Environmental Policy,Sustainable Development,Governance Mechanisms and Environmental Performance

We investigate the effects of environmental policy (Climate Change Act – CCA), sustainable development frameworks (Global Reporting Initiative – GRI; UN Global Compact – UNGC) and corporate governance (CG) mechanisms on environmental performance (carbon reduction initiatives – CRIs; actual carbon performance – GHG emissions) of UK listed firms. We use the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique to analyse data consisting of 2245 UK firm‐year observations over the 2002–2014 period. First, we find that the CCA has a positive effect on CRIs, and this effect is stronger in better‐governed firms. Second, we find that the GRI‐based framework is positively associated with CRIs. Third, we find that firms with poor CG structures have lower actual carbon performance compared with their better‐governed counterparts. Overall, our evidence suggests that firms can symbolically conform to environmental policy (CCA) and sustainable development frameworks (GRI, UNGC) by engaging in CRIs without necessarily improving actual environmental performance (GHG emissions) substantively. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Accounting practice,fiscal decentralization and corruption

In prior studies, accounting and decentralization corruption solutions have so far been analysed in isolation. In this article, we connect these two strands of literature on corruption. Understanding this connection is important because weak financial accounting and reporting systems can inhibit monitoring incentives and thus reduce decentralization benefits in countering corruption. We argue that the effectiveness of decentralization as an anti-corruption barrier is complemented by the quality of the accounting practice in a country. Using multiple sources of data, we find that decentralization has a positive and increasing effect on reducing corruption among countries with a high-quality accounting practice. In contrast, decentralization has a negative and decreasing effect on reducing corruption among countries with weak-quality accounting practices. These findings are robust to alternative measures of accounting, decentralization and corruption and to endogeneity tests. Our findings demonstrate the crucial information role of accounting in enhancing decentralization monitoring mechanisms and in thereby reducing corruption.     

Recognition versus disclosure of finance leases: Evidence from Japan

This study examines whether credit market participants—bond investors and credit rating agencies—treat recognized and disclosed finance leases differently when assessing firms’ credit risk in Japan. I use firms’ credit risk, measured by bond spreads and credit ratings, to investigate the relations between recognized versus disclosed finance lease obligations and firms’ credit risk following the adoption of Statement No. 13, Accounting Standard for Lease Transactions. For a sample of firms issuing new bonds, I find that, unlike recognized finance leases, disclosed finance leases are not associated with bond spreads. Moreover, the associations between recognized versus disclosed finance leases and bond spreads are substantially different. Conversely, recognized and disclosed finance leases are associated with credit ratings and are processed similarly when credit ratings are determined. Taken together, my results suggest that the sophistication of capital market participants influences their credit risk assessments of recognized versus disclosed finance leases.     

Does educational diversity of managers matter for the performance of team‐managed funds?

We study the effect of the educational diversity of managers on the performance of team‐managed mutual funds using a large sample of U.S. equity funds from 1994 to 2013. We consider diversity in terms of both final educational degree and field of educational specialisation. We find that, in general, both types of diversity have a positive impact on fund performance, and our results are robust over a wide range of performance metrics and changes in market conditions.     

Financial development and economic growth in a microfounded small open economy model

The global financial crisis since 2008 revived the debate on whether or not and to what extent financial development contributes to economic growth. This paper reviews different theoretical schools of thought and empirical findings on this nexus, building on which we aim to develop a unified, microfounded model in a small open economy setting to accommodate various theoretical possibilities and empirical observations. The model is then calibrated to match some well-documented stylized facts. Numerical simulations show that, in the long run, the welfare-maximizing level of financial develop is lower than the growth-maximizing level. In the short run, the price channel (through world interest rate) dominates the quantity-channel (through financial productivity), suggesting a vital role of international cooperation in tackling systemic risk of the global financial system.     

后疫情下休闲体育产业高质量发展的推进策略

新冠疫情以来,人们的健康意识觉醒,体育产业越来越受重视,本文通过对疫情期间体育产业受到的影响进行分析,从体育消费、体育产品中小企业、体育赛事几个方面阐述了疫情以来体育产业受到的阻碍。凡事都有两面性,疫情也为体育产业带来了新的机遇,"线上+线下"融合、新兴产业的崛起、人们健康意识的加强都因为疫情带来了新的发展动力。在后疫情时代,政府应该推出新的政策与措施鼓励体育产业发展,市场则应该抓住机遇实现体育产业的供给侧改革,通过与新兴产业、互联网等的结合,推动体育产业的转型升级。     

Dynamic response of bank-intermediated trade finance to a global liquidity shock

This paper investigates the bank-level responses of a bank-intermediated instrument of trade finance to a negative global liquidity shock in Korea. Using a factor-augmented vector autoregression approach, the results show that there exists significant heterogeneity in bank-level trade-finance responses to a global liquidity shock. In addition, we find that the source of the heterogeneity is the bank-level foreign currency liquidity condition; banks with a better foreign currency liquidity condition may dampen the negative impact of a global liquidity shock on trade-finance.     

京津冀生态涵养区生态与产业协调发展影响因素分析

[目的]京津冀协同发展国家重大战略将冀北地区的发展确定为承担生态保障与水源涵养功能,文章基于长期以来该区域生态脆弱、经济落后的特征,研究了该生态涵养区生态与产业协调发展的影响因素,目的是为该区域生态建设与产业经济协调发展提供参考。[方法]设置了影响生态建设与产业经济协调发展的规模因素、经济因素、社会因素与政策因素四大类37个影响因素,借助于统计数据,在对数据进行标准化处理的基础上,应用计量经济模型,通过因子分析法将各个因素进行分类归纳为5个公因子,利用SPSS软件回归模拟结果显示各个因素对生态建设与产业经济协调发展的影响作用。[结果]将四大类通过因子分析法的主成分分析,应用计量经济模型模拟,拟合优度较高,影响因素通过分组具有较强的解释力,结果能够很好地反映这些影响因素对生态建设与产业经济协调发展的影响方向与影响程度。[结论]依据定性分析假设与计量模拟分析结果,针对存在的问题与发展机遇,提出对策建议:继续加强生态建设项目的推进、适度扩大产业经营规模、加大生态建设与产业发展投资力度、实施资源节约型生产创新模式以及健全和完善生态与经济协调发展制度。     

新疆坎儿井农业遗产资源保护与旅游开发利用

[目的]分析新疆坎儿井农业文化遗产资源的旅游效用,以期更好地指导当地旅游资源的开发利用工作,达到促进区域休闲农业可持续发展的目的。[方法]文章以新疆坎儿井农业文化遗产资源为例,分析其资源特征、资源保护及开发现状;采用AHP分析法分析坎儿井农业遗产资源旅游效用,基于上述分析并结合农业文化遗产旅游发展的需求,提出优化其农业遗产资源保护及开发的规划、模式及策略。[结果]坎儿井农业文化遗产资源中主体旅游资源坎儿井工程(B_1)、辅助旅游资源农业文化资源(B_2)、客源与市场特征(B_3)和外部因素特征(B_4)的权重分别是0.43、0.22、0.10和0.06。[结论]在比较其生态价值、环保价值、旅游价值的基础上,发现在稳固生态价值与环保价值的同时,挖掘新疆坎儿井的旅游价值是实现农业文化遗产有效保护的最佳途径;主体旅游资源坎儿井工程和辅助旅游资源农业文化资源为坎儿井农业遗产资源旅游带来良好的经济收益,而客源与市场特征和外部因素特征权重最低,说明这两个因素是导致旅游效益权重低的主要原因;农业遗产资源旅游的保护和开发两者互惠共赢,但必须建立在重视农业遗产资源的保护及其宣传保护的基础上。     

资本回报率、人力资本投资与收入不平等——基于Galor-Zeira模型的扩展

资本回报率下降对人力资本投资、收入不平等程度有较大影响。本文将可变资本回报率加入Galor-Zeira模型,理论推导发现:收入不平等陷阱并非不可逾越的障碍。当技能劳动力工资高于受教育固定成本时,随着资本回报率下降,接受教育的遗赠临界水平将降低,更多家庭将发现投资人力资本是有利的,稳态的技能劳动力比例将提高。在当前资本回报率下降的大背景下,提高技能劳动力工资、降低受教育成本、对教育贷款实施财政减免优惠、为农村中等教育支出减负和提升农村教育质量、倡导节俭和重视遗赠的文化氛围在长期都有助于提高技能劳动力比重以及缓和收入不平等。