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5531. Institutions for Fiscal Stability (Financial Integration in Europe and Asia)

Author:
Barry Eichengreen and Yung Chul Park
Publication Date:
01-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies (IES), UC Berkeley
Abstract:
One of the most striking aspects of Europe's recent development has been the growth and integration of financial markets. Bond markets have grown explosively since the advent of the euro. Cross border transactions in government bonds have risen sharply with the emergence of the German bund as a benchmark asset, while the volume of corporate bond issues has grown even more dramatically. Securities markets are consolidating around London and Frankfurt, which are competing for the mantle of Europe's dominant financial center. This rapid market integration has raised questions about the viability of Europe's traditional model of bank-based financial intermediation, causing commercial and investment banks to respond with a wave of mergers and acquisitions.
Topic:
Economics and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe, Asia, London, and Germany

5532. Children of Immigrants Show Slight Reductions in Poverty, Hardship

Author:
Michael E. Fix, Randy Capps, and Jane Reardon-Anderson
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The share of U.S. children under age 18 with an immigrant parent or parents increased between 1999 and 2002. Poverty among these children fell slightly during the same period, and the shares with health insurance and access to a usual source of health care rose. However, most other measures of economic well-being did not change significantly between 1999 and 2002, and children of immigrants continued to face greater hardship than children of native parents.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

5533. A Profile of the Foreign-Born in the Portland, Oregon Tri-County Area

Author:
Katherine Lotspeich, Michael Fix, Dan Perez-Lopez, and Jason Ost
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The Building the New American Community demonstration project is an experiment in refugee and immigrant integration in which the cities of Lowell, Massachusetts; Nashville, Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon, formed coalitions to identify integration challenges in their communities and address them collaboratively. These cities were assisted by a national team of policy analysts, advocates, and researchers from the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Immigration Forum, the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, The Urban Institute, and the Migration Policy Institute.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States

5534. Budget Crisis at the Door

Author:
C. Eugene Steuerle and Rudolph G. Penner
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
In 1995 the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform concluded that “If we do not plan for the future, entitlement spending promises will exceed financial resources in the next century. The current spending trend is unsustainable … If we fail to act, we have made a choice that threatens the economic future of our children and our nation” (U.S. Congress 1995). Now, well into the next century, we have still failed to act. Yet the problem not only remains, but in many ways has intensified simply because we are years closer to the day of reckoning. Relative to both available revenues and societal needs, we have promised more than we can afford to an elderly and fairly well-off near-elderly population that will soon grow very rapidly as the baby boomers retire and life expectancy continues to increase.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

5535. Unemployment Protection in Chile

Author:
Wayne Vroman
Publication Date:
08-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Interruptions of earnings caused by unemployment and reductions in the real value of earnings caused by inflation are two important risks that face persons active in the labor market. The following paragraphs discuss these phenomena and the possible mechanisms for addressing the risks that they pose.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and Chile

5536. The Gender Impact of Pension Reform in Latin America—and Broader Policy Implications

Author:
Estelle James, Alejandra Cox Edwards, and Rebeca Wong
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Over the past two decades multipillar pension systems that include both a public defined benefit (DB) and private defined contribution (DC) pillar have been adopted in many countries. Critics of these pension reforms argue that the tight link between payroll contributions and benefits in the DC pillar will produce lower pensions for women. In contrast, supporters of these reforms argue that multipillar systems remove distortions that favored men and permit a more targeted public pillar that will help women. To test these conflicting claims about multipillar reforms, and to analyze more generally the gender impact of alternative pension systems, this paper examines the differential impact on the two genders of the new and old systems in three Latin American countries—Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. On the basis of household survey data, we simulate the employment histories of representative men and women and the pensions that these are likely to generate under the new and old rules.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Argentina, South America, Latin America, Central America, North America, Mexico, and Chile

5537. Budget Blues: The Fiscal Outlook and Options for Reform

Author:
William G. Gale, Alan J. Auerbach, Peter Orszag, and Samuel R. Potter
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Establishing a sustainable fiscal policy is central to the nation's long-term economic prospects, but requires a clear understanding of how past and current policies affect future resources. The federal budget should, but does not, provide this information, both because the task is difficult and current accounting practices are deficient. This paper shows that adjusting the official budget for many accounting and economic issues implies a bleak fiscal outlook that presents policymakers with difficult choices. We also explore options to restore fiscal sustainability directly and to improve the budget process that governs fiscal decisions.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
United States

5538. The Enron Debacle: Lessons for Tax Policy

Author:
Jane G. Gravelle
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The Enron debacle had potential implications in three areas of tax policy: tax-favored retirement plans, stock options, and differences in book versus tax accounting. The most important issue relates to the increasing riskiness of retirement plans that (1) can pay in a lump sum amount, (2) are of the defined contribution variety, and (3) may be excessively concentrated in employer stock. Proposals to remedy this issue even in a limited way may be unsuccessful if they do not address the especially favorable tax treatment of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Most stock options do not benefit from preferential treatment, although for both book and tax purposes it may be desirable (and feasible) to recognize compensation payments at the time of grant. Stock options may not be accomplishing their purposes efficiently, and special benefits (such as those for qualified stock options) might either be reconsidered or restricted to plans with desirable features. The spectacle of a purportedly profitable company paying little or no tax has become a common phenomenon. The Enron case suggests the need for more disclosure regarding the sources of book versus tax differences, if not some substantive corporate tax reforms.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States

5539. The Politics of the German Company Network

Author:
Martin Höpner and Lothar Krempel
Publication Date:
09-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
For over 100 years, the German company network was a major feature of organized corporate governance in Germany. This paper uses network visualization techniques and qualitative-historical analysis to discuss the structure, origins and development of this network and to analyze the reasons for its recent erosion. Network visualization makes it possible to identify crucial entanglement patterns that can be traced back historically. In three phases of network formation – the 1880s, 1920s and the 1950s –, capital entanglement resulted from the interplay of company behavior and government policy. In its heyday, the company network was de facto encompassing and provided its core participants, especially the banks, with a national, macroeconomic perspective. In the 1970s, a process of increased competition among financial companies set in. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining returns from blockholding and increased opportunity costs made network dissolution a thinkable option for companies. Because of the strategic reorientation of the largest banks toward investment banking, ties between banks and industry underwent functional changes. Since the year 2000, the German government's tax policy has sped up network erosion. Vanishing capital ties imply a declining degree of strategic coordination among large German companies.
Topic:
Economics, Government, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

5540. Stabilizing Postwar Europe: Aligning Domestic and International Goals

Author:
Armin Schäfer
Publication Date:
07-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
This paper looks at the historical developments that led to the Schuman Plan in 1950, which today is seen as a starting signal for the European integration process. It argues that this announcement by the French foreign minister constituted a genuine change of strategy that can only be understood in the light of the preceding historical chain of events. The first steps of European integration were part of a search for suitable institutions capable of dealing with Europe's economic and political problems, which also involved the Bretton Woods institutions, Marshall Aid and the OEEC, and, finally, the ECSC. These organizations' respective fate depended on the strategies of key states, which in turn were driven by domestic concerns. Aligning their interests took several steps and was only completed when all three organizations existed in parallel. Throughout this process, all states had to abandon their preferred course of action and learn to settle for second best.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe