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Market Pressures (market + pressure)
Selected AbstractsTHE HONG KONG CURRENCY BOARD'S DEFENSE AGAINST FINANCIAL MARKET PRESSURE: A BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVETHE DEVELOPING ECONOMIES, Issue 2 2002Miron MUSHKAT Exchange rate regimes do not operate in an institutional vacuum, even when the scope for exercising policy discretion is distinctly limited. The Hong Kong linked exchange rate system is no exception. An interesting feature of the institutional environment in this case, not highlighted previously, is the apparent divergence in the assumptions of policymakers and market players regarding the merits of this mechanism in particular and currency boards in general. The corollary is that the Hong Kong monetary authorities need to intensify their efforts to disseminate relevant information, focusing especially on targets in the financial sector. [source] Managed Floating in Australia,ECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 4 2009Shawn Chen-Yu Leu F31; F41 This paper evaluates the level of managed floating and the exchange rate policy in Australia during the officially floating period from 1984 to 2004. We construct index measures of exchange market pressure and foreign exchange intervention using a small open economy monetary model. The estimation uses the Johansen cointegration method as the structural macroeconomic model is assumed to represent long-run equilibrium relationships. We find that the RBA mainly implemented leaning-against-the-wind exchange rate policy that aimed at guiding the exchange rate back to the equilibrium value while reducing the variability of the dynamic adjustment path. [source] Ownership Structure and Accounting Information Content: Evidence from FranceJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTING, Issue 3 2007Ronald Zhao This paper investigates how family and bank ownership affect the accounting information content of French firms. In Continental Europe, the existence of block-holders triggers specific corporate governance issues, including the transparency of financial reporting. Our test results for the clean surplus model show that book value carries a significantly greater weight for family-controlled firms. This finding is attributed to their lack of incentive to report timely and relevant earnings to outside (minority) investors. In contrast, bank owners are under more market pressure to achieve earnings persistence through the use of accounting accruals. Bank ownership is also associated with higher levels of debt. These results are consistent with findings that in code law countries, insiders dominate as a source of finance, and financial reporting is aimed at creditor protection. [source] The trade credit decision: evidence of UK firmsMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 6-7 2003Nam Sang Cheng Trade credit finance and credit management are gradually gaining the research attention an area of such importance merits. One area, still far from resolved, is why trade credit is extended by non-financial firms to customers. This paper seeks to identify the generic forces behind the trade credit offer and to explore the empirical support for 20 propositions on credit motives derived from the literature and the implications of such motives to credit policies. The paper reports findings from a survey of senior finance officers involved in credit management in large UK companies. It assesses the degree to which theoretical explanations for granting trade credit are experienced in practice and whether observed differences attaching to credit motives among firms are associated with variations in credit policies and debtor days. The study found strong empirical support for seven propositions linked to competitiveness, pricing, investment and financing, and weaker support for a number of other theoretically-derived motives for trade credit extension. Factor analysis suggested a more insightful approach to classifying trade credit motives, covering investment in customers, customer's operating and financial benefits, supplier's marketing/operational benefits and market pressure to conform. In addition, two factors,customer relations and pricing flexibility,were extracted as motives for varying credit terms. Consistent with our hypothesis average debtor days were found to be significantly higher for those firms emphasising the financing, investment, and pricing flexibility propositions. These findings, and implications for future research, are explored. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Politics of Economic Policy Making in Britain: A Re-assessment of the 1976 IMF CrisisPOLITICS & POLICY, Issue 5 2009CHRIS ROGERS Many accounts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis argue that British policy was determined by the exercise of structural power by markets, either through the creation of currency instability and the application of loan conditionality, or by acting as a catalyst for policy learning. This article reassesses economic policy making in Britain during the 1976 IMF crisis to show that policy change did not occur as a result of disciplinary market pressure or a process of social learning. It argues that state managers have to manage the contradictions between the imperatives of accumulation and legitimation, and can do so through the politics of depoliticization. It shows, via archival sources, how elements of the core-executive had established preferences for deflationary policies, which were implemented in 1976 using market rhetoric and Fund conditionality to shape perceptions about the issues within the government's discretionary control. Muchas explicaciones sobre la crisis del FMI sostienen que la política británica fue determinada, o bien, por el ejercicio de poder estructural vía el mercado a través de la creación de la inestabilidad cambiaria y la aplicación de préstamos condicionados, o por el intento de demostrar que sólo las políticas monetarias mantendrían la confianza, un reconocimiento que se espera alcanzar a través de un proceso de aprendizaje político. Este artículo reevalúa el diseño de políticas económicas en Gran Bretaña durante la crisis del FMI de 1976 para demostrar que el cambio en la política no ocurrió como resultado de una presión constante del mercado o un proceso de aprendizaje social. Argumenta que los administradores del estado deben manejar las contradicciones entre los fundamentos de la acumulación y legitimación y pueden hacer eso a través de la depolitización. Señala, como, en base a fuentes provenientes de archivos, los elementos del poder ejecutivo habían establecido preferencias por las políticas deflacionarias, las cuales fueron implementadas en 1976 utilizando la retórica del mercado y la condicionalidad del FMI para ubicar dentro del control discrecional del gobierno las percepciones acerca de asuntos públicos importantes. [source] THE SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF INSTRUMENTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES IN THE LIBERALISED POWER INDUSTRYANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2006Dominique Finon ABSTRACT,:,This paper compares the social efficiency of the two main regulatory instruments used to promote renewable energy sources in electricity generation (RES-E), taking into consideration their role in promoting the preservation of the climate. They are based on a purchase obligation and act either by price (feed-in tariffs) or by quantity (RES-E quotas). In their reference design, the instruments show different performances in several dimensions: market incentives intensity, control of the cost for consumers, safeguards of RES-E investments, and conformity with the new market regime of the electricity industry. The comparison shows that neither instrument offers an optimal solution in each of these dimensions. In particular, the intrinsic qualities of the quotas instrument that are put forward to mandate its adoption by the EU members are overestimated. A government will thus select an instrument in accordance with the relative importance of its objectives: environmental policy versus cost control by market pressure. [source] A Monetary Approach to Exchange Market Disequilibrium in Australia: 1975,97AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 2 2003M. A. Taslim Under a managed float, the central bank may respond to an exchange market disequilibrium by changing either the international reserves or the exchange rate or both such that neither the reserve changes nor the exchange rate movements convey an unambiguous indication of the nature or extent of the disequilibrium. Girton and Roper (1977) suggested an index, namely the exchange market pressure, to capture the disequilibrium. This paper utilises a similar framework to study the exchange market pressure in Australia during 1975,1997 and reserve transactions. It is found that there were substantial reserve transactions in the face of exchange market pressure even after the switch to the floating rate system and the deregulation of the financial system. As a result of these transactions, sharp fluctuations in the exchange rate were moderated and the actual exchange rate appeared to broadly follow the market equilibrium rate. [source] How best to halt and/or revert UV-induced skin ageing: strategies, facts and fictionEXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Lübeck Ralf Paus Besides obvious market pressures, increasing insight into the mechanistic overlap between UV-induced skin cancer and UV-induced skin ageing has contributed to this development. Also, as strategies that work to antagonize intrinsic skin ageing/senescence may also be exploited against photoageing (and vice versa!), it has become an important skin research challenge to dissect both the differences and the overlap mechanisms between these interwined, yet distinct phenomena. Finally, the current surge in putative ,antiageing' products, devices, and strategies , too many of which boldly promise to fight and/or repair the perils that come along with a lifetime spent in the sun in the absence of convincing evidence of efficacy , makes it particularly pertinent to critically review the available evidence to support often made antiageing claims. The current CONTROVERSIES feature, therefore, aimed to provide both guidance through, and critical voices in, the antiageing circus. Here, a panel of experts defines relevant key problems, points the uninaugurated to intriguing aspects of photoageing that one may not have considered before, highlights promising strategies for how best to halt and/or revert it, and spiritedly debates some controversially discussed approaches. [source] Deliberative Democracy and International Labor StandardsGOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2003Archon Fung Political theorists have argued that the methods of deliberative democracy can help to meet challenges such as legitimacy, effective governance, and citizen education in local and national contexts. These basic insights can also be applied to problems of international governance such as the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of labor standards. A participatory and deliberative democratic approach to labor standards would push the labor,standards debate into the global public sphere. It would seek to create broad discussion about labor standards that would include not only firms and regulators, but also consumers, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, and others. This discussion could potentially improve (1) the quality of labor standards by incorporating considerations of economic context and firm capability, (2) their implementation by bringing to bear not only state sanctions but also political and market pressures, and (3) the education and understanding of citizens. Whereas the role of public agencies in state,centered approaches is to formulate and enforce labor standards, central authorities in the decentralized,deliberative approach would foster the transparency of workplace practices to spur an inclusive, broad, public conversation about labor standards. To the extent that a substantive consensus around acceptable behavior emerges from that conversation, public power should also enforce those minimum standards. [source] Voluntary Disclosure by State-owned Enterprises Listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong KongJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTING, Issue 2 2002Michael J. Ferguson This study examines the impact of international capital market pressures on the voluntary disclosure of three types of information (strategic, financial, and non-financial) in the annual reports of former wholly state-owned People's Republic of China (PRC) enterprises, listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). Consistent with a costÂbenefit framework, we find that PRC H-Share firms disclose significantly more strategic and financial information than other SEHK firms. Additional analysis of disclosures in their home listings on the PRC exchanges, however, suggests an alternative explanation. The fact that these firms have been selected for "showcasing" in international capital markets may also play a role in our findings. While H-Share firm disclosures in the PRC also appear sensitive to management's assessment of the associated costs, the magnitude of differences across listing locations suggests that disclosure practices on the SEHK may also reflect the effects of state-encouraged disclosure policies. Our findings contribute to the understanding of disclosure behavior among former wholly state-owned enterprises and to the emerging literature on the efficacy of the privatization process. [source] Explaining Corporate Environmental Performance: How Does Regulation Matter?LAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, Issue 1 2003Robert A. Kagan How and to what extent does regulation matter in shaping corporate behavior? How important is it compared to other incentives and mechanisms of social control, and how does it interact with those mechanisms? How might we explain variation in corporate responses to law and other external pressures? This article addresses these questions through an study of environmental performance in 14 pulp and paper manufacturing mills in Australia, New Zealand, British Columbia, and the states of Washington and Georgia in the United States. Over the last three decades, we find tightening regulatory requirements and intensifying political pressures have brought about large improvements and considerable convergence in environmental performance by pulp manufacturers, most of which have gone "beyond compliance" in several ways. But regulation does not account for remaining differences in environmental performance across facilities. Rather, "social license" pressures (particularly from local communities and environmental activists) and corporate environmental management style prod some firms toward better performance compliance than others. At the same time, economic pressures impose limits on "beyond performance" investments. In producing large gains in environmental performance, however, regulation still matters greatly, but less as a system of hierarchically imposed, uniformly enforced rules than as a coordinative mechanism, routinely interacting with market pressures, local and national environmental activists, and the culture of corporate management in generating environmental improvement while narrowing the spread between corporate leaders and laggards. [source] Doing Away with the Drab Age: Research Opportunities in Mid-Tudor Literature (1530,1580)LITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2010Mike Pincombe This article surveys recent developments in the study of mid-Tudor literature; some of the problems the area has traditionally faced and still faces; and the opportunities for new research it offers, especially that which exploits new technology. It traces the deleterious effect that C. S. Lewis' epithet ,Drab Age' has had upon the field, and how this has been compounded by institutional and market pressures in university education and academic publishing in the second half of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, interest in mid-16th century literature is being revived by historicist readings. The article maps out a number of areas ripe for future study, including life-writing, women's writing, miscellanies, anonymous writing, cheap/ephemeral print, Inns of Court writing, translation, Tudor poetics, manuscripts, non-dramatic dialogue, paratext and anthologies of ,tragical tales'. It calls for an unprejudiced reassessment of the aesthetics of mid-Tudor literature and draws attention to its humour and generic hybridity. [source] Financial market spillovers in transition economiesTHE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 1 2001R. Gaston Gelos This paper examines financial market comovements across European transition economies and compares their experience to that of other regions. Correlations in monthly indices of exchange market pressures can partly be explained by direct trade linkages, but not by measures of other fundamentals. Higher-frequency data during three crisis periods reveals the presence of structural breaks in the relationship between exchange-, but not stock markets. While the reaction of markets during the Asian and Czech crises is muted, the pattern of high-frequency spillovers during the Russian crisis looks very similar to that observed in other regions during turbulent times. With greater financial market integration, the financial markets of the more advanced transition economies can be expected to behave more and more like their Asian and Latin American counterparts. [source] Urban-Rural Flows of PhysiciansTHE JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2007Thomas C. Ricketts PhD ABSTRACT:,Context:Physician supply is anticipated to fall short of national requirements over the next 20 years. Rural areas are likely to lose relatively more physicians. Policy makers must know how to anticipate what changes in distribution are likely to happen to better target policies. Purpose: To determine whether there was a significant flow of physicians from urban to rural areas in recent years when the overall supply of physicians has been considered in balance with needs. Methods: Individual records from merged AMA Physician Masterfiles for 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2003 were used to track movements from urban to rural and rural to urban counties. Individual physician locations were tracked over 5-year intervals during the period 1981 to 2001, with an additional assessment for movements in 2001-2003. Findings: Approximately 25% of physicians moved across county boundaries in any given 5-year period but the relative distribution of urban-rural supply remained relatively stable. One third of all physicians remained in the same urban or rural practice location for most of their professional careers. There was a small net movement of physicians from urban to rural areas from 1981 to 2003. Conclusions: The data show a net flow from urban to rural places, suggesting a geographic diffusion of physicians in response to economic forces. However, the small gain in rural areas may also be explained by programs that are intended to counter normal market pressures for urban concentrations of professionals. It is likely that in the face of an overall shortage, rural areas will lose physician supply relative to population. [source] US Credit Crisis and Spillovers to AsiaASIAN ECONOMIC POLICY REVIEW, Issue 2 2009Morris GOLDSTEIN F41; F34; F31; F37 We review key highlights of the global credit crisis. We then consider how financial turmoil in the largest advanced economies might be transmitted to East Asia. The focus is on foreign trade links, international capital flows, currency market pressures and mismatches, financial sector fragilities, and countercyclical monetary and fiscal policy actions. We introduce a set of vulnerability indicators and explore whether an ordinal ranking of East Asian economies according to these vulnerability indicators seems to be related to the cross-country differences in estimated slowdowns of economic growth during the crisis. Finally, we discuss how Asian economies might encourage the adoption of a stronger regulatory and supervisory framework in the USA and whether some Asian economies and the USA might pursue a more "balanced" growth strategy after the crisis. 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