Equal opportunity and poverty reduction: How should aid be allocated?

This paper analyzes a model of aid allocation equalizing the opportunity between recipient countries to reach a common poverty reduction goal. We propose a fair and efficient aid allocation based on a multicriteria principle. The model considers structural handicaps in recipient countries in terms of lack of human capital and economic vulnerability, their initial poverty, and the natural gap between the growth rate required to reach a development goal and the observed one. We show that our proposed aid allocation favors poor and vulnerable countries with our multicriteria principle. It substantially differs from the observed allocation. Analyses also shed light on the impact of the donors' aversion to the low natural growth gap in recipient countries on the optimal aid allocation and the marginal efficiency of aid.     

我国养老基金的投资模式

人口老龄化对养老保险制度提出了严峻的挑战 ,“统账结合”的基金缺口将通过国有股减持来弥补。而出于保值增值的需要 ,具有积累或部分积累性质的养老基金有必要进入资本市场 ,并具备了一定的进入条件。相应地 ,养老基金的投资模式也要进行多样化的投资选择 ,以达到保值增值的目的。     

热泵技术应用与电力市场开拓

文章从热泵技术原理、分类以及山西地区热泵应用自然条件和现状出发,选取应用案例对热泵和城市集中供暖的经济性进行比较,说明其在节能减排、经济性方面的优势,指出供电公司在热泵推广应用中可做的工作。     

农村减贫效率及其空间差异研究——基于DEA-ESDA模型的分析

[目的]通过对2011~2015年间全国以及各区域层面的农村减贫效率进行测度,探讨其空间差异及变化特征。[方法]文章采用投入导向的DEA-BCC模型测算农村减贫效率值,并借助探索性数据分析法(ESDA)对农村减贫效率的空间差异和变化展开分析。[结果](1)我国农村减贫综合技术效率相对较低,未能充分挖掘现有资源投入的潜力,纯技术效率整体偏小是造成综合技术效率较低的重要原因;(2)省际农村减贫效率在2011~2015年整体呈现出先减后增的趋势,并表现出西高东低的阶梯形空间布局;(3)农村减贫的综合技术效率存在正自相关性,高高聚集的区域主要集中在西部地区,低低聚集区域呈现由东北向京津都市区移转的趋势;(4)减贫综合技术效率的热点区域主要集中在西北与西南两大区域,且具有较强的稳定性;冷点区域主要分布在江西、安徽及东部沿海地区,较为稳定的冷点区域主要集中在东北及环渤海地区。[结论]我国农村减贫效率存在显著的空间异质性的特征,需要精准地识别出局部性致贫因素,因地制宜地制定出具有区域联动特点的空间扶贫开发策略。     

产业链的合作机制选择与低碳产品定价及碳减排策略

生产链上下游企业选择合适的合作机制对低碳产品定价及碳减排有重要影响。通过构建博弈模型分析三种不同合作机制下的低碳产品定价及碳减排问题:第一种合作机制即制造商与零售商进行合作,当两条生产链都选择这种合作机制时,能带来较高的碳减排率和较低的零售价格,这对制造商、零售商、消费者和环境都是有利的。第二种合作机制即两条生产链的制造商之间、零售商之间分别合作,这会带来较低的碳减排率和较高的零售价格,对两个制造商有利,而对零售商和消费者不利。分析前两种合作机制的利与弊提出第三种合作机制,即零售商和制造商共享利润下的有利于碳减排的策略。最后,结合案例讨论和数值分析的研究结果表明:当制造商和零售商收入共享比在一定范围内时,第三种合作机制可以给制造商和零售商带来更高的利润。由此为企业选择最佳的合作机制及合理的碳减排策略提供了理论指导。     

财政压力、地方政府行为与环境污染

地方政府是生态环境治理的关键主体，财政压力以地方政府行为作为传导变量，对环境污染及其治理效果有深刻影响。实证检验地方政府行为的促污和治污效应对财政压力冲击的响应。结果表明：激励生产型地方政府行为促进污染增加，在财政压力下促进污染增加效应的激化，即压力越大越污染。环境治理型地方政府行为中的环境保护支出对污染治理有效，财政压力对其治污效应有提升作用；排污费征收不治污、反促污，财政高压使其促污效应强化。在财政增支减收、压力不断攀升的背景下，可从治理体制性财政压力诱因、强化对地方政府行为监督和约束以及优化治理工具提升环境治理绩效等方面来平抑财政压力通过地方政府行为引发的环境污染加剧。     

破解“化工围江”难题的“湖北样本”和“江苏样本”

长江经济带化工产业在全国化工发展格局中占据重要地位。在长江经济带沿线11省份中，湖北省、江苏省化工产业规模位居前列，在化工产业快速发展的同时，“化工围江”难题日益凸显。湖北省、江苏省先后颁布实施一系列规划与政策，引导化工产业转型升级发展，成为破解“化工围江”难题的典型样本。通过对比分析“湖北样本”和“江苏样本”，得到破解“化工围江”难题的启示：科学理念引导化工产业绿色发展；规划先行推动化工产业创新发展；政策支持保障化工产业健康发展。     

Nowcasting and forecasting GDP in emerging markets using global financial and macroeconomic diffusion indexes

This paper contributes to the nascent literature on nowcasting and forecasting GDP in emerging market economies using big data methods. This is done by analyzing the usefulness of various dimension-reduction, machine learning and shrinkage methods, including sparse principal component analysis (SPCA), the elastic net, the least absolute shrinkage operator, and least angle regression when constructing predictions using latent global macroeconomic and financial factors (diffusion indexes) in a dynamic factor model (DFM). We also utilize a judgmental dimension-reduction method called the Bloomberg Relevance Index (BRI), which is an index that assigns a measure of importance to each variable in a dataset depending on the variable’s usage by market participants. Our empirical analysis shows that, when specified using dimension-reduction methods (particularly BRI and SPCA), DFMs yield superior predictions relative to both benchmark linear econometric models and simple DFMs. Moreover, global financial and macroeconomic (business cycle) diffusion indexes constructed using targeted predictors are found to be important in four of the five emerging market economies that we study (Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey). These findings point to the importance of spillover effects across emerging market economies, and underscore the significance of characterizing such linkages parsimoniously when utilizing high-dimensional global datasets.     

The reduction cost of nonperforming loan: evidence from China’s commercial bank

The nonperforming loans (NPLs) are co-generated by creating the profit in a bank, and this article build a joint production model to measure the reduction cost of nonperforming cost. By using a data set of China’s 13 commercial banks, the conclusions show that the reduction cost of NPLs is lower, which suggests that it is not a good choice for China’s commercial bank to hold the NPLs.     

Local poverty reduction in Chile and Mexico: The role of food manufacturing growth

This paper analyzes the relationship between local poverty and food manufacturing growth in Chile and Mexico using propensity score matching, differences in differences and spatial econometrics methods. We focus on food manufacturing as a sector with a number of characteristics that make it potentially pro-poor, and whose incentives for spatial distribution may either strengthen or dampen its poverty reduction potential. The overall results indicate growth in food manufacturing employment contributes to local poverty reduction.