Economic Deregulation Research Articles

Contemporaneous Traditions: The World in Indigenous Art/Indigenous Art in the World

It may turn out ... that going back can be a way to go forward.1Multiple ModernitiesIn the 1980s postmodernism's retro culture was widely diagnosed as the endgame of modernism. Some suggested that a bigger endgame was in play. Hal Foster glimpsed the end of a ruling civilisation: 'a moment when the West, its limit apparently broached by an all but global capital, has begun to recycle its own historical episodes'.2 By the end of the century the West's cultural hegemony did indeed seem over. From about 1990 global capital began delivering a completely deterritorialised contemporary art practice. Even Indigenous art, previously considered a primitive artifact of pre-modern times, was claimed (by a few) for contemporary art.3 This is one reason why Terry Smith believes that 'Modernism' and what he names 'Contemporary Art' are 'different in kind'.4 Yet one thing did not change. Deterritorialised or not, modern, anti-modern, postmodern or contemporary, it is all the culture of capitalism.Postmodern deterritorialisation coincided with the deterritorialisation of capital spearheaded by economic deregulation i.e., the surrender of nation-state regulation of capital to financial globalisation.5 Just as Marx and Engels had predicted in the Communist Manifesto, having used the West to subjugate the rest for the expansion of capital, capitalism now turned on Western nations. Or as Slavoj Zizek described it, former colonial relations were globalised, so that today 'there are only colonies, no colonising countries-the colonising power is no longer a Nation-State but directly the global company'.6These economic and cultural deterritorialisations were the culmination of postcolonial power arrangements that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. As capitalism globalised it changed its stripes from a site of antagonistic confrontation (with tradition, communism, the proletariat and the colonised) to the smooth invisible logic of the Real. Now, said Zizek, we face 'the massive presence of capitalism as universal world system', meaning that 'everybody silently accepts that capitalism is here to stay.'1 It follows, argued Zizek, that 'the ideal form of ideology of this global capitalism is multiculturalism', the attitude which, from a kind of empty global position, treats each local culture the way the coloniser treats colonised people-as natives whose mores are to be carefully studied and respected. That is to say, the relationship between traditional imperialist colonialism and global capitalist self-colonisation is exactly the same as between Western cultural imperialism and multiculturalism'.8 A similar equation can be drawn between modernism (as the aesthetic expression of imperialist colonialism) and contemporary art (as the aesthetic expression of global capitalism). Whatever their different appearances, each is a theoretical object of capitalism.One symptom of self-regulated or autonomous global capitalism (i.e., a capitalism no longer in need of the Western nation-state) was the erosion of Western hegemony. Before 1990 it appeared that modernity was 'the result of forces largely internal to Europe's history and formation'.9 Even postmodernism was then considered a Western phenomenon. In the early 1990s Stuart Hall could still confidently assert that the terms 'modern' and 'Western' were 'virtually identical'.10 But by the end of the decade this was no longer the case. Charles Taylor bluntly announced in 1999 that 'modernity is not specifically Western'.11 Current theories of modernity, argued Taylor, don't account for 'the multiple encounters of non-Western cultures with the exigencies of science, technology, and industrialization.'12 'Instead of speaking of modernity in the singular', he proposed 'we should better speak of alternative modernities'.13 The next year Shmuel Eisenstadt developed similar ideas into a cogent manifesto with the more arresting heading of 'multiple modernities. …

The Effect of Regulation on Innovation

Clear rules of the game (e.g., established property rights and institutions of exchange) are important for innovation and entrepreneurship to flourish, but how those rules are defined is important. The scope and reach of federal regulation in the United States has been increasing over the last 30 years, and while federal agencies often try to quantify the benefits and costs of their regulations before they are issued, those measures are necessarily static, and bounded by data available to, and assumptions made by, the analyst. These analyses cannot capture the organic, dynamic nature of innovation nor anticipate how participants in a market might respond to incentives created by the regulation. Arguments that support “technology forcing” regulations often neglect the opportunities foregone when resources are devoted in a particular direction. Further, because regulations can confer competitive advantage on certain market participants at the expense of others, they provide incentives to focus innovative energy on influencing the rules, rather than innovating along more productive dimensions. Scholarship of the 1960s and 1970s showed that price and entry regulation tended to benefit organized interests at the expense of the broader public interest, and led to the economic deregulation movement that served to increase competition in several previously-regulated industries, with resulting improvements in innovation and consumer welfare. I hope to generate discussion of the effects of regulatory practices on innovation using current examples.

Equidad, cohesión y economía social

Economic deregulation has already caused tears in the social fabric threatening our social model. Once it is destroyed, as social cohesion is no longer a main objective of Policies, many people are in process of social exclusion, if not excluded, and neglected, increasing even more the inherited gap, created by an obsessive pursuit of profit. It is unlikely that politics will address these social injuries, consequence of placing the economy above all. Only solidarity flows within our societies will be able to act as a barrier to avoid the collapse of social equity. The engine of these flows is social economy; born out of solidarity can help building social cohesion while creating wealth.

Luxury, Luxury Brand and Luxury Market in India: From Class Consumers to Closet Consumers

The luxury concept has throughout history played an important role in social life by being a clear indicator of knowledge and social class which has not changed at present but only becoming catchier. Today, the demand for luxury brands is ever increasing and brand offering is continuously on the rise.The luxury market is expanding rapidly in India on the back of economic deregulation, fast GDP growth, wealth (re)generation, increasing per capita consumption, and a growing young working population. Wealthy Indians represent a source of enormous potential for global luxury brands. . India would have more than double the number of HNIs to 403,000 by 2015 from 153,000 in 2010 and communication media have put luxury in the public eye. India's luxury market is expected to reach $14.72 billion by 2015 from an estimated $8.21 billion this year, with about 30% of the customers coming from smaller cities, according to a recent report by ASSOCHAM and Yes Bank. This descriptive and conceptual paper looks at the ingredients of a luxury brand and how to market them. The paper goes on to discuss several luxury brands in India, meaning of luxury for Indian and behaviour of closet consumers This paper also analyses the Luxury market Scenario in India, and explains how the Luxury Market is yet to achieve its boom.

The cultural organisation model: analysing the cultural construction of nuclear safety

The economic deregulation of the electricity markets which began in most Western countries in the 1990s has given rise to a previously non-existent field of research. Nuclear power plants have been particularly affected, and as a result of these financial pressures are undergoing significant cultural changes that are having a negative impact on their safety. This research aims to examine this emerging concern from an alternative theoretical framework, the cultural organisation model, which includes the four dimensions that are needed to make a cultural analysis of any organisation: content, consensus, coherence, and consistency over time. The use of this model to analyse the cultural changes taking place in Spanish nuclear power plants provides a hitherto inexistent baseline of cultural research, which facilitates an understanding of the social construction of nuclear safety.

Landing in Las Vegas: commercial aviation and the making of a tourist city

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Las was a dusty, isolated desert town. By century s end, it was the country s fastest-growing city, a world-class travel destination with a lucrative tourist industry hosting millions of visitors a year. This transformation came about in large part because of a symbiotic relationship between airlines, the city, and the airport, facilitated by the economic democratization and deregulation of the airline industry, the development of faster and more comfortable aircraft, and the ambitious vision of Las city leaders and casino owners. Landing in Las Vegas is a compelling study of the role of fast, affordable transportation in overcoming the vast distances of the American West and binding western urban centers to the national and international tourism, business, and entertainment industries.

Liberalização econômica e universalização do acesso no transporte aéreo: é possível conciliar livre mercado com metas sociais e ainda evitar gargalos de infraestrutura

A liberalização econômica do transporte aéreo brasileiro trouxe visíveis benefícios ao setor, com preços mais baixos e maior popularização. Houve, entretanto, mais concentração da operação em grandes aeroportos e perda de cobertura regional. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar a evolução do número de aeroportos servidos pelo transporte aéreo regular brasileiro, bem como os índices de concentração de operações e a cobertura ao longo do território nacional. Serão abordados aspectos contidos no processo de desregulação econômica que o mercado aéreo brasileiro sofreu nos anos 1990 e início dos anos 2000, fazendo com que o transporte aéreo nacional passasse a ser mais competitivo e eficiente, mas também com operação mais concentrada geograficamente. Estes fatores acarretaram benefícios e malefícios aos passageiros: por um lado, preços mais baixos, alta indução do tráfego aéreo e maior acessibilidade de novos segmentos de consumidores; por outro, crescimento acelerado pressionado das infraestruturas aeroportuária e do espaço aéreo - com decorrentes gargalos geradores de congestionamentos e atrasos - e piora na cobertura geográfica. Este estudo desenvolveu um modelo econométrico que possibilitou análise de potenciais variáveis explicativas da cobertura do transporte aéreo, bem como sua influência e impacto no número de aeroportos servidos.

Corporate Governance in the Indian Context

SYNOPSIS We provide a brief overview of corporate governance in India, including a description of Indian contextual differences (as compared to the U.S. and elsewhere) and a discussion of the major events contributing to the evolution of India's corporate governance/accounting/auditing practices since economic deregulation in 1991. We also offer an agenda for future research on important Indian governance/accounting/auditing issues, and briefly address accounting practice implications.

Productivity and Deregulation in the Canadian For-Hire Trucking Industry, 1985-1996

Many policy makers today take for granted that economic deregulation yields net benefits to industry, particularly with respect to helping improve productivity and efficiency. Certain structural issues about industrial deregulation are not well understood, including the impact of technical change or innovation. In this paper, we measure the extent to which innovation affected productivity within the Canadian for-hire trucking industry during deregulation. Using a unique data set spanning the trucking deregulation era in Canada, non-parametric Malmquist productivity indices are computed and de-composed. Results of the analysis indicate that the industry was affected by deregulation in a manner consistent with public policy goals.

Deregulation and Macroeconomic Drivers Of Foreign Direct Investment In Nigerian Agriculture (1970 -2009): An Econometric Analysis

This study used secondary data from Central Bank of Nigeria and National Bureau of Statistics to ascertain the determinants of Foreign Direct Agricultural Investment (FDAI) in Nigeria from 1970 to 2009. After attempting modeling the determinants of FDAI with untransformed OLS regression model, autocorrelation was detected, hence Praise-Winston model was applied. The series' residuals were subjected to appropriate econometric tests and met the major requirements for running OLS models in addition to being cointegrated at I(0) using ADF and Philip Perron indicators. The model's fitness test indicated an R2 of 60% with an F-statistic significant at p<0.01. The study showed that foreign exchange and the economic deregulation policy of Nigerian government which started in 1986 were the most significant macro-economic drivers of FDAI in Nigerian economy over the review period. The findings call for improved management of the foreign exchange regimes by the Central Bank of Nigeria; tightening of fiscal discipline through increased transparency and removal of other structural impediments against the successful implementation of the economic reforms by the government (especially poor power supply among others).Key Words: Foreign direct investment, agriculture, deregulation of Nigerian economy and economic growth.

A QUALIDADE COMO SUPORTE ESTRATÉGICO DAS EMPRESAS

The modern enterprise is included in an environmental context characterized by high and rising levels of instability and very high degrees of uncertainty regarding the continuity of their activities. This climate is related to adverse environmental occurrence of certain events that make today's business environment much more volatile than in the past had been relatively close in historical terms, namely: globalization, the advent of a new paradigm in energy and environmental the rapid technological development, deregulation of economies and fierce competition in global markets. It becomes increasingly difficult to insert within the enterprise context a setting in which the uncertainty is the key attribute. Therefore, the modern company needs more of a strategic support that it makes possible the surrounding turbulent activity and enables it to achieve high levels of technological capability. As a direct result of this process would have increased productivity with a consequent increase organizational competitiveness. Total Quality as a strategic variable of the basic organizations with regard to their performance in an environment characterized by instability increasingly apparent. Then it is proposed the adoption of a reformed concept of Quality as strategic support organizations that are dealing with an increasingly uncertain surroundings.

Maintenance Optimization and Nuclear Power Plant Life Management—A Proposal for an Integrated Set of Maintenance Effectiveness Indicators

Economic deregulation of electricity markets in many countries has placed nuclear power plants (NPPs) in a new competitive environment where capital, operating, and maintenance costs must be minimized. Optimization of the maintenance strategy, enhancement of the maintenance efficiency, and monitoring of the performance are becoming the key attributes to ensure the survival of nuclear utilities in the energy market. The Institute for Energy and Transport (IET), one of the seven scientific Institutes of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), aDirectorate General of the European Commission (EC) recognized the need to collect relevant experience and suggests a consolidated system of maintenance performance indicators (MPIs) to measure the maintenance effectiveness. This paper highlights the latest improvements of the suggested system and discusses open issues that need to be addressed in further research activities for enhancing the maintenance effectiveness of NPPs.

Trayectorias de la dominación social de los espacios rurales en la provincia de La Pampa, Argentina

In this paper I propose to understand the emerging spatial configuration as a result of the capitalist modernization of the agrarian structure in the province of La Pampa. This period is characterized by a strong trend towards concentration of land ownership, with a decrease in the number of producers because of the disappearance of a large number of farms in the lower-surfaces. The deepening of neoliberal policies in the 90s, a stage marked by economic deregulation and the withdrawal of the State, accelerated changes in the socioeconomic structure of agriculture, exacerbating the process of social polarization. While economic deregulation impacted spatially by increasing the minimum thresholds in the production scale to improve the competitiveness (1988-2002), retraction of the State meant the indebtedness of many farmers. The process of incorporation of La Pampa ?s territory to the spaces of capital, as its updating, requires to be observed from a geo-historical perspective to analize the trialectical linking between territorialization, deterritorialization and reterritorialization (TDR) of the prevailing social domination systems.

Mondialisation et nouvelle mobilité des élites africaines

Today, the social class of “leaders” in Africa (high public official, political elite, business managers, big traders) is the main benefiter of the wealth accumulation process that has been created by the globalization, the development of exchanges and communication, as well as the global economic deregulation. Since the 2000’s, some capital holders investments and local touristic policies have significantly increased land speculation and real estate growth in several “South” cities such as Dakar, Marrakesh, Luanda or Praia. In spite of increasing social inequalities in the economic context marked by structural adjustment since the 1980s, an African elite has raised on the basis of entrepreneurship either formal or informal. Their financial capacities and their social influence allowed them to achieve this accumulation process. This new African elite class cannot be compared to the Indian middle-upper consumption class but is nevertheless aspiring for the western consumption standards.These “nouveaux riches” take part in the global nomadic world but the observation of their behaviour shows that these “new nomads” are actually combining different kinds of mobility, for different purposes such as traditional commitments, social relationships, business, leisure, and consumption. Several effects of this phenomenon can be observed. In the big cities, the new bourgeoisie migrates to living districts, contributing to the intensification of urban social division. The traditional and social commitments (due to the funerals, the celebrations, etc.) remain a major purpose of local, national or international mobility and the religious purpose (especially for pilgrimage) has been significantly increasing. Two new behaviours can be identified. The first is the leisure trip of the weekends, generally in the local area with all the family. The second one is the trip combining different purposes: social visit or tourism during a professional trip, commercial operation combined to a family visit, etc. This kind of journey is particularly frequent in the societies that have a tradition of international emigration like Senegalese and Cap Verdean societies.The contribution of African elites to the nomadic planet is thus complex, because it combines the local place with the world movements, the pleasant to the useful, and the duty in the leisure. Is it a new model of circulation in a world and an original contribution to the globalisation? We shall lean more specifically on Senegalese, Cape Verdean, Moroccan examples.

Projecting trends in plant invasions in Europe under different scenarios of future land‐use change

ABSTRACTAim Recent studies of plant invasions in habitat types across different climatic regions of Europe have made it possible to produce a European map of plant invasions. Parallel research led to the formulation of integrated scenarios of future socio‐economic development, which were used to create spatially explicit scenarios of European land‐use change for the 21st century. Here we integrate these two research lines and produce the first spatially explicit projections of plant invasions in Europe for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080.Location The European Union (except Bulgaria and Romania), Norway and Switzerland.Methods We used vegetation plots from southern, central and north‐western Europe to quantify mean levels of invasion by neophytes (post‐1500 alien plants) for forest, grassland, urban, arable and abandoned land. We projected these values on the land‐use scenarios for 2020, 2050 and 2080, and constructed maps of future plant invasions under three socio‐economic scenarios assuming: (1) deregulation and globalization, (2) continuation of current policies with standing regulations, and (3) a shift towards sustainable development.Results Under all scenarios an increase in the level of invasion was projected for north‐western and northern Europe, and under the first two scenarios a decrease for some agricultural areas of eastern Europe where abandonment of agricultural land is expected. A net increase in the level of invasion over Europe was projected under scenarios 2 and 3.Main conclusions The polarization between more and less invaded regions is likely to increase if future policies are oriented on economic deregulation, which may result in serious future problems in some areas of Europe. However, an implementation of sustainability policies would not automatically restrict the spread of alien plants. Therefore invasions require specific policy approaches beyond the more general ones, which are currently on the policy agenda and were tested in the scenarios.

‘The Prison is an Outlaw Institution’

AbstractThis discussion of Les Prisons de la misère (Raisons d'agir Editions, Paris, 1999 – expanded and updated English‐language edition, Prisons of Poverty, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2009) responds to queries put forth by the editors of R de réel and originally published in French in that journal in June 2000 (vol. 3, pp.33–8). It argues that the carceral boom in the United States results from the penalisation of poverty correlative of the simultaneous revamping of the economic, welfare and justice missions of the state. Pro‐market think tanks have played a driving role in fashioning and diffusing America's ‘punitive common sense’ across the Atlantic, thus accelerating the import of aggressive crime rhetorics and policies in Western Europe by political elites (including Left governments) seduced by neoliberal ideology. But, while the prison purports to enforce the law and to curtail the disorders generated by economic deregulation, the recent French experience confirms that its very organisation and daily operation make it an outlaw institution. It is promoted as a remedy for criminal insecurity and urban marginality, but it only serves to concentrate and intensify both, even as it makes them temporarily invisible. To get out of the policy and civic impasse into which the penalisation of poverty leads contemporary societies, we must raise anew the quintessentially political question of the purpose(lessness) of incarceration at century's dawn.

AIR TRANSPORTATION POLICY FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES: LESSONS FROM THE U.S. EXPERIENCE

The last decades have witnessed a global trend toward airline deregulation, which has significant impacts on national policies regarding air accessibility to smaller communities. One important result of this liberalisation is that carriers are no longer constrained to serve routes, and may thus neglect service to less profitable destinations with lower traffic. Economic deregulation can therefore have detrimental effects on smaller communities. The United States has dealt with this issue through its Essential Air Service program. Its experience suggests lessons for other countries. U.S. policies have been reasonably successful in sustaining basic air service to smaller communities over the past thirty years of deregulation. Moreover, they have done so relatively effectively and efficiently. A large-scale analysis of the U.S. experience, and three case studies of the communities of Columbia and Jefferson City (Missouri), Rutland (Vermont), and Merced (California) demonstrate this phenomenon. The results show overall gains in efficiency, mostly attributable to the US policy of encouraging competition between air carriers seeking to provide service to small communities. The major flaw in the U.S. arrangements seems to be that the policies have not kept up with changing conditions since deregulation in 1978.

An interpretation of the behavior of the mark up in the Brazilian industry

<p class="p1">The Brazilian economy experienced significant changes during the 1990s.</p><p class="p1">Economic and financial deregulation, price stabilization and privatizations</p><p class="p1">configured a new economic scenario, shaping new attitudes and strategies of</p><p class="p1">agents. In spite of these changes, economic performance was poor during</p><p class="p1">the decade. Economic growth was marked by short periods of growth</p><p class="p1">followed by deceleration periods. The gross capital formation (or investment)</p><p class="p1">rate, a key variable to explain the dynamism of the economy, was around</p><p class="p1">17.0%, whereas current estimates by governmental officials point to an</p><p class="p1">investment level of around 25.0% as a requirement for a 5.0% sustained</p><p class="p1">annual growth rate.</p>

The Neoliberal State and the Penalization of Misery

The strategy adopted by the neoliberal state to maintain social order and safeguard private property in a context of economic deregulation and social precariousness has destroyed the welfare state and aggravated poverty, depriving the masses of any form of social protection while subjecting them to repression. The reinforcement of the repressive state apparatus is associated with the social instability provoked by the lack of social policies, the degradation of living conditions for the great majority of the population, and the amplification of income and property inequalities both in the so-called capitalist periphery and in the richest industrialized countries. The penalization of misery is revealed as a new expression of class domination.

Transportation Policy: Precedent-Breaking Choices over Five Decades

AbstractDramatic changes in transport policy have occurred since publication of the inaugural issue of Transportation Journal. Paramount among these changes is economic deregulation. It brought to a vestige the once-comprehensive structure of control over business behavior in transport markets that had endured since its 19th-century starting point. As economic regulation receded, environmental, safety, and security regulation of transport burgeoned, driven more strongly by political than by economic calculations. Determination of whether its benefits exceed its costs will require a longterm horizon rather than a short-run one. Emerging political currents portend contraction of both publicly funded transport services, and infrastructure quality and capacity. Looking ahead, crafting and implementation of means for adequate funding—and for economically rational safety, security, and environmental standards—stand as prime transport policy challenges between the Golden and Diamond Anniversaries of the Transportation Journal.