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An intense discussion is taking place in International Political Economy on the influence of economic ideas on institutional change. Case studies so far have, however, mainly focused on the Western industrialised countries and research seems to be biased towards cases in which new ideas caused lasting institutional change. The present paper addresses these two shortcomings by analysing the case of the Russian Stabilisation Fund (SF). This case is an example both of the impact of global ideas on a non-Western emerging country and of a 'near miss' in the sense that imported neo-liberal ideas failed to assert themselves enduringly. Paradoxically, it can be shown how the neo-liberally based idea of the SF even contributed to the return to Soviet patterns of industrial policy. The main reason for this, we argue, is that the Fund's implementation was not preceded by economic and political debates. Accordingly, the imported institution of the SF had to be filled with ideational content after its implementation.

Stark schwankende Weltmarktpreise für Rohstoffe sind für afrikanische Länder ein zentrales Problem. Durch Marketing Boards und Stabilisierungsfonds sollte hier ein Ausgleich für die Produzenten geschaffen werden. Dies geschieht in der Elfenbeinküste für Kakao seit den fünfziger, für Kaffee seit den sechziger Jahren. Der Stabilisierungsfond erwirtschaftete Überschüsse, mit denen verschiedene Regierungsaktivitäten finanziert wurden. Zunächst wird dieser fiskalische Aspekt beschrieben, danach wird die Frage gestellt, ob ein solcher Fond vorrangig den Produzenten oder der Regierung dienen solle. (DÜI-Wsl)

This paper develops and estimates a small macroeconomic model of the Russian economy. The model is tailored to analyse the impact of the oil price, the exchange rate, private sector confidence and fiscal policy on economic performance. Simulations suggest that the Russian economy is vulnerable to downward oil price shocks. We substantiate two mechanisms that mitigate the economic effects of oil price shocks, namely the stabilisation brought by the Oil Stabilisation Fund and the Dutch disease effect. The fiscal policies of the Putin administration temper economic fluctuations caused by oil price shocks. (Comparative Economic Studies / SWP)

This paper develops a two-period disequilibrium model of a small open economy under Keynesian unemployment to analyse the effects of temporary, anticipated, and permanent coffee price shocks. The model includes a government sector that administers a commodity price stabilisation fund, and allows for capital market imperfections. The type of capital market imperfection makes an important difference to the results of the model. In particular, when the government borrows on more favourable terms than individuals, the coffee price stabilisation fund reduces the multiplier effects of temporary and permanent shocks not only in the first, but also in the second period. By contrast, when individuals face an upward-sloping supply of capital curve, the stabilisation fund shifts some of these effects from the first to the second period. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

A common problem in primary-producing countries is that commodity price instability causes substantial variation in government revenues. A conceptually simple yet rarely used domestic policy measure intended to smooth annual fiscal receipts is the establishment of a development stabilisation fund. The need for such a fund in Zambia and itsmodus operandiare discussed in the context of a review of budgetary performance since 1965. A simulation suggests that substantial smoothing could be achieved, but that the fund could not overcome a prolonged depression of copper prices such as occurred in the years after 1975.

One of the measures that the Eurozone Member States took in their attempt to combat the financial and debt crisis was to give financial assistance to the crises-ridden states. The purpose of such assistance was to safeguard the financial stability of the euro area as a whole. Thus, these mechanisms can be referred to as financial stabilisation mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the different mechanism of financial stabilisation and their constitutional significance. Due to the fact that there are actually several mechanisms, the discussion will focus mainly on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the permanent mechanism. Out of the various constitutional questions that such mechanisms give rise to, this paper will emphasise those issues that relate to the asymmetrical structure of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The choice to focus on issues that relate to the asymmetry of the EMU stems from the fact that these questions are politically most contentious, which also meant that addressing them proved legally difficult.

rural development pillar 2 of the Common Agricultural Policy. One of them consists in providing co-financing support to mutual funds compensating farmers who experience a severe drop in their income. This paper analyses this income stabilisation tool for a region in Belgium. Relying on FADN, this analysis focuses on estimating the probability that such fund would need to intervene and, in that case, the expected amount of each farm income compensation. Particular attention is paid to additional requirements that could be imposed to the income stabilisation tool.