税收管理中的寻租博弈与治理路径

博弈论作为现代经济问题研究的一项重要工具,可用来揭示税收管理中的各种对抗与合作规律,减少管理决策的错误,降低管理成本,提高管理效率。税收活动作为政府调节社会经济活动的手段,由于不同的利益主体存在信息不对称,易诱发"设租"与"寻租"行为。如何合理界定"租金"价值,设计科学的治理路径以抑制税收管理过程中的寻租行为,提高资源配置和使用效率,意义重大。     

The MDGs and exit time: the case of the Philippines

This article evaluates whether the Philippines will be able to halve the incidence of poverty between 1990 and 2015. Using the concept of exit time and household‐level data, we find that the Philippines as a whole will not be able to comply with Target 1 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), although 15 of its provinces will be able to do so. These provinces are closer to Manila, characterized by higher per capita expenditure growth rates, and had lower incidence of poverty in 1988. This suggests the importance of policies to mitigate the regional disparity in achieving the MDGs.     

Political contributions and corruption in the United States

The empirical evidence presented in this study indicates that political contributions and corruption are complements, rather than substitutes. Based on panel data for seven election cycles, regression results show that in the United States, political contributions and federal corruption convictions are positively correlated. Accordingly, we propose an alternative explanation for the relationship between political contributions and corruption: two components of a comprehensive strategy for rent-seeking. As long-term investments, political contributions influence legislators to change the rules of the game; as short-term investments, corruption influences public officials to sidestep the existing rules, in order to maximize the rent collected.     

金融腐败:非规范融资行为的交易特征和体制动因

本文以改革进程中的非规范融资交易为研究对象 ,通过银行 -借款企业动态博弈和经验研究 ,归纳如下主要结论 :第一 ,在金融交易中 ,金融机构的腐败体现为利用资金配置权进行的两类寻租行为 ;第二 ,银行的寻租程度取决于改革进程中中央银行和财政对银行的转移支付和内控制度建设的相对力度比较 ,因而遏制融资腐败的方法是严格转移支付纪律 ,加强内控制度 ;第三 ,企业借款行为是在自筹资金和银行借款间进行的相对成本比较 ,企业被动选择行贿 (交租 ) ,因而其真实融资成本远远高于名义法定金融机构贷款利率 ;第四 ,由于存在转移支付机制 ,企业与银行的非规范金融交易的实质是对中央银行和财政转移支付的分割 ;第五 ,根据以上结论 ,民间借贷与正规金融价格实际是均衡的 ,不能简单定义民间借贷是高利贷 ,如果如此定义 ,则正规金融也同样具备高利贷特征。     

Abatement of agricultural pollution and economic incentives: The case of intensive livestock farming in France

Amongst possible economic incentives to encourage reduced nitrate contamination of water, this paper emphasizes a nitrogen tax as a possible solution. This finding is based on models estimated from panel data for 100 intensive livestock farms. For each farm a threshold is established (nitrogen units which can be spread per hectare without damage) above which there is an excess of nitrogen. The 100 farms can consequently be classified into two subsamples. The demand for nitrogen is derived for each sub-sample using the dual approach. Both categories are pooled together and a tobit model is estimated. This is used to derive total nitogen demand if all farms were under the threshold. A mineral nitrogen tax would lead to a reduced nitrate concentration in water supplies, because of a more efficient use of organic nitrogen together with a reduction in the use of mineral nitrogen in crop production.     

Measuring economic ill-being using objective and subjective indicators: evidence for the Philippines

The mismatch between a country’s macroeconomic performance and the people’s economic well-being represents the overall economic ill-being in a society. This mismatch is measurable using objective indicators such as the inflation rate and the joblessness rate as well as subjective indicators such as personal evaluations on the inflation and joblessness rates. That is, the inflation rate shows the affordability of goods and services; and the subjective evaluation indicates whether people see the goods and services as affordable or not. In addition, the joblessness rate indicates the portion of the labor force that does not enjoy gainful employment; and the subjective evaluation indicates whether people see themselves as jobless or not. The results for the Philippines show a high-level of overall economic ill-being especially in the decade covering 2005 to 2014. This finding unveils a different scene from what the mainstream discourses are portraying as the current state of the Philippine society.     

Globalization,Inequality, and Local‐level Dynamics: Indonesia and the Philippines*

Subnational disparities and center–region relations are increasingly important issues in both the development economics literature and East Asian policy circles. Almost all developing countries in East Asia are actively decentralizing power and resources from the center. Analytically, there is growing interest in spatial economics, arising out of the fusion of economics and geography. This paper examines these issues with reference to Indonesia and the Philippines. Both countries are well suited to such a study: they are the two largest archipelagic nations in the world, they both feature great subnational diversity, and they have both adopted major decentralization programs, in similar circumstances. We conclude that, in aggregate, there have been no major changes in regional inequality in either country, although this conclusion is sensitive to the selection of economic indicators. In general, the regions that are the best connected to the global economy have grown more rapidly.     

Comparison of deep integration in the Melitz,Krugman and Armington models: The case of The Philippines in RCEP

We estimate the welfare effects of a modern mega-preferential trade agreement--the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership--with three versions of market structure: (i) perfect competition, Armington style; (ii) monopolistic competition based on Krugman (1980); and (iii) monopolistic competition in the style of Melitz (2003). We develop a new numerical model of foreign direct investment (FDI) with heterogeneous firms and extension of the Krugman model that allows small countries to impact the number of varieties. We hold both the trade and FDI responses constant across the three market structures. We find that in all three market structures, there are substantial gains from deep integration, but virtually no gains from preferential tariff reduction. Both our Krugman and Melitz style models produce significantly larger welfare gains than the Armington structure, especially if third countries benefit at least partially from the deep integration reforms via either spillovers or wider liberalization.     

政府技术采购的权力寻租模型及规制措施

政府技术采购作为一项公共政策工具,能够极大地推动技术创新。基于经济人动机,政府技术采购领域不可避免地存在权力租金交易。借助委托-代理理论,构建了政府技术采购的权力寻租模型。权力寻租可能带来种种社会危害,如破坏社会的生产力水平、降低公众的福利水平、导致科研单位的X-低效率。为最大限度地降低政府技术采购领域中权力寻租的规模和概率,有必要明确政府管理部门的角色定位、建立租金的消散机制、实行高薪养廉与预防寻租相结合的机制、完善对权力寻租行为的监督机制和加大对租金交易的惩罚力度。     

我国农村土地集中:方式和趋势

在现行的公有产权制度约束下,个人或利益团体获得对土地的终极占有或使用权有四种基本模式:宅基地、自留地、自留山模式,发包转包模式,以企事业单位名义占有模式和通过政治权力占有模式。本文分析指出,这四种模式将在未来的二三十年内发生重大的演变,土地的使用权将向个人及相关利益团体集中。     

The Nature of the State and the State of Nature: a Comment on Grady & McGuire's Paper

In 'The Nature of Constitutions', Mark Grady & Michael McGuire provide a model of the evolution and purposes of constitutions as arising to minimize appropriation by dominants of subordinates. This Comment builds on Grady & McGuire's article in three ways. First, it supplements their analysis by operationalizing a model of constitutional evolution that views constitutions as arising out of the conflict of competing high-ranking individuals to preserve their own authority. From this clash of self-interest of dominant individuals, constitutions are born. This predicts that constitutions will not simply tame all forms of appropriation, but will also hard-wire some forms of appropriation behavior into the permanent constitutional structure. Second, it examines the American constitution in light of this model to show how that constitution reflects the mixture of appropriation and appropriation-taming behavior. Third, this Comment argues that the breakdown of constitutionalism in the United States this century can be explained by a failure to fully appreciate the purposes of constitutionalism in a biological framework.     

The Use (and Abuse) of Meta-Analysis in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: An Assessment

Motivated by the 2006 report of a Work Group appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this paper examines the present state of meta-analysis in environmental economics and offers recommendations for its future use. To this end we summarize and assess 140 meta-analyses from 125 published and unpublished studies, covering 17 topical categories in environmental and resource economics. First, we provide several generic meta-analysis models as reference points and discuss major estimation issues. Five econometric issues are identified as part of a complete analysis: (1) sample selection criteria; (2) basic data summary; (3) primary data heterogeneity; (4) heteroskedasticity; and (5) non-independence of multiple observations from primary studies. Second, a tabular summary is presented for the 140 meta-analyses with respect to estimation methods. Third, a narrative summary is presented for 19 meta-analyses, including the three value-of-statistical-life studies examined by the EPA Work Group and one analysis from each of 16 other categories. Fourth, we offer a set of “best practice” guidelines for future meta-analyses in this and other areas of economics. Last, the paper comments on the use of meta-analytic methods for benefit transfers of environmental values.      

黑龙江省农业水资源利用研究

水是地球上一切生命赖以生存、也是人类生活和生产中不可缺少的基本物质之一。20世纪以来,由于世界各国工农业的迅速发展,城市人口的剧增,缺水已是当今世界许多国家面临的重大问题,尤其是城市缺水状况,越来越加剧。黑龙江省水资源属于中国北方较多地区,但降水分布不均,春旱和夏涝对农业生产影响较大。农业水资源丰富的地区,应优先发展水稻。农业水资源较少的地区发展旱田节水灌溉,应优先选择菜瓜果类高效益作物和对生产影响较大的种子苗木等。其次是扩大玉米催芽坐水种面积。第三是附加值较高的经济作物。     

依法治税和纳税服务——基于国家税收和公共税收的视角

依法治税和纳税服务是现阶段税收的两大任务。对两者的认识,不能孤立地或对立地看,而是要在社会主义市场经济下的税收应是国家税收和公共税收的统一的视角下加以把握。从这一认识出发,我们就能真正做到坚持依法治税,优化纳税服务,服务科学发展,就能探索出一条中国特色社会主义市场经济条件下的纳税服务新路。     

The Use and Abuse of Environmental Knowledge: A Bloomington School Interpretation of the Canadian Fisheries Act of 1868

This paper will focus on the ambitious plan for regulation embodied in the Dominion Fisheries Act of 1868, a law passed by the Canadian federal parliament in its very first year of existence. The 1868 law was intended to bring the nation's fisheries firmly under the control of officials employed by the new federal government. The paper argues that 1868 law, which was designed to address what would today be called Tragedy of the Commons problems, was a product of the hubris identified by Hayek as "the fatal conceit." The centralized and bureaucratic approach to governing fisheries represented by the 1868 Fisheries Act did not work well because the knowledge that would have been required for successful management of fisheries was highly dispersed. Drawing on Hayek and the Bloomington School, this paper argues that the experience of Canada's fisheries sector in the generation after 1868 illustrates the problems with centralized management Common-Pool Resources. In the 1890s, the centralized approach represented by the Fisheries Act of 1868 was replaced by a more flexible and decentralized system Hayek's theory of knowledge would suggest the reversal of centralization over environmental policy in the 1890s was a positive development that helped Canadians to reconcile the goals of economic development and the protection of the environment. The Hayekian paradigm suggests that control over environmental policy should be devolved downwards to the levels of government closest to resource users.     

Vested Interests and the Common People in Developing Countries: Understanding Oppressive Societies and Their Effects

The standard economic model of how economies work is that activities are essentially productive. This is not a correct view of reality. The principal difficulty is that there is economic activity that is unproductive and harmful (from the point of view of those being harmed). This is a central feature of the economic organization of these societies, and creates poverty. The first section of the article discusses the concept of harm. The second section describes how societies are run on this basic set of principles: Take and maintain control of the government and other aspects of society, and use the power of government to obtain income. The third section of the article describes how this system harms the common people. Topics include corruption, misappropriation of natural resources, conflict and other harm engendered by the struggle for control, the influence on present society of the past operation of harmful economic systems, and discrimination as well as other “barriers to entry.”     

Corruption and corporate leverage in an emerging economy: The role of economic freedom

This study investigated the effects of corruption and economic freedom on corporate leverage. We also evaluated how economic freedom shapes the effect of corruption on corporate leverage. Using a sample of Vietnamese firms covering a nine-year period from 2010 to 2018, we find evidence that increased control of corruption has a significant positive impact on firm leverage, whereas the opposite is true for economic freedom. This effect is robust to alternative measures of control of corruption as well as advanced estimation methods, such as firm-fixed effects and quantile regressions. Our results also reveal that the positive impact of corruption controls on corporate leverage is more pronounced for firms with high economic freedom. Econometrically, our findings indicate that firms with better control over corruption prefer debt financing, as demonstrated by their higher leverage ratio.     

Exploring differences in corruption: the role of neighboring countries

The aim of this paper is to study whether corruption spreads across neighboring countries. Spatial econometric techniques are used to analyze corruption interactions, testing whether the perception of corruption in neighboring countries affect a country’s own corruption once other variables are controlled for. For a given country it is found that corruption varies neither with the behavior of its neighbors (there is no endogenous interaction) nor with their exogenous characteristics (there is no contextual interaction). Corruption is therefore not contagious, but neighboring countries tend to show similar levels of corruption because they face similar characteristics and similar institutional environments.     

Emission taxes and the adoption of cleaner technologies: The case of environmentally conscious consumers

We model a market with environmentally conscious consumers and a duopoly in which firms consider the adoption of a clean technology. We show that as pollution increases, consumers shift more resources to the environmental activities, thereby affecting negatively the demand faced by the duopoly. This effect generates incentives for firms to adopt the clean technology even in the absence of emissions taxes. When such taxes are considered, our results indicate that the benefit of adopting the clean technology is initially increasing and then decreasing in the emission tax. The range of values for which the emission tax increases this benefit becomes narrower when the consumers’ environmental awareness is stronger.     

Energy taxation in Southern Europe: The case of Portugal

We investigate whether or not the imposition of a common EC energy-tax will penalize more the poorer Southern European economies and if this will harm convergence at the EC level. We start by surveying briefly the existing studies and empirical evidence. Then we exploit the results obtained when using the macroeconometric HERMES models to simulate the introduction of an energy-tax. Unfortunately, as we only have HERMES results for one Southern European economy, Portugal, our conclusions are limited. Finally, we investigate convergence in Europe and the effects of energy taxation on convergence. We conclude that energy taxation will harm growth all over the EC, penalizing more one of the less developed countries, Portugal, and having most probably adverse effects on convergence.This paper was prepared for presentation at the Conference Energy Tax in Europe organized jointly by the SEO-University of Amsterdam and the DG XII of the CEC and held in Amsterdam on 13th December 1991. I would like to thank the participants in the Conference and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. Of course, the usual disclaimer applies.