Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Taxation --- Costs

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

To what extent are personal trust, mutual interests, and third parties important in enforcing agreements to trade How do firms combine these to form transactional governance structures This paper answers these questions in a whole-economy, cross-country setting that considers a full spectrum of transactional-governance strategies. The data collection requires a new survey question answerable in any context. The question is applied in six South American countries using representative samples, with the resultant survey weights facilitating a whole-economy analysis. Without imposing an a priori model, latent class analysis estimates meaningful governance structures. Bilateralism is always used. Law is never used alone. Bilateralism and formal institutions are rarely substitutes. Within country, inter-regional variation in governance is greater than inter-country variation. The usefulness of the data is shown by testing one element of Williamson's discriminating-alignment agenda: greater uncertainty in the transactional environment increases the involvement of third parties.

Transaction costs.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Trade regulation. --- Transaction costs.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

An important new annual publication from the World Bank, Doing Business in 2004 provides both qualitative and quantitative information on the business climate in over 130 countries. Doing Business constructs a new set of indicators on the regulatory environment for private sector development and provides a collection of informative case studies of real-life experiences. Doing Business in 2004 covers the fundamental aspects of a business life cycle, from starting a business to bankruptcy. Topics include access to credit, bankruptcy, entry regulations, contract enforcement, and labor regulations. Unique in its approach, Doing Business provides both the accurate data and in-depth analysis necessary to assess the environment for doing business, and offers answers to these critical questions: Which is the most expensive country for starting a new business? Which countries have the most rigid regulations on hiring and firing? Which countries have the most extensive business entry procedures? Why does heavy regulation lead to inefficiency and corruption? What countries are most efficient in the area of contract enforcement? How do clearly-defined property rights enhance prosperity? What are the most successful regulatory models? Why? Over the next two years, Doing Business will address additional topics, indicator sets will be updated and the collection of case-studies added to. Through its ambitious agenda, Doing Business will provide an understanding of business environments throughout the world, the factors that influence them, and how conducive they are to private sector development. Doing Business is a comprehensive resource for investors, economic advisers, business developers and policymakers.

Costs, Industrial. --- Industrial management.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

March 1995 Six case studies show that raising energy prices to eliminate subsidies does not harm the poor, growth, inflation, or industrial competitiveness. And public revenues improve. When domestic energy prices in developing countries fall below opportunity costs, price increases are recommended to conserve fiscal revenue and to ensure efficient use of resources. Using six case studies, Hope and Singh investigate the effect of energy price increases on the poor, inflation, growth, public revenues, and industrial competitiveness. The effect on households in various income classes depends on the energy commodity's share in the household budget and the price elasticity of demand. For energy as a whole (electricity and fuels, traditional and commercial), budget shares often decline with income. So in terms of income distribution, taxing energy is not ideal. But commercial fuel consumption increases greatly with income, so any subsidies applied will largely benefit nonpoor urban households. For each commercial energy source (electricity, kerosene, diesel, and gasoline) proportionate household spending will generally be lower, and some energy sources will be luxuries. In no instance does energy spending exceed 10 percent of the typical household budget for any income group. The effect on industry is generally modest, since cost shares for energy typically range from 0.5 to 3 percent (with the typical value being 1.5). In addition, many industries are flexible enough to substitute when energy prices increase. Energy prices tended to increase in adjustment and liberalization programs, and industrial output usually increased even with the higher energy prices. This suggests that the effect of the price increase is modest compared with the effects of other changes in the environment. There are exceptions, of course, such as energy-intensive industries with limited possibilities for substitution. Estimating the effects on public deficits is straightforward, even with uncertainty about demand elasticities: Energy price increases reduce the drain on public resources significantly. It is harder to trace the effects on inflation and growth in national income. The effects on inflation will generally not be severe, and inflation may even be reduced in the intermediate to long run, through lowered public deficits. Income growth rates were generally higher after the years of energy price adjustments than they were in the years before the price increases (with one exception) and the years of the price increases (with one exception). Income growth rates were higher during the years of price increases than before in about half of the case-study countries. This paper -- a product of the Public Economics Division, Policy Research Department -- is part of a larger effort in the department to study the distributional and environmental effects of energy pricing policies. The study was funded in part by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project Pollution and the Choice of Economic Policy Instruments in Developing Countries (RPO 676-48)3.

Electric utilities --- Costs.