最低工资标准、人力资本扩张与企业成本加成*

本文以人力资本扩张为切入点，构建了最低工资、人力资本扩张影响企业成本加成的理论框架，并使用中国1998-2013年284个地级市的工业企业数据进行了经验研究。结论显示：最低工资上调会显著抑制企业成本加成的提升，削弱了企业的市场势力，但该抑制效应在人力资本扩张的背景下得以缓解。同时本文通过进一步分组回归发现，最低工资标准与人力资本扩张对企业成本加成具有明显的异质性影响。因此，适度、稳定调整最低工资标准及推动人力资本质量的整体提升有助于保持企业成本加成能力及其动态竞争力。     

最低工资标准与企业成本加成——来自中国制造业企业的证据

本文在搜集全国各市所有区县1999-2007年最低工资标准的基础上,将企业微观数据与最低工资标准数据合并,实证检验了最低工资对中国制造业企业成本加成的影响。本文研究发现,均值层面上,最低工资的提高显著提升了企业成本加成,这说明现阶段我国的最低工资制度是适宜的,对企业成本加成具有正面影响。进一步影响机制检验表明,最低工资可能通过影响企业资本劳动比等途径促进企业成本加成提升。虽然本文表明最低工资标准的提升不会抑制企业成本加成提高,但仍然需要关注最低工资对企业产生的其他影响,统筹处理好维护劳动者权益与促进企业发展的关系,使最低工资标准更好地与经济发展相协调。     

最低工资标准、产业智能化与企业出口国内附加值

本文采用2001—2015年地级市最低工资标准数据、IFR工业机器人数据和中国工业企业微观数据，考察了最低工资标准、产业智能化与企业出口国内附加值之间的关系。结果表明，最低工资标准提升增加了企业成本负担，降低了企业出口国内附加值，其中，加工贸易企业和劳动密集型行业的出口国内附加值受最低工资标准影响最大；研究同时显示，产业智能化可以一定程度抵消最低工资标准调整的负面影响，且在加工贸易企业和劳动密集型行业中最为明显。进一步的研究发现，产业智能化通过人力资本效应和创新效应缓解了最低工资标准上调对企业出口国内附加值的不利影响。文章的结果表明，在人口红利消失的背景下，加快推进产业智能化、培育与之匹配的人力资本结构，是当前中国实现高质量发展，助力企业迈向价值链高端环节的重要举措。     

最低工资、劳动密集度与企业退出

基于1998—2013年中国工业企业数据库和城市最低工资的匹配数据，本文研究了最低工资上涨对企业退出的影响，并进一步探究了不同劳动密集度企业的异质反应。实证结果表明，最低工资提升会显著提高劳动密集型企业的退出概率，降低资本密集型企业的退出概率。机制检验表明，最低工资提升会通过影响产品成本加成率、行业市场份额、企业生产率来影响企业利润，进而影响其退出概率。本文结果表明，最低工资上涨有利于产业资本深化和经济高质量发展。     

最低工资标准的上涨是否会加剧企业避税?

作为保障劳动者权益的重要举措,中国的最低工资标准制度产生了持续而广泛的影响。本文尝试从企业避税视角理解这一制度的潜在影响。理论上,最低工资标准的上涨会增加企业的劳动力成本与生产调整难度,这会使企业在遭遇负面冲击时更有可能陷入经营困境,此时企业通过税收规避抵御风险的需求增加。以中国上市公司为研究样本,实证结果支持了上述理论推断。企业所在地区的月最低工资标准每上涨100元,企业通过避税所带来的所得税现金流出会下降约2.52%。进一步,最低工资标准上涨对企业避税的促进作用主要集中在那些劳动力成本更有可能因最低工资标准上调而增加的企业(劳动密集度较高、平均工资水平较低和成本转嫁能力较弱的企业),以及遭遇负面冲击时更有可能陷入经营困境的企业(成长性较高、规模较小、经营活动产生的现金流入较少和经营杠杆系数较高的企业)。最后,最低工资标准上涨背景下的企业避税行为降低了企业经营风险,提升了企业价值。     

环境规制如何影响了制造企业的成本加成率

本文以“十一五”以来环境规制政策的实质性推进为“准自然实验”，基于2000—2011年《工业企业污染排放数据库》和《中国工业企业数据库》合并得到的微观面板数据，运用双重差分倾向得分匹配方法(PSM-DID)，考察环境规制政策实施对制造企业成本加成率的影响效果及其微观作用机制。研究发现，环境规制政策显著提升了制造企业的成本加成率；环境规制对成本加成率的促进作用主要通过创新补偿机制实现，市场结构变动机制对成本加成率的影响不明显，遵循成本机制对成本加成率的影响为负；环境规制政策对高污染行业和中部地区制造企业成本加成率的促进效果更强。     

最低工资提高对企业员工人力资本的影响分析

最低工资对人力资本的影响是其效应的一个重要方面。本文基于博弈论的方法,从企业雇员培训和工人自身人力资本投资两个角度对最低工资提高于企业员工人力资本的影响进行分析,发现最低工资提高会增加中等技术水平工人的入力资本积累,同时可能减少低技能水平工人的人力资本积累。最后,提出相关建议,认为政府应提高对低技能工人的关注度。     

最低工资标准提升的就业效应——一个基于自然实验的经验研究

本文以最低工资标准提升作为自然实验,应用回归调整的差中差方法分析了最低工资标准提升对青年和中年低技能劳动力就业的影响。研究结果表明,最低工资标准提升对低技能群体中的男性和青年女性的就业没有产生显著影响;但对低技能群体中的中年女性就业却产生显著的消极影响,且最低工资标准提升幅度越大,对就业的消极影响越大。因此,政府适当的提升最低工资标准将有助于低技能劳动力整体工资水平的增长。     

最低工资与企业投融资期限错配北大核心CSSCI

最低工资政策是劳动者权益保护的重要措施,其所引发的经济影响一直是社会各界关注的重点。本文利用2005-2018年中国A股上市公司数据,结合各地区最低工资标准调整的数据,考察了最低工资标准上涨对企业投融资期限错配的影响。结果显示,最低工资标准上涨显著加剧了企业投融资期限错配;机制检验发现,最低工资标准上涨通过促进要素替代与提高企业融资约束加剧了投融资期限错配;异质性检验表明,这一影响主要在劳动密集度高、平均工资水平低、非国有企业、小规模企业以及公司治理水平低的企业中表现更明显;进一步研究发现,最低工资标准上涨在短期内显著提高了企业的违约风险,投融资期限错配是这一影响的中介机制。本文的研究有助于全面认识最低工资政策的实施效果,为最低工资标准的制定和调整提供参考,同时也有利于企业从劳动力因素视角审视企业的风险管控问题。     

最低工资标准如何影响企业产能过剩

利用我国25个城市最低工资标准数据匹配到世界银行关于中国制造业企业调查数据,从实证角度探究了最低工资标准对企业产能利用率的影响及作用机制.结果表明,最低工资标准上浮会显著降低企业的产能利用率.同时,本文还揭示了最低工资标准影响企业产能利用率的调节机制和渠道机制.进一步研究发现,对不同规模和类型企业而言,最低工资标准上浮对企业产能利用率的影响存在异质性.研究结论为深层次理解经济转型时期,中国制造业企业产能过剩的原因提供了新的线索.     

Pleasure and belief in Hume's Decision Process

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to introduce explicitly pleasure and belief in what aims at being a Humean theory of decision, like the one developed in Diaye and Lapidus (2005a). Although we support the idea that Hume was in some way a hedonist – evidently different from Bentham's or Jevons' way – we lay emphasis less on continuity than on the specific kind of hedonism encountered in Hume's writings (chiefly the Treatise, the second Enquiry, the Dissertation, or some of his Essays). Such hedonism clearly contrasts to its standard modern inheritance, expressed by the relation between preferences and utility.

The reason for such a difference with the usual approach lies in the mental process that Hume puts to the fore in order to explain the way pleasure determines desires and volition. Whereas pleasure is primarily, in Hume's words, an impression of sensation, it takes place in the birth of passions as reflecting an idea of pleasure, whose “force and vivacity” is precisely a “belief”, transferred to the direct passions of desire or volition that come immediately before action. As a result, from a Humean point of view, “belief” deals with decision under risk or uncertainty, as well as with intertemporal decision and indiscrimination problems.

The latter are explored within a formal framework, and it is shown that the relation of pleasure is transformed by belief into a non-empty class of relations of desire, among which at least one is a preorder.     

Globalization,Neoliberalism and the attack on social security

Neoliberal political movements advocate privatization of public pension systems. Globalization imposes pressure on nations to conform to neoliberal policy views with respect to the design and structure of social insurance, including public pension systems. The paper begins with an investigation of the economic, ethical and ideological dimensions of the privatization debates in the U.S.; it argues that privatization advocates may be largely moved by ideology, since the other reasons advanced appear weak or unfounded. The second part discusses the history of Social Security, the purposes for its creation, and some of its economic effects. Differences between public and private pension systems are considered. A brief international comparison of some aspects of public pension system finance and benefit structures is presented. The final section considers the ethical, macroeconomic and distributional implications of privatization, prefunding and payroll tax funding, and argues for a pay as you go system financed with income taxes. In order to promote equity, economic security, community, and social cohesion, public pension systems should be universal in coverage. In order to reduce the inequality, income insecurity, and aged poverty generated by market economies, public pension systems ought to be progressive: benefit/contribution ratios should be inversely proportional to income, and progressive income taxes should finance the system. To promote economic growth, the systems should be financed on a pay-as-you-go basis, and should not be prefunded except for an emergency reserve. The fiscal policy recommendations partially depend upon the theory developed by Abba Lerner in the 1940s, and recently advanced by Wynne Godley and Randy Wray: Lerner's “principle of functional finance.”     

Interest on reserves and inflation

The payment of interest on reserves has been a common practice in inflationary economies. This policy may seem paradoxical since it involves returning part of the seigniorage, generated by the inflation process, with the intention to finance the fiscal deficit. This paper argues that the motivation for this policy can be captured by the discretionary regime, where the policymaker pays interest on reserves because he is concerned with the erosion of real liquidity by inflation, which is in part beyond his control. However, this policy is an unlikely outcome in the commitment regime, where the policymaker is in full control of inflation.     

Bayesian estimation of duration models: An application of the multiperiod probit model

The multiperiod probit model is presented and Bayesian estimation using the Gibbs sampler with data augmentation is described. As an empirical illustration, the multiperiod probit model is then used to estimate a duration model using employment duration data for the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Bayesian estimation with unobserved heterogeneity is shown to be a simple extension of estimation of a duration model with no unobserved heterogeneity. More importantly, perhaps, some numerical problems encountered by other authors using Maximum Likelihood are avoided.I would like to thank M. Baker, G. Koop, A. Melino and D. Poirier for helpful comments and discussions. I would also like to thank M. Baker for providing his data.     

Scenarios and creativity: Thinking in new boxes

To be creative and make change happen, leaders must do more than simply ‘think outside the box’, as the traditional business manuals suggest, using the popular American expression. After all, the space outside the box is infinitely expansive. Moreover, there can be no guarantee that a solution to the problem will be found. The answer: ‘Think in new boxes.’ This requires developing the right new box; in other words, useful new models, a helpful new approach to a problem. That is the real art of practical creativity. This short article outlines the approach (Thinking in New Boxes) and its application to classic scenario planning with a few examples. The authors also present the ‘Expressway to Scenarios’, an approach that wins in impact and practicality what it loses in deep analysis, by having top executives involved in key steps.     

On the Role of Paradigms in Understanding Economic Globalization

Any adequate analysis of economic globalization necessarily requires fundamental understanding of the worldviews underlying the views expressed with respect to the nature and role of economic globalization. This paper is based on the premise that any worldview can be associated with one of the four basic paradigms: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist, and radical structuralist. It argues that any view expressed with respect to economic globalization is based on one of the four paradigms or worldviews. It, therefore, discusses four views with respect to the nature and role of economic globalization which correspond to the four broad worldviews. The paper emphasizes that the four views expressed are equally scientific and informative; they look at the nature and role of economic globalization from a certain paradigmatic viewpoint. Emphasizing this example in the area of economic globalization, the paper concludes that there are opportunities for each paradigm to benefit from contributions coming from the other three paradigms.     

A Humean theory of choice of which rationality may be one consequence

For the reader who considers economic theory of choice as a special case of a more general theory of action, Hume's discussion of the determinants of action in the Treatise of Human Nature (1739?–?40), in the Enquiry on Human Understanding (1748) and in the Dissertation on Passions (1757) deserves attention. However, according to some modern commentators, Hume does not seem to have given any evidence that would favour what nowadays we would consider as the kind of rationality involved in modern theories of rational choice. On the contrary, this paper arrives at the conclusion that consistency between preferences and choice, like the usual properties of completeness and transitivity, may be considered as outcomes of a mental process, described by means of a decision algorithm that aims to represent Hume's theory of choice.     

The concept of freedom and its relation to economic development--a critical appreciation of the work of Amartya Sen

Following a brief review of the conception of freedom as employedin economic discourse, this paper focuses on the evolution ofthe concept of freedom in the work of Amartya Sen. It tracesthe development of Sen's thought from the capability analysisof the late 1970s to his more recent separation of freedom intoits opportunity and process aspects. While broadly appreciativeof Sen's development of the concept of positive freedom, thepaper identifies some difficulties arising from his definitionof capability as a set of options as well as from his separationof the opportunity and process aspects of freedom. Aspects ofthe relationship between Sen's conception of freedom and thatof Marx are discussed briefly in the context of Sen's recentdiscussion of the market as a source of freedom.     

How chaebol restructuring after the 1997 crisis has affected corporate decision and performance in Korea: debt financing,ownership structure,and investment

ABSTRACT

Korean chaebol firms, characterized by excessive debt financing and overinvestment, experienced restructuring after the 1997 crisis. By reducing debt financing and thus overinvestment, they tried to reorganize financing structure and ownership structure. Chaebols’ debt reduction turns out to have improved performance. However, polarization between chaebol and non-chaebol firms has become more significant. Even after the crisis, firms that give higher cash flows to a controlling shareholder take more capital investment, indicating that agency problems still exist within chaebols. Chaebol-affiliated firms continue to be more active in R&D than non-chaebol firms. However, the pattern is limited to the group of top 10 chaebols after the crisis.

Abbreviations: KFTC: Korea Fair Trade Commission     

Types of technology

Technology is a concept rife with confusion. Here, I argue that technologies can be distinguished as a combination of type of producer and an idealized artefact life history. Using this definition, a number of technologies are identified. The first technology historically, in the Protostomes, was the production of individual or family dwellings. Next came objects such as spider webs for trapping prey. Stigmergy followed, with the social insects, as a collective endeavour to construct a mega-structure using simple rules of accretion. Some birds and primates began to make tools, or simple technological objects whose function is closely related to their form. Humans are distinguished by their ability to make machines. Traditional technology took place once people voluntarily organised into groups with specialised knowledge to produce more complex objects and structures. Monumental objects like ceremonial pyramids came with the command economies of the early agrarian societies, which also resulted in a new category of artefact, the network. Finally, with modern civilizations came ad hoc accretion, or population-level adding-on, to make truly complex technological systems. Developing a theoretical framework within which artefacts, production processes and ways of interacting with them are identified should help the study of technology to become more scientific.