Khoirunurrofik (p), Andhika Putra Pratama, Setya Agung, Renno Prawira

Fumitoshi Mizutani

The Government of Indonesia has issued various policies to reduce CO2 emissions of the energy-producing from industry and transportation sectors to achieve the COP 21 target. These policies include providing incentives for vehicles and urging environmentally friendly technology industries. The Central Government also encourages Sub-national Governments (SNGs) to support the electric vehicle(x-EV) conversion program by giving discounts on local taxes, Motor Vehicle Taxes (PKB ), and Motor Vehicle Transfer Fees (BBNKB ) for battery-based electric vehicles (BEV ). Nonetheless, it is feared that such incentive support will reduce the SNG's own source revenue (OSR) for local governments, considering that PKB and BBNKB are the main contributors to provincial tax revenues. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate fiscal policy to anticipate the potential reduction of OSR. These innovations can be in the form of allocation of incentive funds of the Central Government, Carbon Taxes received by Regional Governments, and BBNKB based on carbon emissions. This study aims to conduct a policy analysis to evaluate various fiscal policy choices that can be applied by the central government (intergovernmental fiscal transfer ) and local governments (tax incentives ) regarding electrification-based motorized vehicles. These policy options support carbon emission reduction policies, taking into account economic, social, and environmental impacts. The evaluation will overview the potential, opportunities, and challenges of developing electrification-based vehicles in Indonesia as an industry with environmentally friendly technology. This study will also provide evidence from emerging economies about the optimal solution of the various central and local tax rates on the car to increase market demand for x-EV.

Pavlos Karastogiannis (p)

Khoirunurrofik

In Greece, with the Presidential Decree 54/2018, the introduction of the accrued base was legislated for all the entities of the General Government according to ESA 2010 from 1/1/2023. The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of the introduction of the accrual base on enhancing the transparency, accountability and control of the General Government entities as well as the prospect of transition on 1/1/2023.
The research was conducted using the qualitative method and the structured interview protocol was the data collection tool. The protocol was based on the bibliographic review of international research and the provisions of Decree 54/2018, and is divided into four main axes. The population of the research consists of the employees of the 3rd department of the Accounting Plan of the General Government of the Ministry of Finance, as in the current period they are the only ones who apply the accounting of the accrued in the light of 54/2018 for all entities of Central Government according to ESA 2010.
The findings of the research showed that the accounting of the accrued base in the General Government entities will reflect reasonably and truthfully the financial operations, financial performance and assets of an entity. Participants believe that the needs for objective financial information are covered, tangible and intangible assets, financial instruments, liabilities, cash, depreciation and provisions are more accurately reflected. In addition, the comparability of accounting information between General Government bodies and between Greece and other countries is supported. Audit mechanisms is simplified and more effective control is exercised over public finances. As a result, transparency and accountability are enhanced, corruption of public officials is reduced, and money mismanagement is tackled. However, the transition to 1/1/2023 is not an easy process as there is an insufficient number of employees, lack of know-how of those already employed and the absence of a unified accounting information system. These factors and in combination with the covid-19 pandemic, led the participants to believe that the implementation process towards the transition to accrual accounting from 1/1/2023 for all General Government entities was negatively affected, proposing an extension of the transition date.
The findings of the research contribute significantly to the scientific dialogue on the need for convergence of accounting on an accrual basis to General Government bodies, as this will improve the quality and reliability of their financial information.

Dimitrios Kallioras (p), Maria Adamakou

Pavlos Karastogiannis

The EU has been transforming from a “space of States” to a “State of spaces”. The emaciation of the artificial impediments of cross-border interaction – the structural element and the pure essence of the EU (economic) integration process – generates (releases) spatial dynamics that relate to the allocation of capital (i.e. physical and human), to productivity gains, to technology importation, to the realization of agglomeration economies, to access to foreign markets, and to import competition. The EU regions have thus been experiencing a period of unprecedented change. The EU economic integration process has progressively transformed regional economies into integral parts of the emerging European economic space, exposing them to the benefits and the costs of a more competitive environment. The paper aims at unveiling relations of dependence among the EU regions in terms of direct investments flows. To this end, the paper utilizes firm-level data, obtained from AMADEUS database, and introduces the Dependence Index, providing a novel perspective to the direct investments empirical literature. The Dependence Index is estimated separately for the incoming and the outgoing direct investment flows as the ratio of the Network Selectivity Index and the External Influence Index. The Network Selectivity Index is the ratio of the maximum incoming (outgoing) direct investment flow to the destination (origin) region under consideration and the corresponding total incoming (outgoing) direct investment flows. The External Influence Index is the ratio of the maximum incoming (outgoing) direct investment flow to the destination (origin) region under consideration and the corresponding total outgoing (incoming) direct investments flows of the maximum origin (destination) partner. There is a twofold rationale for the Dependence Index. This is so as when the region under consideration does not depend on a particular regional partner: (a) it is “easier” either to change investment partner or to impose its conditions to an investment partner, and (b) there is a “lighter” impact when an investment partner either decides or is not able to retain the same level of investment activity. The analysis covers the period 2010-2018. The clear-cut findings of the paper offer valuable insight to both academia and policy-making.

Fumitoshi Mizutani (p)

Dimitrios Kallioras

This study aims to identify the determinants of investment behavior in the railway industry. In particular, it seeks to clarify how investment is affected by regulatory factors such as entry regulations, vertical separation, private provision, and market structure, as well as governmental and management conditions influencing issues such as train safety. To conduct the investigation, this study uses more than 500 observations from 29 OECD countries in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region, from 1995 to 2013. After a review of previous literature on the investment function is presented, a theoretical investment function on rail infrastructure is constructed. Then econometric models are estimated based on the data set. Due to data availability, data collected for the estimation is not on a firm-basis but on a country-basis. As for key variables for regulatory changes, the OECD’s regulatory index variables are considered. As estimation methods, the Pooled OLS, the Fixed Effect, the Random Effect, 2SLS, and GMM models are considered. The expected results will answer the following questions: (i) What factors positively or negatively affect rail investment? (ii) Does liberalization of regulation promote more investment? (iii) Does vertical separation promote more investment? (iv) Does a government’s financial condition matter in investment behavior? (v) Do safety conditions affect the amount of investment? (vi) Does high-speed train construction increase investment? This study will contribute both to the existing literature on this academic field and to policy making.