The post-financial crisis challenges for corporate governance and banking reform in China

The purpose of this paper is to review the impact of the global financial crisis on banking reform in China. The significant doubt concerning the efficiencies of Anglo-American model of corporate governance has raised a critical political question amongst scholars and practitioners as to whether China should continue to follow the U.K.-U.S. path in relation to financial reform. This conceptual paper provides an insightful review of the corporate governance literature and regulatory reports. After examining the fundamental limitations of the laissez-faire philosophy that underpins the neo-liberal model of capitalism, which promotes greater liberalization and less control, the paper considers the risks in opening China’s financial markets and relaxing monetary and fiscal policies. A critique of shareholder-capitalism is outlined in relation to the German’s “social market economy” styled capitalism. Through such analysis the paper explores a number of implications for China to consider in terms of developing a new and sustainable corporate governance model applicable to the Chinese context.

The growth rate and dimension theory of beta-expansions

In a recent paper of Feng and Sidorov they show that for β∈(1,(1+5√)/2) the set of β-expansions grows exponentially for every x∈(0,1/(β−1)). In this paper we study this growth rate further. We also consider the set of β-expansions from a dimension theory perspective.

ALGEBRAIC AND GEOMETRIC THEORY OF THE TOPOLOGICAL RING OF COLOMBEAU GENERALIZED FUNCTIONS

We continue the investigation of the algebraic and topological structure of the algebra of Colombeau generalized functions with the aim of building up the algebraic basis for the theory of these functions. This was started in a previous work of Aragona and Juriaans, where the algebraic and topological structure of the Colombeau generalized numbers were studied. Here, among other important things, we determine completely the minimal primes of (K) over bar and introduce several invariants of the ideals of 9(Q). The main tools we use are the algebraic results obtained by Aragona and Juriaans and the theory of differential calculus on generalized manifolds developed by Aragona and co-workers. The main achievement of the differential calculus is that all classical objects, such as distributions, become Cl-functions. Our purpose is to build an independent and intrinsic theory for Colombeau generalized functions and place them in a wider context.

Welfare and fiscal policy with public goods and infrastructure

We construct and simulate a model to study the welfare and macroeconomic impact of government actions when its productive role is taken into account. The trade-off between public investment and public consumption is also investigated, since public consumption is introduced as a public good that directly affects individuals' well-being. Our results replicate econometric evidence showing that part of the observed slowdown of U.S. productivity growth can be explained by the reduction of investment in infrastructure which also implied a sizable welfare 1085 to the popu1ation. Depending on the methodology used we found a welfare cost ranging from 4.2% to 1.16% of GNP. The impact of fiscal policy can be qualitative and quantitative distinct depending on Whether we assume a higher or smaller output elasticity to infrastructure. If it is high enough, increases in tax rates may stimulate accumulation and production, which is the opposite prediction of standard ncocJassica1 models.

On the economic and fiscal effects of infrastructure investment in Brazil

This article studies the productive impact of infrastructure investment in Brazil. Public-capital expenditures in the country have decreased continuously over the last two decades, and this paper shows the significant impact this has had on infrastructure stocks. Cointegration analysis is used to investigate the long-run association between output and infrastructure, the results being then used to study the short-run dynamic of these variables. Whether in the short or long run, the productive impact of infrastructure was found to be relevant. Other group of simulations studies the impact of expanding capital expenditures through debt finance on debt to GDP ratio as well as on public cash áow and net worth.

Brazilian indexing and inertial inflation: evidence from time-varying estimates of an inflation transfer function

This paper is a theoretica1 and empirica1 study of the re1ationship between indexing po1icy and feedback mechanisms in the inflationary adjustment process in Brazil. The focus of our study is on two policy issues: (1) did the Brazilian system of indexing of interest rates, the exchange rate, and wages make inflation so dependent on its own past values that it created a significant feedback process and inertia in the behaviour of inflation in and (2) was the feedback effect of past inf1ation upon itself so strong that dominated the effect of monetary/fiscal variables upon current inflation? This paper develops a simple model designed to capture several "stylized facts" of Brazi1ian indexing po1icy. Separate ru1es of "backward indexing" for interest rates, the exchange rate, and wages, reflecting the evolution of po1icy changes in Brazil, are incorporated in a two-sector model of industrial and agricultural prices. A transfer function derived irom this mode1 shows inflation depending on three factors: (1) past values of inflation, (2) monetary and fiscal variables, and (3) supply- .shock variables. The indexing rules for interest rates, the exchange rate, and wages place restrictions on the coefficients of the transfer function. Variations in the policy-determined parameters of the indexing rules imply changes in the coefficients of the transfer function for inflation. One implication of this model, in contrast to previous results derived in analytically simpler models of indexing, is that a higher degree of indexing does not make current inflation more responsive to current monetary shocks. The empirical section of this paper studies the central hypotheses of this model through estimation of the inflation transfer function with time-varying parameters. The results show a systematic non-random variation of the transfer function coefficients closely synchronized with changes in the observed values of the wage-indexing parameters. Non-parametric tests show the variation of the transfer function coefficients to be statistically significant at the time of the changes in wage indexing rules in Brazil. As the degree of indexing increased, the inflation feadback coefficients increased, while the effect of external price and agricultura shocs progressively increased and monetary effects progressively decreased.

Debt ceiling and fiscal sustainability in Brazil: a quantile autoregression approach

In this paper we investigate fiscal sustainability by using a quantile autoregression (QAR) model. We propose a novel methodology to separate periods of nonstationarity from stationary ones, which allows us to identify various trajectories of public debt that are compatible with fiscal sustainability. We use such trajectories to construct a debt ceiling, that is, the largest value of public debt that does not jeopardize long-run fiscal sustainability. We make out-of-sample forecast of such a ceiling and show how it could be used by Policy makers interested in keeping the public debt on a sustainable path. We illustrate the applicability of our results using Brazilian data.

Dois exercícios de política monetária e fiscal com atuação ótima do Banco Central

O objetivo da tese é analisar questões relativas à coordenação entre as políticas monetária e fiscal no Brasil após a adoção do regime de metas de inflação. Utiliza-se de um modelo de metas de inflação para uma economia pequena e aberta para a incorporação um bloco de equações que descrevem a dinâmica das variáveis fiscais. Tendo por base os conceitos de Leeper (1991), ambas as entidades, Banco Central e Tesouro Nacional, podem agir de forma ativa ou passiva, e será este comportamento estratégico que determinará a eficiência da política monetária. Foram estimados os parâmetros que calibram o modelo e feitas as simulações para alguns dos choques que abalaram a economia brasileira nos últimos anos. Os resultados mostraram que nos arranjos em que a autoridade fiscal reage a aumentos de dívida pública com alterações no superávit primário, a trajetória de ajuste das variáveis frente a choques tende a ser, na maioria dos casos, menos volátil propiciando uma atuação mais eficiente do Banco Central. Nestes arranjos, o Banco Central não precisa tomar para si funções que são inerentes ao Tesouro. Também são analisadas as variações no comportamento do Banco Central e do Tesouro Nacional em função de diferentes composições da dívida pública. Os resultados mostram que a estrutura do endividamento público será benéfica, ou não, à condução das políticas monetária e fiscal, dependendo do tipo de choque enfrentado. O primeiro capítulo, introdutório, procura contextualizar o regime de metas de inflação brasileiro e descrever, sucintamente, a evolução da economia brasileira desde sua implantação. No segundo capítulo são analisados os fundamentos teóricos do regime de metas de inflação, sua origem e principais componentes; em seguida, são apresentados, as regras de política fiscal necessárias à estabilidade de preços e o problema da dominância fiscal no âmbito da economia brasileira. O terceiro capítulo apresenta a incorporação do bloco de equações fiscais no modelo de metas de inflação para economia aberta proposto por Svensson (2000), e as estimações e calibrações dos seus parâmetros para a economia brasileira. O quarto capítulo discute as diferentes formas de coordenação entre as autoridades monetária e fiscal e a atuação ótima do Banco Central. O quinto capítulo tem como base a mais eficiente forma de coordenação obtida no capítulo anterior para analisar as mudanças no comportamento da autoridade monetária e fiscal frente a diferentes estruturas de prazos e indexadores da dívida pública que afetam suas elasticidades, juros, inflação e câmbio.

Electoral rules, political competition and fiscal spending: regression discontinuity evidence from brazilian municipalities

We exploit a discontinuity in Brazilian municipal election rules to investigate whether political competition has a causal impact on policy choices. In municipalities with less than 200,000 voters mayors are elected with a plurality of the vote. In municipalities with more than 200,000 voters a run-off election takes place among the top two candidates if neither achieves a majority of the votes. At a first stage, we show that the possibility of runoff increases political competition. At a second stage, we use the discontinuity as a source of exogenous variation to infer causality from political competition to fiscal policy. Our second stage results suggest that political competition induces more investment and less current spending, particularly personnel expenses. Furthermore, the impact of political competition is larger when incumbents can run for reelection, suggesting incentives matter insofar as incumbents can themselves remain in office.

Elections and fiscal policy at the municipal level in Brazil

Esta tese contribui para a literatura sobre ciclos políticos de negócios ao estudar as relações entre eleições, limites à reeleição, partidos e política fiscal em 3.393 municípios brasileiros entre 2001 e 2008. Os resultados mostram que prefeitos de primeiro mandato aumentam receitas totais e mantém níveis razoáveis de gastos durante as eleições, preservando ou até aumentando o balanço orçamentário. Eles também alteram sua alocação orçamentária reduzindo despesas correntes (e.g. pessoal) e aumentando despesas de capital (e.g. investimentos) à medida que as eleições se aproximam. Em realidade, apenas prefeitos de primeiro mandato parecem se beneficiar de aumentos oportunistas nas variáveis fiscais, especialmente em despesas correntes e de pessoal. No entanto, prefeitos de primeiro mandato não são necessariamente menos responsáveis fiscalmente do que prefeitos de segundo mandato ao longo da gestão (anos não eleitorais) ou durante as eleições. Nesse sentido, eleições com prefeitos de primeiro e segundo mandatos parecem promover condições competitivas que potencialmente aumentam a responsabilização eleitoral e fiscal. Essa tese também aponta para uma significativa associação entre ciclos fiscais oportunistas e partidários no nível local no Brasil. Durante as eleições, partidos de direita aumentam o balanço orçamentário, enquanto partidos de esquerda aumentam despesas de capital e reduzem despesas correntes, mas nesse último caso não tanto quanto os demais partidos. Ao fazerem isso, esses partidos atendem parcialmente às preferências dos eleitores. Durante o mandato (anos não eleitorais), entretanto, partidos de direita apresentam um balanço orçamentário levemente mais baixo, enquanto partidos de esquerda investem menos do que os demais partidos, e essas políticas não são favorecidas pelos eleitores. De forma geral, esse estudo mostra que os eleitores no Brasil reconhecem uma administração fiscalmente responsável, e têm uma preferência por mais receitas e gastos públicos, especialmente premiando maiores despesas de capital e investimentos ao longo do mandato político e aumentos em receitas e despesas correntes no ano eleitoral. De qualquer modo, as preferências fiscais dos eleitores são independentes das preferências ideológicas.

Isolated capital cities and misgovernance: theory and evidence

Motivated by a novel stylized fact { countries with isolated capital cities display worse quality of governance { we provide a framework of endogenous institutional choice based on the idea that elites are constrained by the threat of rebellion, and that this threat is rendered less e ective by distance from the seat of political power. In established democracies, the threat of insurgencies is not a binding constraint, and the model predicts no correlation between isolated capitals and misgovernance. In contrast, a correlation emerges in equilibrium in the case of autocracies. Causality runs both ways: broader power sharing (associated with better governance) means that any rents have to be shared more broadly, hence the elite has less of an incentive to protect its position by isolating the capital city; conversely, a more isolated capital city allows the elite to appropriate a larger share of output, so the costs of better governance for the elite, in terms of rents that would have to be shared, are larger. We show evidence that this pattern holds true robustly in the data. We also show that isolated capitals are associated with less power sharing, a larger income premium enjoyed by capital city inhabitants, and lower levels of military spending by ruling elites, as predicted by the theory.