不确定性与中国城镇居民储蓄率的实证研究

本文从不确定性收入、社会保险的参与情况对中国城镇居民面临的不确定性进行了界定,并使用2006年中国综合社会调查数据(CGSS2006)检验了不确定性对城镇居民储蓄率的影响。基于稳健OLS和可行广义最小二乘法(FGLS)的估计结果表明:不确定性收入与城镇居民储蓄率之间存在着显著的正相关关系,参加养老保险和医疗保险可以显著降低城镇居民的储蓄率。分位数回归的结果进一步显示:在各分位处,不确定性收入均对城镇居民储蓄率产生了显著的正向影响,并且影响强度随着储蓄率分位的上升而下降;而在储蓄率分布的0.5及以上中高分位处,参加养老保险可以显著降低城镇家庭的储蓄率;在储蓄率分布的顶端,参加医疗保险也与城镇居民储蓄率之间表现出显著的负相关关系。     

Individual savings accounts for social insurance: rationale and alternative designs

Using Danish data, we find that about three-fourths of the taxes levied to finance public transfers actually finance benefits that redistribute income over the life cycle of individual taxpayers rather than redistribute resources across people. This finding and similar results for other countries provide a rationale for financing part of social insurance via mandatory individual savings accounts. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory individual savings accounts for social insurance and survey some recent alternative proposals for such accounts.      

劳动报酬上涨与中国国民储蓄率的演变趋势

资金流量表数据表明,劳动报酬上涨对2008年以来中国国民储蓄率产生了重大影响。本文据此提出了解释国民储蓄率演变趋势的劳动报酬假说,认为2008年以来的国民储蓄率持续下降是居民劳动报酬上涨推动的。具体来说,居民劳动报酬上涨的确定性和可预期性,增强了居民消费的过度敏感性,造成居民储蓄率下降;居民劳动报酬上涨导致企业支付劳动报酬占比上升,企业储蓄率下降;而企业支付劳动报酬占比上升又导致政府增加社会福利和公共服务支出,政府可支配收入比重和政府储蓄倾向下降,进而使得政府储蓄率下降。基于2008—2016年的省级面板数据,以最低工资标准作为工具变量进行实证检验,验证了上述假说。基于本文的理论假说和经验证据,我国国民储蓄率仍有进一步下降的空间。为了对冲储蓄率下降带来的影响,我国经济增长方式需要由投资驱动型转变为消费驱动型,当前稳增长政策的着力点需要由投资数量转变为投资效率。     

Designing a linear pension scheme with forced savings and wage heterogeneity

This paper studies the optimal linear pension scheme when society consists of rational and myopic individuals. Myopic individuals have, ex ante, a strong preference for the present even though, ex post, they would regret not to have saved enough. While rational and myopic persons share the same ex post intertemporal preferences, only the rational agents make their savings and labor supply decisions according to these preferences. Individuals are also distinguished by their productivity. The social objective is “paternalistic”: the utilitarian welfare function depends on ex post utilities. We examine how the presence of myopic individuals affects both the size of the pension system and the degree of redistribution it operates, with and without liquidity constraints. The relationship between proportion of myopic individuals and characteristics of the pension system turns out to be much more complex than one would have conjectured. Neither the impact on the level of pensions nor the effect on their redistributive degree is unambiguous. Nevertheless, we show that under some plausible assumptions adding myopic individuals increases the level of pension benefits and leads to a shift from a flat or even targeted scheme to a partially contributory one. However, we also provide an example where the degree of redistribution is not a monotonic function of the proportion of myopic individuals.      

Green accounting and green eyeshades twenty years later

This article proposes a way of accounting for firms’ social responsibilities as constructive obligations under the doctrine of promissory estoppel, thereby exposing certain limitations of financial accounting, given its current conceptual framework.     

劳动报酬上涨与中国国民储蓄率的演变趋势

资金流量表数据表明,劳动报酬上涨对2008年以来中国国民储蓄率产生了重大影响。本文据此提出了解释国民储蓄率演变趋势的劳动报酬假说,认为2008年以来的国民储蓄率持续下降是居民劳动报酬上涨推动的。具体来说,居民劳动报酬上涨的确定性和可预期性,增强了居民消费的过度敏感性,造成居民储蓄率下降;居民劳动报酬上涨导致企业支付劳动报酬占比上升,企业储蓄率下降;而企业支付劳动报酬占比上升又导致政府增加社会福利和公共服务支出,政府可支配收入比重和政府储蓄倾向下降,进而使得政府储蓄率下降。基于2008—2016年的省级面板数据,以最低工资标准作为工具变量进行实证检验,验证了上述假说。基于本文的理论假说和经验证据,我国国民储蓄率仍有进一步下降的空间。为了对冲储蓄率下降带来的影响,我国经济增长方式需要由投资驱动型转变为消费驱动型,当前稳增长政策的着力点需要由投资数量转变为投资效率。     

邮政储蓄改革的变迁与邮政储蓄银行设立的再思考

从邮政储蓄银行的设立角度入手分析邮政储蓄改革的进程，以邮政储蓄改革的变迁为主线，对我国20年来的邮政储蓄问题进行重新梳理，认为，虽然邮政储蓄银行的设立符合渐进式市场化改革的思路，但由于缺乏全面考虑邮政储蓄改革的基础条件和没有认识到政府因素的介入，邮政储蓄银行的设立并非是邮政储蓄改革一劳永逸的方案，邮政储蓄改革未来的发展道路仍然很漫长。     

社会保障制度模式的比较研究

世界各国的社会保障制度可归纳为四种模式：福建国家型；国家统筹、三方共负型；国家保障型；个人储蓄积累型。通过对以上四种保障模式的比较分析，总结出其共同特征，并结合我国国情，得出值得我国借鉴的基本经验。     

Share issuance and cash savings

Firms increasingly issue shares for the purpose of cash savings. During the 1970s, $1.00 of issuance resulted in $0.23 of cash savings; over the most recent decade, $1.00 of issuance resulted in $0.60 of cash savings. This increase is caused by increasing precautionary motives. Proxies for precautionary motives increase over the sample period, and firm-level increases in these proxies are associated with firm-level increases in share issuance–cash savings. Share issuance–cash savings are inversely related to issuance costs, suggesting that firms issue and save when costs are low, so as to avoid issuing when costs are high. This framework can also help explain patterns and trends in share issuance activity over time. Market timing does not explain these effects, as share issuance–cash savings are not related to post-issuance stock returns.     

金融素养与家庭储蓄率——基于理财规划与借贷约束的解释

金融科技的发展使得人们参与金融市场的门槛与成本迅速降低,金融产品也不断丰富,金融市场参与者的异质性增加,金融素养对家庭金融决策的影响越来越明显。本文研究发现:(1)家庭在安排储蓄与消费时,金融素养有显著影响,金融素养与家庭储蓄率呈倒U型关系。(2)理财规划和借贷约束是影响家庭储蓄率上升的两个渠道。(3)金融素养由低逐渐升高时,家庭的理财规划意识增强,通过提高储蓄率来保障资金充足。当金融素养增加到一定程度,理财规划意识优化资产配置的作用增强,抑制消费的作用减弱,同时借贷约束缓解会帮助家庭增加消费。本文的发现有助于厘清家庭储蓄率差异的成因,对提升居民福利,增强金融教育政策的针对性,有积极意义。     

储蓄率与杠杆率:一个U型关系

近年来,中国呈现典型的“高储蓄—高杠杆”特征,高储蓄率也被认为是中国杠杆率偏高的主要原因之一。能否通过降低储蓄率的方式来去杠杆成为了广泛讨论的问题。为此,本文构建了一个含有融资约束的动态宏观模型,研究了储蓄率对杠杆率的影响机理。并且,基于41个代表性经济体1966-2017年的面板数据,对储蓄率与杠杆率之间的关系进行了实证分析,主要有两点研究发现:(1)虽然高储蓄率会导致高杠杆率,但是储蓄率与杠杆率不是简单的正相关关系,而是呈现显著的U型关系。结合测算的U型曲线拐点值与中国实际情况,预计储蓄率下降在降低杠杆率方面的作用效果有限。(2)高杠杆下,较高的储蓄率可以有效降低发生金融危机的概率,而储蓄率下降则会加大发生金融危机的概率。基于此,本文认为中国不能通过降低储蓄率的方式来降低杠杆率,反而需要对近年来储蓄率下滑的现象予以高度重视,从而更好地守住不发生系统性金融风险的底线。     

Power and ideas: The development of retirement savings taxation in Australasia

New Zealand and Australia have adopted vastly different approaches to retirement savings and its associated taxation. Two fundamental differences exist: New Zealand offers little in the way of tax incentives for retirement savings and there is no compulsion for retirement savings; Australia provides highly concessionary tax incentives and has a mandatory occupational retirement savings scheme. This paper uses a historical institutionalism theoretical framework to investigate the events that led to these diverse approaches in retirement savings taxation between two countries that frequently adopt similar policy ‘solutions’.The research highlights the importance of power and ideas in the policy development process. Power imbalances among institutions and individuals facilitated the pursuit of tax and retirement savings policy arrangements that were aligned with the world view of privileged elites. Ideas justified the policy direction adopted in each country and assisted in legitimising the power granted to actors and institutions that supported the prevailing ideology. The strongest ideas were found in New Zealand, where reform was the most radical.     

Determinants of the Savings and Fixed Asset Holdings of Turkish Migrants in Germany

This paper investigates the determinants of the bank savings and fixed assets of Turkish migrants residing in Germany. We find that migrants with firmer roots in Germany are more likely to hold savings and fixed assets in Germany, and those with stronger links to Turkey are more likely to hold savings and fixed assets in Turkey. As expected, income is a positive determinant of savings and fixed assets in both countries. Although age has a positive impact on savings and fixed assets in Turkey, it has a negative impact on savings in Germany. These results shed new light on Turkish migrants' short- and long-term savings in Turkey and Germany.     

THE NATURE AND MEASUREMENT OF COST SAVINGS IN CURRENT VALUE ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS*

The paper considers the nature and measurement of cost savings in current value (cost) accounting systems. In general, current cost accounting proposals have interpreted cost savings in an unnecessarily restrictive way. For example, current cost accounting does not allow for the possibility that a company which borrows at a fixed rate of interest may derive significant cost savings if interest rates increase during the term of the loan. The measurement of cost savings on debt is considered in this paper. In addition, it draws attention to the concentration of current cost accounting proposals on cost savings at the expense of the analogous losses which may arise in relation to revenue.     

贸易自由化对制造业企业现金储蓄的影响——预防性动机还是投资挤压?

随着加入世界贸易组织,中国企业的出口及投资机会增多,但与此同时面临的进口竞争压力也与日俱增。本文基于1998-2007年中国工业企业数据和行业进口关税数据,以中国2001年加入世界贸易组织为准自然实验,采用双重差分法(DID)模型,首次系统地考察了贸易自由化对制造业企业现金储蓄的影响及作用机制。研究发现:(1)中国贸易自由化不仅没有提高国内制造业企业的现金储蓄率,反而通过投资挤压显著降低了企业的现金储蓄率,这与发达国家的相关研究结果大相径庭。(2)贸易自由化对企业现金储蓄的作用依赖于市场竞争程度,即关税减让会显著降低竞争性行业以及高集聚区域内企业的现金储蓄率。(3)高关税行业的关税降低后,进口竞争会侵蚀纯内销企业的投资机会,尤其是小规模企业,进而降低其现金储蓄。经过一系列检验后,结论依然成立。     

When global accounting standards meet the local context—Insights from an emerging economy

We investigate the translation and application of global accounting standards in a local context, with Romania as our country case study. Our theoretical framework is derived from institutional theory. We develop this by complementing isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983) with an emphasis on the behavior of actors and with the different strategic responses that organizations enact as a result of the institutional pressures toward conformity, following Oliver (1991). We contend that local actors play a more important role in triggering organizational responses than is implied by Oliver's (1991) framework in the application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This is because organizational responses to these global standards are conditioned by the interplay between actors, who are searching for legitimacy and the attainment of their own (mutually conflicting) interests.Contrary to earlier institutional propositions, we find that acquiescence strategies may occur even when there is a great degree of constituent multiplicity, and that avoidance may occur in entities with a smaller degree of multiplicity. We thus argue that countries are not homogeneous in terms of accounting practices. Finally we suggest that intra-organizational interests and actions are important for IFRS implementation, and future research should investigate this in depth.     

浅析我国税收制度对国民储蓄倾向的影响

税收与国民储蓄间的关系表现在税收对储蓄的动员性上。所得税和财产税抑制储蓄,商品税则有可能相对提高国民储蓄倾向。当前,我国受税制安排的特殊性、收入分配的非公平性及特殊国情的影响,税收制度与国民储蓄间的关系具有某种特性。这种特性表明,在我国税制改革中税制的设计既要保证国民储蓄的合理增长,又要兼顾公平,从而使我国国民经济在适度储蓄规模的基础上得以健康协调发展。     

Targeted savings and labor supply

Substantial evidence suggests that savings behavior may depart from neoclassical optimization. This article examines the implications of raising the savings rate—whether through social security, retirement plans, or otherwise—for labor supply, where labor supply is determined by behavioral utility functions that reflect the non-neoclassical character of savings behavior. Under one formulation, raising the targeted savings rate increases labor supply regardless of the slope of the labor supply curve; under a second, raising the targeted savings rate has the same effect on labor supply as that of raising the labor income tax rate; and under a third, raising the targeted savings rate has no effect on labor supply. Effects on labor supply are particularly consequential because of the significant preexisting distortion due to labor income taxation.     

An analysis of the Medical Savings Account as an alternative retirement savings Vehicle

Personal savings as a percentage of disposable income have dropped steadily since the early 1980s. Savings have continued to decline in 1999, as the savings rate—savings as a percentage of after-tax income—dropped to a record low of minus 0.7% in April 1999, according to the Department of Commerce. The study finds that MSA-type accounts are a viable supplement to retirement savings, but should not be used as a replacement for existing retirement alternatives given their current structure. Results show that future health care expenditures are an important factor in the success or failure of MSAs as supplemental retirement accounts. Medical Savings Accounts are currently eligible for long-term care expenses, and to the extent that such expenses occur during retirement, MSA balances could be used to pay for retirement expenses. In that respect the accounts already capture the characteristics of a retirement savings account. A comparison of the Roth IRA with the MSA as defined by the 1996 HIPAA legislation is also conducted.     

Beliefs and actions: expectations and savings decisions by older Americans

To understand the interaction of savings behavior, pension fund participation and expectations of retirement well being, we ask two questions. Are expected pension benefits a substitute for accumulated savings in replacing preretirement income? Are individuals’ expectations concerning their retirement standard of living realistic based on their accumulated savings and pension plan participation? First-wave data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) are analyzed using a probit regression. The results are consistent with the idea that pension benefits are substitutes for saving and that accumulated savings have a significant impact on the expected standard of living but pension plan participation does not.