How Has Takeover Competition Changed Over Time?

Since the boom in takeovers in the 1980s, research in both law and financial economics has debated the role of takeover impediments such as poison pills, staggered boards, and state antitakeover laws. Have these impediments entrenched target management to the detriment of shareholders? Or have they increased the bargaining power of target boards of directors and left shareholders, if not better off, then at least unharmed? In their study published recently in the Journal of Corporate Finance, the authors provide new answers to these questions with a detailed analysis of takeover competition during the period 1981 through 2014. Using a random sample of 388 completed and withdrawn deals from this 34‐year period, the authors begin by confirming the already well‐documented increase in the use of takeover impediments over time. They then report evidence that takeover competition has not declined during this period. First of all, takeover premiums—the average percentage over market paid by acquirers to consummate transactions—have remained steady over time. Second, and the most striking of the authors' findings, is that the corporate auction process has “gone underground” since the 1980s. Although we now see fewer hostile attempts and publicly reported takeover bidding contests, the amount of competition for targets has remained largely unchanged when one takes account of “private” as well as public auctions—that is, contests that, as the authors discovered, included unidentified bidders. The authors view such a fundamental change in the takeover auction process as a response to the widespread growth of takeover impediments. In this sense, as Bill Schwert commented years ago, “hostile takeovers are less about shirking target management than about the bargaining tactics of targets and bidders.” Or as the authors put it, “the greater bargaining power provided by state laws and other takeover impediments has changed the manner in which takeover auctions are conducted,” but without greatly affecting the goal of economic efficiency that such transactions are designed to help bring about.     

Building Financial and Health Literacy at Older Ages: The Role of Online Information

Improving financial and health literacy is an important step in reducing economic vulnerability in older age, yet the means by which individuals accumulate these types of human capital remains an open question. This article evaluates the impact of online search activities on the levels of financial and health literacy. We find that using the internet for such information increases literacy significantly: doing so frequently (versus not at all) increases financial literacy by 16%, and health literacy by 12%. Our results are robust to alternative measures of financial literacy. They are also robust to an instrumental variable approach using other web skills such as email use to proxy for how individuals use the internet.     

Heading for the Hills? Effects of Community Flood Management on Local Adaptation to Flood Risks

The Community Rating System (CRS) program was implemented by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1990 as an optional program to encourage communities to voluntarily engage in flood mitigation initiatives. This article uses national census tract‐level data from 1980 to 2010 to estimate whether CRS participation and flood risk affect a community's local patterns of population change. We employ an instrumental‐variables strategy to address the potential endogeneity of CRS participation, based on community‐scale demographic factors that predict when a tract's host community joins the CRS. The results find significant effects of the CRS program and flood risk on population change. Taken together, the findings point to greater propensity for community‐scale flood management in areas with more newcomers and programs such as CRS stabilizing population, though not especially in flood‐prone areas. We observe the CRS neither displacing population toward lower‐risk areas nor attracting more people to flood‐prone areas.     

The optimal level of corporate social responsibility based on the duopoly model

This paper constructs a duopoly model considering corporate social responsibility (CSR) and market's sensitivity to CSR (e) and analyzes the equilibrium results, the condition of CSR implementation and the optimal CSR level (β^* ) of Model CC (two enterprises implement CSR) and Model CN (only one enterprise implements CSR). The results show that β^* is affected by competitors and e. e, marginal cost (c) and cost difference affect the equilibrium results and the comparative results. Reducing c and improving e can promote social welfare. Consumer surplus under Model CC is highest. CSR has a negative effect on social welfare under certain conditions.     

泸县农村宅基地有偿使用制度改革效果评价

[目的]宅基地有偿使用制度研究有利于推进宅基地制度改革,缓解无偿无限期带来的土地超占乱占和闲置问题。[方法]文章运用层次分析法和模糊综合评价法对2016年和2018年泸县农村宅基地有偿使用制度改革政策效果进行评价。[结果]政策的开展能有效推进村民自治建设进程,但政策的实施要注重公开透明性;有偿使用政策能有效缓解一户多宅、低效闲置、超占乱占等土地浪费现象实现土地的节约集约利用;政策的实施能有效地改善基础设施和农村面貌,但对泸县生产方式转变、新业态发展、农户生活水平提升影响力较小;总体来看农户对有偿使用政策满意度和支持度较高。[结论]针对当前有偿使用制度改革,该文认为宅基地有偿使用制度改革还应该完善有偿使用费收取管理政策,增强政策执行透明度;注重基层队伍建设,实现有偿使用费保值增值;合理选择安置模式,发展农村新业态;加强宅基地有偿使用与有偿退出的高效联动,推进宅基地制度改革进程。     

陕北黄陵县农户生计资本评价及其生计策略研究

[目的]选取受退耕还林、封山禁牧等生态政策影响较大的陕北农户为研究对象,分析农户生计资本与生计策略之间的作用关系。[方法]基于可持续生计分析框架,采用Logistic回归模型,对17个行政村335户样本农户数据进行分析。[结果](1)研究区农户的人力资本整体得分最高,社会资本居次,物质资本中等偏下,自然资本和金融资本处于低水平;(2)农户生计分化明显,典型的纯农户很少,农户生计策略主要为兼农型和低水平非农型;(3)回归分析表明,人力资本指数高的农户倾向于外地兼农,物质资本和社会资本指数高的农户倾向于当地兼农,家庭年收入、人均教育投入和人情往来3项指标是促进农户向非农型生计策略转变的关键因子。[结论]农户生计策略的选择和转变是建立在自身资本结构上的,其往往向着发挥生计资本优势、规避生计资本短板的方向调整生计策略,进而达到提高整体生计资本水平的目的。人力资本优势主导下的黄陵县,加之沟壑区农地资源空间配置的破碎性与复杂性,外地兼农型生计策略将仍是该地区农户近期内的主要生计抉择。     

Migrant entrepreneurship in China: entrepreneurial transition and firm performance

Small Business Economics - China is experiencing rapid urbanization during which millions of migrants move from rural to urban areas. Recently, China initiated the national strategy of “mass...     

NVC龙企功能升级模式演进及机理纵向案例研究——技术自主性视角

国内龙头企业核心技术自主可控成为制约NVC（国内价值链）功能升级的关键问题。通过文献归纳，以能力自主与产权自主解构技术自主性内涵，并根据产品平台与技术轨道双维度划分NVC龙企功能升级模式。基于“能力—战略—行为—绩效（RSCP）”分析框架，选取华为海思公司作为纵向案例研究对象，探索技术自主性视角下NVC龙企功能升级模式及演进机理。结果发现，模块创新与知识产权创造能力通过产品渐进升级模式提升供应链；架构创新与知识产权布局能力可以调整技术轨道，通过产品突破升级模式I打通创新链；架构创新、模块创新和知识产权运营能力可以变革技术轨道，通过产品突破升级模式II主导价值链。     

我国房地产税的税率设计与社会福利效应

本文使用CHFS(2015)数据,基于量能负担原则对我国房地产税进行税率设计,并基于房地产税税率设计测算房地产税额在不同居民家庭收入分组之间的税负分布结构以及社会福利效应.结果发现,在全国样本下,房地产税的税率区间为[0.26％,0.66％],开征房地产税虽然具有一定的累进倾向,但是居民家庭的税后社会福利水平明显低于税前社会福利水平,且随着房地产税税率的提高,居民家庭的社会福利损失越大.在地区样本处理下,房地产税的税率区间具有明显的地区差异性特征,且相较于全国样本和地区样本,采用省、自治区、直辖市(以下简称省份)样本设计房地产税税率所产生的居民家庭社会福利损失最小.基于上述结论,本文建议房地产税税率设计不宜过高,且实行地区差别比例税率设计方案,可以有效降低房地产税给居民家庭带来的社会福利损失,以更好体现房地产税税率设计的客观性和科学性.     

长江经济带人才集聚水平测度及时空演变研究——基于价值链视角

基于价值链视角，构建涵盖人才资源在区域空间层面集聚生成、地区配置、效能产出3个维度在内的区域人才集聚水平评价指标体系，采用专家咨询AHP-信息熵组合赋权法构建综合评价模型和耦合协调度模型，对2010—2018年长江经济带沿线省市人才集聚水平进行测度与时空演化特征分析。结果表明，就长江经济带整体而言，考察期内地区人才集聚水平总体呈现逐年上升态势，但仍处于低水平状态；沿线省市人才集聚水平差异显著，缩小趋势渐缓，整体呈现局部高水平、全局低效率的不利境况；各省市人才集聚水平关键维度的耦合协调度整体呈显著波动递增态势，但内部耦合协调度存在不平衡发展问题，影响地区人才集聚水平整体提升。为提升长江经济带人才集聚水平，推进沿线地区协调发展，需强化区域人才合作机制，采取差别化精准策略破解沿线地区人才集聚低水平、不协调的短板因素。