scholarly journals Transaction Costs and Institutions: Investments in Exchange

Author(s):  
Charles Nolan ◽  
Alex Trew

AbstractThis paper proposes a simple model for understanding transaction costs – their composition, size and policy implications. We distinguish between investments in institutions that facilitate exchange and the cost of conducting exchange itself. Institutional quality and market size are determined by the decisions of risk adverse agents and conditions are discussed under which the efficient allocation may be decentralized. We highlight a number of differences with models where transaction costs are exogenous, including the implications for taxation and measurement issues.

2006 ◽  
Vol 45 (4II) ◽  
pp. 1323-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Rafay Alam

In the study of law and economics, the Coase Theorem posits that an efficient allocation of resources will result when transactions costs are zero.1 These “transaction costs” may be viewed as impediments to an efficient allocation of resources and can take many forms. For example, long distances between a prospective vendor and purchaser of property and a lack of communication facilities between them would impede even the best of intentions to enter into a bargain. Similarly, the cost of mobilising labour and materials might impede a property developer from pursuing a tender for civil works. In some cases, a high rate of Stamp Duty on transactions can result in the parties reconsidering their decision to enter into such bargains. To the extent this author can claim knowledge of economics, the Coase Theorem also suggests that transaction costs and inefficiencies hamper the natural flow of bargains, result in inefficient allocation of resources and thus impact the economy. Some transaction costs are small enough to ignore whereas some, imposed, for example, by the law, are unavoidable. In such cases, a mutual understanding between the parties may see the burden of these transaction costs shared or, in others, avoided altogether. For example, the statutory requirements that all leases purporting to grant a term in excess of one year or which reserve an annual rent must be registered and stamped2 often results, in owners of residential property granting indefinitely renewable leases of 11 months and thus avoiding such requirements.


2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (4I) ◽  
pp. 359-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Evenson

Pakistan achieved high levels of Green Revolution Modern Variety (GRMV) adoption in the Green Revolution. Pakistan out-performed India and Bangladesh in the Green Revolution. Only China, among major countries, out-performed Pakistan in the Green Revolution. Pakistan does not have the food safety and environmental risk studies in place to support a regulatory environment for biotechnology. In effect, Pakistan is following the “precautionary principle” and applying it to science policy. This paper argues that this is a mistake. Pakistan is paying a “double penalty” for its inability to develop the regulatory systems required to take advantage of genetically modified (GM) crops. Not only does it lose the cost reductions enabled by GM crops, but because other countries have adopted GM crops, world prices are lower as a result and affect Pakistan’s export crops.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Juan Yan ◽  
Marietta Haffner ◽  
Marja Elsinga

Inclusionary housing (IH) is a regulatory instrument adopted by local governments in many countries to produce affordable housing by capturing resources created through the marketplace. In order to assess whether it is efficient, scholarly attention has been widely focused on its evaluation. However, there is a lack of studies evaluating IH from a governance perspective. Since IH is about involving private actors in affordable housing production, the governance point of view of cooperating governmental and non-governmental actors governing society to achieve societal goals is highly relevant. The two most important elements of governance—actors and interrelationships among these actors—are taken to build an analytical framework to explore and evaluate the governance of IH. Based on a research approach that combines a literature review and a case study of China, this paper concludes that the ineffective governance of Chinese IH is based on three challenges: (1) The distribution of costs and benefits across actors is unequal since private developers bear the cost, but do not enjoy the increments of land value; (2) there is no sufficient compensation for developers to offset the cost; and (3) there is no room for negotiations for flexibility in a declining market. Given that IH is favored in many Chinese cities, this paper offers the policy implications: local governments should bear more costs of IH, rethink their relations with developers, provide flexible compliance options for developers, and perform differently in a flourishing housing market and a declining housing market.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4279
Author(s):  
Youngho Chang ◽  
Phoumin Han

This study examines whether and how harnessing more wind energy can decrease the cost of meeting the demand for electricity and amount of carbon emissions in the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, using the ASEAN integrated electricity trade model. Three scenarios are considered: a counterfactual business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, which assumes no wind energy is used; an actual BAU scenario that uses the wind-generation capacity in 2018; and a REmap scenario, which employs the wind-generation capacity from the Renewable Energy Outlook for ASEAN. Simulation results suggest that dispatching more wind energy decreases the cost of meeting the demand for electricity and amount of carbon emissions. However, these emissions increase during the late years of the study period, as the no- or low-emitting energy-generation technologies are crowded out.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1593
Author(s):  
Alejandra Martinez ◽  
Witold Gertych ◽  
Christophe Pomel ◽  
Gwenael Ferron ◽  
Amelie Lusque ◽  
...  

Background: Quality Indicators for ovarian cancer (OC) have been developed by the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) and by the French National Cancer Institute (Institut National du Cancer, INCa). The aim of the study was to characterize OC care distribution in France by case-volume and to prospectively evaluate the adherence of high-volume institutions to INCa/ESGO quality indicators. Methods: The cost-utility of radical surgery in ovarian cancer (CURSOC) trial is a prospective, multicenter, comparative and non-randomized study that includes patients with stage IIIC-IV epithelial OC treated in nine French health care tertiary institutions. Adherence to institutional quality indicators were anonymously assessed by an independent committee. OC care distribution in France were provided by the nationwide database of hospital procedures. Results: More than half of patients are treated in low-volume institutions. Among the nine high-volume centers participating in the study, four (44.4%) met all institutional INCa/ESGO quality indicators. The other five (55.6%) did not fulfil one of the quality indicator criteria. Conclusions: Access to high-volume OC providers in France is restricted to a minority of patients, and yet half of the referral institutions included in this study failed to meet all recommended institutional quality indicators. It is mandatory that national authorities work both to improve OC centralization and to incorporate quality assurance programs into certified centers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (18) ◽  
pp. 59-68
Author(s):  
Hassana Aliyu MOHAMMED ◽  
◽  
Abdurrahman ISIK ◽  
Paul Terhemba IOREMBER ◽  
◽  
...  

The study analyses the relationship between currency redenomination and financial sector transaction costs in Nigeria using a sample of 200 respondents from ten financial institutions. Applying the Chi-square test, the study reveals that high currency redenomination removes wasteful transactions removes user costs (difficulties arising from memorizing, calculating and carrying large sum of lowest denominations: coins and smaller notes). The results also show that currency redenomination influences inflationary pressure and currency liberalization in Nigeria. Based on the findings the study recommends the introduction of currency redenomination to facilitate the consumers' cash payment and reduce the cost incurred by producers and issuing authorities, and also make payment system more efficient and effective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 1177-1199
Author(s):  
Taozhi Zhuang ◽  
Queena K. Qian ◽  
Henk J. Visscher ◽  
Marja G. Elsinga

Abstract In China, there is a growing number of urban renewal projects due to the rapid growth of the economy and urbanization. To meet the needs of urban development, urban renewal requires a sound decision-making approach involving various stakeholder groups. However, current urban renewal decision-making is criticized for poor efficiency, equity, and resulting in many unintended adverse outcomes. It is claimed that high-level transaction costs (e.g., a great deal of time spent on negotiation and coordination) are the factors hidden behind the problems. However, few studies have analyzed urban renewal decision-making in a transaction costs perspective. Using the case of Chongqing, this paper aims at adopting transaction costs theory to understand the administrative process of urban renewal decision-making in China. This research focuses on four key stakeholder groups: municipal government, district government, local administrative organizations, and the consulting parties. A transaction costs analytical framework is established. First, the decision-making stages of urban renewal and involved key stakeholder groups are clarified. Second, the transactions done by different stakeholder groups in each stage is identified, thus to analyze what types of transaction costs are generated. Third, the relative levels of transaction costs among different stakeholder groups were measured based on the interview. The empirical analysis reveals how transaction costs occur and affect urban renewal decision-making. Finally, policy implications were proposed to reduce transaction costs in order to enhance urban renewal.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. E1-E24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Mukamel ◽  
Richard Fortinsky ◽  
Alan White ◽  
Charlene Harrington ◽  
Laura White ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Jerzy Cieślik ◽  
Eugene Kaciak ◽  
André van Stel

Countries vary widely and systematically in the extent to which the ambitions of their entrepreneurs differ from their realisations. We label this discrepancy entrepreneurial overconfidence (EOC). Although a certain level of EOC may be beneficial for an economy, we provide empirical support for the argument that if entrepreneurial ambitions substantially and systematically exceed realisations, this may be at the cost of economic and societal prosperity. Therefore, we need to know more about country levels of EOC and their determinants, particularly with respect to the growth-oriented segment of entrepreneurship. Combining data on entrepreneurial ambitions from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and data on realisations from Eurostat, we construct a measure of EOC at the country level and correlate its variation across 23 European Union (EU) countries over the period 2004–2015 with a set of economic and cultural factors. Among other findings, our results show that ambitions exceed realisations in almost all countries, but that this discrepancy is significantly greater for new member countries entering the EU since 2004. Policy implications of our results are discussed, particularly for promoting ambitious entrepreneurship in countries at the intermediate development stage.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 1409-1435
Author(s):  
BEN SPIES-BUTCHER ◽  
ADAM STEBBING

ABSTRACTEconomists typically argue population ageing generates fiscal pressures by restricting the tax base while increasing demands for social spending. Alongside other economic pressures associated with neoliberalism, this dynamic contributes to a politics of ‘enduring austerity’ that limits governments’ fiscal discretion. The politics of population ageing reflects modelling techniques, such as generational accounting (GA), which, anticipating future deficits, create demands for policy action today to address projected intergenerational inequalities. Taking Australia as a case study, this paper explores the politics of GA in public budgetary processes. While existing critiques reject GA by arguing it relies on ‘apocalyptic’ or unreliable demography, we focus on a different kind of contestation, which applies the techniques and even the categories of GA to frame different problems and promote different solutions. We identify three sites of partisan contest that refocus fiscal modelling: including the tax side of the budget equation; comparing the cost of public provision to public subsidies for private programmes; and including the costs of environmental damage. At each site, the future-orientated logic of GA is mobilised to contest the policy implications of austerity. This complicates analysis that financialisation and neoliberalism necessarily ‘de-politicise’ policy by removing state discretion. Instead, we identify an increasingly important, if technocratic, form of political contestation that offers the possibility to promote more egalitarian responses to population ageing.


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