in economic and financial laws is revealed. Therefore, the role of private sector associations in forming collective bodies gains further significance. We also discuss the role of private sector associations in Iran in formulating rules, regulations, and law
Direct Payments to Provide Environmental Public Goods and Enhance Farm Incomes: Do Allocation Criteria Matter?
Full text linkThe Common Agricultural Policy 2023-2027 introduces a new result-oriented approach based on a new delivery model. At the core of this model lies the need to ensure a higher consistence between stated objectives and the implementation of policy tool, such a direct payment. Enhancing farm income and fostering the provision of environmental public goods represent relevant policy goals that the new basic income support for sustainability is aimed to pursue. However, the use of land-based payments has been largely criticized as ineffective and unfair. To this purpose, we use “Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network” data, in order to descriptively analyse whether and how different criteria used to allocate this payment are differently correlated with farm income distribution and the use of chemical inputs and natural resources. Findings reveal that other parameters, rather than land, may be also taken into account in order to improve the effectiveness of the basic income support for sustainability in achieving its specific goals. However, there is not a first-best solution aimed to ensure at the same time a fairer distribution of the income support, by rewarding farmers that make a lesser use of input
Effects of Ownership Concentration on the Performance of Austrian Listed Companies
Full text linkThis paper applies panel data techniques to Austrian non-financial listed companies for investigating the managerial discretion hypothesis and asymmetric information. We analyse full population of non-financial companies listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange from 2007- 2020. Equipment investment is susceptible to cash flows, providing evidence that over-investment leads to returns on investment lower than cost of capital. CFi,t-1/Ki,t-1 has a strongly positive effect in family-owned companies’ constraints. Cash constraints prevent firms from attaining optimal investment level. CFi,t-1/Ki,t-1 positively affects investment providing strong evidence that state-owned companies’ managers exercise discretion while investing cash flows in sub-optimal projects. The effect of voting rights (VR) of ultimate shareholders on performance is an inverted U-curve with turning point at 49.8% VR concentration. Beyond this point downward slope provides strong evidence of entrenchment hypothesis, with negative entrenchment effect dominating the incentive effect. Ultimate shareholders’ expropriation is detrimental for minority shareholders. Large shareholders’ detrimental behaviour slows down growth of financial markets. @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face {font-family:Palatino; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611969 2013274202 341835776 0 403 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; text-align:justify; text-indent:14.2pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Palatino; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-font-kerning:0pt; mso-ligatures:none;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;
Here to Stay? The Return of Fiscal Policy and Challenges for the EU Governance
Full text linkThe reaction of European Union’s (EU) policy makers to the Covid-19 shock was bold and timely; although they could not avoid a crisis whose dimensions made the 2007- 2008 Global Financial Crisis pale by comparison, the governments’ titanic effort managed, with the support of EU institutions, to mitigate its impact on incomes and employment. This came as a welcome change after the calamitous management of the sovereign debt crisis. But it is precisely the extraordinary dimension of the crisis that prompts the question of whether the activism of economic policy denoted a change in the mindset of EU governments and institutions, or simply was the only option available to policymakers to avoid the collapse of their economies. This paper tries to answer the question through an assessment of the debate on Eurozone reform, with a focus on the “New Kid in Town”: fiscal policy
Rationality, Information Power and Institutional Theory
Full text linkThe objective of this paper is to show the importance of the role played by ‘power’ in economic analysis and how this, through information asymmetry, leads to the exercise of economic power of one unit over other units. This power derives from inequality in the amount of information possessed. The problem then arises of identifying tools to reduce the asymmetric information that generates the ‘domination’ effect of one individual over another. Institutional arrangements have been identified as alternative tools to the price mechanism, in order to favour individual decisions in a scenario marked by power, information and cognitive bounds. Thus, it will be highlighted how institutions favour symmetry in the conflicting relations of economic powers, in order to counteract the formation of unbalanced relations.
News from the Frontier: Increased Productivity Dispersion across Firms and Factor Reallocation
Full text linkAnalysing French firms over 1991-2016, we find first that since the beginning of the century, one or two downward significant productivity breaks have occurred in all industries, both at the frontier and for laggard firms, suggesting a decline in the contribution of technological progress to productivity growth. Second, the median labour share is always higher for the laggard firms, with no clear trend, than for the frontier firms, with a sharp decrease from the mid-1990s to 2008, and an increase from 2008 onwards. Third, factor reallocation decreased significantly in the 2000s, at the time when we observed an increase in productivity dispersion, with a growing productivity gap between frontier and laggard firms. It appears also that reallocation has been lower on average over the whole period for sectors with a high import share, which can be related to the impact of global value chains