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This paper uses a new data set on budgetary institutions in Europe to examine the impact of fiscal rules and budget procedures in EU countries on public finances. It briefly describes the main pattern of budgetary institutions and their determinants across the EU 15 member states. Empirical evidence for the time period 1985–2004 suggests that the centralisation of budgeting procedures restrains public debt. In countries with one-party governments or coalition governments where parties are closely aligned and where political competition among them is low, this is achieved by the delegation of decision-making power to the minister of finance. Fiscal contracts that require countries to set multi-year targets and that reinforce those targets increase fiscal discipline in countries with ideologically dispersed coalitions and where parties regularly compete against each other.
The Maastricht Treaty set a series of convergence criteria that Member States have to meet to join the euro area. The Treaty is not specific, however, about how to prevent free-riding fiscal behaviour once Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is in place. The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) represents an institutional response.1 Its design includes preventive and corrective mechanisms. The emphasis for the preventive arm rests on the monitoring of Member State behaviour. Euro-area Member States produce Stability Programme updates yearly in the autumn. The European Commission, for its part, assesses the programmes and makes recommendations to the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers (henceforth ‘ECOFIN’) on whether the programmes meet European fiscal objectives, which in particular includes the achievement of budget positions ‘close to balance or in surplus’. In order to move to the formal corrective arm of the Pact, a Member State would have to be found to have an ‘excessive deficit’.
The asserted doctrine of unilateral humanitarian intervention has given rise to considerable debate in international law. This article revisits the use of force in Kosovo to critically appraise this debate. The arguments for and against the doctrine are schematically compared and contrasted. Their differences are methodological, but underlying factors are relevant. These may include a conflict of values (notably, sovereignty versus human rights), but certainly involve deep disciplinary problems evidenced by confusing international legal terminology and, especially, the contradictions inherent in identifying and changing rules of general/customary international law. Three factors are considered as potentially helpful in bridging these fault lines: state practice (unavoidably), the stability of the international system and accountability. The latter two, at least, sit uncomfortably with unilateralism.
Purpose
– Social entrepreneurial organizations have gained in awareness and interest among researchers, yet we know relatively little about how these organizations are able to create social and economic value. This paper seeks to understand how such organizations have managed to achieve scale and sustainability in developing economies – often lacking the institutions, networks and resources required to support their growth – whilst also maintaining their focus on a social mission.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper presents a comparative case analysis of three social entrepreneurial organizations based in Bangladesh, Egypt and Spain that have been widely recognized as successful. It utilizes an explorative research approach with data gathered from many sources including published and unpublished articles, existing case studies, personal interviews and internet sources.
Findings
– Analysis of these three business models reveals common patterns in the use of strategic resources, in their value networks, and in customer interface. The findings suggest that successful social entrepreneurial organizations: proactively create their own value networks of companies that share their social vision; develop resource strategies as an integral part of the business model; and integrate their target groups into the social value network.
Research limitations/implications
– There are limitations in the sampling and data analysis approach, however, this study provides a first step towards a more inclusive empirical research agenda in the future.
Practical implications
– The paper offers interesting insights for existing for‐profit multi‐business companies to rethink their business models, particularly for developing country contexts.
Originality/value
– This paper encourages managers to think beyond the creation of economic value and demonstrates how social entrepreneurs achieve sustainable growth based on building complementary networks of stakeholders and resources integrated into the value chain. It provides propositions regarding the business models of successful social entrepreneurial organizations and hopes to stimulate managerial interest in alternative business models and future empirical research which builds on these qualitative findings.
Purpose – In many developing countries those living in poverty are unable to participate in markets due to the weakness or complete absence of supportive institutions. This study aims to examine, in microcosm, such an institutional void and to illustrate the strategy and activities employed by an entrepreneurial actor in rural Bangladesh in addressing it.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on an in-depth case study. Data were gathered
over two years from field interviews, archives, and secondary sources.
Findings – The data illustrate how market access for the poorest of the poor is facilitated through the creation of platforms for participation in the economy and broader society. The authors conceptualize this process as the crafting of new institutional arrangements and as resource and institutional bricolage occurring in parallel.
Practical implications – The study offers insights for development agencies, policy makers and
companies on how to combat poverty, fight corruption, and stimulate social and economic change.
Originality/value – The paper enriches current thinking on institutions and entrepreneurship as well as strategies for social impact.
The article discusses how institutional voids can be spaces of opportunity for companies. Institutional void refers to the absence of supporting institutions in certain economy. Institutions are shared conceptions and constraints that shape human interaction. They constitute the rules of the game, for doing business, for social interaction, and for human behavior in general. For motivated entrepreneurs, institutional voids is perceived as opportunities. Two examples are presented to illustrate the nature of institutional voids in Bangladesh and India.
This article takes issue with the argument that human rights are not absolute and should be balanced in relation to competing communal aims. The balancing of qualified human rights is a key practice of the European Court of Human Rights and a great deal depends on a clear analysis of the ramifications of balancing for our understanding of human rights aims. The author does not seek to propose an alternative to balancing, but aims to show that it is not necessarily coherent with human rights principles or the kinds of functions international human rights institutions are thought to perform.