Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi

Emerging legal concerns in the Arctic: sovereignty, navigation and land claim disputes

With global warming, the clearance of the Northwest Passage and the rising demands for new energy resources, the sovereignty of Canadian and other national land claims in the Arctic north is coming into question by those wishing to control access to this region. The present paper examines issues involving emerging landmasses, maritime rights, strategic control and navigation, perhaps the most important variable, and the consequences in terms of commercial economies and geopolitical impacts. We consider many variables such as the 1982 Falkland Islands war as a demonstrative example that may have translatable impact in future years. Our purpose in this paper is to raise awareness of impending geopolitical activities that are inevitable during the 21st century as the Arctic pack ice retreats.

Financial factors and firm growth: evidence from financial data on Taiwanese firms

We investigate the possible predictability of firm growth in Taiwan using cross-sectional data of financial factors for the years 1997 and 2003 via principal component analysis. Our results reveal that the 18 financial variables (sales growth rate, total assets, total sales, return on assets, return on equity, gross margin, operating cost minus depreciation divided by sales plus other trading income, acid test ratio, debt–equity ratio, time interest earned, average receivables per average daily sales, inventory, average payables per average daily sales, working capital, working capital as a fraction of total assets, long-term liabilities as a fraction of total assets, and sales as a fraction of net worth of the firm) that we employ bunch together into five different financial ratios for the years 1997 and 2003 that are stable between these years. These financial factors are short-term liquidity, return on investment, long-term liquidity, firm size and capital turnover. Regressing these ratio groups (extracted principal components) on firm growth, we find return on investment in the year 1997 was positively and significantly related to firm growth, while long-term solvency was negatively related to firm growth. In addition, smaller firms tended to grow faster. By 2003, larger firms grew faster than smaller ones and short-term liquidity was positively and significantly related to firm growth, while return on investment was no longer a significant determining factor. Our findings suggest that firms that finance internally or do not rely too heavily on indebtedness may end up growing slower during boom periods but they are the ones that survive and outperform after the bust.

Crime, criminal activity and tourism performance: issues from the Caribbean

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the many negative implications of crime for tourism in the Caribbean, with particular regard to the economic costs, the loss of long‐term investment and the impact of illegal drugs.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an analysis in three sections: The first section provides a preliminary discussion on problems of crime and criminal activity in the Caribbean especially as they relate to tourism. The second main part singles out certain areas of concern, namely, economic costs, long‐term investment dampening, illicit drugs, gangs, indirect costs, and youth as the primary perpetrators of crime in the region. The final section offers policy considerations towards halting the impact of crime and criminal activity on Caribbean tourism performance.Findings – The paper concludes that Caribbean governments have to do more to protect their most important industry, and recommends a combination of both hard and soft policing measures and educational progra...

The Potential Jamaican Impact of Criminal Deportees from the U.S.

ABSTRACT Using data collected on Jamaican criminal deportees and data from the U.S. census and the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, annual remittances losses to Jamaica resulting from deportation are estimated to be

A Socially Sensitive Developmental State: Key Economic and Politico-Institutional Aspects

1.9 million. Murders and reported rapes in Jamaica are estimated to be 5% higher due to criminal deportation. We estimate there are 84,749 Jamaican-born illegal aliens in the U.S. and Jamaican-born illegal aliens are 45% less likely to commit crimes than legally admitted aliens. We demonstrate that criminal deportation is unlikely to rise in the near future and U.S. gains from deportation are greater than Jamaican losses.

A New Economic Strategy for the USA: A Framework of Alternative Development Notions

The essential “opposition” between market and state has long been debated. Activities that fall in the government or private sector vary by time and space. This division cannot be decided on political principle alone (Karagiannis 2002). The first quarter century of the post-World War II period was generally characterized (at least in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries) by economic growth, high levels of employment alongside state activism, and belief in beneficial powers of government. Government intervention in the economy, discretionary fiscal and monetary policies, modest restrictions on trade and the like coincided with low unemployment and inflation, and economic stability and security. The past 40 years have been characterized by much lower rates of economic growth in the OECD nations (though with rapid growth in Newly Industrialized Countries, (NICs)) and a general decline of support for activist governments. Yet, in many cases, the ratio of government spending to GDP rose due to increasing entitlement obligations, and governments often ran substantial fiscal deficits. The active state is being rolled back, and “let the market decide” has become the main policy gospel for both developed and developing countries (Arestis and Sawyer 1998, 1).

Cost savings and deregulation: an analysis of fuel cost savings in deregulated electricity markets

This paper seeks to provide a new economic strategy for the United States while considering a range of development-related impediments to the country’s recent economic performance. It is argued here that strategic industrial policy needs to come to the center stage if local production growth, competency upgrading, and competitiveness improvement are to be aggressively pursued. The first section outlines the present context of the US economy by discussing economic and socio-cultural aspects. The second main section frames an alternative development paradigm for the United States. Policy recommendations are discussed in the third section. Some brief conclusions end the paper.

Modern state intervention in the era of globalisation

ABSTRACT Unregulated utilities face competitive pressures that lead to cost-minimizing activities, but regulated monopolies in the US electricity generation sector face pressures only from regulators who must balance a desire for lower prices against the need for the utility to generate a sufficient return to encourage investment. This paper analyses the cost-minimizing behaviours of regulated utilities by comparing their average input coal costs with those of deregulated utilities purchasing coal from the same mine during the same month of the same year. Results indicate that coal-fired electric plants operating in deregulated electricity markets negotiate prices that are 6.1 ¢/MMBtu (3.5%) less than their regulated counterparts. In percentage terms, this is a fairly small discount for deregulated plants, but it happens to be on par with the restructuring gains that others have estimated for labour and nonfuel costs.