Capital requirements and business cycles with credit market imperfections

The business cycle effects of bank capital regulatory regimes are examined in a New Keynesian model with credit market imperfections and a cost channel of monetary policy. Bank capital increases incentives for banks to monitor borrowers, thereby raising the repayment probability, and excess capital generates benefits in terms of reduced regulatory scrutiny. Basel I- and Basel II-type regulatory regimes are defined, and the model is calibrated for a middle-income country. Simulations of a supply shock show that, depending on the elasticity that relates the repayment probability to the bank capital–loan ratio, the Basel II regime may be less procyclical than a Basel I regime.     

农业产业集群优化升级的空间配置模型:供应链管理视角

文章从供应链管理视角,建立了同时考虑生产和运输成本的农业产业集群优化升级空间配置问题的混合整数规划数学模型。该模型通过对农业产业集群供应链网络的各个生产节点的区位、生产规模进行选择,以最小化农产品的初级生产、初级加工、完成品加工和配送的总成本。文章并以陕西渭北平原苹果产业集群为例,得出了集群的最优空间配置方案,验证了模型的有效性,也表明该模型对农业产业集群空间配置的优化和升级能提供有益参考。     

Hymer, the Nation-State and the Determinants of Multinational Corporations' Activities

The paper starts with a brief analysis of Hymer's early workon the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) and ofhis later work dealing with their effects on the nation-states,their governments, labour and the international division oflabour. The paper then goes on to argue that the existence ofnation-states with their specific regulatory regimes gives companiesspecial advantages particularly with regard to labour and nationalgovernments. These can be turned into competitive advantagestowards rivals. The advantages of transnationality, derivingfrom operating in different regulatory regimes, are consideredas one of the contributory elements to the explanation of internationalproduction and its geographical configuration. This approachis seen as building a bridge between the issues raised in thelater works by Hymer (his Marxist phase) in relation to nation-statesand labour, and his earlier dissertation work on explanationsof FDI. Policy implications are drawn in the last section.     

产品碳足迹及其国内外发展现状

气候变化已成为可持续发展的重要议题。低碳经济、低碳生活的号召下,产品生产及消费对环境的影响已渐渐引起人们的重视。产品碳足迹分析有助于企业真正了解产品对气候变化的影响,并由此采取可行的措施减少供应链中的碳排放。对碳足迹、产品碳足迹及产品碳足迹标识的相关概念进行介绍,分析国内、外有关产品碳足迹的发展现状和发展趋势。对社会普及碳足迹概念和引导更多中国企业实施产品碳足迹起到促进作用。     

Incentive regulation and investment: evidence from European energy utilities

This paper investigates the relationship between investment and regulatory regimes (incentive vs. rate-of-return regulation) for a sample of EU energy utilities from 1997 to 2007. We control for the effect of firm ownership and for cross-country differences in the underlying energy demand and energy supply. To deal with potential endogeneity of the regulatory regime, we apply instrumental variable methods (2SLS and GMM). Our results show that investment rate is higher under incentive regulation than under rate of return regulation. Using original data on the regulatory tools (X factor and WACC), we find that investment of incentive regulated firms appears highly sensitive to the X factor, consistent with efficiency- and profit-seeking motivations. Electric utilities investment is also sensitive to the level and change in the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Finally, we find that the positive relationship between private control and investment is not robust to IV estimations, suggesting that in Europe regulation may have reduced the differences between private and public firms’ incentives to invest.     

Disinflation costs in China and monetary policy regimes

This paper investigates the real effects of a disinflationary policy in China, in which we conduct a disinflation experiment in a medium-scale New Keynesian model. We highlight two key features of China's economy: the relevance of money to monetary policy rules and household inequality. For the former, we consider two monetary policy regimes: an expanded Taylor rule with money and a money supply rule. For the latter, we take into account a share of the population that is limited in its ability to participate in assets markets. Our analysis suggests that a disinflation policy is more costly when the central bank controls the money supply than the case in which the nominal interest rate is the policy instrument. Our results are driven by the different impacts of disinflation on nominal and real interest rates under the two regimes.     

The Impact of Regulatory Reform on the Portfolio Performance of Australian Credit Unions

This paper applies a portfolio approach to examine the effectiveness of the Financial Institutions (FI) Code (1992) in achieving the twin regulatory objectives of stability and efficiency in Australian credit unions. A model is developed to examine the allocation of credit union portfolios in unregulated and regulation-constrained environments. The impact of regulatory constraints on portfolio performance prior to and following the introduction of the FI Code is thus assessed. The paper concludes that, overall, the FI Code increased both the stability and the allocative efficiency of credit unions over that of previous regulatory regimes.     

Dominant Firm Pricing with Competitive Entry and Regulation: The Case of IntraLATA Toll

In this paper, we develop a generalized model of a dominant firm-competitive fringe industry in which products are differentiated, costs vary across suppliers, and the dominant firm is subject to alternative regulatory regimes. The model yields an equilibrium condition that can be tested empirically using data on Bell Operating Companies' pricing of intraLATA toll telephone service. Estimation of a reduced form price equation provides strong support for the theoretical model. Of particular interest, the results suggest that dominant firm (Bell Operating Company) toll prices are driven down by the presence of actual and potential fringe competitors (interexchange carriers) when entry is authorized by the state. Additionally, the results fail to provide evidence that the introduction of incentive regulation or price-cap regulation has reduced intraLATA toll prices.     

基于期权合约的我国超市生鲜农产品供应链管理探讨

国内外学者对期权合约在供应链管理中的应用有着广泛的研究。本文从超市生鲜农产品供应链管理的概念框架出发,剖析了我国目前超市生鲜农产品供应链在信息流、物资流和资金流三个方面存在的问题。然后,在理论上提出引入非嵌入式期权合约再造我国超市生鲜农产品供应链,并分析了期权交易对信息流、物资流和资金流管理的改善作用。     

Public production and shadow pricing in a model of disequilibrium in labour and capital markets

This paper develops second-best rules for public investment and employment in various regimes of disequilibrium on the capital and the labour markets. The model used is very simple so as to imply rules which can easily be interpreted and contrasted with the current literature on the subject. Another issue considered is that of possible changes of regimes within a process of welfare improvement involving adjustments in the public production plan; it is dealt with through a numerical example which points out that such changes can indeed occur.     

Estimating price compensation requirements for eco-certified forestry

Eco-certified forestry (ECF) is defined as forest management that incorporates ecological concerns into commercial timber production. In this paper, we link the adoption of ECF practices to shifts in the timber supply function. We use a spatially disaggregated model of southeastern US timber supply to simulate the empirical relationship between variations in the price premium offered for timber produced under ECF regimes and producer surplus-maximizing rates of ECF. The simulation results suggest that a large share of nonindustrial private timber suppliers in the region may have relatively small compensation requirements, but complete adoption by the sector would require a large premium.     

Rent extraction and incentives for efficiency in recent regulatory proposals

Building on a simple model proposed by Schmalensee (1989), this paper uses simulation techniques to analyze and compare various regulatory schemes including Schmalensee's family of (linear) good regulatory regimes, a price-cap regime allowing for downward price flexibility, and a regime that combines price-cap and profit sharing. The quantitative analysis pays particular attention to measuring the trade-off between rent extraction and incentives for efficiency. The main findings of this study can be summarized as follows. First, it appears that pure price-cap regulation leaves substantial rent to the firm relative to the other regimes. Second, introducing room for downward price flexibility improves efficiency of price-cap over Schmalensee's linear regulatory regimes. Finally, by correcting in part for the distributional distortion of price-cap, the profit-sharing mechanism often yields levels of welfare comparable to optimal regulation levels.     

Differences in long run exchange rate pass-through into import prices in developing countries: An empirical investigation

This paper investigates the exchange rate pass-through into import prices in a sample of 24 developing countries over the period from 1980 to 2003. We estimate a pass-through equation determined by a combination of the nominal exchange rate, the price of the competing products, the exporter's costs and demand conditions. We adopt non-stationary panel estimation techniques and tests for cointegration. In the long run, homogeneity of pass-through rates across countries can be rejected. Moreover, we show that most of these differences in exchange rate pass-through into import prices are due to three macroeconomics determinants: exchange rate regimes, trade barriers and inflation regimes.     

X-inefficiency and regulatory regime shift in the UK

Concern over economic efficiency has increased in recent years in the UK and has been one of the major driving forces behind the regulatory reforms and privatisation measures which have been initiated since 1979. The amount of detailed work on economic efficiency, and especially on X-efficiency, in the UK is, however, relatively limited. The first part of the paper surveys the previous UK work in this field and explores the implications of the findings in terms of industry wide studies and industry specific studies. The second part of the study looks specifically at the issue of privatisation and the impact that this has had on X-efficiency in the context of the electricity supply industry.     

Prices Versus Quantities: Technology Choice,Uncertainty and Welfare

Technological improvements have proven essential in mitigating environmental problems such as climate change, depletion of the ozone layer and acid rain. While it is well-known that price- and quantity-based regulatory instruments provide different investment levels, the effects on the choice between different technologies have received scant attention. This paper expands on the prices versus quantities literature by investigating firms’ technology choice in the face of demand and supply side uncertainty. I show that the regulator can not design tradable emissions permits and an emissions tax such that the two regimes are equivalent, even in terms of expected values. Moreover, a tax encourages the most flexible abatement technology if and only if stochastic costs and the equilibrium permit price have sufficiently strong positive covariance, compared with the variance in consumer demand for the good produced. Finally, the firms’ technology choices are socially optimal under tradable emissions permits, but not under an emissions tax.     

Bank acquisitions of investment dealers: Canadian evidence and implications for Glass-Steagall reform

This paper analyzes the 1987 change in Canadian legislation permitting commercial banks to engage in investment banking, and makes comparisons to the US, where similar regulatory change is under way. The study focuses on the impact of such regulatory change on issue costs for corporations raising seasoned common equity. The findings indicate that although regulatory reform per se has had no effect on issue costs, costs for issues handled by a bank-owned underwriter are lower than those handled by an independent underwriter. The lower cost may be indicative of the availability of economies of scope between underwriting and commercial banking. First Version Received: Nov. 1998 / Final Version Received: March 2000     

国际资本流动对我国银行业的影响及对策分析

在我国加入WTO以后 ,随着国际资本流入的不断增加 ,国内的货币供应量也将随之增加 ,这将增加银行的经营风险 ,并有可能导致银行危机的发生。本文就这一问题进行了阐述并提出了对策。     

The emergence of hybrid-electric cars: Innovation path creation through co-evolution of supply and demand

Hybrid-electric vehicles have experienced a significant rate of growth in the last 10 years. This is remarkable, since the automotive sector is typically averse to the more radical technological change of engines. The internal combustion engine has been around for more than 100 years after all.In this paper we describe and explain the emergence of electric engines in the automobile market after 1990. We explicate the role of techno-economic mechanisms alongside social and regulatory mechanisms (including the social meaning of an engine). The co-evolutionary analysis is novel in the integrated conception of actor perspectives, feedback effects and competition between products. We find three sources of lock-in through path dependency: from demand, supply as well as the regulatory side. We conclude that automotive engines were significantly locked into a trajectory of internal combustion technology due to techno-economic mechanisms, which produced inertia despite social pressures. The creation of an alternative path, on the other hand, initially stalled. Various stakeholders were unsuccessful in marketing their electric or hybrid-electric vehicles in the 1990s, such as Peugeot/Citroen with various electric models, or Audi with their Duo in 1997. However, after 2000 we find that sustaining efforts of California's Air Resources Board and Toyota were triggering creation of a new innovation path of hybrid-electric engines.     

Towards governance of human tissue engineered technologies in Europe: Framing the case for a new regulatory regime

The development of human tissue engineered technologies, located in the context of wider debates around the governance of biotechnology, raises important issues. This paper explores these issues by examining theoretical approaches to the regulation of risk, the limits of technical risk assessment and implications of scientific uncertainty in this area. We consider broader social concerns and how these shape contemporary debates relating to the sourcing and use of human tissue-engineered technologies. We examine the emergence of a new regulatory ‘regime’ in Europe and the social shaping of a regulatory space between medicinal products, medical devices and biologics where these innovative products may be situated. Reporting on recent policy initiatives and a survey of regulatory authorities in Europe, we analyse the ways in which public trust in these technologies may be engendered, providing insight into public participation in policy debate and relations between industry and the regulatory state at national and European levels.     

强自然垄断定价理论与中国电价规制制度分析

强自然垄断行业由于其定价方面的两难困境 ,需要规制者对其产品定价进行规制以在厂商利润与社会福利之间进行权衡。边际成本定价原则并不适合于自然垄断厂商。本文在规制定价理论以及激励规制理论的基础上 ,对中国电力定价问题进行了分析 ,认为电价改革的第一步应在发电环节中引入竞争的基础上 ,对不同效率类型的电力厂商设计不同激励强度的定价机制 ,另外本文尝试着对不同技术效率的电力厂商列出了不同激励强度的价格规制方案菜单