The COVID-19-Induced Transaction Cost Suggests Considerable Cost Effectiveness Resulting from the Prevalence of Universal Health Care in the United States

This study models the United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic from a transaction cost perspective, with the objective of considering the most efficient delivery of universal health care to the public. The neoclassical framing of production, price, and allocation does not consider the transaction costs resulting from the pandemic's broad effects on the entire economy. The intention of this study is to focus on transaction cost as a particular feature of cost efficiency analyses. The study reveals the effect of pandemic conditions on transaction-specific health-care assets. It considers the asset of registered nursing labor, specifically the changes in travel nurses' compensation during the period 2019 to 2020. This study finds that the doctrine of federal preemption instituting universal health care is economizing due to the lower transaction costs associated with the administrative control of transaction-specific assets and the advancement of collaboration between organizations. The COVID-19-induced transaction cost effects on travel nurse compensation reveal the extent to which the private health-care system operates with implicit inefficiency. This study calculates a residual cost index using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and industry-sourced data. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

An Introduction to Biopolitics and Shock Economy of COVID-19: Medical Perspectives and Socioeconomic Dynamics

This edited volume on the biopolitics and shock economy of COVID-19 crisis embraces a wide spectrum of topics such as shock economy, medical perspectives on COVID-19, application of geospatial technology, infectivity, immunity, and severity of the disease, as well as ontology of the disease emergence as important factors for adoption of relevant biopolitical measures, sociocultural obstacles, COVID-19-induced transaction costs, social support and resilience of inhabitants of marginalized areas, as well as business resilience factors, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation. Through each chapter of this book, the authors, with their expertise in the theme they picked, have attempted to unfold some emerging aspects in the COVID-19 crisis which could benefit not only the academics but also the institutional, social, economic, developmental, and health policy-makers as well as the health practitioners on the ground. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Market Return Around the Clock: A Puzzle

We study how the market return depends on the time of the day using E-mini S&P 500 futures actively traded around the clock. Strikingly, 4 hours around European open account for the entire average market return. This period's returns have a 1.6 Sharpe ratio and remain high after transaction costs. Average returns are a noisy zero during the remaining 20 hours. High returns are consistent with European investors processing information accumulated overnight and thus resolving uncertainty. Indeed, uncertainty reflected by VIX futures prices rises overnight and falls around European open. The results are stronger during the 2020 COVID crisis.

The Impact of Transaction Costs on Management Decisions (on the Example of Ukrainian Companies)

The purpose of the article is to study the impact of transaction costs on managerial decision-making on the example of Ukrainian enterprises. The article notes that, despite the significant achievements of the institutional theory, there are still questions about the clarity of understanding of its key concepts and definitions, the content of transaction costs and the concept of their minimization, the expediency and efficiency of the existence of certain types of transaction costs. The subject of the study is the essence of transaction costs of the enterprise and their modern classification. The methodological basis of the study was an integrated approach to the essence and classification of transaction costs, as well as general scientific and special research methods: retrospective and systematic analysis, comparison and generalization, grouping and sampling, methods of building linear and nonlinear economic and statistical models with constraints. As noted above, the main issue of the study was the classification of transaction costs. The economic situation in Ukraine was assessed, which allowed to determine that transaction costs are quite high for enterprises due to: insufficient development of markets, unformed structure of institutions, complex and ambiguous legislation, significant tax pressure and existing facts of corruption. The authors noted that the list of components of transaction costs is constantly updated due to the complication of the socio-economic conditions for doing business associated with crisis-forming force majeure factors (in particular, the COVID-19 pandemic), which have become very significant for the world economy and have significantly changed approaches to the allocation of investment resources. As a result of the study, it is proposed to supplement the existing classification of transaction costs with costs associated with adapting to new business conditions ("adaptation cost"), which together characterize the ability of an enterprise to adapt to new conditions of functioning and development. The main conclusions of the study include the fact that, given current trends, reducing transaction costs is becoming a priority issue. At the same time, in the context of the proposed classification, a model for minimizing transaction costs was developed for the first time, which includes a modern classification of transaction costs and provides the possibility of their modeling for a more complete and logical calculation. According to the authors, the presented model will provide an opportunity to more correctly determine the effectiveness of management decisions related to investments in the core business of the enterprise. It is important to note that, given the basic provisions of institutional theory, a significant amount of transaction costs, in principle, can neutralize the investment process. Thus, the study is of both theoretical and practical importance and gives an idea of solving a number of both industrial and social problems and can become the basis for further research.

Employment externalisation in response to a temporary exogenous shock: an adjustment costs perspective

We examine the externalisation of labour as a strategic response to a temporary exogenous shock (i.e. COVID-19). Combining ideas from employment externalisation theory and the CATO framework (which are both extensions of transaction costs economics), we argue that firms that are hit harder by the COVID-19 shock are more likely to plan hiring freelancers that replace permanent employees. The mechanism we argue for is that firms seek to reposition quickly, which lowers comparative adjustment costs and reduces constraints on switching employment modes in future, depending on the extent of task co-specialisation. Analysing survey data obtained from 1,090 Danish small medium enterprises during the initial COVID-19 lockdown supports our hypotheses. Our findings contribute to the research on strategic responses to crises and provide novel understanding of why firms may externalise employment. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Pragmatic Municipalism: Privatization and Remunicipalisation in the US

At the local government level in the US, the process of privatisation has been a dynamic one of experimentation with market delivery and return to public delivery when privatisation fails to deliver. National survey data show what drives this experimentation are pragmatic concerns with service cost and quality. Service and market characteristics, local government capacity and regulatory framework matter. In contrast to current international debates about the potential of remunicipalization to be a political reassertion of the public sector, for US local governments it is primarily a process of pragmatic municipalism. While some shifts in private finance and state regulatory environment favour private actors at the expense of local government, federal investments since COVID-19 provide funding and policy preference for maintaining a public role.

Understanding interlocal collaboration for service delivery for migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Guangdong, China

Interlocal collaboration for service delivery (ICSD) for migrant workers has grown rapidly in the postpandemic era. Nevertheless, limited research has investigated the mechanisms through which localities interact with one another in the implementation process. This study explores under what conditions a city collaborates more with one city than another in ICSD for migrant workers in Guangdong Province, China. Our results show that geographical proximity, workforce similarity, and administrative status asymmetry are positively related to partner selection. City mayors' personal connections are associated with a higher collaboration degree. However, problem severity has negative impacts on both partner selection and collaboration degree.

Central Ict System Sl2014: The Way To Reduce The Transaction Costs Of European Projects

Motivation: European funds are these kinds of goods for which effective demand exceeds supply. The market value of European projects in Poland is estimated at approximately PLN 1125,44 bn, of which the EU co-financing is PLN 664,29 bn. Their effective use depends on the quality of the institutions responsible for their aggregation, allocation and proper expenditure (in accordance with the EU policies). Aim: The analysis of mechanisms determining the market game on the European project market in Poland in the light of the new institutional economics. Particular attention will be paid to the administrative tools that facilitate efficient long-distance communication between the parties to a project co-financing contract (central ICT system SL2014). Results: ICT systems constitute a part of a wider phenomenon commonly referred to as e-administration. It may be regarded as an institution in the meaning of the new institutional economics. This institution reduces the transaction costs related to handling European projects as well as the transaction costs in other areas connected with public governance. Wherever the e-administration can be applied (e-administration may be found useful in the case of public health emergencies that were triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic). Central ICT system SL2014 (as an element of e-administration) significantly reduced transaction costs in the field of handling European projects in the 2014–2020 financial perspective.

New Pandemics, Old Politics: two hundred years of war on disease and its alternatives. Cambridge: Polity (hb £50 – 978 1 5095 4779 1;pb £15.99 – 978 1 5095 4780 7). 2021, 296 pp

[...]faced with a world of disease hazards we have all helped to create, he proposes that our best hope may lie with activist engagement of the kind apparent in the HIV and AIDS response, where those most affected by the problem became adept at pushing both science and politics towards sustainable solutions. A high degree of integration between hierarchies of science and market institutions – the result, for example, of having a government scientific adviser with a background in private-sector pharmaceutical research – would be seen as a textbook example of the Williamson approach, effectively reducing transaction costs by coordinating policy demand and research supply. At the end, Alex de Waal excuses himself: ‘the policies and practices needed range far beyond the scope of this book’ (p. 230). [...]we must be patient and await the sequel, which promises to be as compelling reading as the present potent offering.

The Macroeconomic Effects of an Interest-Bearing CBDC: A DSGE Model

We develop a medium size dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model to assess the macroeconomic consequences of introducing an interest-bearing central bank digital currency (CBDC), an electronic alternative of payment with public use properties of cash and that can furnish as bank settlement balances. The model consists of seven sectors, namely households, retail firms, wholesale firms, capital producing firms, commercial banks, central bank, and government, and offers rich features. The use of cash and CBDC is differentiated with respect to their prices and transaction costs. In particular, we quantify the effects of negative shock on CBDC transaction cost to evaluate the potential of CBDC as an alternate instrument in liquidity holding in addition to cash and bank deposits. We also examine the effects of productivity shock and monetary policy shock on CBDC interest rate and CBDC demand, and their interaction with other main variables of the model.

New development: Is the pandemic reinforcing the organizational legitimacy of the municipally-owned companies?

IMPACT The Covid-19 pandemic required rapid intervention from governments. Local governments in Italy made use of municipally-owned companies (MOCs) to provide goods and services. This had advantages in terms of speed of intervention and reduction of transaction costs and has increased the organizational legitimacy of MOCs. Based on early evidence and from the author's past experience as a mayor, this article describes how MOCs are changing and the future role they could play in emergencies.

Thymus Gland: A Double Edge Sword for Coronaviruses.

The thymus is the main lymphoid organ that regulates the immune and endocrine systems by controlling thymic cell proliferation and differentiation. The gland is a primary lymphoid organ responsible for generating mature T cells into CD4+ or CD8+ single-positive (SP) T cells, contributing to cellular immunity. Regarding humoral immunity, the thymic plasma cells almost exclusively secrete IgG1 and IgG3, the two main complement-fixing effector IgG subclasses. Deformity in the thymus can lead to inflammatory diseases. Hassall's corpuscles' epithelial lining produces thymic stromal lymphopoietin, which induces differentiation of CDs thymocytes into regulatory T cells within the thymus medulla. Thymic B lymphocytes produce immunoglobulins and immunoregulating hormones, including thymosin. Modulation in T cell and naive T cells decrement due to thymus deformity induce alteration in the secretion of various inflammatory factors, resulting in multiple diseases. Influenza virus activates thymic CD4+ CD8+ thymocytes and a large amount of IFNγ. IFNs limit virus spread, enhance macrophages' phagocytosis, and promote the natural killer cell restriction activity against infected cells. Th2 lymphocytes-produced cytokine IL-4 can bind to antiviral INFγ, decreasing the cell susceptibility and downregulating viral receptors. COVID-19 epitopes (S, M, and N proteins) with ≥90% identity to the SARS-CoV sequence have been predicted. These epitopes trigger immunity for antibodies production. Boosting the immune system by improving thymus function can be a therapeutic strategy for preventing virus-related diseases. This review aims to summarize the endocrine-immunoregulatory functions of the thymus and the underlying mechanisms in the prevention of COVID-19.

How should we understand the digital economy in Asia? Critical assessment and research agenda.

By Asian digital economy, we refer to high-tech developments, business and social transformations, and information-driven changes in the region's growth. We discuss its background and foundations, significance in Asia and contribution to removal of historical barriers in traditional business. We assess how new value chains are transforming country-level involvement in worldwide manufacturing and note "smiling curve theory" predictions about the global value chain in Asia for high-tech firms and their economies. The takeaway is that the digital economy in Asian nations involves revamping business processes through technology innovation, government policies for growth, and digital entrepreneurship. We analyze the "digital economy and society index", and attributes of nations, societies and economies, as a basis for framing our ideas. We consider research directions prompted by data analytics and AI, the platform economy, digital trade, fintech innovation, and societal and economic sustainability. We further highlight new issues in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.