Suchergebnisse

At the end of the 1980s, a tri-polar world comprising the US, EU and Japan emerged. However, the economic turbulence of the early 21st century has destabilized this order, and the rise of other Asian powers has implications for the formation of a new economic configuration. This book discusses the probability of the different tentative global economic power balances to emerge, as well as the different contestants: the EU, China and Japan, among others. Organized into three sections, the first part addresses general and trend-wise developments with relevance to the outcome of the re-polarization process. Subsequently, three chapters focus on developments in China, India and Japan. Finally, special issues such as climate policies, corporate governance, social reforms and cross-border economic alliances are considered in greater detail, in relation to their implications for the outcome of the re-polarization process

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has become the prime engine to foster growth and to facilitate the restructuring and internationalization of formerly sheltered areas during the 1980s. This book deals with future prospects for FDI and provides answers to some critical questions at the beginning of the 1990s: Will the unprecedented high rate of growth of FDI in the 1980s continue for the rest of the twentieth century and beyond? If so, which will be the major recipient countries, source countries and sectors involved in these transactions? The general approach of each chapter is to review the factors that prompted the expansion of FDI during the 1980s. Their value as driving forces in the future is then assessed together with some new factors. The book contains nine chapters. The first four deal with general issues such as: Will the restrictions on capital flows be reimposed? What are the prospects for the world economy? Which ingredients will shape the global competition for investment? What are the likely patterns of FDI to emerge in the next decade? The remaining five chapters are devoted to special issues such as: How will increased instability in the financial system influence trade and FDI? What role in future FDI will merger and acquisition (M&A) activities play? What influence will the emerging market economies have on the global distribution of FDI? Will the Japanese continue to be the major foreign direct investors in the future? Will FDI from small and medium-sized firms gain momentum as they become more exposed to international competition and as their customers get increasingly involved in FDI?

Most econometric studies of equity market integration suggest that national markets are increasingly becoming part of a global equity market. As regards the extent of this integration, however, the results are often inconclusive. Further analysis calls for a closer scrutiny of the basic requirements for perfect integration. This paper presents an analysis of market segmentation in terms of existing regulatory and informational wedges, based on conditions in the Nordic welfare states. It is found that no barriers remain to cross-border equity market transactions, nor consequently to the perfect global integration of Nordic equity markets in a capital-flow perspective. However, certain residual cross-border tax wedges do challenge the view of perfect equity market integration. Further, continuing cross-border information gaps for small and medium-sized companies indicate the presence of a two-tier equity market integration.

In recent years, the term 'transparency' has emerged as one of the most popular and keenly-touted concepts around. In the economic-political debate, the principle of transparency is often advocated as a prerequisite for accountability, legitimacy, policy efficiency, and good governance, as well as a universal remedy against corruption, corporate and political scandals, financial crises, and a host of other problems. But transparency is more than a mere catch-phrase. Increased transparency is a bearing ideal behind regulatory reform in many areas, including financial reporting and banking regulation. Individual governments as well as multilateral bodies have launched broad-based initiatives to enhance transparency in both economic and other policy domains. Parallel to these developments, the concept of transparency has seeped its way into academic research in a wide range of social science disciplines, including the economic sciences. This increased importance of transparency in economics and business studies has called for a reference work that surveys existing research on transparency and explores its meaning and significance in different areas. The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency is such a reference. Comprised of authoritative yet accessible contributions by leading scholars, this Handbook addresses questions such as: What is transparency? What is the rationale for transparency? What are the determinants and the effects of transparency? And is transparency always beneficial, or can it also be detrimental (if so, when)? The chapters are presented in three sections that correspond to three broad themes. The first section addresses transparency in different areas of economic policy. The second section covers institutional transparency and explores the role of transparency in market integration and regulation. Finally, the third section focuses on corporate transparency. Taken together, this volume offers an up-to-date account of existing work on and approaches to transparency in economic research, discusses open questions, and provides guidance for future research, all from a blend of disciplinary perspectives

Based on historical analogies, we emphasize a connection between financial crises and technological shifts where the shift calls for a structural economic transformation. We discuss how political pressures related to this structural transformation pave the way for the return of a new form of Mercantilism. This time it is the competition for high-tech jobs that drives politicians to be more nationalistic. Our conclusion is that the race for jobs in a period of technology shift, coupled with experimental efforts by central banks, will lead to the need for a post-covid 19 reorganization of international companies' global logistics chain. The current pandemic will act as a catalyst to this very transformation.