人民币实际汇率决定性因素研究——“Balassa-Samuelson假说”的扩展与可计算一般均衡模型(CGE)的分析

要求人民币升值的国际压力部分来自快速的经济增长应当与实际汇率升值相联系的观点,这与"Balassa-samuelson假说"相关联,它认为贸易部门劳动生产率提高会引起非贸易部门的价格上涨,但人民币实际汇率没有显示出长期升值的趋势.本研究扩展了"Balassa-Samuelson假说",并引入扩展的1-2-3(CGE)模型进行实证分析.主要结论有:大量剩余劳动力的存在压低了中国的实际汇率,从而没有观察到"Balassa-samuelson假说";如果更多的农村劳动力流向服务业部门,即非贸易部门,实际汇率也将面临向下的压力.     

Background filtrations and canonical loss processes for top-down models of portfolio credit risk

In single-obligor default risk modeling, using a background filtration in conjunction with a suitable embedding hypothesis (generally known as ℍ-hypothesis or immersion property) has proven a very successful tool to separate the actual default event from the model for the default arrival intensity. In this paper we analyze the conditions under which this approach can be extended to the situation of a portfolio of several obligors, with a particular focus on the so-called top-down approach. We introduce the natural ℍ-hypothesis of this setup (the successive ℍ-hypothesis) and show that it is equivalent to a seemingly weaker one-step ℍ-hypothesis. Furthermore, we provide a canonical construction of a loss process in this setup and provide closed-form solutions for some generic pricing problems. Financial support by the National Centre of Competence in Research “Financial Valuation and Risk Management” (NCCR FINRISK) is gratefully acknowledged. NCCR FINRISK is a research program supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The authors would like to thank Monique Jeanblanc and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments and suggestions. Parts of this paper were presented at RiskDay 2006, Zurich. All remaining errors are our own. Comments and suggestions are very welcome.     

Revisiting the Porter hypothesis: an empirical analysis of Green innovation for the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

Almost all empirical research that has attempted to assess the validity of the Porter hypothesis (PH) has started from reduced-form models, for example, single-equation models for estimating the contribution of environmental regulation to productivity. This paper follows a structural approach that allows testing what is known in the literature as the ‘weak’ and the ‘strong’ version of the PH. Our ‘Green Innovation’ model includes three types of eco-investments to explain differences in the incidence of two types of eco-innovation, which are allowed to affect labor productivity. We allow for complementarity between the two types of eco-innovations. Using a comprehensive panel of Dutch manufacturing firm-level data we estimate the relative importance of environmental regulations on eco-investment and eco-innovations. The results of our analysis show a strong corroboration of the weak and a nuanced corroboration of the strong version of the PH.     

An experiment on cash and in-kind transfers with application to food assistance programs

The impact of providing food assistance in kind (via food, stamps, or restricted debit cards) vs. cash has long been a subject of debate. Prior efforts to causally identify the effects of the two types of transfers have been hindered by concerns over non-random selection into assistance programs, misreporting of program benefits, and identification of inframarginal households who, theoretically, should treat cash and in-kind transfers identically. This paper reports the results of an economic experiment designed to cleanly test some conceptual issues associated with in-kind vs. cash giving in a lunchroom meal setting. Given current debates about the healthiness of food assistance recipients’ diets, we also consider the impacts of placing restrictions on in-kind transfers that either prohibit soda purchases with the transfer or require the transfer be spent on fruits and vegetables. Overall, we find that, as theory predicts, in-kind transfers have the same effect on food expenditures as an unrestricted cash transfer for inframarginal consumers, and for extramarginal consumers, food expenditures are higher for in-kind than cash transfers. Participants also respond to the fruit and vegetable restriction as theory would predict. However, in contrast to the theoretical prediction, the soda restriction reduces soda expenditures for more than half the inframarginal consumers.     

Examining the forward pricing function of the Australian equity index futures contract

The relationship between the Australian equity index futures and spot prices is examined. Tests indicate that futures prices with one, two and three months to maturity are unbiased predictors of the spot and hence provide an efficient hedging mechanism for Australian equity index market participants, while six‐, nine‐ and twelve‐month futures prices are biased predictors of spot prices, indicating that speculative opportunities may exist in futures contracts for these time spreads. An analysis of the short‐run dynamic properties of the long‐run equilibrium relationship found that for all time spreads the futures prices respond to changes in the long‐run equilibrium, and for the twelve‐month contract, both futures and spot prices adjust to return to the long‐run equilibrium.     

对凯恩斯消费函数的实证分析——以中国城市居民消费支出为例

英国经济学家凯恩斯以1929～1933年的经济大萧条为时代背景,在《通论》中提出了消费函数的概念。凯恩斯认为虽然有众多的因素都影响着居民的消费支出,但是具有决定意义的是居民收入水平。凯恩斯的消费函数理论自问世以来受到其他的消费理论的质疑,包括相对收入消费理论、生命周期消费理论和永久收入消费理论等。对于这些质疑,我们可以用实证的方法来验证凯恩斯消费函数。     

货币供应量、通货膨胀不确定性与经济增长——兼论弗里德曼假说在中国的适用性

在VAR模型的基础上,对货币供应量、通货膨胀不确定性与中国经济增长的关系进行了实证分析,验证了弗里德曼假说。研究发现,通货膨胀的不确定性减缓了我国的经济增长,同时我国的经济增长加剧了通货膨胀的不确定性;货币供应量与我国经济增长存在双向的格兰杰因果关系,货币供应量变动能够引起我国经济增长的变动,而且我国经济增长的变动能引起货币供应量的变动。     

养老保险改革对家庭储蓄率的影响:中国的经验证据

本文利用1995年和1999年城镇住户调查数据(CHIPS)分析中国养老保险制度改革对家庭储蓄率的影响,从一个新的角度解释20世纪90年代中后期中国家庭储蓄率上升的原因。1995—1997年间中国对城镇企业职工进行的养老保险制度改革使得企业职工养老金财富发生变化,这种养老金财富的变化具有外生性,因而这项改革可以作为一项政策实验用来识别养老金财富对家庭储蓄率的影响。研究结果表明:中国的储蓄行为可以由生命周期模型解释;养老金财富对于家庭储蓄存在显著的替代效应,这一效应平均为-0.4—-0.3左右;但不同家庭这种替代效应有明显差异,户主年龄在35—49岁的家庭,储蓄率会显著受到养老金财富的影响,其他家庭这一影响并不显著。     

Environmental regulation and MNEs location: Does CSR matter?

We investigate whether firms with relatively low environmental standards are more often located in countries that are poor, corrupt or have weak environmental regulations. We find new empirical evidence in favor of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis, which states that MNEs are transferring their dirty operations to countries with weak environmental regulation. Our findings suggest that these are not necessarily the poorest or most corrupt countries. We establish that MNEs with strong social responsibility avoid locating their operations in countries with weak environmental regulation.     

一种新的股市泡沫计量方法

针对我国股票市场股权改革和一级市场非市场化的特殊情况,本文提出把"整个"上市公司抽象成"一个"上市公司的假定,得到股市的理论收益率和实际收益率指标,根据这两个指标的动态变化关系,提出了一种新的股市泡沫计量方法.为了检验这一方法,本文计量了同期美国、日本股市泡沫的情况.实证结果显示新的计量方法能够很好地解释我国股市的泡沫情况.