nep-cis 2012-01-18 papers

on Confederation of Independent States

Issue of 2012‒01‒18
two papers chosen by
Koen Schoors
Ghent University

Foreign Corporations and the Culture of Transparency: Evidence from Russian Administrative Data By Serguey Braguinsky; Sergey V. Mityakov
Allocating Costs of Environmental Management among Generations: A Case of Environmental Liabilities in Transition Economies By Satoru Komatsu; Andrey Kalugin; Shinji Kaneko

Foreign Corporations and the Culture of Transparency: Evidence from Russian Administrative Data

By:	Serguey Braguinsky; Sergey V. Mityakov
Abstract:	Foreign-owned firms from advanced countries carry the culture of transparency in business transactions that is orthogonal to the culture of hiding and insider dealing in many developing economies and economies in transition. In this paper, we document this using administrative data on reported earnings and market values of cars owned by workers employed in foreign-owned and domestic firms in Moscow, Russia. We examine whether closer ties to foreign corporations result in the diffusion of transparency to private Russian firms. We find that Russian firms initially founded in partnerships with foreign corporations are twice as transparent in reported earnings of their workers as other Russian firms, but they are still less than half as transparent as foreign firms themselves. We also find that increased links to foreign corporations, such as hiring more workers from them, raise the transparency of domestic firms. An important channel for this transmission appears to be the need to keep official wages and salaries of incumbent workers close to wages domestic firms have to pay to their newly hired workers with experience in multinationals.
JEL:	K42 P37
Date:	2012–01
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17731&r=cis

Allocating Costs of Environmental Management among Generations: A Case of Environmental Liabilities in Transition Economies

By:	Satoru Komatsu (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University); Andrey Kalugin (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University); Shinji Kaneko (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University)
Abstract:	The objective of this paper is to examine cost allocation in relation to remediating environmental liability issues in Russia, where significant environmental damages, continuing from the Soviet era, present serious impediments to pursuing sustainable development. The research attempts to highlight citizensf preferences for remediating facilities and sites with environmental liabilities, and elicits preference differences among citizens using choice experiment methods. Intergenerational issues are involved in addressing environmental liabilities in transition economies because the causes and effects are spread among generations. Therefore, evaluating citizensf preferences provides more policy implications for future remediation initiatives. The econometric analysis reveals that citizens demonstrate positive preferences for reducing pollution of drinking water and soil decontamination. The research also suggests that the households with higher incomes, older household heads (or spouses), and more young children have higher preferences for remediating environmental liabilities in Russia. Estimation of the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for age and income segments of the households allows the government to determine a suitable taxation policy. The findings provide new insights on cost allocation in relation to remediating environmental damages in transition economies that have suffered from these serious environmental legacies.
Keywords:	Environmental management, Willingness to pay, Preference, Generation, Transition economics
JEL:	O13 P28 Q56
Date:	2011–12
URL:	http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hir:idecdp:1-7&r=cis

This nep-cis issue is ©2012 by Koen Schoors. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.

General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.

NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.