Taxes, Leverage, and the Cost of Equity Capital

We examine the associations among leverage, corporate and investor level taxes, and the firm's implied cost of equity capital. Expanding on Modigliani and Miller [1958, 1963] , the cost of equity capital can be expressed as a function of leverage and corporate and investor level taxes. Based on this expression, we predict that the cost of equity is increasing in leverage, and that corporate taxes mitigate this leverage‐related risk premium, while the personal tax disadvantage of debt increases this premium. We empirically test these predictions using implied cost of equity estimates and proxies for the firm's corporate tax rate and the personal tax disadvantage of debt. Our results suggest that the equity risk premium associated with leverage is decreasing in the corporate tax benefit from debt. We find some evidence that the equity risk premium from leverage is increasing in the personal tax penalty associated with debt.     

Turnpike trusts and property income: new evidence on the effects of transport improvements and legislation in eighteenth‐century England1

Numerous Acts of Parliament changed the financing of transport infrastructure in eighteenth‐century England. This paper examines the economic effects of turnpike acts, which greatly improved road infrastructure by introducing tolls. It shows that turnpike trusts increased property income in local areas by at least 20 per cent. The findings shed light on why local property owners promoted and managed turnpikes. They also show that turnpike trusts accounted for at least 20 per cent of the total growth in real land rents between 1690 and 1815, and added at least 1.65 per cent to national income in 1815.     

小城镇发展中的农村产业政策问题

第一产业与二、三产业之间在生产的空间集聚性上存在着很大的差异.历史经验表明,产业结构的转变过程与城市化进程之间存在着很大的相关性,因此通过制定出有效合理的农村产业政策,可以实现农村产业结构的转换,进而有力地推动农村小城镇的发展.     

过程和谐:从怀特海看马克思

从平面、静态的结构层面来理解和谐,往往流于在知识论层面维系人、自然、社会等要素之间的关系平衡,它极易演变成一种观念上的权谋之术,从而遮蔽了和谐本身所应具有的生存论的底蕴。从怀特海过程思想出发,结合马克思对劳动、自由等概念的理解,可以实现一种从结构和谐到过程和谐的视角转换,如此一来,和谐就意味在冒险、创造、激情中造就具有强烈经验值的自我实现。     

大力发展文化产业培育新的经济增长点

本文认为,文化产业的发展主要受历史传承、社会需求、经济状况、科技水平和政策导向等多方面的影响.在我国,文化产业作为朝阳产业和绿色产业,具有广阔的发展前景.第一,从十六大到十七大,经过五年的思想大解放,各级干部树立了正确的文化观,为今后文化产业发展提供了良好的思想基础;第二,文化体制改革全面展开并将逐步深化,将极大地释放文化产业的活力,为文化产业快速发展提供体制和机制上的保证;第三,城乡居民的文化需求大幅度增长,市场需求和发展空间很大:第四,公共基础设施的不断改善.将为文化产业发展提供必要的条件;第五,国家把发展文化产业作为调整经济结构的重要举措,给予许多政策支持;第六,文化经济成为影响世界经济格局的重要力量.     

互补品生产企业间合作营销策略研究

针对互补品的特殊性造成互补品企业独立营销存在风险的问题,建立互补品企业间营销策略博弈模型,对不同条件下的均衡解和合作营销中的成本分担问题进行了分析,并根据不同特征的互补品研究互补品企业间合作营销的实施范式。     

面向超市生鲜农产品流通的第三方精加工模式探讨

当前,超市对生鲜农产品采购后进行自行粗加工的现象还很普遍.作坊式加工导致加工质量差、加工成本比较高,不利于提升超市生鲜经营的核心竞争力.从生鲜农产品供应链管理出发,超市应该加强和供应商、分销商的分工协作,改善产品质量和提高服务水平.鉴于此,本文提出推行面向超市生鲜经营的第三方精加工(TFP)模式,并对该模式的运行机理、作用及其运作平台管理进行了阐述,最后给出了对策建议.     

The association between unexpected earnings and abnormal security returns in the presence of financial leverage*

Abstract. This study extends the growing literature on the deteminants of the variation in the relationship between unexpected earnings and abnormal security returns (the earnings response coefficient). We hypothesize that the firm's default risk as measured by financial leverage would affect the earnings response coefficient. We test this hypothesis by partitioning firms according to (1) the existence of debt in the capital structure (all-equity versus levered firms) and (2) the level of leverage (low-leverage versus high-leverage firms). The results are generally consistent with our hypothesis. Specifically, we find that the earnings response coefficients are larger for all-equity and low-leverage firms vis-à-vis matched-levered and high-leverage firms, even after controlling for the effects of equity beta, persistence, risk premium, and measurement error in unexpected earnings. Our findings are also robust with respect to the choice of earnings measure, either before or after interest charges. Résumé. L'étude s'inscrit dans le prolongement des travaux de plus en plus nombreux portant sur les déterminants de la fluctuation de la relation entre les bénéfices imprévus et les rendements anormaux des titres (le coefficient de réponse des bénéfices). Les auteurs posent l'hypothèse que le risque de non-paiement de l'entreprise, mesuré en termes de levier financier, influe sur le coefficient de réponse des bénéfices. Les auteurs testent cette hypothèse en classant les entreprises selon 1) l'existence ou non de capitaux empruntés dans la structure du capital (entreprises dont les capitaux sont exclusivement des capitaux propres par rapport aux entreprises dont les capitaux sont en partie empruntés) et 2) l'importance du levier financier (entreprises dont le levier financier est faible par rapport aux entreprises dont l'importance du levier financier est élevée). Dans l'ensemble. les résultats confirment l'hypothèse. De façon plus précise, les coefficients de réponse des bénéfices sont plus élevés pour les entreprises dont les capitaux sont exclusivement des capitaux propres et les entreprises dont le levier financier est faible, par rapport aux entreprises, classées selon la taille et le secteur d'activité, dont les capitaux sont davantage constitués de capitaux empruntés et dont le levier financier est élevé, même lorsque sont contrôlées les répercussions du bêta des capitaux propres, de la persistance, de la prime de risque et de l'erreur de mesure des bénéfices imprévus. Les résultats de leur étude résistent également à l'analyse lorsqu'ils font intervenir le choix de la mesure des bénéfices, avant ou après avoir tenu compte des intérêts débiteurs.     

GATT,DISPUTE SETTLEMENT AND COOPERATION*

This paper analyzes GATT and its dispute settlement procedure (DSP) in the context of a supergame model of international trade featuring both explicit and implicit agreements. An explicit agreement, such as GATT, may be violated at some positive cost in addition to retaliatory actions that might be induced by the violation. We interpret this cost as arising from “international obligation”, a phenomenon frequently mentioned in the legal literature on GATT. We focus on how international obligation affects two aspects of GATT-DSP: unilateral retaliation and the effect of inordinate delays in the operation of DSP.     

Consumer Complaining and Community Involvement: An Exploration of Their Theoretical and Empirical Linkages

Drawing upon Smith's [16] participation theory, it is proposed that consumers who complain are also very likely to be active in other areas of social, economic and political life. The relationship between consumer complaining behavior and political and citizen participation is investigated in this paper. Using data from a 1980 survey of Pennsylvania adults, it was found that complaining behavior was significantly related to community involvement in a multivariate analysis in which other key variables were controlled. Implications are explored for both consumer education and the study of consumer complaining behavior.