Convergence in US house prices

This paper analyses the convergence of US house prices. Our results confirm the existence of some degree of segmentation in the US housing market. We also provide robust evidence that the bursting of the housing price bubble has altered this market, observing different results when the sample includes information posterior to 2010. However, we appreciate different effects depending on the geographical level of disaggregation that is employed.     

CLIOMETRICS AND TIME SERIES ECONOMETRICS: SOME THEORY AND APPLICATIONS

Abstract The paper discusses a range of modern time series methods that have become popular in the past 20 years and considers their usefulness for cliometrics research both in theory and via a range of applications. Issues such as, spurious regression, unit roots, cointegration, persistence, causality, structural time series methods, including time varying parameter models, are introduced as are the estimation and testing implications that they involve. Applications include a discussion of the timing and potential causes of the British Industrial Revolution, income ‘convergence’ and the long‐run behaviour of English real wages 1264–1913. Finally some new and potentially useful developments are discussed including the mildly explosive processes; graphical modelling and long memory.     

CLARIFYING CONVERGENCE. Striking similarities and durable differences in public management reform

Both academics and practitioners have disagreed among themselves about whether and to what extent the developed world is witnessing a convergence in the forms of public management. Some of this disagreement may be attributed to the formidable empirical problems facing those who wish to make global or near-global generalizations. To a considerable extent, however, the divergences of view may be attributed to a more subtle cause – an inadequate conceptualization of the notion of ‘convergence’ itself. This article sets out to remedy that deficiency by discussing ‘convergence’ and proposing a multi-layered definition of the concept. This approach carries with it the implication that different aspects of convergence require substantially different research strategies. It also holds out the probability that convergence and enduring difference can co-exist in one jurisdiction at one time – depending on the level at which the analysis is being conducted. The article concludes with a preliminary examination of the substantive question of actual convergence, comparing the adequacy of different theoretical approaches.     

会计准则国际趋同的经济后果

会计准则国际趋同是经济全球化和资本市场国际化的必然选择,会计准则的国际趋同具有经济后果。本文分析和评价了会计准则国际趋同的经济后果的理论基础与经验证据,并指出了未来可能的研究方向。     

Dynamics of Income Distribution across Chinese Provinces during 1978–98

This study attempts to examine the growth pattern of China's economy during 1978–98 from the perspective of income distribution dynamics. Motivated by the model of dynamic distribution, a transition matrix is derived from a panel of ratios of provincial real incomes to national averages across 30 provinces over 1978–98. The transition matrix is used not only to reveal the transitions of provinces between the states of income over time, but also to predict whether there is a tendency across provinces to converge in real income per worker in the long run. This study finds evidence of a slight reduction of income dispersion across Chinese provinces over 1978–98. However, the slight reduction of income dispersion is not strong enough for the provinces to converge to mean income. But there is a strong tendency to converge across provinces within regions and it is evident that, in the eastern region, poor provinces caught up with rich ones over the period under study. The long-run distribution indicates that there will not be a tendency to converge in real GDP per capita across provinces in the long run.     

Convergence and diversification in cable industry: An empirical analysis of the deployment pattern of cable telephony in US local telecommunications markets

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the deployment pattern of cable telephony in the US local telecommunications market. A model is established stressing that the size of local markets and the specific cost advantages of local cable systems are associated with the deployment of cable telephony by cable operators.     

Continental European accounting model and accounting modernization in Germany

Classification techniques based on one or few dimensions are widely used in research studies and textbooks to explain and predict the development of accounting systems internationally. However, their usefulness in international accounting has been limited in today's globalized world. For example, in the context of the EU, IFRS are required for consolidated accounting, while national accounting systems continue to be the dominant system for unconsolidated accounting in many countries. Using Germany as a case study, the objective of this paper is to examine whether Germany can still be classified within the Continental European model of accounting following the Act to Modernize Accounting Law (Bilanzrechts-modernisierungsgesetz — BilMoG), which was promulgated on May 29, 2009. This Act introduced some major reforms to the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch — HGB), such as removing the close connection to tax rules and introducing new recognition and valuation regulations, which changed traditional principles of orderly accounting (Grundsätze ordnungsmäßiger Buchführung). As a result, the current German approach of financial reporting separates Germany from the traditional Continental European model of accounting and moves it somewhere on a spectrum between the traditional Continental European model of accounting and the Anglo-American model of accounting.     

三网融合的利益冲突、对应策略与关联体制催生

产业融合扩展了规制重构原有的含义。在技术融合和业务趋同的背景下,分离发展的电信业和广电业走向了融合,而利益冲突与监管体制问题成为了制约我国三网融合工作推进的瓶颈。研究三网融合所带来的产业规制重构问题,讨论基于顶层设计理念的规制重构理论,有利于总结实际经验,破除既得利益的干扰,降低改革失败的可能性。     

Regional disparity,transitional dynamics and convergence in China

Most of the earlier studies on the convergence of income in China are based on provincial level data with a few papers focusing on intra-provincial units’ transitional dynamics. The objective of this study is to fill the void in the literature by using county-level data which cover 1485 counties and county-level cities in 22 provinces for the period of 1997–2007. This paper makes several contributions to the literature. The findings in this paper show high persistence in income distribution among many spatial groupings. Thus the poor county-level units may remain relatively poor over time. This study provides very little evidence of convergence to the mean income in various spatial groupings. Furthermore, the empirical analysis highlights differences in transitional dynamics between cities and counties.     

中国服务业全要素生产率增长及其收敛分析

本文使用非参数的Malmquist指数方法测算了中国28个省区市1978～2007年服务业全要素生产率(TFP)变动情况,并从技术效率和技术进步两个方面对中国服务业全要素生产率变化的阶段性和区域性特点进行了分析。结果表明,改革开放以来,中国服务业TFP不断提高,但增长幅度呈阶段性下降态势。随着服务业资本深化过程的推进,服务业增长的要素推动作用相当明显,而TFP的增长贡献则逐渐降低,而且,在TFP的变化中,技术进步的增长效应明显,但技术效率的水平效应相对有限。在空间分布上,TFP增长及其分解存在东部、中部和西部的区域性差异,但收敛检验表明,各省区市的TFP增长呈现出长期的收敛趋势。