Free trade agreement and transport service trade

This study investigates the effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) on trade in transport services using OECD data from 2003 to 2006. Our analysis found that FTAs had a positive overall impact on transport services for multiple countries (i.e., 26 home and 56 partner countries). The resulting positive overall impact assures that, even with the challenges associated with different layers of services and the obstacles formed by generally low trade openness in the sector, the provisions in FTAs (e.g., national treatment and market access for goods and services) promote transport service trades. Our findings suggest that the provisions in FTAs encourage economic agents to increase engagement in transport services because of expanded openness of the physical movement of goods across international borders.     

A neoclassical interpretation of momentum

The neoclassical theory of investment implies that expected stock returns are tied with the expected marginal benefit of investment divided by the marginal cost of investment. Winners have higher expected growth and expected marginal productivity (two major components of the marginal benefit of investment), and earn higher expected stock returns than losers. The investment model succeeds in capturing average momentum profits, reversal of momentum in long horizons, long-run risks in momentum, and the interaction of momentum with several firm characteristics. However, the model fails to reproduce the procyclicality of momentum as well as its negative interaction with book-to-market equity.     

Taking financial frictions to the data

We estimate a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model with various financial frictions and analyze how well the model explains the Great Recession. Predictive analysis shows that the model can only slightly better explain the large deviation from trend during the crisis relative to a model without financial frictions. Specifically, the risk premium shock, which is a shock to the external finance premium of the entrepreneurs׳ leverage, explains the largest part of the investment downfall during the crisis. However, the ‘balance sheet’ channel of financial frictions in the model, which structurally links balance sheet conditions of financial intermediaries and nonfinancial borrowers to their borrowing rates, is estimated to be weak. We examine alternative prior specifications for how the financial frictions enter the model and continue to find a limited role for these frictions. Rolling-window estimation provides evidence for substantial time variation in parameters governing financial frictions. We conclude that the well-known financial frictions studied in this paper are not able to explain the financial crisis in a linearized and estimated model.     

Asymptotic comparison at optimal levels of reduced‐bias extreme value index estimators

In this article we are interested in the asymptotic comparison, at optimal levels, of a set of semi‐parametric reduced‐bias extreme value (EV) index estimators, valid for a wide class of heavy‐tailed models, underlying the available data. Again, as in the classical case, there is not any estimator that can always dominate the alternatives, but interesting clear‐cut patterns are found. Consequently, and in practice, a suitable choice of a set of EV index estimators will jointly enable us to better estimate the EV index γ, the primary parameter of extreme events.     

Integrating partitioned prices via computational estimation

This paper introduces computational estimation to the literature on consumers’ numerical cognition. Computational estimation involves simplifying an arithmetic problem via mathematical procedures to produce an approximate answer. Employing calculation knowledge and approximation together, consumers are likely to use computational estimation as it is relatively accurate while saving cognitive effort compared to calculating values. Three studies applied to partitioned prices in the form of a base price and a percentage discount, demonstrate that when faced with this numeric integration task, the strategy consumers undertake is dependent on the characteristics of the numerals with discounts that are round or close to round being associated with greater use of computational estimation. Further, when employing computational estimation, consumers arrive at more accurate, and lower, price estimates in which they place more confidence than when using alternative an integration strategy. As a result, discounts that are near a round value are preferred to those that are not; a result that is dependent upon the use of computational estimation.     

二阶自回归效应有限时间最优相对保费稳健性

在汽车保险奖惩系统相对保费研究中,需要考虑随机效应的动态异质性。在假设随机效应是一个二阶自回归随机序列的条件下,李俊海、赵振英、常沙沙(2011)给出了有限时间下最优相对保费计算公式,但是没有研究该公式的稳健性。在相同条件下,可以证明该文保费公式的稳健性。     

How Productive Is Workplace Health and Safety?

In this paper, we investigate the causal impact of workplace health and safety practices on firm performance, using Danish longitudinal matched employer–employee data merged with unique cross‐sectional representative firm survey data on work environment conditions. We estimate standard production functions, augmented with workplace environment indicators, addressing both time‐invariant and time‐varying potentially relevant unobservables in the production process. We find positive and large productivity effects of improved physical dimensions of the health and safety environment, specifically, “internal climate” and “monotonous repetitive work”.     

Fiscal financing and the efficacy of fiscal policy in Korea: An empirical assessment with comparison to the U.S. evidence

This paper aims to assess the empirical implications of fiscal financing in Korea and study how they differ from those of the U.S. We estimate two versions of the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model—a small open economy (SOE) model for Korea and its closed economy counterpart for the U.S.—in which the former nests the latter as a special case. The fiscal policy specification posits that government spending, lump-sum transfers, and distortionary taxation on labor income, capital income and consumption expenditures respond to the level of government debt and the state of economic activity. Analysis of the data from 2000 to 2015 shows that distortionary capital taxes play a critical role in stabilizing government debt in the U.S., whereas non-distorting fiscal instruments are the primary means of fiscal adjustment in Korea. Regarding the magnitude of debt-financed fiscal stimuli, the substantial trade openness of Korea is significant in that it produces relatively smaller government spending and transfer multipliers compared to the U.S.     

A true simulation study of three estimators at equal protection of respondents in randomized response sampling

In this study, three different estimators for estimating the proportion of a sensitive attribute in survey sampling are compared at equal protection of the respondents. The three estimators considered are due to Odumade and Singh (2009, Comm. Statist. Theory Methods) , Singh and Sedory (2011, Sociological Methods and Research) and a new estimator obtained by minimizing a chi‐squared distance. A SAS Macro is developed to compare these three estimators using a simulation study at equal protection of the respondents. A set of data from a real face‐to‐face interview was collected using two decks of cards and has been analyzed. The results are discussed.     

浅析波士顿矩阵法的局限

波士顿矩阵法是最常见的业务投资组合分析方法。然而,由于波士顿矩阵法存在诸如市场增长率及相对市场份额分界点划分不合理等现象,忽视了企业各业务间的关联性,且受不符合现代理财观念,不适合小企业及营销环境变化较大的情形等局限。因此,不能单纯依据波士顿矩阵法的结论进行业务投资组合决策。