This highly topical book focuses on a particularly interesting area of post-1989 social policy. Existing public pension systems in Central-Eastern Europe underwent fundamental change as Latin-American style pension reforms were adopted. Such radical change in retirement provision defied conventional wisdom among scholars of the political economy of pension reform, suggesting a need for fresh research. This unique study accepts the challenge, focusing on the divergent pension reform experiences of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. This study was granted the EACES Award 2000, a bi-annual prize awarded in the area of comparative economic systems and economics of transition. It has also been awarded the Ed. A. Hewett Prize by the AAASS (American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies).

This book aims to bring the insights gained through this process to the public. It not only promotes the idea of fair wealth itself but also to gives a holistic view on how Chinese based companies are doing regarding various aspects of Fair Wealth. It also explains the theory foundation, methodology and rating system to help people better understand the evaluation system itself.

This book provides an overview of private real estate markets and investments. The 14 chapters are divided into three sections for conventional and alternative real estate investments and regulatory issues. Conventional investable real assets examined are retail spaces, apartments, offices, and industrial facilities owned by corporate entities. Alternative real estate assets are uniquely and extensively addressed. These include healthcare, both for facilities and the pricing to make it an investable asset; infrastructure contains roads, bridges, and public utilities; and resources are in land, agriculture, oil, and gas. The regulatory section includes appraisal and valuation, brokerage and transaction costs, sustainability, and green buildings. Readers should gain a greater appreciation of what is needed to be successful when investing in private real estate markets.
The share of real estate in institutional portfolios has risen above a previous 5% target, as investors avoid the risks of low interest rates. The world's wealth is shifting to emerging markets where real estate is already a dominant asset class and public securities markets are limited. Institutions with long horizons avoid publicly traded markets because they want to capture any premium from illiquidity. Real estate involves local and cultural restrictions on land usage, sustainability and on the regulation of the illiquidity.
For information about public real estate, read Public Real Estate Markets and Investments.

In most capital markets, insider trading is the most common violation of securities law. It is also the most well known, inspiring countless movie plots and attracting scholars with a broad range of backgrounds and interests, from pure legal doctrine to empirical analysis to complex economic theory. This volume brings together original cutting-edge research in these and other areas written by leading experts in insider trading law and economics. The Handbook begins with a section devoted to legal issues surrounding the US's ban on insider trading, which is one of the oldest and most energetically enforced in the world. Using this section as a foundation, contributors go on to discuss several specific court cases as well as important developments in empirical research on the subject. The Handbook concludes with a section devoted to international perspectives, providing insight into insider trading laws in China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the European Union. This timely and comprehensive volume will appeal to students and professors of law and economics, as well as scholars, researchers and practitioners with an interest in insider trading. Contributors: K. Alexander, S.M. Bainbridge, L.N. Beny, S.F. Diamond, J. Fisch, J.M. Heminway, M.T. Henderson, N.C. Howson, H. Huang, K. Kendall, S.H. Kim, T.A. Lambert, K. Langenbucher, D.C. Langevoort, H.G. Manne, M. Nelemans, A. Padilla, A.C. Pritchard, J.M. Ramseyer, M.C. Schouten, H.N. Seyhun, A.F. Simpson, J.W. Verret, G. Walker

Indirect taxes have become an increasingly important revenue-raising tool for governments in developed countries. In this book, John Creedy applies his wealth of experience and expertise to the analysis of indirect taxes and, in particular, concentrates on the modelling of indirect tax reform and its distributional implications.Initially, he examines the implications of alternative indirect tax systems and provides an introductory survey of various measures of welfare change and excess burden in the context of indirect taxes. He pays particular attention to the measurement issues involved and uses partial equilibrium models to uncover various aspects of tax reform. Specifically, he: addresses the questions of measuring welfare changes arising from price changes examines the built-in flexibility of various forms of consumption taxation calculates the possible redistributive effects of indirect taxes and illustrates his methods using case study examples of the indirect tax system in Australia examines the horizontal inequity of different consumption taxes considers the optimal direction of small changes in indirect tax rates analyses the positive and negative effects of a carbon tax Modelling Indirect Taxes and Tax Reform will be useful to scholars and policymakers interested in public economics and finance and modelling taxes.

This important and timely book examines the impact of different financial systems on investment. It considers the increasing effects of globalization on the relationship between national financial systems and investment, which is especially relevant in light of the recent Asian crisis. Marc Schaberg explores the way in which countries finance investment and the institutional arrangements which are in place for channelling finance to investment projects. He specifically examines the patterns of sources and uses of funds in non-financial enterprise sectors in the US, UK, France, Japan and Germany. Using time series data and econometric tests, he measures and categorises the financial systems of these countries. He also assesses the empirical evidence to question the commonly held assumption that financial systems are converging. Globalization and the Erosion of National Financial Systems will be welcomed by students and scholars working in the areas of money and banking as well as by financial economists.

Environmental taxes are considered one of the most attractive environmental policy instruments. However, many problems still prevent their widespread implementation. This impressive book offers a comprehensive, global and innovative treatment of the environmental tax issue. The author provides detailed economic analysis as well as practical policy suggestions and presenting numerous examples that have been successful in addressing complex issues as well as considering questions including: how should the instrument be designed? what to do with the tax revenues? how taxes could be made acceptable for industry, politicians and voters an analysis of the ethical issues of environmental taxation. This comprehensive treatment of environmental taxes will ensure the book's appeal to researchers, academics and students. It will also be of immense value to those working with the environment, as well as providing practical solutions to implementation problems faced by civil servants in central and local government.

Over the past couple of decades, differentials in the level of private contributions to charitable organizations have become a central matter of public policy. Because private charitable contributions finance many socially valuable activities (for example, education and the arts), many governments have tried to boost private philanthropy through various active policy interventions. Furthermore, the temptation to rely on private contributions to finance the provision of public goods has increased substantially in recent years as fiscal constraints have become tighter. Yet there is little robust quantitative evidence regarding the differentials in private charitable giving across countries, and more importantly very little consensus on why these differentials may exist. This volume provides an original, comparative, and historical analysis of charitable giving and of tax policies towards private philanthropy across different countries. It sheds new light on the determinants of private philanthropy and offers interesting practical insights for improving tax policies towards charitable giving.

Why do so many smart professional people make bad investments? Why do they often fail to accumulate significant wealth and sometimes make truly disastrous financial decisions? This book offers some answers to these questions. It then provides specific recommendations to help doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers, and many other intelligent people avoid serious financial errors and achieve superior investment results. Sensible self-directed investing with long-term compounding of returns and avoidance of all unnecessary fees can produce remarkable accumulations of capital with limited risk. You can choose to be successful as a largely passive investor or as one more seriously involved in making individual investment decisions. This book tells you how to do it. Buying this short volume and then putting its advice into practice may become the most important financial decisions you have ever made. About the author - Joseph D. Schulman is an internationally known physician, medical research scientist, and biomedical entrepreneur. He is also a successful investor. Dr. Schulman is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and of the Executive M.B.A. (OPM) program at Harvard Business School. He lives with his wife, Dixie, in Oxford, MD and Palm Springs, CA.

This innovative book proposes a new institutional arrangement for government to fulfil the needs of its citizens as well as possible. Existing aspects of federalism and direct democracy in Europe are strengthened, and as a result future developments arising in the region are coped with better. In this book Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger propose a new model of federalism which includes new types of governmental units established by citizens from below. These units are called functional, overlapping and competing jurisdictions as they extend over task-specific areas and therefore overlap. They also provide competitive governance via direct and representative democratic institutions, and as jurisdictions they have independent power over taxation policy. This new model is more responsive to citizens' preferences and adjusts more dynamically to provide public services efficiently. The authors suggest that this new system should be allowed to develop in Europe to safeguard diversity and ensure that decentralization emerges effectively. It would also allow for the flexible integration of East European transition economies into the European Union and may also combine with traditional modes of government in developing countries. This book will be warmly welcomed by economists, political scientists and sociologists interested in the future of the European Union, by all those studying federal systems of government, and by those interested in the prospects for improving democratic institutions throughout the world.

The global financial crisis had a dramatic short-term effect on federal relations and, as the twelve case studies in this illuminating book show, set in place a new set of socio-political factors that are shaping the longer-run process of institutional change in federal systems. The Future of Federalism illustrates how an understanding of these complex dynamics is crucial to the development of policies needed for effective and sustainable federal governance in the 21st century. The book finds that growing fiscal pressures are interacting with domestic political variables to produce country specific federal dynamics. Arguably the first detailed study of the medium term impact of the financial crisis and its aftermath on federal governance, this volume highlights how growing budget pressures are contributing to increased centralisation in many federations, while in others national governments are devolving power to appease regional grievances and preserve the federal union. Contributions from leading federalism and public finance scholars test recent theoretical explanations of change in federal systems against the experiences of a diverse cross-section of federal jurisdictions. The case studies include both established federations and 'federalizing' jurisdictions, such as the UK and China, and highlights the complex dynamics which shape the evolution of federal governance Comprehensive and interdisciplinary, this timely book will appeal to students and scholars - from political science, economics and law - studying federalism, governance studies and comparative political economy. It is essential reading for public officials and policy makers interested in intergovernmental relations, public finance and budgeting and tax policy. Contributors include: J.R. Afonso, D.M. Brown, C. Colino, T.J. Conlan, L. de Mello, E. del Pino, R. Eccleston, R. Hortle, R. Jha, R. Krever, S. Lee, R. Mabugu, E. Massetti, P. Mellor, J. Schnellenbach, N. Soguel, C. Wong

This book provides the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the emerging civil service systems in 9 Central and East European states. Its comparative nature provides a fascinating insight into the emerging patterns of administrative development in the region since the beginning of the transition period. The authors apply the same methodological framework developed by the Civil Service Research Consortium to all the country case studies, which gives the book a high level of coherence and enhances the comparability of the country case studies. This methodological framework provides a solid background for the in-depth analysis of the history of the civil service system, internal labour market, public opinion, relations between politicians and administrators and civil service reform and development. Special attention is given to topical issues such as the influence of the European Union on the emerging civil service systems and possibility of European Union candidature. Civil Service Systems in Central and Eastern Europe will be warmly welcomed by academics and advanced level students in public administration, law, political science and transition studies as well as policymakers and international organizations helping to develop civil services in former communist countries.

The market for retirement financial advice has never been more important and yet more in flux. The long-term shift away from traditional defined benefit pensions toward defined contribution personal accounts requires all of us to be more sophisticated today than ever before. However, the landscape for financial advice is changing all over the world, with new rules and regulations transforming the financial advice profession. This volume explores the market for retirement financial advice, to explain what financial advisors do and how to measure performance and impact. Who are these professionals and what standards must they abide by? How do they make money and what are their incentives? How can one protect clients from bad advice, and what is good advice? Does advice alone effect changes in personal habits? Answering these questions, along with new technology that will decrease the delivery costs of advice, will play a transformative role in helping more households receive the quality financial advice that they need. Accordingly, this volume illuminates the market and regulatory challenges so as to enhance consumer, plan sponsor, and regulator decisions.

This book critically explores past and present principles of central banking, and outlines a new framework for future stabilization policy. Through compact and concise chapters, it demonstrates why a constant long-term interest rate would be the most beneficial target for monetary policy to follow. A novel set of policy tools and institutional arrangements suitable to reliably meet this target are developed. It is argued that the proposed framework would be clearly superior to conventional policies in preventing financial market crises, maintaining high employment, and keeping the economy at or near potential. The merits and shortcomings of alternative theories such as Modern Monetary Theory are also discussed. This book will be relevant to researchers and policymakers as well as professional investors, analysts, and commentators of financial markets and the economy at large.

In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the regulation of the world's enormous derivatives markets assumed center stage on the international public policy agenda. Critics argued that loose regulation had contributed to the momentous crisis, but lasting reform has been difficult to implement since. Despite the global importance of derivatives markets, they remain mysterious and obscure to many. In Governing the World's Biggest Market, Eric Helleiner, Stefano Pagliari, and Irene Spagna have gathered an international cast of contributors to rectify this relative neglect. They examine how G20 governments have developed a coordinated international agenda to enhance control over these markets, which had been allowed to grow largely unchecked before the crisis. In analyzing this reform agenda, they advance three core arguments: first, the agenda to rein in these enormous markets has many limitations; second, the reform process has been plagued by delays, inconsistencies, and tensions that fragment the governance of these markets; and third, the politics driving the reforms have been extremely complicated. An authoritative overview of how this vast system is governed, Governing the World's Biggest Market looks at how the goals, limitations, and outcomes of post-crisis initiatives to regulate these markets have been influenced by a complex combination of transnational, inter-state, and domestic political dynamics. Moreover, this volume emphasizes how crucial regulatory reform is to stabilizing the global economy long-term.

"International Taxation in America" presents the most complete and indispensible guide to international taxation available in today's market. Author Brian Dooley, CPA, is a seasoned tax researcher and specialist in international tax and is among the very few experts who have experienced hundreds of international tax audits without a loss.

Covering international taxation for businesses, the taxation of shareholders of foreign corporations, foreign tax credits, cross-border estate planning, and much more, Dooley offers meticulous research and clear explanations of hundreds of international tax-related issues. Whether the subject is tax haven corporations and trusts, reducing taxes through tax treaties, learning how Americans are taxed abroad, or estate planning for multi-national families, Dooley explains the subject in thorough and clear language.

"International Taxation in America" provides valuable lessons for your enrichment, including useful links to help guide you online. You'll receive the level of information and expertise required to avoid mistakes and IRS scrutiny.

In the midst of globalization, technological change and economic anxiety, we have deep doubts about how well that task of investor protection is being performed. In the U.S., the focus is on the Securities & Exchange Commission. Part of the explanation is economic and political: the failure to know the right balance between investor protection and capital formation, and the resulting battle among interest groups over their preferred solutions. This book's main claim, however, is that regulation is also frustrated at nearly every turn by human nature, as exhibited both on the buy-side (investors) and sell-side (corporate executives, bankers, stockbrokers). There is plenty of savvy and guile, but also ample hope, fear, ego, overconfidence, social contagion and the like that persistently filter and distort the messages regulators try to send. This book is the first sustained effort to link the key initiatives of securities regulation with our burgeoning awareness in the social sciences of how people and organizations really behave in economic settings. It examines why corporate fraud occurs and how best to deter it and compensate its victims; the search for an edge via insider trading; the disclosure apparatus and its gatekeepers; sales efforts and manipulation in Ponzi schemes, internet scams, private offerings and crowdfunding; and how this all helps explain the recent global financial crisis. It ends by turning these insights back on the task of regulation itself, and the strategies (and frustrations) of making regulation work in a financial world that is at once increasingly sophisticated yet deeply human and incurably flawed.