Suchergebnisse

What are the prospects that risk-sharing in EMU will ever attain the levels in the US? So far as risk-sharing in the US depends on interregional transfers through the budget of the federal government, those prospects are poor. So far as the risk-sharing in the US takes place though market channels, they are much better. This article addresses the theory & evidence on the subject. The evidence would indicate that EMU still lags far behind the US as regards the pooling of risks through portfolio diversification. But there already seems to be little to distinguish the euro area from the US in the ability to borrow to smooth shocks. Thus, some extra risk-sharing should already be taking place in the euro area through this channel. But how much? Further, there is also evidence that the progress of European economic & monetary integration over the last decade has increased the symmetry of business cycles. But this evidence is difficult to interpret. It could even be a sign of remaining capital-market imperfections. With respect to the theoretical aspects, one of the issues in the article is the adequacy of the general framework that Asdrubali, Sorensen & Yosha have proposed for dealing with all of these questions. 5 Tables, 40 References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper questions the popular anthropological assumption that all purpose money rules in the West today. Contrary to the followers of Karl Polanyi in anthropology, modern as well as primitive money is special purpose money. It is argued further that serious difficulties and confusions arise from indiscriminate use of the term money to refer both to (1) media of exchange and means of payment and (2) units of account. Lastly, the scholarship and perspicacity of the Polanyist verdicts about economists' views in the area of money is disputed.

This volume brings together the proceedings of a conference held at the Institut Europeen d' Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) at Fontainebleau on July 5, 6, and 7, 1982. Summer conferences abound in the Paris region. That it was possible to attract an imposing international cast of economists within walking distance of the historic castle of Fontainebleau and one hour away from central Paris by car during the month of July is nothing especially surprising. But in this case there was a particular motivation for choosing the French site.

AbstractWe show that the heavy use of legal services relative to output in the US is not a peculiarity of the country but applies to common law countries in general. It can likely be attributed largely to better ability to contract and adapt to changes in the environment. Yet common law also opens significantly more room for rent seeking by lawyers than civil law. Thereby the costs could outweigh the benefits. In supporting this last thesis, we control for other factors besides common law favouring legal services, including real output per capita, openness, and ease of entry into the legal profession.