Aging and Savings in Korea: A Time-Series Approach

Thanks to numerous empirical research studies, a general consensus has been reached on the effects of an aging population on the economy, particularly in terms of economic growth and savings. However, most of the previous research examines the effects of the aging on economically advanced countries. Furthermore, rarely have those studies used the time-series properties of the data. By applying two popular time-series statistical tools (multivariate cointegration analysis and vector error correction model) to Korean data, this paper finds: (1) There is a long-run equilibrium linkage among the aging, medical expenditure and savings; however (2) there is no Granger-causality present between aging and national savings in the short run in Korea.     

GENUINE SAVINGS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Genuine Savings (GS) has emerged as the leading economic indicator of sustainable economic development at the country level. It derives from the literatures on weak sustainability, wealth accounting and national income accounting. We discuss the theoretical underpinnings of GS, focusing on the relationship between changes in a nation's extended capital stock and the future path of consumption. The indicator has entered widespread use propelled by the World Bank's publications, despite its varying performance as a predictor for future consumption. Notwithstanding the extensive body of literature reviewed, promising future research avenues are identified.     

SAVINGS AND WEALTH ACCUMULATION: MEASUREMENT,INFLUENCES AND INSTITUTIONS

Savings and wealth accumulation are important dimensions of policy and research debates. This special issue comprises a collection of survey articles on topical issues ranging from the effects of access to credit, the rise of Islamic finance and sovereign wealth funds, the measurement of wealth inequality and genuine savings, the distribution of wealth across generations and retirement savings.     

囤房现象形成的原因、影响与治理策略

研究目的:解释我国城市居民热衷囤房的原因,分析这一行为对宏观经济与居民家庭生活的影响,提出治理这一行为的策略。研究方法:基于住房特殊属性的归纳法和比较分析法。研究结果:在制度诱因和心理作用驱使下,居民将高储蓄率偏好转化为了囤房动机,使住房由一般消费品转为实物储蓄。由于住房的若干基本属性和衍生效应,长期大规模地囤房将造成资源浪费,阻碍了住房公平,削弱了青年家庭的购买能力。研究结论:迫切需要采取政策干预引导住房不再成为"房币"。     

Portfolio management and retirement: what is the best arrangement for a family?

In comparing an immediate life annuity with a payout-equivalent investment fund payout plan (self-annuitization), research to date has focused mainly on shortfall probabilities of self-annuitization. As an exception, Schmeiser and Post (2005) propose a family strategy where the chances of self-annuitization (i.e., bequests) are taken into consideration as well. In such a family strategy, potential heirs must bear shortfall risks, but in return have a chance of receiving a bequest. This paper analyzes under which conditions heirs will be willing to agree to a family strategy. The idea of a family strategy is integrated into a realistically calibrated intertemporal expected utility framework, taking into account risks arising from stochastic life span, asset returns, and nontradable labor income. A family strategy is shown to be accepted for many parameter combinations, especially in families with low marginal tax rates, if the heirs are wealthy, or in a case where the retiree has an average population life expectancy. We also work out how family self-annuitization decisions interact with asset allocation, saving decisions, and labor income risk. Under realistic conditions our results support two explanations for the empirically observable low demand for annuities (the so-called annuity puzzle), namely intra-family risk sharing and high cost of market-annuitization.     

The demand for home mortgage assets by savings and loan associations

The purpose of this article is to analyze empirically the factors that enabled S&Ls to respond, concerning their demand for home mortgage assets, to the record high interest rates, inverted yield curves, and new competition for deposits by money market mutual funds. These factors include changing regulatory accounting procedures, increased participation in the secondary mortgage market, and increased asset diversification allowed for by Garn-St. Germain. The empirical results are based on a model of the demand for home mortgage assets specified in terms of an optimal marginal portfolio adjustment model. The results show that changing regulatory procedures and the subsequent impact on secondary mortgage markets had the most impact. The increased lending power granted by Garn-St. Germain had little effect on the demand for home mortgage assets by S&Ls.     

浅析快递邮件的损害赔偿

伴随电子商务的快速发展,快递业给消费者提供了更为快捷、便利的工作及生活方式,但同时因快递邮件也带了快递服务中某些法律方面的纠纷。其中快递邮件损害赔偿一直是社会各界关注的热点问题。本文首先阐述了快递邮件损害赔偿的内容,接着指出快递邮件损害赔偿的法律依据,其次,对快递邮件损害赔偿的法律适用问题作了初步的分析和探讨,最后从国家立法、快递企业,消费者三个层面思考,为进一步完善快递行业制度提出了若干建议。     

广东邮电业发展的需求效应分析

经济社会的发展对邮电业的高速成长起着重要的支撑作用。本文以广东省宏观经济社会发展对邮电业的影响为研究对象,利用面板数据模型考察各经济社会变量对邮电业务的影响。实证结果表明,第三产业发展状况和区域开放度对邮电业的支撑和拉动作用最大。因此,建议各地在培育和支持邮电业发展的过程中,要努力调整产业结构,积极开展对外贸易,扩大开放。     

What determines the profitability of banks? Evidence from Spain

This paper empirically analyses the factors that determine the profitability of Spanish banks for the period of 1999–2009. We conclude that the high bank profitability during these years is associated with a large percentage of loans in total assets, a high proportion of customer deposits, good efficiency and a low doubtful assets ratio. In addition, higher capital ratios also increase the bank’s return, but only when return on assets (ROA) is used as the profitability measure. We find no evidence of either economies or diseconomies of scale or scope in the Spanish banking sector. Finally, our study reveals differences in the performance of commercial and savings banks.     

Worksharing,access and bypass: the structure of prices in the postal sector

This paper studies a liberalized postal market where entrants may offer end-to-end products or concentrate on one of the segments of the network. Absent effective bypass, entry does not appear to be a serious financial threat to the incumbent, even when the products are perfect substitutes. This is no longer true when the entrant offers cheaper service in delivery. Then, the universal service provider may loose the entire pre-sorted mail market. It is left with probably low volume demand from households and from firms with high preparation cost, and its financial viability may be jeopardized. This paper has been presented at 13th CRRI Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics, June 2005.