Shared Arrangements Research Articles

PHP49 Developing Risk Sharing Arrangements – Potential for Brazil and Implications

PHP49 Developing Risk Sharing Arrangements – Potential for Brazil and Implications

Federalism, Fiscal Autonomy and Democratic Legitimacy in Europe: Towards Tax Sharing Arrangements

Résumé Dans cet article sont présentées des informations concernant l’autonomie fiscale des différents niveaux de gouvernement dans l’Union européenne. Au sein de l’Europe, les gouvernements centraux se taillent encore la part du lion dans la répartition des compétences de taxation et de dépenses. Les autres niveaux de gouvernement doivent s’accommoder largement de plans de financement venus du haut ou du bas, ce qui diminue sérieusement leur autonomie fiscale. L’argument proposé dans cet article est que ce déséquilibre fiscal (vertical) a de considérables conséquences négatives, en particulier sur la légitimité de l’Union européenne, à la fois en termes d’input et d’output de légitimité, et que l’Union européenne en tant que telle souffre d’un problème de légitimité conjointe en matière fiscale. Après une étude des diverses théories du fédéralisme (théorie du fédéralisme fiscal, fédéralisme compétitif et fédéralisme coopératif), la conclusion est que le modèle du fédéralisme coopératif répond le mieux au fonctionnement de l’Union européenne. Une partie de ce modèle est la répartition fiscale (ou taxation conjointe), que l’on peut présenter comme une solution à l’actuelle impasse financière.

Revenue Sharing Arrangements: Options and Relative Merits (The Mahbub ul Haq Memorial Lecture)

The decades immediately after World War Two saw: (a) the spreading of ideas, rightly or wrongly attributed to John Maynard Keynes, that called for a larger government role in the economy; (b) the growing popularity of socialism; and (c) the creation of the United Nations, an event that gave a global voice to the citizens of lowincome countries and that provided statistics that, for the first time pointed to the big differences in living standards that existed between the so-called “developed” or “advanced” countries and the “underdeveloped”, or “developing” countries, and between the rich and the poor within specific countries. Those decades witnessed a period of fast growth in the activities of governments and especially in those of the central governments. The central governments of many countries assumed increasingly important and wider roles and functions. See Tanzi (2011) forthcoming, and Tanzi (2008). The governments of many countries tried to raise their tax revenue to be able to increase public investment, to create needed infrastructure and to provide better social services, such as education, health, and social assistance, to their citizens. In those decades the importance and the revenue needs of national or central governments grew and the literature on “taxable capacity” became a popular branch of economics. Especially developing countries needed more government revenues and more taxes to be able to grow.

The Fixed Wage Puzzle: Why Profit Sharing is so Hard to Implement

It is well known that profit sharing arrangements Pareto-dominate wage contracts. Share agreements are (far) less than ubiquitous, however. This paper offers a solution of this fixed wage puzzle by adopting a perspective of bounded rationality. We show that share arrangements that fulfill plausible constraints are not generally acceptable to both firms and unions.

The fixed wage puzzle: Why profit sharing is so hard to implement

Profit sharing arrangements Pareto-dominate fixed wage contracts, but are (far) less than ubiquitous. We account for this fixed wage puzzle by adopting a perspective of bounded rationality. Specifically, plausible share arrangements are not generally acceptable to both firms and unions.

Why Do Islamic Banks Tend to Avoid Profit and Loss Sharing Arrangements?

The twentieth first century has witnessed resurgence in the observance of fundamental Islamic practices around the world. With it’s significant potential and competitive form of financial intermediation, Islamic finance and banking has emerged and experiencing rapid expansion. However, it still faces many problems and challenges relating to Islamic instruments, financial markets, and regulations that must be addressed and resolved. One of the problem is low level participation of the Islamic banks in profit and loss sharing arrangements. This arrangements are unique to Islamic banking and account for its superiority over conventional banking on grounds of ethics and efficiency, but the majority of Islamic banks have limited themselves to less risky trade-financing assets, which tend to be a shorter maturity. This is contradictive with the theoretical models and basic principles of Islamic finance. This paper analyzes why Islamic banks are reluctant to indulge in profit and loss sharing instruments. We present the basic understanding of the concept of Islamic finance and banking. We introduce the theoretical model of balance sheet to compare them to the practices of Islamic banking. We also explore the risk management concept to solve this problem. One of the implication is that the theory and practices differences in Islamic banking have led to increased the perception of riskiness at the institutional and systemic level.

A Conceptual Framework for Retirement Products: Risk Sharing Arrangements Between Providers and Retirees

Voluntary annuity markets are in most countries smaller than the theoretical and part of the empirical literature would suggest. There are both demand and supply constraints that hamper the development of annuity markets. In particular, traditional products available in most countries can require excessive minimum capital requirements for given investment opportunities available to providers. Investment and longevity risk should be shared between providers and annuitants so that supply constraints can be relaxed. Alternative annuity products, which imply risk sharing, could be backed by substantially lower capital investments or, equivalently, provided at substantially lower prices to consumers.

Tenure Rights and Benefit Sharing Arrangements for REDD: A Case Study of Two REDD Pilot Projects in Cambodia

Deforestation and forest degradation account for up to 20% of the total annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, current approaches to address climate change include strategies to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD). Even though REDD is still under discussion within the UNFCCC framework, many REDD pilot projects are being implemented across the tropics. Securing local communities’ tenure rights and their equitable access to forest conservation benefits are critical in REDD because local communities could be excluded from REDD benefits if their land and forest access rights are not adequately addressed. In Cambodia, two REDD pilot projects: Community Forestry Carbon Offset Project (CFCOP) in Oddar Meanchey province and the Seima Protection Forest Project (SPF) in Mundulkiri province, are being implemented. This study aims to to contribute to the development of an effective REDD mechanism in Cambodia by examining land and forest tenures and benefit sharing arrangements under the two REDD pilot projects in Cambodia. The paper employs concepts of discourse coalitions and rules of the game to explain tenure rights and benefit sharing arrangements in the two projects. The study is based on literature review, analysis of key text documents and interviews with 19 respondents from government, civil society, donor community, community and private sector involved in the two REDD pilot projects and from outside. Results show that all forestlands in Cambodia belong to the state and various forest tenure regimes exit in Cambodia. These forest regimes include forest concessions, community forests, protection forests, protected areas, private forests and economic land concessions. Currently, the two REDD pilot projects are being implemented in community forests and protection forests. In both projects, local communities are granted forest access rights. In addition, the projects have legitimized tenure rights of local communities in the project areas as provided for through the Land and Forestry Law in Cambodia. The study also indicates that revenues from carbon credits generated by the projects will be shared with the local communities. According to the Government Decision No.699, more than 50% of net revenues will be channeled to local communities in the CFCOP while the sharing of the revenues in the SPF is still under consideration. The study offers lessons that could guide other REDD projects in securing local communities’ forest access rights and their rights to benefits from forest conservation.

Strategic Choice between Joint Ventures and Mergers for Vertical Integration

Drawing upon the incomplete contract theory, this study examines the criterion of the strategic choice between joint ventures (JVs) and mergers when two firms contemplate vertical integration. Our model reaches the following conclusions: (1) some ownership provision to the acquired company after the mergers may prove to be more lucrative to the acquirer than 100% takeover; (2) given the same equity share arrangement for JVs and mergers we conclude that these two firms should choose to merge or be merged rather than JVs; (3) we derive the optimal equity share arrangement in both JVs and mergers when ownership provision is considered as a strategic means. In addition, we also compare the welfare and effort of both companies in JVs and mergers under symmetric cost structures, and find that mergers would provide greater social efficiency and welfare than 50-50 JVs when the acquirer’s equity share is between 30% and 65%. Key words: joint ventures, mergers, incomplete contract, stock ownership, corporate control

Indigenous Rights in International Politics: The Case of “Overcompliant” Liberal States

An overcompliant state is one that paradoxically takes actions that recognize specific rights or a category of rights that go beyond or even against that state's international human rights treaty obligations or its normative international commitments. Since there is no existing IR literature that would explain why a state might paradoxically comply or “overcomply” with its stated commitments, there is also no theory to explain what would propel a state to “overcomply” with an emergent norm. Securing indigenous rights means that several critical changes in the international discourse must occur, including an alteration of the liberal international Westphalian system of state sovereignty toward a postliberal, plurinational sovereignty system that includes a separate nation-to-nation and consent-based shared sovereignty arrangement between states and indigenous peoples. “Overcompliance” in indigenous rights occurs under a particular set of conditions: (1) when there is a strong presence of the international indigenous-rights movement within the state; (2) when the state places high value on its reputation as a “good global citizen”; and (3) when change occurs in the state's domestic discourse as it seeks to locate its own postcolonial identity in a globalized world. By examining state “overcompliance,” the author seeks to expose the limits of the current international discourse and the potential to push that discourse further to better accommodate the full spectrum of indigenous rights.

Information Sharing Arrangements in the Credit Industry: Ownership and Coverage

We examine the conditions required for the existence of private credit bureaus, as well as their ownership and coverage. Our model implies that bank consortia will most likely be preferred by banks, but that they will lead to restricted coverage. Independent credit bureaus have higher coverage, but they require good institutions. This implies an important role for public credit registers in developing countries with weak institutions. Our empirical findings largely support the implications of our model.

New Data and New Directions in Interbranch Lobbying: Congressional Mail Summaries of the George H.W. Bush White House

This article analyzes a unique new set of data (compiled originally by the Bush White House) using mail written to President Bush from members of Congress during the 101st and 102nd Congresses to explore interbranch lobbying. We argue that these data illuminate the relationship between the president and Congress in a new and informative way. We use this data to inform our view of the shared power arrangements (identified as "tandem institutions") by developing a series of expectations to explore the joint roles of this interaction. Conforming to expectations, we find that requests for presidential action (especially on foreign policy) and the conveyance of congressional opinion (especially on domestic policy) are the top two categories that characterize this relationship. We also find committee chairs or party leaders, who serve as conduits for opinion of their representatives to the president, are also more likely to write the president than rank-and-file members. Further, those members who are ideologically furthest away from the president tend to write to convey information and urge specific action more frequently than those closer to the president. We need a new engagement, too, between the Executive and the Congress. The challenges before us will be thrashed out with the House and the Senate. And we must bring the Federal budget into balance. And we must ensure that America stands before the world united, strong, at peace, and fiscally sound. But of course things may be difficult. We need to compromise; we've had dissension. We need harmony; we've had a chorus of discordant voices. To my friends–and yes, I do mean friends–in the loyal opposition–and yes, I do mean loyal: I put out my hand. I am putting out my hand to you, Mr. Speaker. lam putting out my hand to you, Mr. Majority Leader. For this is the thing: this is the age of the offered hand. And we can't turn back clocks, and I don't want to. But when our fathers were young, Mr. Speaker, our differences ended at the water's edge. And we don't wish to turn back time, but when our mothers were young, Mr. Majority Leader, the Congress and the Executive were capable of working together to produce a budget on which this nation could live. Let us negotiate soon and hard. But in the end, let us produce. The American people await action. They didn't send us here to bicker. They ask us to rise above the merely partisan. "In crucial things, unity"–and this, my friends, is crucial. President George H.W. Bush Inaugural Address 19891

US Tax Scene: Developments in Cost Sharing Arrangements

US Tax Scene: Developments in Cost Sharing Arrangements

Negotiating a job share

A new job share arrangement needs careful planning if it is to be successful

Policy formation in gamete donation and egg sharing in the UK—a critical appraisal

This article considers two key policy documents concerning donor-assisted conception in the UK, The British Fertility Society's Recommendations for Good Practice on the Screening of Egg and Embryo Donors and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's Guidance for Egg Sharing Arrangements. It discusses both the process and the evidence used in formulating those sections of the documents which relate to donor anonymity. The paper concludes that psycho-social policy developments in assisted conception, such as those relating to donor anonymity, should be subjected to comparable levels of rigour and scrutiny to those that are applied in the formulation of medical and scientific policies.

Shared practice learning: Social work and district nurse students learning together

The importance of developing opportunities for shared learning between social workers and other professional groups has been emphasised in recent government publications. However, much of the research evidence concerning the impact of shared learning concentrates on the taught elements of programmes rather than the practice experience. This paper examines the findings that have emerged from the Shared Practice Learning project, which focused on the experiences of social work and district nurse students who were placed alongside each other during their practice placements. It identifies the educational benefits to have emerged from the project, notably the broadening of the perspectives of the students involved. The paper also examines the practical and organisational difficulties that stand in the way of more formalised shared practice learning arrangements. It is argued that while there are clear educational gains from a more systematic development of shared practice learning--and that these would apply to a range of professions connected to social work--the complexity of organisational arrangements may serve to render such developments impractical.

Subsidized IVF: the development of 'egg sharing' in the United Kingdom.

Egg sharing is an arrangement in which a woman is offered free or reduced-cost assisted conception treatment in return for 'donating' oocytes for the treatment of another woman, the cost of her treatment being subsidized by the recipient of her oocytes. Egg sharing has been developed for a variety of reasons: to ameliorate donor oocyte shortages, to avoid potential health risks to non-patient donors and, given the limited availability of publicly funded assisted conception treatment in the UK, to make treatment more readily available to individuals on lower incomes, thus expediting treatment by reducing waiting lists. This paper outlines the development and current status of egg sharing in the UK through analysis of responses to a consultation on payment to gamete donors initiated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the HFEA's Guidance for Egg Sharing Arrangements.

Guidance for egg sharing arrangements: redefining the limits of information-giving in donor assisted conception

This paper provides a critical review of the recommendation in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's Guidance for Egg Sharing Arrangements published in October 2000, that treatment centres providing egg-share services should not inform either the donor or recipient of eggs of the outcome of the other's treatment. It is argued that such a recommendation exceeds existing legislation and policy guidance on the restriction of information in donor-assisted conception and may hinder efforts to encourage an approach that more fully recognizes longer-term consequences and responsibilities of gamete donation.

The Effects of Alternative Sharing Arrangements on Employment: Preliminary Evidence from Britain

A sample of British firms with diverse sharing arrangements is used to investigate the effects of profit sharing on employment levels. Employment effects are sometimes significant but depend upon the measure of profit sharing, how the dynamics are modeled, and whether measures of employee participation in decision making are included in the estimating equation. Using a continuous measure of profit sharing, employment effects, which typically range from -6% to 6% are much more modest than those obtained by some other researchers. Most findings are not dramatically affected by estimating for separate time periods, individual industries or separately for larger firms.

Job share - two halves make a whole lot more

AS the proportion of women in the veterinary profession increases, there is a need to provide flexible working conditions to try to ensure satisfaction for all parties concerned. Here, Claire...