Income inequality and education revisited: persistence,endogeneity and heterogeneity

This article presents new results on the relationship between income inequality and education expansion – that is, increasing average years of schooling and reducing inequality of schooling. When dynamic panel estimation techniques are used to address issues of persistence and endogeneity, we find a large, positive, statistically significant and stable relationship between inequality of schooling and income inequality, especially in emerging and developing economies and among older-age cohorts. The relationship between income inequality and average years of schooling is positive, consistent with constant or increasing returns to additional years of schooling. While this positive relationship is small and not always statistically significant, we find a statistically significant negative relationship with years of schooling of younger cohorts. Statistical tests indicate that our dynamic estimators are consistent and that our identifying instruments are valid. Policy simulations suggest that education expansion will continue to be inequality reducing. This role will diminish as countries develop, but it could be enhanced through a stronger focus on reducing inequality in the quality of education.     

Is external research assessment associated with convergence or divergence of research quality across universities and disciplines? Evidence from the PBRF process in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Performance-based research evaluations have been adopted in several countries both to measure research quality in higher education institutions and as a basis for the allocation of funding across institutions. Much attention has been given to evaluating whether such schemes have increased the quality and quantity of research. This paper examines whether the introduction of the New Zealand Performance-Based Research Fund process produced convergence or divergence in measured research quality across universities and disciplines between the 2003 and 2012 assessments. Two convergence measures are obtained. One, referred to as β-convergence, relates to the relationship between changes in average quality and the initial quality level. The second concept, referred to as σ-convergence, relates to the changes in the dispersion in average research quality over time. Average quality scores by discipline and university were obtained from individual researcher data, revealing substantial β- and σ-convergence in research quality over the period. The hypothesis of uniform rates of convergence across almost all universities and disciplines is supported. The results provide insights into the incentives created by performance-based funding schemes.     

Primary-school class composition and the development of social capital

We study the development of social capital through adult civic engagement, in relation to social capital exposure having occurred during childhood based on experiences outside the family at primary school. We assume that the types of classmates in attendance at a child's school would have influenced her/his social capital. To identify the types of classmates, we take advantage of the heterogeneity in the ability levels of British primary-school classes during the 1960s. At that time, some schools were practicing a method of streaming, whereas others were not. Using British National Child Development data, we construct a single score of civic engagement and evaluate the effect on adult civic engagement of attending homogeneous-ability classes versus nonhomogeneous-ability classes and being in high-, average- or low-ability classes when enrolled in streamed schools. Our results show that children who were grouped in homogeneous-ability classes developed a lower interest in civic engagement than their peers who attended mixed-ability classes (nonstreamed schools). Moreover, among children who attended streamed schools, a lower attitude toward civic engagement was observed among low-ability students. Thus, streaming appears to be detrimental to social capital development, especially for low-ability individuals.     

Relationship between city size and firm productivity – A new interpretation using the Chinese experience

This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between city size and firm productivity by focusing on agglomeration, selection (market competition), and sorting (presence of firms with diverse productivity) effects using Chinese firm-level data for 1998–2013. Contrary to the existing literature, our parametric regression estimates from nearly two million firms show that when the selection effect is controlled, productivity advantage in big cities is reversed. This outcome is explained through a quantile regression showing the existence of left-sided sorting (inefficient firms sort themselves to larger cities) in big cities which is not captured in existing empirical literature. We further find that (1) left-sided sorting is stronger in exporters than non-exporters; (2) is also generated mainly in enterprises with high asset-liability ratios; and (3) selection has a positive effect on firm productivity, suggesting that market competition is key in an explanation of the rapid growth of big cities in China.     

Fetal Iodine Deficiency and Schooling: A Replication of Field,Robles, and Torero (2009)*

Scholars have theorized that congenital health endowment is an important determinant of economic outcomes later in a person's life. Field, Robles, and Torero (2009, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 1, 140–169) find large increases in educational attainment caused by a reduction of fetal iodine deficiency following a set of iodine supplementation programs in Tanzania. We revisit the Tanzanian iodine programs with a narrow and wide replication of the study by Field et al. We are able to exactly replicate the original results. We find, however, that the findings are sensitive to alternative specification choices and sample restrictions. We try to address some of these concerns in the wide replication; we increase the sample size fourfold, and we improve the precision of the treatment variable by incorporating new institutional and medical insights. Despite the improvements, no effect is found. We conclude that the available data do not provide sufficient power to detect a possible effect, as treatment assignment cannot be measured with sufficient precision.     

高校知识溢出与企业创新绩效

本文利用全样本数据探讨了作为创新和知识溢出微观主体的高校对企业创新绩效的影响。本文通过ArcGIS测算了2007-2015年上市公司所在地周边全部高校数量，并以企业研发投入金额、发明专利衡量企业创新水平，利用Anselin et al（2000）的KPF方程，采用双聚类OLS检验高校知识溢出对企业创新行为的影响效应与机制。研究发现：第一，高校知识溢出对企业研发创新投入和有效创新产出均具有显著促进作用；第二，知识溢出效应具有显著的地理邻近性特征，而行政边界关联影响较弱；第三，高校知识溢出通过提高企业研发投入，提升员工和管理层人力资本，进而影响企业创新绩效。进一步研究表明，空间异质性、高校异质性、企业异质性、中心城市集聚效应、高铁开通等因素导致高校知识溢出效应存在差异。     

市场竞争不完全与企业内部工资差距*——基于产品与劳动力市场融合视角的分析

理解工资差距的形成机制是在新时期破解发展不平衡不充分问题，进而实现共享发展的关键。本文从产品与劳动力市场竞争不完全相融合的视角，扩展了中国企业内部技能员工与非技能员工工资差距形成机制的研究，兼论消除竞争不完全的效率提高。基于中国企业数据并在统一的框架下构建市场竞争不完全的测算指标，本文发现：中国的市场化改革并不必然带来收入差距的扩大，不完全的市场化改革形成的产品与劳动力市场竞争不完全才是引发企业内部收入差距的重要原因。当存在市场竞争不完全时，企业会将产品市场势力扩展到劳动力市场，形成劳动力市场竞争不完全对工资差距的更大影响。这意味着单一的市场化改革不能有效缓解收入差距，只有产品与劳动力市场的同步改革才能达到最优的政策效果。中国的市场化改革可以在初次分配中通过发挥市场机制兼顾效率与公平。     

川渝黔一体化发展的战略目标和基本内容

作为长江上游的核心区域，川渝黔一体化发展的本质就是长江上游区域的一体化发展。战略目标有两个方面：在成渝城市群基础上形成世界级城市群、形成世界级主导产业和企业集团。其战略意义有五个方面：极大缓解我国不平衡不充分发展与人民追求美好生活愿望之间的矛盾、率先促进长江上游区域一体化发展、有助于加快实现“一带一路”和长江经济带等发展目标、有利于保护水资源和建成上游生态屏障、使我国有一个长远和稳固的战略后方基地。一体化发展的基本内容包含五个方面：交通通信设施一体化、产业发展一体化、监管和生产要素一体化、生态环境一体化、人口流动时身份规定一体化。     

Do consumers view the nutrition facts panel when making healthfulness assessments of food products? Antecedents and consequences

Consumer use of the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) is an important topic of interest to researchers and public policymakers. Studies conducted in the United States and elsewhere find high levels of self-reported use of the NFP or its equivalent. However, data from self-reports may inflate estimated NFP use due to social desirability problems. Utilizing data from an online experiment, we examine whether consumers choose to view the NFP when assessing the nutritional properties and disease-fighting abilities of foods. We also examine the antecedents of NFP-viewing behavior and its implications for the accuracy of healthfulness judgments and the potential for overgeneralization. We conclude with a discussion of the public policy implications of our results and point to directions for future research.     

科学型企业商业模式:中国情境的复合案例研究

以中国企业为研究对象，运用复合案例研究方法分析与构建了科学型企业商业模式概念模型，分离出科学平台和价值平台两个独特要素，进而构建以科学平台-价值平台互动为核心的P2P商业模式运作模型，并根据不同类型科学型企业，分析模型的有效性、适用性以及模型在不同类型科学型企业中的共性与差异，最后总结出科学型企业商业模式特点及企业管理对策。