Re‐examination of production,cost, and restricted profit functions using quantile regression approach

This article estimates quantile regressions of production, cost, and restricted profit functions using a Cobb‐Douglas functional form with non‐Hicks neutral technology change. In contrast to previous studies, quantile regression estimates reveal the relationship between the independent (production, cost, and restricted profit) and dependent (input quantities and prices) variables at each quantile of the distribution. An empirical application using data from 48 states in United States from 1960 to 2004 indicates the returns to scale and aggregate technology not only differ across production, cost, and restricted profit functions but across states in different quantiles of the distribution. This suggests the traditional measures of returns to scale and aggregate technology are under‐ and overestimated in states at upper and lower quantiles, respectively.     

金融监管对市场质量和知情交易者的影响

本文利用一个基于代理的人工股票市场,考察了卖空禁令、涨跌幅限制、交易税和T+1结算周期对市场质量和知情交易者的影响。市场由知情交易者和不知情交易者组成,两者都可以通过遗传编程从市场股票信息中学习。通过平行测定几个市场程式化事实,将系统校准到真实的金融市场后,我们发现这四种监管都以不同程度的降低了市场波动、价格扭曲和交易...     

中国“三农”创新创业政策的历史演进：基于中央一号文件的语料库研究

创新创业成为中国解决"三农"问题的重要途径，而"三农"创新创业与国家相关政策的引导和支持密不可分。学者们对"三农"创新创业关注颇多，但尚未对相关政策进行系统的历时梳理，难以从整体上把握"三农"创新创业政策的发展脉络。文章基于话语历史分析框架、运用语料库研究方法对历年中央一号文件进行话语分析，以此透视中国"三农"创新创业政策的历史演进。研究发现，随着历史阶段的逐步推进：（1）中央一号文件始终围绕"农村"和"农业"的主题，对"创新"、"创业"及其部分同义词的提及率逐步甚至迅速上升，这在话语上佐证了政府日趋重视"三农"创新创业；（2）中央一号文件中"农民"的关键性有所降低，对其他创新创业主体和形式的提及率逐步上升，表明"三农"创新创业的主体趋于多元化、内容逐渐丰富；（3）中央一号文件政策话语中的政策态度从"加快"、"实行"逐步过渡到"稳定"与"完善"，说明"三农"创新创业政策体系已逐步形成。研究揭示了社会历史演进情境下"三农"创新创业政策的发展规律，深化了人们对核心"三农"政策及相关创新创业活动的历时性认识，而本研究对话语历史分析及语料库分析方法的引入也为政策话语分析提供了新的研究思路。     

Warming temperatures will likely induce higher premium rates and government outlays for the U.S. crop insurance program

Likely climate change impacts include damages to agricultural production resulting from increased exposure to extreme heat. Considerable uncertainty remains regarding impacts on crop insurance programs. We utilize a panel of U.S. corn yield data to predict the effect of warming temperatures on the mean and variance of yields, as well as crop insurance premium rates and producer subsidies. While we focus on corn, we demonstrate that the subsidy impacts are likely to carry over to other major program crops. We find that warming decreases mean yields and increases yield risk on average, which results in higher premium rates. Under a 1°C warming scenario, we find that premium rates at the 90% coverage level will increase by 39% on average; however, there is considerable statistical uncertainty around this average as the 95% confidence interval spans from 22% to 61%. We also find evidence of extensive cross‐sectional differences as the county‐level rate impacts range from a 10% reduction to a 63% increase. Results indicate that exposure to extreme heat and changes in the coefficient of variation are large drivers of the impacts. Under the 1°C warming scenario, we find that annual subsidy payments for the crop insurance program could increase by as much as $1.5 billion, representing a 22% increase relative to current levels. This estimate increases to 3.7 billion (57%) under a 2°C warming scenario. Our results correspond to a very specific counterfactual: the marginal effect of warming temperatures under current technology, production, and crop insurance enrollments. These impacts are shown to be smaller than the forecasted impacts under a commonly used end‐of‐century general circulation model for even the most optimistic CO₂ emissions projection.     

Extent of environmental disclosure of U.S. and Canadian firms by annual report location

This study discusses various influences on firms to provide additional environmental disclosure and empirically measures and analyzes the extent of actual environmental disclosures included in the annual reports of firms in the U.S. and Canada. The environmental disclosure content provided in the annual reports of firms is evaluated based on environmental reporting guidelines published by the American Institute of Public Accountants and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. In general, the results indicate that U.S. firms provided a significantly higher level of environmental disclosure than did Canadian firms. Also, firms in each nation varied significantly in the amount of environmental disclosure provided in each of four annual report sections.     

Forced technology transfer and China

Innovation is the most important competitive advantage of the United States. However, the infringement of intellectual property and the forcing of US firms to transfer technology to foreign firms have become increasingly important issues in recent years. This article discusses the implications of China's forced technology transfer regime.     

中巴经济走廊铁路通道ML-1线哈维连陆港方案研究

中巴经济走廊是一条北起中国喀什、南至巴基斯坦瓜达尔港的经济大动脉,是中巴两国加强交通基础设施、能源、港口等多方面互联互通和共同发展的重要途径。结合中巴经济走廊铁路通道ML-1线哈维连陆港改造方案,在分析中巴经济走廊铁路通道ML-1线哈维连支线和哈维连陆港现状的基础上,提出哈维连陆港在既有站站址改扩建和新建站址选址方案,经比选推荐采用哈维连陆港新建哈塔站址方案。在此基础上,对哈维连陆港总平面布置方案进行比选,推荐采用既有哈维连正线西侧方案,实现中巴经济走廊的便捷性服务。     

Pollution,Private Investment in Healthcare,and Environmental Policy*

In this paper, we demonstrate that, in a two‐period overlapping‐generations model, the relationship between environmental taxation and economic activity (output level and growth) has an inverted‐U shape when we take into account the detrimental impact of pollution on health and the individual decision of each working‐age agent to improve her health. We also demonstrate that the link between environmental tax and lifetime welfare also has an inverted‐U shape, and that a tighter environmental policy might enhance economic activity while reducing steady‐state lifetime welfare. Finally, we investigate the social optimum and the determinants of the optimal environmental tax.     

基于“1+X”证书制度下的物流管理专业课程改革

首先探讨了“1+x”证书制度的背景与意义,之后结合物流管理专业课程设置与变革的发展现状,提出了基于“1+x”证书制度的物流管理专业改革思路,最后有针对性地设计了物流管理专业的“1+x”考证课程。     

An analysis of the managerial performance of Italian museums using a generalised conditional efficiency model

Museums are important cultural institutions having the mission of conserving, interpreting, researching and displaying heritage. The evaluation of their efficiency has been extensively investigated in the literature using different approaches and methods. In this paper, we employ a generalised conditional efficiency model to assess the true efficiency of Italian museums, i.e. the efficiency in the provision of museums' service potential, consistently dealing with the impact of the socio-demographic and institutional environment in which museums operate. Results show that the operational environment matters. In particular, conditional estimates suggest that higher income levels and larger hospitality sectors positively influence museums efficiency. Ownership matters: museums’ service potential is higher for private institutions while, among public institutions, efficiency is generally lower for state-owned museums.