Public Sector Economics - submission site

The puzzle of household savings in the European Union: tracing influences across time and space

2024-05-16T11:55:08+02:00

This paper uses dynamic panel data estimations based on annual data from 26 European Union countries to evaluate the driving factors of household savings dynamics. Alongside conventional determinants, such as household income and age dependency, the study also includes a less traditional variable, consumer confidence, which is often neglected in existing findings. This research extends previous empirical studies in three dimensions. First, it conducts sensitivity analysis using several estimation techniques to support the robustness of baseline results. Second, the investigation is expanded by including an extended set of potential savings drivers. Lastly, it explores variations in saving behaviour among different country groups (Euro Area, Central and Eastern European countries, and Croatia) as well as the crisis periods (Global Financial Crisis and Covid-19 pandemic). The findings highlight the importance of overlooked determinants, shed light on the ambiguous effect of classic variables, and partially confirm earlier research.

How compliant are state-owned enterprises in Austria and Slovenia with regard to their sustainability reports?

2024-06-01T10:53:11+02:00

In recent years, the integration of corporate, environmental and social factors into the management of business has been intensively promoted. Our paper focuses on the quality of the sustainability reports (SR) of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The methodological approach is based on the framework for content analysis provided by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) disclosure in non-financial/SR, using the translation table for linking SDGs and GRI Standards to evaluate the status of SDG compliance. The results reveal that companies in both countries generally report most intensively in the economic segment, as far as GRI standards and SDGs are concerned, exposing the economic value in the Benington (2011) theoretical model. Comparatively, Slovenian SOEs’ SRs disclose on average a lower percentage of GRI standards in all four segments (general, economic, environmental, and social) than Austrian SOEs, while more than 70% of SDG 4 is reported in Slovenia.

Unsolicited versus solicited public partnership proposals: is there a trade-off between innovation and competition?

2024-05-01T09:44:11+02:00

Unsolicited proposals (UPs) are a modality of public private partnership (PPP) that is increasingly being used to attract private investors and operators to provide innovative solutions to public projects, notably in infrastructure. In most countries that expressly regulate UPs, the PPP tenders establish asymmetric conditions that favour UP proponents over other potential participants, with the aim of incentivising the presentation of innovative project solutions. The present study formally evaluates the conditions under which a competition/innovation trade-off may arise. We find that UPs can offer welfare-improving solutions compared with solicited proposals (SPs) only in exceptional circumstances. In addition, we find no robust evidence to either confirm the trade-off between innovation and competition in PPP tenders, or to indicate that UPs lead to welfare-enhancing solutions that could not be achieved under conventional SPs.

How does ownership structure affect the profitability of Turkish banks? A comparative analysis of determinants

2024-03-16T10:45:30+01:00

This study examines the determinants of profitability of deposit banks in Turkiye taking into account differences in the ownership structures of public, private domestic and foreign-owned banks. The aim of the study is to analyse whether the factors determining profitability change depending on the managerial differences that the ownership structure may entail. A seemingly unrelated regression method with monthly data from 2010 to 2022 is used for this purpose. Our findings suggest that the real effective exchange rate, inflation, and non-interest income variables have common effects on profitability regardless of bank ownership. However, the bank capital ratio, bank size, loan to deposit ratio, and economic activity affect profitability differently across bank ownership types.

Fiscal dominance and inflation: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

2024-04-02T12:54:01+02:00

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the debate on monetary financing was reignited and several economists called for governments to borrow from their central banks to finance larger deficits. Sub-Saharan Africa provides useful insights into this debate since it is a region where “fiscal dominance” has long been widespread. We find that fiscal dominance is stronger during periods of pressure on public finances, particularly when alternative financing options are limited. We also find that central bank financing of government does have an inflationary impact through the exchange rate channel. Numerical legal limits on central bank financing can be an effective way to mitigate the risks, even if they are not always binding.