Market-based Activities Research Articles

Does Anglo-Saxon Corporate Governance Matter for Capitalist Development of Emerging Asian Economy? A Case Study of India

Does Anglo-Saxon Corporate Governance Matter for Capitalist Development of Emerging Asian Economy? A Case Study of India

Financial Consumption and the Cost of Finance: Measuring Financial Efficiency in Europe (1950–2007)

This paper proposes to assess financial intermediation efficiency in Germany, France, the UK, and Europe more broadly, over the past 60 years. I rely on Philippon's (2012) methodology, which calculates the unit cost of financial intermediation through the ratio of 'financial consumption' | measured by financial income | to 'financial output' | approximated by the sum of outstanding assets intermediated. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, because financial industry VA ignores banks' capital income (capital gains, dividends and interest on securities) it is an imperfect measure of the consumption of financial intermediation. So long as capital income generates wages and profits to financial intermediaries, it is akin to an implicit consumption of financial services. Using banking income instead of banking VA to measure the consumption of banking services, I show that the GDP share of finance has increased continuously in Germany, France, the UK and Europe as a whole. Second, the unit cost of financial intermediation increased over the past 40 years, except in France where, overall, it stagnated. In addition, the European unit cost matches the US unit cost calculated by Philippon (2012). Finally, because financial intermediaries deal with nominal stocks and ows, and because the unit cost increases during periods of monetary troubles, I focus here on nominal rates of interest to explain the evolution of unit cost. I show that a rise in nominal rates of interest increases the spread of bank interest, so that 1970s and 1980s high unit costs are statistically explained by increases in short-term interest rates. On the other hand, post-1990s high unit cost seems to coincide with the development of new market-based activities.

The Public Good Created by Higher Education Institutions in Russia

The public/private distinction is central to higher education but there is no consensus on the meaning of ‘public’. Two different meanings are in use. Economic theory distinguishes non market goods (public) that cannot be produced for profit, from market-based activity (private). This provides a basis for identifying the minimum necessary public expenditure, but does not effectively encompass collective goods. In political theory ‘public’ is often understood as state ownership and/ or control. This is more inclusive than the economic definition, and recognizes the scope for norms and policies, but lacks clear boundaries. The first part of the article synthesizes these two approaches, developing an analytical framework with four quadrants (civil society, social democracy, state quasi-market, commercial market) that can be used to categorise activities in higher education and research. The second part summarises the findings of 30 semi-structured interviews in the Russian government and two universities, conducted in 2013, concerning perceptions of public goods produced in Russian higher education. While most interviewees saw research as a global public good, they were divided in relation to teaching and learning. Some understood the education function as a public good in both the economic and political sense and wanted the government to take greater responsibility for improvement in higher education. Others saw higher education as a private good in the economic sense, and while they acknowledged the need for government because of market failure, wanted public intervention and regulation to be reduced. This division in thought about public/private paralleled the larger division between Soviet and neoliberal thinking in the Russian polity, and also the divided character of higher education, which is evenly split between free government administered places and a fee-paying student market.

Access, Place and Australian Live Music

The role of place in cultivating artistic practice, communities and audiences is well established and the economic, social and cultural benefits that flow from this are becoming better understood. By contrast, the factors impacting and influencing access to these places is poorly theorised. This paper identifies and examines these factors as they apply to live music in Australia, through a qualitative survey of live music patrons and venues. We compare the themes identified from our data with existing theories of access in the arts, with a particular focus on the ways in which place-based music scenes may encourage or exclude participation. We address the question of how access affects participation within these scenes, as well as how access might be improved.

Public/private in higher education: a synthesis of economic and political approaches

The public/private distinction is central to higher education but there is no consensus on ‘public’. In neo-classical economic theory, Samuelson distinguishes non-market goods (public) that cannot be produced for profit, from market-based activity (private). This provides a basis for identifying the minimum necessary public expenditure, but does not effectively encompass collective goods, or normative elements. In political theory ‘public’ is often understood as state ownership and/or control. Dewey regards social transactions as ‘public’ when they have relational consequences for persons other than those directly engaged, and so become matters of state concern. This is more inclusive than Samuelson but without limit on costs. Neither definition is wholly satisfactory, each offers something, and each can be used to critically interrogate the other. The article synthesises the two approaches, applying the resulting analytical framework with four quadrants (civil society, social democracy, state quasi-market and commercial market) to higher education and research.

Market Meets Community: Institutional Logics as Strategic Resources for Development Work

We investigate how an intermediary organization, PRADAN, introduces and promotes market-based activities in tribal villages as a means to improve the social and economic conditions of rural women and their families in two districts in India. We draw from the literature on institutional logics and focus on the strategies and activities of PRADAN – an NGO working in poor rural areas in Northern India – to show how PRADAN instrumentally used a market logic and a community logic to develop new social structures in these rural communities. Moreover, we show what effect this had on beneficiaries and their families and how difficult it has been to convince rural communities and gain their trust. On the basis of these findings we show how logics can be deployed as a means to alter institutional arrangements. We find that the simultaneous enactment of both community and market logics was critical in the development of new social structures (Self-Help Groups). Finally, we show how the introduction of market-based activities by PRADAN is best understood as an ongoing and staged process that strongly builds on a continuous interplay of multiple logics.

First Nations Own-Source Revenue: How Is the Money Spent?

The confluence of several factors – favourable Supreme Court of Canada decisions, the rise (until recently) in natural resource prices and the emergence of a cadre of well-educated on-reserve leaders – has encouraged the growth of First Nations commercial ventures over the past generation. This growth raises important questions: How significant is own-source revenue (much of it derived via First Nations-owned corporations) in financing First Nations governments? How are these governments spending incremental revenue that arises from market-based activities? Before the passage in 2013 of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA), relevant audited statements of First Nations were hard to obtain, if indeed they were publicly available. The FNFTA requires First Nations to publish online audited statements of revenues and expenditures, which enables hitherto unavailable insights into First Nations budgeting priorities. Our analysis of a sample of 72 FNFTA filings submitted by First Nations in Ontario, covering the fiscal years 2013 and 2014, finds that own-source revenue comprises, on average, nearly a third of total First Nations government revenues. First Nations with higher per capita own-source revenue increase economic development activities but only modestly increase education and health spending. They also undertake large increases in spending on general government and business management. Whether large increases in this last category are warranted is an important question for members of First Nations to address. Interpreting the audited statements of First Nations governments is difficult, however, because they do not apply standardized protocols to identify revenue and expenditure categories. Furthermore, some undetermined portion of their own-source revenue derives from impact and benefit agreements negotiated between First Nations councils and resource developers. These agreements are usually confidential and details about them in audited statements are scant. Finally, since our sample is derived from First Nations communities in Ontario, it might not be representative of pan-Canadian experience. Our results are an admittedly tentative look at the data derived from the audited statements, but two obvious policy conclusions emerge from the analysis. First, since the FNFTA is intended to help First Nations assess the budgeting activities of their respective councils, one simple policy recommendation would be to introduce more uniform and informative accounting protocols, which would considerably aid those interested in undertaking this task. Second, since many First Nations apparently do not consider it appropriate to use own-source revenue to finance basic education and health services, the onus for education funding will continue to fall squarely on the federal government. In the end, of course, it is up to First Nations people themselves to determine their financial priorities.

The Action Network of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in China

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a project-based climate mitigation scheme under the Kyoto Protocol. Since 2007, China has become the largest CDM credit supplier in the world. With the promotion of CDM projects, a flexible, consensus-seeking network that involves a variety of public and private actors has continuously been evolving. This paper provides a preliminary network analysis of how a wide range of public and private actors have been involved in the market-based CDM activities. It focuses on the development of action network and how the structural and interactive features of the network have impacted the policy outcomes. The paper concludes China has developed comprehensive action network for participating in the emission reduction activities, and the features of the network clearly reflect characteristics of Chinese political regime. Although China leads in CDM project activities, some regulatory measures may have the negative impacts on the full exertion of its potentials.

Identifying drivers of household coping strategies to multiple climatic hazards in Western Uganda: implications for adapting to future climate change

This paper investigates what drives household coping strategies in rural Uganda under different climatic hazards. Rural households in sub-Saharan Africa draw on various coping strategies to reduce the impact of climatic hazards on their livelihoods. Research to date provides only limited understanding of how the coping strategy portfolio of households changes depending on the climatic stress. Using empirical data from Uganda, this research contributes to this gap by (1) exploring how household coping strategy relates to household characteristics and livelihood activity and (2) how these coping strategies vary depending on the hazard. Coping strategy is found to be hazard specific for households that lack market-orientated activities, whereas those with market access rely on economic activities regardless of hazard. To maintain and improve the livelihoods and coping strategies of those most vulnerable to climatic variability and change, policies that advocate diversification away from a sole reliance on customary activities need to recognize the level and opportunity for market-based activities. These interventions must account for different sensitivities to different hazards as well as the homogeneity of the community in order to effectively support rural communities to cope with climate variability.

Noninterest Income Generating Activities and the Future of Banking

Firms’ financial structure has changed drastically over the last decades. Entrepreneurs can get access to direct financing much more easily than they used to. With accelerating financial innovation, this better access to financial markets coincides with financial deepening, and it importantly contributes to disintermediation. To accommodate this structural mutation, banking regulation has adapted. It now allows financial institutions to be much more involved in market-based activities (e.g., securitization, investment banking and trading). Consequently, the banking landscape has completely mutated compared to the traditional model of the seventies. This paper discusses the implications of such a change for the future of banking, with a particular focus on the challenges related to macroprudential policies and tools, as they currently stand, and as they are likely to evolve to fulfil their role – i.e., optimally -- in monitoring and supervising bank systemic risk.

Bank Size and Systemic Risk

The proposed SDN documents the evolution of bank size and activities over the past 20 years. It discusses whether this evolution can be explained by economies of scale or “too big to fail” subsidies. The paper then presents evidence on the extent to which bank size and market-based activities contribute to systemic risk. The paper concludes with policy messages in the area of capital regulation and activity restrictions to reduce the systemic risk posed by large banks. The analysis of the paper complements earlier Fund work, including SDN 13/04 and the recent GFSR chapter on “too big to fail” subsidies, and its policy message is in line with this earlier work.

Social tourism and organised capitalism: research, policy and practice

Social tourism is a contested concept, practised little in the UK, but more widely throughout mainland Europe. However, limited research demonstrates its benefits to recipients. The emergence of social tourism has occurred through a historical and discursive process linked to organised capitalism and modern civil society. Social tourism has the capacity to transcend traditional and commercial concepts of tourism and challenge purely market-based tourist and leisure activities. Supporters can make the case for social tourism on the UK policy agenda through the following: more holistic research into social tourism and its benefits; the use of current government changes around the public health structure; and integration of social tourism into community needs around social capital and local health and wellbeing intervention development.

In the service of God and the parish: Professional ideologies and managerial control in the Church of Sweden

Professional ideologies are not only shared norms, beliefs, and values but also ‘operational philosophies’ – actual practices – that both constitute and regulate a professional community. Professional ideologies may both accommodate and even embrace certain managerial practices and counteract them if they are regarded as a threat to professional jurisdictions and other privileges. A study of ministers of the Church of Sweden, the established church in Sweden, demonstrates that new demands for managerial control, deriving from shrinking financial resources as the church loses members, are, on the one hand, recognized in terms of providing a joint perspective on the activities of the parish while, on the other, there is a significant skepticism toward more elaborate evaluation methods and performance metrics. For ministers, religious services must not be regarded as being like any other market-based activity, and the church, as a faith-based organization, needs to carefully position itself vis-à-vis industry and public administration. The study contributes to the professionalism literature, the accounting literature, and the study of faith-based organizations.

MARKET MEETS FAMILY: TRESPASSING OF INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN RURAL INDIA

We investigate how an intermediary organization, PRADAN, introduces and promotes market-based activities in tribal villages as a means to improve the socio-economic conditions of rural tribal women in two districts in India. We draw from the literature on institutional logics and focus on the strategies and activities of PRADAN to illustrate how a market logic (introduced through poultry rearing activities) affects local realities through interactions with existing logics determining social life, such as for example the family logic. Our empirical data shows how the introduction of market-based activities interacts with the existing family logic. In addition, we find that two structural devices for collective action are critical to enable this interaction.

Enterprising Social Wellbeing: Social Entrepreneurial and Strengths Based Approaches to Mental Health and Wellbeing in “Remote” Indigenous Community Contexts

Social enterprises are market-based activities that provide social benefits through the direct engagement of people in productive activities. Participation in social enterprise development brings psychosocial wellbeing benefits, by strengthening family networks, enhancing trust, increasing self-reliance and social esteem and promoting cultural safety. Our objective is to explore how social enterprise activities can meet community needs and foster self-sustainability while generating profits for redistribution as social investment into other ventures that aid social functioning and emotional well-being. Social entrepreneurship enhances both interdependence and independence. Concomitant mental health and social wellbeing dividends accrue overtime to communities engaged in self-determined enterprise activities. Social entrepreneurship builds social capital that supports social wellbeing. Strengths-based approaches to social entrepreneurship can assuage disempowering effects of the "welfare economy" through shifting the focus onto productive activities generated on people's own terms.

Access to Water, Women’s Work, and Child Outcomes

Poor rural women in the developing world spend considerable time collecting water. Do women living in places where more time is needed for water collection tend to participate less in income-earning market-based activities? Do the education outcomes of their children tend to be worse? We use micro data for nine developing countries to help address these questions. Our primary aim is to describe the patterns in the data rather than to infer causality, although we do treat the household-level access to water as endogenous, assuming that community-level access is exogenous conditional on a wide range of geographic factors. Better access to water is not found to be associated with greater off-farm paid work but is associated with less unpaid work for women. In countries where substantial gender gaps in schooling exist, both boys’ and girls’ enrollments also tend to be better.

Government Interventions in Agricultural Insurance

Abstract Agricultural insurance is normally undertaken as a market-based activity by private or state sector insurance companies, often with support measures from government. There is increased interest in risk management and insurance to promote agricultural investment and access to credit, and to provide financial stability to farmers and other actors in the agri value chain. The various types of intervention which are made by governments to facilitate agricultural insurance are reviewed, based on the results of a recent international survey conducted by World Bank. Whilst premium subsidy is the most common intervention, other enabling measures are important, such as the legal and regulatory framework, reinsurance, technical and administrative assistance, and linkages to government extension services in agriculture, animal health or meteorology. The main constraints and opportunities for crop and livestock insurance in developing countries are considered, such as insurance product types, hazards, vulnerability, and rural institutions which can support organisation and distribution. Developing appropriate distribution channels, and linking insurance to measures which can increase agricultural productivity, such as credit, farm inputs and services, provide an opportunity where insurance can add benefit to farmers. Insurance in isolation may attract little demand and may not be seen as a value proposition. Agricultural insurance is normally only affordable for exceptional events, and should not crowd out traditional risk coping at household or community levels, and can complement formal savings to manage frequent risk events. Agricultural insurance is complex from technical, organisational and financial standpoints, leading to many challenges for the insurance market and to decisions by government for appropriate intervention. This paper will consider international experiences in developing agricultural insurance, the governments’ interventions and relate these to the rapid expansion of the Chinese agricultural insurance market.

Buying Up Nature

From a range of diverse political perspectives, proponents have presented ecotourism as a market-based activity that will provide income and empowerment to local communities while promoting environmental conservation. The experiences of Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula, where relative isolation has limited the presence of transnational corporate capital, suggest that the impacts of community-based ecotourism expansion are far from certain and are the outcomes of struggles over access to land and natural resources, economic benefits, and representations of the environment. Ecotourism, while potentially offering new economic opportunities to Latin America's poor majority, may also reproduce preexisting patterns of stratification, particularly where state policies have favored larger and foreign ecotourism enterprises. Ecotourism may also engender processes of ideological resistance and reconfiguration that transform existing relationships of nationality, class, and gender.

Government intervention in city development of China: A tool of land supply

There has been continuous debate on whether the state can support market-based activities in the land market. It is widely recognized that land markets do not function by themselves, mainly because they are inherently imperfect; this imperfection provides foundation for state intervention. Under the Land Use Rights System of China, land supply is a powerful tool for intervening into land markets, and proceeds from land supply greatly contribute to local revenue and financing of infrastructure construction. The state, however, is not an impartial entity. Its desire to increase local revenue through land leasing has led to the oversupply of land and housing affordability problems in real estate markets. This paper, using evidence from Guangzhou, argues that land supply intervention is a two-edged sword in Chinese city development. It further claims that the state intervention is becoming gradually professional after the real estate market bubble in the early 1990s. Problems, such as structure imbalance in land supply, however, still have negative impacts on the sustainable development of Chinese cities.

Productive Engagement Among Older Americans: Prevalence, Patterns, and Implications for Public Policy

ABSTRACT This study estimates the prevalence of productive engagement among adults aged 60 and over residing in the United States over a nine-year period. We analyze three waves of data from the Americans' Changing Lives Study, which allows the findings to describe the non-institutionalized older American population. Focusing upon five activities—formal paid employment, irregular paid work, unpaid volunteerism, caregiving, and informal assistance to others—we identify changes in the engagement rates, examine the extent to which engagement occurs through single or multiple concurrent activities, and document intra-individual patterns of engagement within and across forms of productive activity, including the continuity, initiation, and cessation of involvement. The findings reveal that late-life productive engagement is widespread, with the majority of older individuals involved in multiple forms of activity concurrently. Non–market-based activities such as caregiving, informal assistance, and volunteering are most prevalent. Initiation and cessation of activities are common and yield more complex patterns and lower rates of non-participation than are revealed in cross-sectional analyses. Time spent in productive engagement is highly variable and exhibits an overall decline across time. We conclude by highlighting policy strategies to increase the availability and quality of opportunities for productive engagement and promote planning for engagement in late life.