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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
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Issue of 2020‒12‒14
23 papers chosen by |
| By: | Giorgio Canarella (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, U.S); Luis A. Gil-Alana (University of Navarra, Faculty of Economics, Pamplona, Spain); Rangan Gupta (University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa); Stephen M. Miller (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, U.S.) |
| Abstract: | Globalization, a complex phenomenon, reflects the interaction of many technological, cultural, economic, social, and environmental trends. This paper investigates a narrow aspect of three waves of globalizations that occurred in the last 150 years, which refers to the stochastic properties of real interest rates and real interest rate differentials using fractional integration methods. The empirical results provide evidence that in all three globalization waves rejects the hypothesis that a unit root exists in the real interest rate series and supports the hypothesis of real interest rates converge across countries. We fail to find evidence, however, that the results are uniformly consistent across the three waves, suggesting that each globalization involves its own distinct stochastic dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Globalization, fractional integration, real interest rate parity |
| JEL: | C22 E43 G15 N20 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:2020106&r=all |
| By: | Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia; Alfonso Díez-Minguela; Julio Martínez-Galarraga; Daniel A. Tirado Fabregat |
| Abstract: | This article is an attempt to summarize in the space of barely twenty pages some of the characteristics of the historical process known as the Reconquista in the territories of today’s Spain. Since this was a process that spread across eight centuries, this brief history obviously is not and does not claim to be exhaustive. On the contrary, it goes without saying that it is partial, biased and incomplete, and should be considered simply as an introduction to the subject. It looks at the Reconquista from a territorial perspective with the intention of presenting some of the key elements that led to the creation of particular institutions. These varied from region to region and, it can be argued, had an impact on the long-term economic evolution of the various territories within Spain. On the one hand, the work focuses on the timing and evolution of the military conquest of territory, from north to south, in different historical stages, while on the other it looks at the subsequent repopulation of these conquered territories as the military action moved southwards. The institutions that were created and the way society was organized at each stage of the Reconquista, including the distribution of land ownership, depended on the different factors and circumstances prevailing in each historical period. |
| Keywords: | land distribution, geography, institutions, Reconquista |
| JEL: | D02 N93 Q15 R10 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:seh:wpaper:2004&r=all |
| By: | Radicati, Alessandra |
| Abstract: | This paper explores questions of mobility, ethnicity and spatial imaginaries in Sri Lanka through the experiences of fishermen in Mutuwall, a neighborhood of Colombo. While scholars of Sri Lanka have explored the historically contingent nature of Sri Lanka’s island-identity, this paper engages with the contemporary construction of island-ness through ethnographic fieldwork with twenty-first century residents of the city. Through fishers’ accounts of their pre-war itinerant lifestyles and their experiences living in the coastal High Security Zone during the civil conflict, this essay juxtaposes the free movement of fishers before the war with the heavily restricted movement they experienced at the height of the tensions between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Fisher itineraries can be understood as dovetailing with state imaginaries of island-wide sovereignty even as they challenge it by describing subaltern movement through space. Ultimately, this paper suggests the importance of contemporary modes of ‘doing’ Indian Ocean studies. |
| Keywords: | Sri Lanka; fisherman; Indian Ocean studies; mobility; ethnicity |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2019–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:100891&r=all |
| By: | Roberto Bonfatti; Bjoern Brey |
| Abstract: | Colonial trade encouraged colonies specialization in primary products. Did this prevent industrialisation in colonies? And did the absence of industrialisation help to keep colonies under control? To answer these questions, we examine the impact of the temporary trade collapse between Britain and India due to World War I, on industrialisation and anti-imperial feelings in India. Exploiting cross-district variation in exposure to the trade shock, we find that districts more exposed to the trade shock experienced substantially faster industrial growth in 1911-21, placing them on a higher level of industrialisation which persisted up to today. Using the WWI trade shock as an instrument for industrialisation levels, we also find that more industrialised districts were more likely to express anti-imperial feelings in 1922, and to vote for the Indian National Congress in the landmark election of 1937. |
| Keywords: | Colonial trade, India, Infant-industry argument, Decolonisation. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notgep:2020-13&r=all |
| By: | Poukens, Johan |
| Abstract: | Corporate law increasingly paid attention to the disclosure and publication of information on the governance and ownership of joint-stock corporations. This paper on the one hand gives an overview of mandatory disclosure and publication requirements for joint-stock companies in the corporate legislation of Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the interwar period. We argue that changes over time were consequence of a new approach to investor protection which coincided with transition to a concessionary regime to general incorporation and that differences between countries with different legal traditions were minimal. On the other hand, references to official publications which contained constitutional documents and information on governance and ownership are provided in an appendix. |
| JEL: | N01 N43 N44 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ibfpps:0520&r=all |
| By: | Hippolyte d'Albis (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Ikpidi Badji (EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Najat El Mekkaoui (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres, LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Julien Navaux (uOttawa - University of Ottawa [Ottawa]) |
| Abstract: | We use the National Transfer Accounts methodology to calculate private asset income by age for the years 1979–2011. We analyze age profiles using three indicators of intergenerational equity. Monetary asset income shows no evidence of generational breaks to the benefit of the baby‐boom generation. On the contrary, baby‐boomers suffered from the high interest rates that they paid to become homeowners. Imputed rents show an obvious breakdown of intergenerational equity when we use an inter‐age and intergenerational indicator. This indicator compares the per capita asset income at a given age with the average asset income of people aged 18‐85. It gives the relative situation of one age group compared to its contemporaries and it also gives the relative situation of one generation when we compare birth cohorts over time. We find that the cohort born in 1950 benefited from a better position than their successors. Moreover, the cohorts born before the war and during the war appear to be even more favored than the baby‐boomers. The cohorts born in 1930 and in 1940 have a better situation than the previous generations and a better position than the following generations. |
| Keywords: | National Transfer Accounts,Private Asset Income,Intergenerational Equity |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-03019470&r=all |
| By: | Maxim Ananyev; Michael Poyker |
| Abstract: | We argue that colonial Christian missions had a long-term impact on anti-gay attitudes in Africa. We use a geo-coded representative survey of African countries and the location of historical Christian missions to estimate a significant and economically meaningful association between proximity to historical missions and anti-gay sentiments today. Using anthropological data on pre-colonial acceptance of homosexual practices among indigenous groups, we show that the establishment of missions, while nonrandom, was exogenous to pre-existing same-sex patterns among indigenous population. The estimated effect is driven by persons of Christian faith and statistically indistinguishable from zero on samples of Muslims, nonbelievers, and followers of traditional indigenous religions. Thus, we argue that our results are indicative of a causal effect of missionary religious conversion to Christianity. |
| Keywords: | Missions, Africa, Tolerance, Homosexuals, Religion |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notnic:2020-04&r=all |
| By: | Randall Jackson (Geology and Geography Department and Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University); Patricio Aroca (Business School, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez) |
| Abstract: | Wassily Leontief received the 1973 Nobel Prize in Economics for his 1936 introduction input-output accounts and laying the foundations for decades of studies of economic structure and analyses of systemwide impacts of economic shocks (Leontief, 1936). In 1961, Richard Stone published “Input-Output and National Accounts,” which recognized and dealt explicitly with the realities of secondary production (?), and for which he received the 1984 Nobel Prize in Economics. Despite these recognitions and widespread use and acceptance internationally and in other disciplines and public sector planning applications, the Leontief and Stone framework gained little traction in mainstream U.S. economics. However, inputoutput modeling frameworks have attracted new attention in a variety of problem domains, including environmental attribution, water use, life-cycle assessment, and supply and value chains. Yet many – if not most – contemporary economists continue founding their work directly the Leontief framework, eschewing the power and versatility of Stone’s enhancements. Moreover, many are failing to understand and appreciate the conceptual differences between the two frameworks and as a result are failing to match constructs to variables in their their newly developed analytical metrics, even in top economics journals. In this paper, we use an increasingly common approach to value chains analysis as one of many possible examples that demonstrate such conceptual misunderstandings, and by developing and implementing properly formulated value chain metrics, we demonstrate both the extent of the consequences of neglecting the Stone enhancements and the important role of reproducing results in advancing scientific knowledge. |
| Keywords: | Input-Output, SNA, Value Chains, Primary and Secondary Products |
| JEL: | F10 F14 L16 L23 C67 |
| Date: | 2020–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rri:wpaper:2020wp06&r=all |
| By: | Kieron J. Barclay (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Ken R. Smith |
| Abstract: | The relationship between the length of birth intervals and child outcomes has received increased attention in recent years, but few studies have examined offspring outcomes across the life course in North America. In this study we examine the relationship between birth intervals and a range of short- and long-term outcomes, including preterm birth, low birth weight, infant mortality, college graduation, occupational attainment, and adult mortality, using data from the Utah Population Database (UPDB). To study infant outcomes we use data on cohorts born 1947--2016, to study educational and occupational outcomes we use data on cohorts born 1950--1980, and to study adult mortality we use data on cohorts born 1900--1949, with mortality outcomes followed until 2016. We use linear regression, linear probability models, and survival analysis, and compare the results from models with and without sibling comparisons. Children born after a birth interval of 9-12 months have a higher probability of low birth weight, preterm birth, and infant mortality both with and without sibling comparisons; longer intervals are further protective, but to a much less dramatic extent, and the protective effect of longer intervals against low birth weight and preterm birth was clearer in cohorts born before the 1990s. Based upon sibling comparison analyses, even the very shortest birth intervals do not negatively influence educational or occupational outcomes, nor long-term mortality. These findings suggest that extremely short birth intervals can increase the probability of poor perinatal outcomes, but that any such disadvantages disappear over the extended life course |
| Keywords: | Utah, adult mortality, birth intervals, education, infant mortality, socio-economic status |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2020-038&r=all |
| By: | Rafael Uriarte Ayo (Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Bilbao, Spain) |
| Abstract: | The 1980s marked a turning point in the trajectory of the Spanish purse seine tuna freezer industry. Probably the most outstanding aspect was the extension of the fishery to the Western Indian Ocean from 1984. In the Pacific, where it had a presence since the 1970s, the activity was not really significant until the late 1990s. The expansion of the fishery to increasingly distant places, less well known and without connection to the home base ports, required new technological developments and changes in the size of the vessels and the shipping companies. On the other hand, Spain's entry into the EU (1986), the widespread extension of the EEZs to 200 miles (1982), the opening of new markets and the relocation of the canning industry to Asian and Latin American countries, forced to rethink the conditions of entry of the fleet in the different fishing grounds, the negotiating strategies with the coastal countries and the commercial structures of the companies. |
| Keywords: | oceanic tuna vessels, purse seiners, fishing industry, globalization |
| JEL: | Q22 N50 Q13 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:2012&r=all |
| By: | Antoine Bozio (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, WIL - World Inequality Lab); Bertrand Garbinti (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique [Bruz] - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz], WIL - World Inequality Lab); Jonathan Goupille-Lebret (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon); Malka Guillot (ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich [Zürich], IPP - Institut des politiques publiques, WIL - World Inequality Lab); Thomas Piketty (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, WIL - World Inequality Lab) |
| Abstract: | How much redistribution policies can account for long-run changes in inequality? To answer this question, we quantify the extent of redistribution over time by the percentage reduction from pretax to post-tax inequalities, and decompose the changes in post-tax inequalities into different redistributive policies and changes in pretax inequalities. To estimate these redistributive statistics, we construct homogenous annual series of post-tax national income for France over the 1900-2018 period, and compare them with those recently constructed for the U.S. We obtain three major findings. First, redistribution has increased in both countries over the period, earlier in the U.S., later in France, to reach similar levels today. Second, the substantial long-run decline in post-tax inequality in France over the 1900-2018 period is due mostly to the fall in pretax inequality (accounting for three quarters of the total decline), and to a lesser extent to the direct redistributive role of taxes, transfers and other public spending (about one quarter). Third, the reason why overall inequality is much smaller in France than in the U.S. is entirely due to differences in pretax inequality. These findings suggest that policy discussions on inequality should, in the future, pay more attention to policies affecting pretax inequality and should not focus exclusively on "redistribution". |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:ipppap:halshs-03022092&r=all |
| By: | Aránzazu Guillán Montero; David Le Blanc |
| Abstract: | We provide a history of past periods of rapid technological change starting from the Industrial Revolution continuing up to today. We find that it takes decades for technological breakthroughs to make a difference to the aggregate economy. The reason for this delay is that to realize the value of these breakthroughs requires complementary investments. Second, for good or for bad, government has played an important role in facilitating these transitions through both investments in physical infrastructure and legal reforms. We also emphasize that because technological breakthroughs are difficult to predict, the responses of governments are necessarily improvisational. |
| Keywords: | automation, technological anxiety, Industrial Revolution |
| JEL: | O33 N10 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:une:wpaper:158&r=all |
| By: | Neil Cummins; Cormac Ó Gráda |
| Abstract: | Very little is known about wealth-holding and its distribution in Ireland in the past. Here we employ death duty register data to analyse and identify a sample of the top wealth holders in Ireland between the early 1820s and late 1830s. We examine the sources of their wealth and its regional spread, and compare them with their British counterparts. We also discuss the share of Catholics and Quakers among top wealth-holders. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; Wealth; Ireland |
| JEL: | N13 D31 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:202029&r=all |
| By: | Ogasawara, Kota (Tokyo Institute of Technology); Komura, Mizuki (Musashi Unniversity) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the effects of imbalances in the sex ratio, and their impact on intra-household bargaining, on both the quantity and the quality of children. We first present the theoretical model of intra-household bargaining in the presence of conflicting family goals within a couple, and show that male scarcity (a decrease in the male to female sex ratio) induces an increase in the number of children, but a decrease in the quality of children. Second, using the impact of World War II on the sex ratio, as a quasi-natural experiment, we establish empirically that the decrease in the male to female sex ratio in World War II contributed to a lower decline in fertility and child mortality rates in postwar Japan. In particular, the fertility rate would have fallen by an additional 12% and the child mortality rate by an additional 13% between 1948 and 1970, in the absence of the decrease in the sex ratio. |
| Keywords: | quantity–quality trade-off of children, bargaining power, marriage market, sex ratio |
| JEL: | J11 J12 J13 J16 N15 N35 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13885&r=all |
| By: | James Mitchell; Gary Koop; Stuart McIntyre; Aubrey Poon |
| Abstract: | In the US, income and expenditure side estimates of GDP (GDPI and GDPE) measure "true" GDP with error and are available at the quarterly frequency. Methods exist for producing reconciled quarterly estimates of GDP based on GDPI and GDPE. In this paper, we extend these methods to provide reconciled historical GDP estimates at the monthly frequency from 1960. We do this using a Bayesian Mixed Frequency Vector Autoregression involving GDPE, GDPI, unobserved true GDP and monthly indicators of short-term economic activity. We illustrate how the new monthly data contribute to our historical understanding of business cycles. |
| Keywords: | Income, Output, Expenditure, Monthly, Business cycle, Expansion, Contraction, Recession, Turning point, State-space model, Vector autoregressions, Bayesian methods |
| JEL: | E32 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsr:escoed:escoe-dp-2020-16&r=all |
| By: | Krieger, Tommy |
| Abstract: | We compile biographical information on more than 5,000 Prussian politicians and exploit newly digitized administrative data to examine whether landowning and landless elites differ in the extent to which they support health infrastructure projects. Using exogenous variation in soil texture, we present results from 2SLS regressions, suggesting that the provision of health-promoting public goods improves with the political influence of the landless elite. We also provide evidence for two mechanisms: first, landless elites face a higher risk of strikes, and second, they have more economic benefits from improving the health of the poor. Finally, we illustrate that the relevance of these two channels differs for those health-related public amenities that improve the access to medical care and those that prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases. |
| Keywords: | biographical data,distribution of power,health,land inequality,landowners,local elites,political power,Prussian history,public good provision,redistribution |
| JEL: | H11 H41 H75 I15 N33 O43 P16 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:20064&r=all |
| By: | Hakan Yilmazkuday (Department of Economics, Florida International University) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that bilateral currency crises reduce bilateral trade up to 50% after controlling for the depreciation rate. Using a trade model, these reductions are connected to the welfare costs of currency crises. The results show that a single currency crisis can result in welfare reductions through changes in international trade corresponding to more than 10% (and up to 41%) of the costs of autarky for 23 different currency crisis episodes between 1960 and 2014. These welfare costs are also shown to be greater than the welfare gains from having free trade agreements and using common currencies for 25 different currency crisis episodes. |
| Keywords: | Welfare Costs, Currency Crises, International Trade |
| JEL: | F14 F31 F63 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fiu:wpaper:2010&r=all |
| By: | Guillermo Esteban-Oliver (Department of Geography and Sociology, University of Lleida, Spain) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we explore the relationship between rail accessibility and municipal population growth in Spain from 1877 to 1930. To carry out this analysis we introduce a novel database, which combines census data with the geo-location of access points (stations and stops). Then, and in order to establish causality, we use a Least Cost Path (LCP) instrument. Our results suggest that municipalities with direct access (less than 1-hour walking distance to the nearest station or stop) experienced more rapid growth. The findings are robust to several checks and point to the transformative power of transport infrastructure, especially developing economies with an unforgiving geography. |
| Keywords: | Railways, population, growth |
| JEL: | N7 N9 R00 |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:2011&r=all |
| By: | Giovanni Facchini; Brian Knight; Cecilia Testa |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between the franchise and law enforcement practices using evidence from the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. We find that, following the VRA, black arrest rates fell in counties that were both covered by the legislation and had a large number of newly enfranchised black voters. We uncover no corresponding patterns for white arrest rates. The reduction in black arrest rates is driven by less serious offenses, for which police might have more enforcement discretion. Importantly, our results are driven by arrests carried out by sheriffs - who are always elected. While there are no corresponding changes for municipal police chiefs in aggregate, we do find similar patterns in covered counties with elected rather than appointed chiefs. We also show that our findings cannot be rationalized by alternative explanations, such as differences in collective bargaining, changes in the underlying propensity to commit crimes, responses to changes in policing practices, and changes in the suppression of civil right protests. Taken together, these results document that voting rights, when combined with elected, rather than appointed, chief law enforcement officers, can lead to improved treatment of minority groups by police. |
| Keywords: | Voting Rights Act, black arrest rates, black voters, elected sheriffs, arrests data, franchise, policing, minority groups |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notnic:2020-09&r=all |
| By: | Braun, Michael |
| Abstract: | Der "St. Tönis Tack'scher Spar- und Darlehnskassenverein eingetragene Genossenschaft mit unbeschränkter Haftung" war 1895 Teil einer Gründungswelle kleiner Spar- und Darlehnskassen. Die genossenschaftliche Bank ist mitterweile in der Volksbank Krefeld aufgegangen. 1932 war sie zahlungsunfähig. Weniger die gesamtwirtschaftlichen Umstände als eigenmächtiges, fahrlässiges und strafbares Handeln der Funktionäre und Gremien waren dafür verantwortlich. Obwohl der Reichsverband der deutschen landwirtschaftlichen Genossenschaften - Raiffeisen - e.V. die "Reichsgenossenschaftshilfe" bei der Regierung Brüning nur für Darlehnskassen einforderte,"die ohne eigenes Verschulden ...sanierungsbedürftig geworden sind", war die kleine Tack'sche Kasse großer Profiteur der Staatshilfe. Denn der Staat hatte es der Agralobby überlassen, die Hilfe zu verteilen. Trotz dieser Hilfe gelang es der Bank nicht, das Vertrauen der Kundschaft wiederzugewinnen. Es dauerte fast 30 Jahre, bis ihr ein Neuanfang gelang. Die Reichsgenossenschaftshilfe hat diesen Neuanfang nicht bewirkt. Sie hat nur das Vermögen der Einleger gerettet, die nicht zur "unbeschränkten Haftung" herangezogen worden waren. Diese Rechtsform als Eigenkapitalersatz hat sich zumindest bei der Tack'schen nicht bewährt. Und Hilfen ohne Konsequenzen für die Grundsätze guter Unternehmensführung auch nicht. |
| JEL: | G33 G34 N24 N84 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ibfpps:0420&r=all |
| By: | McGovern, Patrick; Obradović, Sandra; Bauer, Martin W. |
| Abstract: | In this paper we address the paradox of increasing income inequality and the absence of public mobilization around the issue. As the mass media are our most important source of information on wider economic affairs, we examine the salience and framing of income inequality within major UK and US newspapers over the period 1990 – 2015. Despite an initial surge in media attention and again towards the end of the period, the issues-attention cycle of inequality resembles a hype-cycle that is more common with arcane academic or techno-scientific topics than with social mobilisation. The dominant frames present income inequality as the seemingly inevitable result of globalization, market forces and technological change. No new radical frames of economic injustice have emerged, neither have any new actors, and so policy solutions fall back onto existing left-right approaches. |
| Keywords: | income distribution; inequality; media; discourse; United Kingdom; USA |
| JEL: | J30 |
| Date: | 2020–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:107535&r=all |
| By: | Òscar Jordà (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; and Department of Economics, University of California, Davis); Martin Kornejew (Department of Economics, University of Bonn); Moritz Schularick (Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and Department of Economics, University of Bonn; and CEPR); Alan M. Taylor (Department of Economics and Graduate School of Management, University of California, Davis; NBER; and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | With business leverage at record levels, the effects of corporate debt overhang on growth and investment have become a prominent concern. In this paper, we study the effects of corporate debt overhang based on long-run cross-country data covering the nearuniverse of modern business cycles. We show that business credit booms typically do not leave a lasting imprint on the macroeconomy. Quantile local projections indicate that business credit booms do not affect the economy’s tail risks either. Yet in line with theory, we find that the economic costs of corporate debt booms rise when inefficient debt restructuring and liquidation impede the resolution of corporate financial distress and make it more likely that corporate zombies creep along. |
| Keywords: | corporate debt, business cycles, local projections |
| JEL: | E44 G32 G33 N20 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:042&r=all |
| By: | Rieder, Kilian |
| Abstract: | I estimate the comparative causal effects of monetary policy \leaning against the wind" (LAW) and macroprudential policy on bank-level lending and leverage by drawing on a single natural experiment. In 1920, when U.S. monetary policy was still decentralized, four Federal Reserve Banks implemented a conventional rate hike to address financial stability concerns. Another four Reserve Banks resorted to macroprudential policy with the same goal. Using sharp geographic regression discontinuities, I exploit the resulting policy borders with the remaining four Federal Reserve districts which did not change policy stance. Macroprudential policy caused both bank-level lending and leverage to fall significantly (by 11%-14%), whereas LAW had only weak and, in some areas, even perverse effects on these bank-level outcomes. I show that the macroprudential tool reined in over-extended banks more effectively than LAW because it allowed Federal Reserve Banks to use price discrimination when lending to highly leveraged counterparties. The perverse effects of the rate hike in some areas ensued because LAW lifted a pre-existing credit supply friction by incentivizing regulatory arbitrage. My results highlight the importance of context, design and financial infrastructure for the effectiveness of financial stability policies. JEL Classification: E44, E51, E52, E58, G21, N12, N22 |
| Keywords: | bank lending, credit boom, Federal Reserve System, financial crisis, leaning against the wind, leverage, macroprudential policy, monetary policy, progressive discount rate, recession of 1920/1921 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srk:srkwps:2020113&r=all |