国有企业改革应着眼于现代企业领导制度的建立

国有企业改革应着眼于现代企业领导制度的建立●牛建中林杰企业领导体制是企业领导组织的制度模式和领导方式,是企业管理体制的核心,是企业各项管理体制中的一项根本制度,属于上层建筑的范畴。建立科学的企业领导体制和组织管理制度,有利于调节所有者、经营者和职工之...     

企业价值计量的不确定性与制衡机制

企业价值计量具有不确定性。企业、中介机构、相关利益人之间的相互监管、制衡关系是保证企业价值公允计量的制度基础。企业价值信息测量过程在形式上表现为一套计量规则，实质是制衡机制。我国企业评估与审计制度的完善不是一个孤立的行业规范问题，其成功与否取决于公司治理制度等相关市场经济法律制度的完善与发展。     

International policy coordination in an uncertain world

The gains from international macroeconomic policy coordination are seen to be a decreasing function of the degree of model uncertainty. In practice, therefore, despite the predictions of most theoretical models, the gains from cooperation may be relatively small.     

Industrial policy in an imperfect world

We study industrial policy and its effectiveness in a model with both market and government failures. We introduce a public agency responsible for industrial policy into the model of Hausmann and Rodrik [Hausmann, R., Rodrik, D., 2003. Development as Self-Discovery. Journal of Development Economics 72, 603–633], and we assume that this agency has limited information and political motives. In an extension, we further allow entrepreneurs to engage in rent seeking activities. We find that industrial policies are ineffective if the public agency is poorly informed, but not necessarily so if it is highly politically motivated. Given a politically motivated public agency, industrial policies are effective if and only if the institutional setting ensures that such policies are modest, e.g. by restricting the agency's budget. Moreover, our model helps us to understand why the same industrial policies that have failed elsewhere have been relatively successful in South Korea and Taiwan.     

Measuring productivity in an imperfect world

Most measures of multifactor productivity (MFP) assume constant returns to scale and perfect competition. Using a general aggregate production function together with duality theory and allowing for the possibilities of disequilibrium, markups and economies of scale, the study derives a more generalized MFP measure. The model was used to assess the economic performance in US manufacturing for the 1949 to 1988 period. The results suggest that scale and markups have substantial power in explaining MFP growth for all periods and that half of the measured MFP growth (as measured within the conventional framework) comes from biases due to scale economies, market power, and interaction effects.     

Forecasting inflation with an uncertain output gap

The output gap is a crucial concept in the monetary policy framework, indicating demand pressure that generates inflation. However, its definition and estimation raise a number of theoretical and empirical questions. This paper evaluates a series of univariate and multivariate methods for extracting the output gap in Norway, and compares their value added in predicting inflation. We find that models including the output gap have better predictive power than models based on alternative indicators, and they forecast significantly better than simple benchmark models. Furthermore multivariate measures of the output gap perform better than the univariate gaps. Comments from two anonymous referees, Q. Farooq Akram, Tommy Sveen, Ken West, Fredrik Wulfsberg and seminar participants in Norges Bank are gratefully acknowledged. All mistakes remain our own. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Norges Bank.     

Price convergence in an online virtual world

This paper tests for the existence of price convergence using a unique data set from the largest online game, World of Warcraft. It provides a controlled setting without the usual obstacles that make testing price convergence difficult. These difficulties include trade barriers, transportation costs, imperfections and restrictions in capital markets, and differences in productivity growth. The data set consists of eight structurally identical copies, or worlds, of a virtual macroeconomy. We use the non-linear convergence test developed by Phillips and Sul (Econometrica 75(6):1771–1855, 2007), and find price convergence in all eight worlds. We further develop our own simple band of inaction test for price convergence, and under reasonable parameters find price convergence in all eight worlds.     

Economic integration in an uneven world: an internationalist perspective

This paper discusses two progressive schools of thought that have evolved in response to international neoliberalism and the consequent competitive pressures in global markets emanating from the low-cost conditions obtained in many less developed countries. The paper identifies these as the ‘competitiveness-enhancing’ and the ‘competition-reducing’ approaches. The former is shown to be ill-suited to present circumstances of the global economy and, in any event, nationalist. The latter seeks to minimize the adverse consequences of international neoliberalism, and comprises proposals for expansive social charters and social tariffs. The paper provides a theoretical basis for this approach, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each of these proposals. The paper then develops and defends a new multilateral, rule-based trade proposal, called the ‘social index tariff structure’ (SITS), which would reward nations for high levels of development achieved relative to their economic means. Drawing on human development data from the Human Development Report (1993), a SITS-based trading scheme is developed for 77 countries. It is argued that a SITS regime would serve to protect the quality of life in developed countries while promoting human development in the less developed countries. The SITS proposal is assessed against Amartya Sen's ‘capabilities to achieve functionings’ approach to human development.