Suchergebnisse

For decades, liberal democracy has been extolled as the best system of governance to have emerged out of the long experience of history. Today, such a confident assertion is far from self-evident. Democracy, in crisis across the West, must prove itself.In the West today, the authors argue, we no longer live in 'industrial democracies,' but 'consumer democracies' in which the governing ethos has ended up drowning households and governments in debt and resulted in paralyzing partisanship. In contrast, the long-term focus of the decisive and unified leadership of China is boldly moving its nation into the future. But China also faces challenges arising from its meteoric rise. Its burgeoning middle class will increasingly demand more participation, accountability of government, curbing corruption and the rule of law.As the 21st Century unfolds, both of these core systems of the global order must contend with the same reality: a genuinely multi-polar world where no single power dominates and in which societies themselves are becoming increasingly diverse. The authors argue that a new system of 'intelligent governance' is required to meet these new challenges. To cope, the authors argue that both East and West can benefit by adapting each other's best practices. Examining this in relation to widely varying political and cultural contexts, the authors quip that while China must lighten up, the US must tighten up.This highly timely volume is both a conceptual and practical guide of impressive scope to the challenges of good governance as the world continues to undergo profound transformation in the coming decades.

Introduction -- Governance is not at issue, or is it? -- Boards of directors in troubled waters : enhancing the survival chances of distressed firms / Gianpaolo Abatecola, Vincenzo Farina, and Niccolò Gordini -- Can interlocking directorates be good? : insight from problem loans in Italian listed banks / Marina Brogi and Valeria Stefanelli -- Corporate governance and bank performance in Italy / Candida Bussoli -- Does governance structure affect insurance risk-taking? / Antonio Meles and Maria Grazia Starita -- The advantages of board diversity : an empirical analysis of the Italian market / Paola Schwizer, Maria-Gaia Soana, and Doriana Cucinelli -- New tasks of information in credit quality assessment -- Can peer monitoring improve loans quality? : empirical evidence from Italian cooperative banks / Vittorio Boscia, Matteo Cotugno, and Valeria Stefanelli -- Loan selection and access to contractual information / Massimo Caratelli and Ornella Ricci -- The impact of discount rate choice in estimating the workout LGD for corporate and retail portfolios / Lucia Gibilaro And Gianluca Mattarocci -- Does relationship lending alleviate the credit crunch? / Stefano Monferrà and Gabriele Sampagnaro -- Credit quality and economic development in China / Loris Nadotti, Manuela Gallo, and Valeria Vannoni -- Financial education online : does it work? / Gianni Nicolini -- Competition and efficiency : do they still work in addressing performance? : too small to be compliant? : size and scale economies in the compliance cost structure of Italian banks / Simona Cosma, Gianfausto Salvadori, and Paola Schwizer -- intellectual capital and bank Performance : key issues related to intellectual capital disclosure / Gimede Gigante and Daniele Previati -- Discussing value relevance of earnings and book value : evidence from the Italian context / Alessandro Giosi, Emiliano Di Carlo, and Bianca Staglianò -- Determinants of local banks' performance an overview / Elvira anna Graziano -- Activity based costing in banking : reasons for the use and perceived usefulness by Italian banks / Alessandro Montrone and Antares Dachille -- The relationship between corporate reputation and risk in financial intermediaries / Maria-Gaia Soana and Paola Schwizer -- The evolution of competition in EU-15 banking market / Francesco Saverio Stentella Lopez

1. Austria : municipalities as the "third tier" of Austrian federalism / Harald Eberhard -- 2. Belgium : local government in Belgium : a 'Catch 22' between autonomy and hierarchy / Alexander de Becker -- 3. Czech Republic : local government in the Czech Republic : history, current position, prospective evolution / Richard Pomahac -- 4. France : territorial decentralisation in France : towards autonomy and democracy / Irene Couzigou -- 5. Germany : local government in Germany : an indispensable level of EU governance / Eike Michael Frenzel -- 6. Greece : local authorities in Greece : organisation, recent trends, European integration, reform, and the "Kapodistrias" tendency / Grigoris Avdikos -- 7. Hungary : local government in Hungary : a creeping centralisation? / Zoltan Szente -- 8. Italy : organisation and responsibilities of the local authorities in Italy between unity and autonomy / Stefano Villamena -- 9. The Netherlands : local authorities in the Polder-Dutch municipalities and provinces / Chris Backes and Wytze van der Woude -- 10. Poland : local government in Poland : towards consolidation? / Bogusaw Banaszak -- 11. Spain : ungovernable Spain : regional subsidiarity and the crisis of local governance / Gonzalo Villalta Puig -- 12. Sweden : local government in Sweden : flexibility and independence in a unitary state / Vilhelm Persson -- 13. United Kingdom : local government in England : Localism delivered? / Michael Varney -- 14. Conclusion : the contribution of local self-government to constitutionalism in the member states and in the EU multilayered system of governance / Carlo Panara.

This important book brings together leading scholars from multiple disciplines, including intellectual property, human rights, public health, and development studies, as well as activists to critically reflect on the global health governance regime. The Global Governance of HIV/AIDS explores the implications of high international intellectual property standards for access to essential medicines in developing countries. With a focus on HIV/AIDS governance, the volume provides a timely analysis of the international legal and political landscape, the relationship between human rights and intellec

Energy efficiency contributes to the main objectives of energy policy in the European Union: energy security, cost effectiveness and environmental benefits. However, the efficiency potential remains widely untapped. Will White Certificate Instruments, a new framework instrument to foster end-use energy efficiency, help to close the energy efficiency gap? The analysis compares the political process of choosing and designing White Certificate Instruments in Italy, France and Great Britain. Dagmar Sibyl Steuwer shows that the type of policy instrument as well as its image has an influence not only on agenda-setting but also on the policy instrument's effectiveness due to interactions with existing energy efficiency discourses, regulatory traditions and the prevailing policy style. Der Inhalt· White Certificate Instruments as Hybrid Instruments: Design Choices and Additionality· Constructivist Institutionalism: Strategic Action and Unintended Outcomes· Policy Instruments: Tools, Indicators or Agents?· Energy Efficiency - the Complexity Challenge· Methodological Approach: Process and Perception Tracing· Research on White Certificate Instruments· Comparison of White Certificate Instruments in France, Italy and Great Britain Die Zielgruppen· Political scientists with a special interest in energy policy analysis· Policy-makers and stakeholders in the field of end-use energy efficiency Die AutorIn Dagmar Sibyl Steuwer is Research Associate at the German Advisory Council on the Environment.

Hein and Moon take up a serious problem of contemporary global governance : what can be done when international trade rules prevent the realization of basic human rights? Starting in the 1990s, intellectual property obligations in trade agreements required many developing countries to begin granting medicines patents, which often rendered lifesaving drugs unaffordable. At stake was the question of what priority would be given to health - particularly of some of the world's poorest people - and what priority to economic interests, particularly those of the most powerful states and firms. This book recounts the remarkable story of the access to medicines movement. The authors offer an explanation for how the informal, but powerful norm that every person should have access to essential medicines emerged after a decade of heated political contestation and against long odds. They also explore the stability and scope of the norm. Finally, the book examines the limitations of informal norms for protecting human rights, and when renewed focus on changing formal norms is warranted.

The role of business in global governance is now widely recognized, but exploration of its role in global financial governance has been more haphazard than systematic. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the role of transnational financial associations (TFAs) in the organization of global finance. This book develops three theoretical themes of assemblage, functionality, and power as enrolment. These themes challenge approaches that treat financial power as emanating from a single location or force. Whilst existing approaches tend to treat TFAs as irrelevant or as me.

This collection considers the financial crisis from a managerial perspective, focussing on the business implications for the financial industry. Topics examined include governance, information needs and strategy of financial intermediaries and investors. The contributions build on the existing literature and present some unique insights on governance, credit quality evaluation and performance measurement. In a fast growing or steady market, it is possible for even an inefficient financial system to satisfy investors' and firms' needs. However, the current financial crisis has brought.

For decades, liberal democracy has been extolled as the best system of governance to have emerged out of the long experience of history. Today, such a confident assertion is far from self-evident. Democracy, in crisis across the West, must prove itself. This highly timely volume is both a conceptual and practical guide of impressive scope to the challenges of good governance as the world continues to undergo profound transformation in the coming decades.