This paper examines the fiscal and monetary policy options available to China as a sovereign currency-issuing nation operating in a dollar standard world. We first summarize a number of issues facing China, including the possibility of slower growth, global imbalances, and a number of domestic...

Spain´s sovereign crisis has many sides and causes. An unviable economic model and an insolvent financial sector generated a private sector crisis that rapidly spread to the Government´s balance sheet. The public sector itself had –and continues to have- its own serious dysfunctions. One of...

Using firm-level data covering 709 cities in 128 countries, we examine the role of a comprehensive list of business and institutional environment variables at the sub-national level in explaining firm employment and productivity growth. We find basic protection (with corruption as an element),...

A growing empirical literature has documented significant profit shifting activities by multinationals. This paper looks at the impact of such profit shifting on real activity and tax competition. Real activity can be affected as profit shifting changes-and theoretically most likely reduces-the...

The successes and failures of local government are reflected in the value of homes in the jurisdiction. Good schools and attractive public goods raise the value of homes in a locality, and unpleasant environments and high property taxes lower those same values. Home values are the report cards...

This paper investigates the relationship between political connections and corporate borrowing behavior using the listed real estate development firms in China from 2001 to 2014. Evidence from China is of particular importance due to China being the world's largest emerging and transition...

American International Group, Inc. (AIG), a large insurance company, received a massive bailout during the financial crisis in response to difficulties centered on the company's multifaceted exposure to residential mortgage-backed securities. The company is back on its feet, albeit in more...

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become active investors in global markets in the last decade, challenging policymakers in Canada and other OECD countries to confront the logic of “state capitalism.” This article develops a novel theory of the income taxation of SOEs. Many countries...

"Muni Bonds, Pension Liabilities and Investment Due Diligence" by Dr. Susan Mangiero, Dr. Israel Shaked and Mr. Brad Orelowitz, CPA examines financial reporting, fiduciary breach litigation, underwriting due diligence, pension funding and rating rules for the U.S. municipal bond market.At a time...

We investigate how the effects of the business environment depend on whether the measure is de jure or de facto, and how the business environment effects differ by ownership. Four aspects of the business environment are found to be relatively robust by multiple data sources: access to finance,...