Economic inequality and burden-sharing in the provision of local environmental quality

A large, but inconclusive, literature addresses how economic heterogeneity affects the use of local resources and local environmental quality. One line of thought, which derives from Nash equilibrium provision of public goods, suggests that in contexts in which individual actions degrade local environmental quality, wealthier people in a community will tend to do more to protect environmental quality. In this paper we report on experiments performed in rural Colombia that were designed to explore the role that economic inequality plays in the ‘provision’ of local environmental quality. Subjects were asked to decide how much time to devote to collecting firewood from a local forest, which degrades local water quality, and how much to unrelated pursuits. Economic heterogeneity was introduced by varying the private returns to these alternative pursuits. Consistent with the Nash equilibrium prediction, we found that the players with more valuable alternative options put less pressure on local water quality. However, the subjects with less valuable alternative options showed significantly more restraint relative to their pure Nash strategies. Furthermore, they were willing to bear significantly greater opportunity costs to move their groups to outcomes that yielded higher average payoffs and better water quality than the Nash equilibrium outcome.     

Has financial market integration increased during the nineties?

This paper analyses whether there has been an increase in the degree of financial market integration during the nineties. To do this, we focus on stock markets and compute two alternative measures of market integration based on a refinement of the approach suggested by Chen, Z., Knez, P.J., 1995. [Measurement of market integration and arbitrage, Review of Financial Studies 8(2), 287–325]. The main advantage of this approach is that it relies on the condition of absence of arbitrage opportunities, which is directly related to the idea that more integration means less barriers to trade across markets — and does not depend on any particular asset pricing model. The evidence found suggests that during the nineties there has been an increase of the degree of market integration between stock markets.     

资本与效率:农村金融问题的核心——由当前农村金融改革政策引发的几点思考

农村金融问题的重要性源自我国二元经济结构的现实性和长期性.然而,在对目前农村金融改革政策框架分析之后,我们认为,有一些问题值得商榷.     

The persistence of abnormal returns at industry and firm levels: Evidence from Spain

We apply structural equation models to longitudinal data on profits of firms within industries to study the persistence of abnormal returns. We obtain a two‐way variance decomposition for abnormal returns: at firm vs. industry levels, and at permanent vs. transitory components. This decomposition enables us to assess the relative importance of the fundamental components of abnormal returns discussed in the literature. The method is applied to a panel of 5,000 Spanish firms observed over the period 1995–2000. We conclude that: (a) there are significant and permanent differences between profit rates at both industry and firm levels; (b) variation of abnormal returns at firm level is greater than at industry level; and (c) firm and industry levels do not differ significantly regarding rates of convergence of abnormal returns. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

略论高职高专的数学精品课建设

指出作为高职高专教育的一门重要基础课，高等数学在高职高专课程体系中占有重要的地位。从目前高职高专精品课程要求的“五个一流”出发，探讨了高职高专数学精品课程建设的基本思路。     

REITs发展对中国房地产融资的启示

本文基于国内房地产业开发融资所面临的渠道少、资源匮乏现状,结合国外REITs市场发展经验,比较分析了代表市场发行REITs的市场准入条件和市场优势。对国内发行REITs进行了可行性论证,并结合中国房地产业特点,对REITs的立法及运作思路提出参考方案。     

耗散结构理论在旅行社企业管理中的应用研究

一、引言20世纪70年代以来,当代自然科学前沿出现了一大批像“耗散结构论”(Dissipative Structure Theory)、“协同学”(Synerget-icsh)、“突变论”(Morphogensis)、”超循环论”(Hypercycle Theo-ry)、“混沌理论”(Chaotic Theory)和“分形理论”(Fractal Theory)等,这样的     

Structural effects and spillovers in HSIF, HSI and S&P500 volatility

We adopt a BEKK-GARCH framework and employ a systematic approach to jointly examine structural breaks in the Hong Kong cash index and index futures volatility and volatility spillovers from the S&P 500 cash and futures. Multiple switching dummy variables are included in the variance equations to test for any structural changes in the autoregressive volatility structure due to the events that have taken place in the Hong Kong market. Abolishment of the up-tick rule, increase of initial margins and electronic trading of the Hang Seng Index Futures (HSIF) are found to have significant impact when US market spillovers are excluded from a restricted model. Volatility spillovers from the US market are found to have a significant impact and account for some mis-specification in the restricted model.     

WHY DO GOOD COPS DEFEND BAD COPS?*

Policemen are known to support colleagues who are the subject of criminal investigations. Although we might expect guilty officers to defend each other, why do (otherwise) law‐abiding policemen defend those who have broken the law? We investigate under what conditions it is in the interest of a group to defend its “bad” members.     

Comparing solution methods for dynamic equilibrium economies

This paper compares solution methods for dynamic equilibrium economies. We compute and simulate the stochastic neoclassical growth model with leisure choice using first, second, and fifth order perturbations in levels and in logs, the finite elements method, Chebyshev polynomials, and value function iteration for several calibrations. We document the performance of the methods in terms of computing time, implementation complexity, and accuracy, and we present some conclusions based on the reported evidence.