11. The institutions of Economic and Monetary Union:

Since 1999, a subset of EU member states—known collectively as the euro area—has delegated exclusive competence for monetary policy to the European Central Bank (ECB), while giving limited powers to the European Commission, ECOFIN, and the Eurogroup in other areas of economic policy. The euro crisis provided the first major test of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), as a sovereign debt crisis spread between member states and threatened to tear the single currency apart. The ECB and two new institutions—the European Stability Mechanism and Euro Summit—helped to keep the euro area together but at significant economic and political cost. EU institutions were better prepared for the initial economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the crisis still produced important institutional changes. The COVID-19 recovery fund Next Generation EU gives the Commission and Council a major new role in economic policy, albeit a temporary one for now. The EMU illustrates three key dimensions of EU institutional politics: the tension between intergovernmental versus supranational institutions, leaders versus followers, and legitimacy versus contestation. It also reveals the explanatory power of new institutionalism among other theoretical perspectives.

The Quantitative Evaluation of the Political Cost of Environmental Issues: A Case Study of a Typical Public Protest in China

It is of great reference significance for broadening the research perspective of environmental issues, improving the efficiency of government environmental governance and the credibility of the government, to scientifically measure and analyze the political cost of environmental issues. This article takes the typical case “protest event of power generation project of R steel plant in T city, China” as the research background. First, the generation process and action mechanism of the political cost of environmental issues in the actual situation are investigated. Then, through in-depth interview, multi-case grounded theory and fuzzy subordinate function analysis, the scientific construction of the political cost index system of environmental issues are completed. Finally, based on G1 method/entropy method combined with weighting and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, the political cost of the protest events of R iron and steel plant in T city is measured. The results show that (1) it is important that good single dimensions and reliable indicators are embodied in the overall political cost scale. Among them, the behavioral political cost of the masses is the largest proportion of all indicators; (2) after the entire environmental mass incident is over, the political costs are difficult to repair, and some lagging ideas and behaviors shown by local governments lead to a continuous expansion of the political cost associated with environmental issues; and (3) local governments should not conceal information asymmetry. Instead, local governments should give greater freedom to other actors to deal with environmental problems. This will mitigate the effect of political costs. Corresponding policy recommendations are proposed.

Comparing Experiences of Constitutional Reforms to Enshrine the Right to Water in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru: Opportunities and Limitations

In this paper we compare recent efforts towards the constitutionalization of the right to water in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru to understand the opportunities and limitations related to the attempts to enhance access to piped water to the highest normative level. Peru passed a constitutional amendment in 2017 while Brazil and Colombia have seen much right-to-water activism but have not succeeded in passing such reforms. We explore the role of the existing domestic legal frameworks on drinkable water provision and water management towards the approval of constitutional amendments. We find that all three countries have specialized laws, water governing institutions, and constitutional jurisprudence connecting access to water with rights, but the legal opportunity structures to enforce socio-economic rights vary; they are stronger in Colombia and Brazil, and weaker in Peru. We argue that legal opportunity structures build legal environments that influence constitutional reform success. Legal opportunity structures act as incentives both for social movements to push for reforms and for actors with legislative power to accept or reject them. Our findings also show that in some contexts political cost is a key element of constitutional reforms that enshrine the right to water; therefore, this is an element that should be considered when analyzing these processes.

Pengaruh Leverage, Likuiditas, Debt Covenant, Political Cost Dan Profitabilitas Terhadap Konservatisme Akuntansi (Pada Perusahaan Perbankan Yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Tahun 2017 – 2018)

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh Leverage, Likuiditas, Debt Covenant, Political Cost, dan Profitabilitas terhadap Konservatisme Akuntansi. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah perusahaan Perbankan yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia selama periode 2017-2018. Sampel dipilih menggunakan purposive sampling dan diperoleh 30 perusahaan yang di jadikan populasi didaptkan sampel yang diuji adalah 15 perusahaan yang dipilih dengan teknik purposive sampling. Teknik analisis data menggunakan regresi data panel dengan program EViews 9.0. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Debt Covenant mempengaruhi Konservatisme Akuntansi, Leverage, Likuiditas, Political Cost, Profitabilitas tidak mempengaruhi Konservatisme Akuntansi.

PRAKTIK INCOME SMOOTHING PADA PERUSAHAAN SEKTOR PERTANIAN DI BEI

ABSTRACT The research objective is to examine the practice of income smoothing with several explanatory variables, namely: cash holding, political cost, profitability, and the board of commissioners. Income smoothing is an effort to normalize profits with the hope of increasing the company's market return. There are indications that agricultural sector companies are doing income smoothing. The population in this study were all agricultural sector companies listed on the IDX for the 2014-2019 period, with a purposive sampling technique, the number of samples used was 16 agricultural sector companies. Furthermore, the number of observed data was 96 data (6 years of observation in 16 agricultural sector companies). Methods of data analysis using logistic regression with α = 5% and α = 10%. The results showed that cash holding and profitability had no significant effect on income smoothing practices, both at α = 5% and α = 10%, but the political cost had a significant positive effect and the board of commissioners had a significant negative effect on income smoothing practices in agricultural sector companies. The implication of income smoothing practice with several explanatory variables can maintain the stability of the company's financial performance and will become an attraction for interested parties, however, income smoothing practise must go through supervision and consider some of the advice given by the board of commissioners. Key words: cash holding, board of commissioners, income smoothing, political cost, profitability ABSTRAK Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk menelaah praktik income smoothing dengan beberapa variabel penjelas, yaitu: cash holding, political cost, profitabilitas, dan dewan komisaris. Income smoothing merupakan upaya normalisasi laba dengan harapan untuk meningkatkan market return perusahaan. Perusahaan sektor pertanian terindikasi melakukan income smoothing. Populasi pada penelitian ini adalah seluruh perusahaan sektor pertanian yang terdaftar di BEI periode 2014-2019, dengan teknik purposive sampling, maka jumlah sampel yang digunakan adalah 16 perusahaan sektor pertanian. Selanjutnya jumlah data yang diobservasi sebanyak 96 data (6 tahun pengamatan pada 16 perusahaan sektor pertanian). Metode analisis data dengan regresi logistik dengan α = 5% dan α = 10%. Hasil penelitian bahwa cash holding dan profitabilitas berpengaruh tidak signifikan terhadap praktik income smoothing, baik pada α = 5% dan α = 10%, namun political cost berpengaruh signifikan positif dan dewan komisaris berpengaruh signifikan negatif terhadap praktik income smoothing perusahaan sektor pertanian. Implikasi praktik income smoothing dengan beberapa variabel penjelas dapat menjaga stabiitas kinerja keuangan perusahaan dan akan menjadi daya tarik bagi pihak-pihak yang bekepentingan, namun praktik income smoothing harus melalui pengawasan dan mempertimbangkan beberapa nasihat yang diberikan dewan komisaris. Kata kunci: cash holding, dewan komisaris, income smoothing, political cost, profitabilitas

Leverage, Arus Kas Operasi, Ukuran Perusahaan, Intensitas Aset Tetap dan Revaluasi Aset Tetap

Since Indonesian accounting standards allow companies to choose between cost model and revaluation model on their fixed asset, there are still few companies that revalued their assets. This study examines what factors make banking companies choose to revaluate fixed asset, that are contracting factors (leverage, operating cash flow), political factors (firm size) and asymmetry information (intensity of fixed assets). By using logistic regression, the result of this study showed that firm size and fixed asset intensity had a positive effect on the company choice to revaluate fixed assets, while leverage had a negative effect on fixed asset revaluation. This study support early research with regard to contracting, political cost and asymmetry information. This study failed to find the effect of operating cash flow on fixed asset revaluation. Based on the results of this study, banks should consider leverage, company size and the intensity of fixed assets more than cash flow when choosing to revaluate fixed assets. Keywords: Leverage; Operating Cash Flow; Size Firm; Fixed Asset Intensity; Fixed Asset Revaluation

Transformasi Etno-Musik Tradisional Sasak: Evolusi Budaya dan Pertentangan Kelas

This article tries to explain the phenomenon of the transformation of Sasak Ethno-music, namely Gendang Beleq as a high culture , dealing with Kecimol as a pop culture in sasak community. Both types of music have developed in contemporary Sasak society with contrasting nuances. The first one represents the musical taste of the Purwangse (aristocracy) group, while the second represents the Jajar Karang group. Furthermore, Gendang Beleq claimed to be a pure culture, while Kecimol stigmatized as a splinter culture.This study uses a qualitative approach with ethnographic methods, this research tries to trace the history and development of the two types of music, namely through data sources of academic literature, direct observation and interviews with ethno-music cultural actors. To analyzing the transformation process of Gendang Beleq and Kecimol, this research uses Herbet Spencer's theory of cultural evolution and Karl Marx's theory of class conflict.Spencer's theory used to see the development of the culture of the Sasak people, especially the art of music, in the process of its evolution and transformation. Meanwhile, Marx's class theory used to analyze the class struggle between non-aristocratic versusaristocrats group behind the existential contestation of the two types of music.This research found several things: (1) the emergence of Kecimol is a natural cycle in the cultural evolution stage of a society along with social changes and the presence of modernity; (2) Kecimol is an anti-tesa from Gendang Beleq as a form of resistance from the jajarkarang group against the Purwangse Group which is caused by the cultural-economic-political (cost) problem.

Policies in Hard Times: Assessing the Impact of Financial Crises on Structural Reforms*

It is commonly argued that crises open up a window of opportunity to implement policies that otherwise would not have the necessary political backing. The argument goes that the political cost of economic and social reforms declines as crises unravel structural problems that need to be urgently rectified and the public is more willing to bear the pains associated with such reforms. This paper casts doubt on this prevalent view by showing that not only is the crises-reforms nexus unfounded in the data, but rather crises are associated with a reversal of liberalization interventions depending on the institutional environment. In particular, we look at measures of liberalization in international trade, agriculture, network industries, and financial markets. We find that, in democratic countries, crises occurrences have no significant impact on liberalization measures. On the contrary, after a crisis, autocracies reduce liberalization in multiple economic sectors, which we interpret as the fear of regime change leading non-democratic rulers to please vested economic interests.

The Motivation of Earnings Management Practices in Indonesia Companies: Board of Directors Perspective

This study provides evidence about underlying motivation the director encouraged practice of earnings management. Directors of manufacturing companies in Indonesia was to be sample in this research whose companies are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). This research explores fourth types of motivation where are bonus motivation, political motivation, debt covenant motivation, and taxation motivation. The research method carried out using quantitative methods by questionnaire. Sample study used board of directors in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). Research method analyzed by multiple regression. The results of this study reveal that the four of motivations have effect on earnings management practices. The evidence also shows that the highest directors motivation for earning management is come from political cost motivation. Then, it followed by bonus motivation, taxation motivation and debt covenant motivation. The fact is an overview the regulation condition in Indonesia plays important role in being intervention of financial statements presented by the company, while bonus motivation is also significant for young directors in conducting earnings management practices on Indonesia companies.

Sozialimmobilien

Social real estate does not only shape the balance sheets of social economy enterprises, but also the concerns and agendas of boards, management and real estate managers. This book addresses aspects of financing, real estate management, the organisation of real estate portfolios, real estate valuation and the life cycle of buildings, plus the numerous legal problems associated with social real estate. It presents current technical concepts of energy efficiency, climate neutrality and the digital maturity of real estate in a practical manner, along with concepts for economically viable neighbourhood models and warnings against political cost drivers in the construction of social real estate. With contributions by Michael Amann, Maximilian Bergdolt, Hartmut Clausen, Oliver Errichiello, Harald Frei, Alfred Gangel, Bernd Halfar, Ingrid Hastedt, Jens Hesselbach, Mark Junge, Joel B. Münch, Markus Neubauer, Aleksandar Nikolic, George Salden, Bertram Schultze, Hubert Soyer, Hans von Gehlen, Niklas Wiesweg and Michael Winter.