China’s Exchange-Rate Regime Reform and Trade Between China and the Eurozone

This article investigates the effects of China’s exchange-rate regime reform on trade between China and the eurozone. Both the exchange rate between the euro (EUR) and the renminbi (RMB) and exchange-rate volatility are included in the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, and our empirical work also considers the third-country effect. Our findings show that, during the reform period, China’s exports to the eurozone are affected only by the EUR–RMB exchange rate per se and not by its volatility. However, neither the exchange rate nor its volatility significantly influences the eurozone’s exports to China during the reform period. Such asymmetry might be attributed to the discrepancy between Chinese exporters and their eurozone counterparts in the knowledge and ability to manage exchange-rate risk.     

Structural Changes in China’s Import Market: A Comparison with Korea’s Exports to China

The article examines the structural changes of China’s import market for domestic demand and the corresponding structural changes of Korea’s exports to China for Chinese domestic demand. Using 8-digit HS code data covering the period 2006–2014 and analyzing the processing steps as well as by industry, this study reveals that while the share of ordinary trade in total China’s imports has increased rapidly, the share of processing trade has decreased continuously since the mid-2000s. The article also shows that Korea’s exports to China is still processing trade-oriented. The slowdown of Korea’s exports to China is because of the concentration on processing trade, intermediate goods, electronics and chemistry.     

转型期我国财政支出结构与经济增长关系研究

通过数理方法对我国转型时期的财政支出结构及其与经济增长的关系进行分析研究,发现当前我国财政支出结构不尽合理,必须进一步优化.要严格控制财政直接用于一般竞争性领域,逐步加大对农业、就业和社保、环境和生态、公共卫生、教育和科技等经济社会发展薄弱环节的投入力度.同时要结合财政体制改革和其他配套改革,以提高财政支出效益.     

Dynamic Career Incentive Versus Policy Rent-Seeking in Institutionalized Authoritarian Regimes: Testing a Long-Run Model of Trade Policy Determination in China

Abstract:

In this paper, I study the effect of political elites’ career incentives on China’s trade policy formation. I propose a theoretical dynamic view in which China’s authoritarian leaders can preempt protectionist actions of their selectorate (bureaucrats) by offering them future promotion opportunities within the authoritarian hierarchy as long as the leaders can credibly commit to these political promises. Drawing on a database of China’s sectors for 1999–2007, the empirical results support the dynamic perspective that while political organization still matters for China’s trade policy outcomes, it is less likely for a sector with a higher promotion expectation score to get politically organized.     

Expenditure Reform in Industrialised Countries: A Case‐Study Approach*

This study examines reforms of public expenditure in industrialised countries over the past two decades. We distinguish ambitious and timid reformers and analyse in detail reform experiences in eight case studies of ambitious reform episodes. We find that ambitious reform countries reduce spending on transfers, subsidies and public consumption. Such expenditure retrenchment is also typically part of a comprehensive reform package that includes improvements in fiscal institutions as well as structural and other macroeconomic reforms. The study finds that ambitious expenditure retrenchment and reform coincides with large improvements in fiscal and economic growth indicators.     

关于构筑我国公共财政支出框架的思考

适应市场经济改革，构筑公共财政支出框架是我国下一步财政支出改革的目标和方向。借鉴西方公共财政理论政策的同时，应结合我国的现实国情通盘考虑。构筑新财政支出框架时，既要满足公共财政的一般性要求，又要结合我国财政的特殊性要求，两者并重，不可偏废。在合理界定财政支出职能范围的基础上，通过提高支出总量、优化支出结构、加强支出管理、构筑适合我国国情的公共支出框架。     

地权稳定与农业生产

本文以《农村土地承包法》在省一级层面的实施作为政策冲击,研究稳定的农村土地承包经营权对农业生产效率等的影响及其作用机制。主要研究结论如下:第一,稳定的农地承包经营权能够增强经营主体对未来的确定性预期,保障各方市场主体的合法权益,活跃土地流转并有效提升农业生产效率;第二,《农村土地承包法》的实施促进了农户转出而非转入土地,农业生产效率提升主要源自稳定产权的直接激励效应以及由此带来的资源配置效率改进,稳定的农地产权能够促进土地有效流转,优化农户农业生产与劳动配置决策;第三,地权稳定性改革有效缓解了因人口流出与区位劣势造成的农业生产效率损失,显著提高了农户的务工收入以及整体收入水平。本文研究结论表明,合理的制度设计能够提升农业生产效率,提高农村土地和劳动力资源的配置效率。清晰的产权设计、合理的预期管理是实现市场化资源配置的必要条件。     

Economic Impacts of the Possible China–US Trade War

This article uses a multi-country global general equilibrium (GE) model to numerically simulate the effects of possible China–US trade wars. We introduce an endogenous trade imbalance structure with trade cost into the model which helps to explore both tariff and non-tariff trade war effects. Our simulation results show that China will be significantly hurt by the China–US trade war, but negative impacts are affordable. The US can gain under unilateral sanction measures to China, but will lose if China takes retaliation measures. Comparing the effects under mutual trade war, China will lose more than the US. Introducing non-tariff barrier trade wars will intensify the negative effects, and comparatively negative effects to China are larger than to the US. Mexico’s involvement in trade war with the US will strengthen the negative effects and comparatively hurt the US more. Under non-cooperative and cooperative Nash bargaining equilibrium, the US can gain more than China in trade war negotiation, which means the US has stronger bargaining power than China. Additionally, trade wars between China and the US will hurt most countries and the world especially in GDP and manufacturing employment, but benefit their welfare and trade.     

EFFECTS OF NEW CONTROL SYSTEMS IN SWEDISH HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations that are radically changing their control systems provide interesting arenas for studies of the effects of such systems. Research on public organizations have shown reforms in some cases to have effects but in other cases they have had no effects. The aim of our study is to describe the introduction and effects of a new control system in the Swedish health care sector. Basically a traditional budget system is replaced with a system according to which hospitals are paid for services made. We found that the new system had functional but also some dysfunctional effects. The major functional effect was an increased productivity. This was possible due to an earlier low level of productivity. However, increased productivity demands capacity reductions given a certain production level. Such decisions must be taken by politicians but they are, however, very reluctant to reduce capacity, which may cause serious disturbances in the system and dysfunctional consequences.     

财政农业支出影响农业经济增长效应研究——基于1952~2012年的数据分析

财政支农对农业经济增长影响效应受到众多因素影响,其中财政农业救济、农业其它支出对农业经济增长有独立直接效应,农业生产性支出、农业科技支出和农业基本建设支出对农业经济增长有溢出直接效应.财政支农支出对农业经济增长的独立直接效应与溢出直接效应呈现非同向性、多样性、非对称性与动态性发展规律,并受经济增长、居民消费、社会投资的约束效应、财政非农支出的间接效应、农业各税冲销效应的影响制约.     

俄白哈关税同盟贸易效应及对中国新疆商品出口贸易的影响

关税同盟的贸易效应对区域外贸易国家和地区的出口贸易具有重要影响。文章应用巴拉萨模型分析了俄白哈关税同盟的贸易效应,结合贸易效应着重探索了俄白哈关税同盟对中国新疆商品出口贸易的影响。结果表明：俄白哈关税同盟的贸易转移效应明显,贸易创造效应初步显现;中国新疆与俄白哈三国的出口贸易紧密度减弱;中国新疆对俄白哈三国的出口贸易增速下降,出口商品贸易结构中的工业制成品占比逐渐下降;俄白哈关税同盟的贸易转移效应对中国新疆商品的出口贸易带来较大冲击。     

Trade and domestic tax reforms in the presence of a public good and different neutrality conditions

This paper develops a perfectly competitive general-equilibrium model of a small open economy with production of private traded goods and of a public good which is financed by revenues from trade and domestic taxes. Within this framework we consider the effects on public good provision and on welfare of the following tax reforms: (i) a producer-price-neutral reduction in export taxes and a corresponding increase in production taxes, (ii) a consumer-price-neutral reduction in tariffs and a corresponding increase in consumption taxes, and (iii) a partial tax-revenue-neutral reform in trade and domestic taxes.     

Assessing Economic and Fiscal Reforms in Lebanon: A Dynamic CGE Analysis with Debt Constraints

Since the early 1990s, Lebanon has undertaken a number of economic reforms, covering international trade and internal fiscal policy issues in particular. Simultaneously, debt has been skyrocketing, partially justified by reconstruction needs after the end of the civil war. Fostering economic growth seems to be the only way out of the debt trap, but reforms intended to stimulate growth may well have adverse short-run effects on public and external deficits. We construct a dynamic open-economy computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with debt constraints in the sense that external debt requires physical capital as collateral. The CGE model allows us to study the effects of a number of important economic policy issues, such as fiscal policy reform, World Trade Organization (WTO) membership, and foreign direct investment, in a multisectoral dynamic setting under the realistic assumption that debt constraints relax when the economy starts growing. Included in the results are reports on scenarios of trade liberalization and political stabilization.     

跨期总额控制、预算执行规则弱化与辖区公共支出绩效

本文采用2008-2017年中国31个省级辖区的面板数据,在区分经常性与资本性地方公共支出的基础上,代表性地考察了社会治安、社会保障、环境保护、基础设施建设四类以结果导向为主的公共支出绩效指标体系,并以财政资金使用非遵从度与跨期财政支出总额控制指数两个核心指标分别描述短期预算执行规则弱化与跨期财政支出总额控制,进而运用广义矩估计(GMM)方法展开实证研究。结果显示:(1)短期预算执行规则弱化对财政经常性支出与资本性支出的绩效影响截然相反。(2)跨期财政支出总额控制的严格约束对促进经常性与资本性支出绩效的提高起到相似的推动作用。(3)跨期财政支出总额控制与短期预算执行规则弱化对财政经常性与资本性支出绩效存在不同的交互效应。     

Aid and the Supply Side: Public Investment, Export Performance, and Dutch Disease in Low-Income Countries

Contemporary policy debates on the macroeconomics of aid oftenconcentrate on short-run Dutch disease effects, ignoring thepossible supply-side impact of aid-financed public expenditure.In the simple model of aid and public expenditure presentedhere, public infrastructure generates an intertemporal productivityspillover, which may exhibit a sector-specific bias. The modelalso provides for a learning-by-doing externality, through whichtotal factor productivity in the tradable sector is an increasingfunction of past export volumes. An extended computable versionof this model is used to simulate the effect of a step increasein net aid flows. The simulations show that beyond the shortrun, when conventional demand-side Dutch disease effects arepresent, the relationship between enhanced aid flows and realexchange rates, output growth, and welfare is less straightforwardthan simple models of aid suggest. Public infrastructure investmentthat generates a productivity bias in favor of nontradable productiondelivers the largest aggregate return to aid, but at the costof a deterioration in the income distribution. Income gainsaccrue predominantly to skilled and unskilled urban households,leaving the rural poor relatively worse off. Under plausibleparameterizations of the model, the rural poor may also be worseoff in absolute terms.     

Ramsey meets Thünen: the impact of land taxes on economic development and land conservation

Land taxes can increase production in the manufacturing sector and enhance land conservation at the same time, which can lead to overall macroeconomic growth. Existing research emphasizes the non-distorting properties of land taxes (when fixed factors are taxed) as well as growth-enhancing impacts (when asset portfolios are shifted to reproducible capital). This paper furthers the neoclassical perspective on land taxes by endogenizing land allocation decisions in a multi-sector growth model. Based on von Thünen’s observation, agricultural land is created from wilderness through conversion and cultivation, both of which are associated with costs. In the steady state of our general equilibrium model, land taxes not only may reduce land consumption (associated with environmental benefits) but may also affect overall economic output, while leaving wages and interest rates unaffected. When labor productivity is higher in the manufacturing than in the agricultural sector and agricultural and manufactured goods are substitutes (or the economy is open to world trade), land taxes increase aggregate economic output. There is a complex interplay of conservation policy, technological change and land taxes, depending on consumer preferences, sectoral labor productivities and openness-to-trade. Our model introduces a new perspective on land taxes in current policy debates on development, tax reforms as well as forest conservation.     

“走出去”战略下中国对外直接投资的母国约束研究

本文以一般性的对外直接投资决定因素为模板,改进OLI折衷模型,引入"母国约束",在总结中国近年来对外直接投资的发展历程及潜在的动因的基础上,构建了中国对外直接投资的母国决定因素的分析框架。然后,结合中国的经济发展水平、开放程度和政策措施,分析了中国对外直接投资的驱动因素及其影响机制,据此设定若干假设并一一进行了验证。同时,从中国的"走出去"战略出发,分析了中国对外投资的政策因素影响。     

虚拟土地进口视角下的中美农产品贸易效益分析

2018年以来,中美农产品贸易受两国贸易争端影响严重,2020年初中美签署的第一阶段经贸协议,对两国后续农产品贸易具有深远影响。基于要素禀赋理论和机会成本理论,本文对2001~2019年中国进口美国7类最主要的农产品的贸易动态、虚拟土地含量和虚拟土地面积以及进口效益进行分析发现:中国对美国农产品的虚拟土地面积进口呈总体上升趋势,但2018年以来降幅明显;在7类农产品中,大豆、谷物和棉花对虚拟土地面积进口量及变化趋势做出了较大贡献;将进口美国农产品节省的土地用于国内建设,具有更高的效益和替代价值。提高对美农产品的虚拟土地进口是解决我国土地资源短缺的重要途径,我国应在增加对美农产品进口的同时,优化对美农产品进口结构,合理配置国内土地资源,提高农产品的虚拟土地进口带来的经济效益、生态效益和社会效益。     

FDI与公共支出促进经济增长的实证分析

大部分研究认为FDI或公共支出分别独立的对经济增长发生作用,关于经济增长的理论模型很少将两个因素放在一起研究它们对经济增长的影响。本文通过建立一个含有FDI和公共支出的动态模型,其中把FDI作为技术进步的原因,利用我国1986-2003年的面板数据,分东部地区和中西部地区两个样本对公共支出和FDI促进经济增长的影响进行了实证分析。发现公共支出在两个样本中对经济增长都有促进作用,而FDI在中西部地区对经济增长有明显的促进作用,在东部地区对经济增长的促进作用不明显。     

财政自主权、财政支出结构与全要素生产率--来自230个地级市的检验北大核心

本文尝试将财政自主权、财政支出结构与经济效率联系,在我国财政分权理论框架下揭示地方财政自主权与技术进步之间的关系。在理论上,提出了"地方财政自主权越高,技术进步水平也越高,但随着经济性财政支出边际效率递减以及社会性财政支出的长期不足,财政自主权对技术进步的影响正在减弱"的命题假说。在实证上,以1999-2013年230个城市数据,采用工具变量法检验了财政自主权对城市全要素生产率的影响。实证结果表明:(1)城市财政自主权对城市全要素生产率影响较弱,主要是对TFP组成中的规模效率(SE)和技术进步(TP)产生了较为明显的正影响;(2)财政自主权越高的城市,越倾向于增加经济性财政支出比重,而对于社会性支出则更有动机展开"逐底竞争";(3)财政自主权对全要素生产率构成中的规模效率(SE)和技术进步(TP)的影响呈现出减弱的趋势;(4)城市财政自主权的提高可以显著改进微观企业层面的全要素生产率水平。