Gaining legitimacy through hiring local workforce at a premium: The case of MNEs in the United Arab Emirates

This study examines the process and outcomes of cultivating external legitimacy through the employment of host country nationals by multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) affiliates in the United Arab Emirates. It builds on the literatures of both institutional theory and legitimacy. Analysis of data obtained from 48 managers of MNE's affiliates located in the UAE shows that in sectors where the employment of host country nationals is almost taken for granted such as in banking, MNEs are driven by a sense of appropriateness and social legitimacy. In contrast, in sectors where the employment level of UAE nationals is almost nonexistent, those MNEs engaging in localization are driven by the logic of economic efficiency and tend to employ nationals in order to extract rent from the government. The authors discuss the results and their managerial and policy implications.     

改善和提高吉林省农产品出口环境和能力研究

吉林省是农业大省,扩大农产品出口规模,对吉林省经济发展至关重要。本文根据全球农产品市场环境及发展趋势,分析了吉林省农产品出口的现状及存在的问题,提出了改善吉林省农产品出口环境、提高吉林省农产品出口能力的建议。     

“省直管县”改革会损害地级市的利益吗?

我国多个地区正在探索"省直管县"体制改革,目前的最大顾虑是改革是否会损害地级市的利益?本文利用1999—2008年我国地级市数据,通过系统GMM估计对此进行了实证研究。结果发现:"强县扩权"提高了城市财政收入,抑制了城市财政支出增长;财政"省直管县"的作用则恰好相反。"强县扩权"促进了城市经济增长,但不利于城市第三产业的发展;财政"省直管县"虽然降低了城市经济增长速度,却提高了第三产业比重。两项改革措施都抑制了城市规模的扩大,但有利于改善城市的环境质量。因此,我们不能笼统地断定"省直管县"改革一定会有损地级市的利益、阻碍城市化的进程,应深入地研究各项改革措施的利弊得失,做到综合运用、扬长避短。     

改善民生是中国城乡统筹改革实践的原动力

民生是中国城乡统筹改革实践的原动力。改革起始期,是民生呼唤下的自发改革与政策调整;改革深入期,是民生推动下的体制转轨与制度创新;改革攻坚期,是民生引导下的统筹发展与新农村建设。30年农村改革历程,致使民生问题的不断解决与改革的渐进式节奏相互吻合,推动着"人本"式的农村改革健康有序地发展。     

中国城市政府公共支出效率分析——基于四阶段DEA方法的实证研究

本文以2008年中国内地126个地级以上城市为样本数据,利用四阶段DEA方法,对中国城市公共支出效率进行了实证分析。结果显示:如果不对外部环境因素加以控制,则经典的DEA方法将会高估城市公共支出效率;在控制外部环境因素影响后,样本城市公共支出效率得分为0.353,表明在保持支出不变下,通过改善组织管理、优化支出规模及结构,公共服务供给水平可提高约64%,城市公共支出效率还有很大的提升空间;经济发达、较大的辖区面积是城市公共支出效率提升的有利条件,而人口增加对公共品供给产生的拥挤效应不利于城市公共支出效率提升。     

医疗卫生基本公共服务的城乡差距及均等化路径

当前,我国城乡之间的医疗卫生服务不均等已成为一个重要的社会问题。本文通过医疗卫生费用和医疗卫生资源的城乡数据分析得出城乡之间的医疗卫生公共服务差距巨大,并通过2000—2008年城乡医疗保健费用的泰尔指数分析,发现城乡组间对城乡医疗卫生公共服务差距的贡献基本上在80%以上,几乎是组内差距贡献的4倍,而从两组的内部差距来看,农村内部的不均等程度要稍高于城市内部的不均等程度,根据分析结果并从财政向农村医疗卫生的投入倾斜、城乡医疗保险制度的整合、医疗体制的深化改革等方面就如何促进医疗卫生公共服务城乡均等化进行探讨。     

Institutional environment and firms' sources of financial capital in Central and Eastern Europe

The external business environment is a major determinant of which sources firms select to obtain financial capital. We examine how the regulatory, political, and financial dimensions of the institutional environment influence the extent to which firms rely on informal sources of financial capital. The analyses of data from 2869 firms in twenty-six transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) indicate that ineffective regulatory system, underdeveloped financial system, and government corruption are strong determinants of firms' reliance on informal channels for financial capital. We also find that smaller firms are more vulnerable when the local financial system is underdeveloped and the regulatory institutions are less effective in these transition economies. A subgroup analysis of firms' forms of establishment shows that private firms are sensitive to the level of development of the local financial system and state-owned enterprises are particularly sensitive to the degree of corruption.     

Organizational governance and TMT pay level adjustment

This paper analyzes how the characteristics of boards and structure of ownership moderate a firm's capacity to adjust top management team (TMT) pay levels in the face of changes in its economic and complexity conditions. Using panel data from Spanish listed companies between 2003 and 2007, the results indicate that, over time, characteristics of corporate governance system contribute to give a fundamental importance to boards and ownership structure in the determination and adjustment of TMT pay. These associations appear to be even stronger than those that in other Western European and North American countries. Both the Spanish cross-holding and concentrated firms' ownership structure, and socially intervened boards play a major role in the high levels of pay received by the TMT, which, in turn, reflect a moderate adjustment of compensation practices to variations of surrounded environment factors.     

中越边境贸易存在问题与对策建议——以广西凭祥市为例

中越两国来往日趋密切,交往日益增多,促进了经贸合作发展。中国—东盟自由贸易区计划的启动和＂两廊一圈＂经济架构的提出和实施,为桂越边贸提供了新的发展契机。文章介绍凭祥与越南边境贸易的发展渊源,总结边境贸易取得的成效,探讨边境贸易面临的困境,提出边境贸易的发展对策。     

促进我国低碳经济发展的财税政策研究

＂低碳经济＂的实质是经济发展方式、能源消费方式、人类生活方式的一次新变革。由于生态资源环境领域存在着一定程度的市场失灵,因此需要政府介入这一领域,在当前应注重利用财税手段来促进低碳经济的发展。但是,受限于管理体制存在弊端、财政投资支出结构和财政补贴不合理等原因,我国现行的财税体制对发展低碳经济的促进作用还十分有限。对此,本文从财税的角度提出了促进我国低碳经济发展的政策建议。