The Influence of a Credit Rating Change on Dividend and Investment Policy Interactions

We examine firms’ alterations in dividend and investment activities following credit rating changes. We find that downgraded firms reduce both dividends and investments more than no‐rating‐change firms. However, a silver lining of this doubly negative impact for shareholders is an increase in investment efficiency in firms that are most likely to overinvest. For upgraded firms, investments increase, but dividend outlays do not, compared to firms without rating changes. Our findings of asymmetric dividend stickiness and symmetric investment changes on a credit shock suggest that dividends and investments should not always be considered competing uses of funds.     

农业综合开发、农技推广培训与农机购置补贴效率

农机购置补贴是中国推动农业机械化最重要的支持政策。本文通过DEA Tobit模型测算了全国30个省份2004—2012年购置补贴政策的综合技术效率、纯技术效率和规模效率,并着重分析了农业综合开发和农技推广培训对补贴效率的影响机制。研究结果表明,全国农机购置补贴政策的综合技术效率水平不高,主要是由于纯技术效率过低;各省份之间的效率值存在较大差异,但规模效率普遍较高;实证结果显示补贴政策实施方式的优化以及农机从业人员的素质对补贴效率有显著的促进作用,但是农业综合开发和农技综合培训却并没有达到理论分析的预期效果。本文对以上问题做出了解释,并给出政策建议。     

基于网络DEA的科技创新型企业投资效率评价分析

企业投资效率是影响企业价值的关键因素。本文在划分投资转化过程子阶段的基础上构建投资效率评价模型及指标体系,运用二阶段网络DEA方法测算我国创业板科技创新型上市公司2012～2014年投资效率值及非效率投资的改进程度。实证结果表明,科技创新型上市公司利润产生子阶段投资效率较低,并且研发支出、无形资产以及长期投资三方面的投资冗余现象明显,但是多数上市公司两个阶段的投资效率随着时间的推移逐渐趋向双重高效。     

基于城市视角下新能源汽车产业技术创新效率评价

在能源和环境问题日益凸显的情况下,新能源汽车的发展无疑为我国汽车产业的发展提供了新 的契机。借鉴区域和产业技术创新效率评价研究范式,结合新能源汽车特点,论文有针对性 地选取评价指标,以11个新能源汽车主要推广城市创新数据为基础,在城市视角下应用主成 分分析与DEA的组合方法,定量评价了其技术创新效率。通过对投入产出数据的DEA有效性进 行对比分析,发现这11个城市的整体技术创新效率偏低,主要是受规模效率与纯技术效率交 叉作用影响,且普遍存在新产品开发投入冗余、研发支出投入过多、企业规模不合理和资源 利用效率不高等问题。最后根据分析结果进一步提出了对策建议。     

When is the risk of cooperation worth taking? The prisoner’s dilemma as a game of multiple motives

This experimental article helps to understand the motives behind cooperation in the prisoner’s dilemma. It manipulates the pay-off in case both players defect in a two-player, one-shot prisoner’s dilemma and explains the degree of cooperation by a combination of four motives: efficiency, conditional cooperation, fear and greed. All motives are significant but some become only significant if one controls for all remaining ones. This seems to be the reason why earlier attempts at explaining choices in the prisoner’s dilemma with personality have not been successful.     

Efficiency Defense in EU and US Horizontal Merger Control if Costs are Endogenous

If fixed costs are endogenous, following from profit maximization, horizontal mergers are always profitable. They cause the price to rise and consumer surplus to decrease. A case of horizontal merger in which, according to the requirement of US and EU Merger Guidelines for an efficiency defense to be acceptable, the price declines or remains constant does not exist and therefore cannot be expected by profit maximizing partners to arise following a merger. Merger control should be guided by focusing on total welfare. Permitting cooperation in R&D, although profitable, is likely to be detrimental to welfare.     

ANALYSIS OF THE POSSIBILITIES FOR EXPANSION OF SERVICES IN TANZANIAN SAVINGS AND CREDITS CO‐OPERATIVE SOCIETIES: LEARNING FROM ECONOMIES OF SCALE

Savings and Credit Co‐operative Societies (SACCOS) increasingly recognized as the valuable tool for economic development in low‐income countries. However, recently researchers reported that one of their primary challenges to their expansion is the high level of inefficient. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between growth and efficiency of SACCOS using economies of scale concept. Then we address the role of management of the capital structure and allocation of resources in the expansion of SACCOS. The study used financial statement data from 60 SACCOS in Tanzania for the period of 2004–2011. The findings supports that most of SACCOS are small and cost inefficient because the industry is young, but, the efficiency increases as SACCOS expand. Second the allocation of resources in liquid, financial and non‐financial investment leads to no expansion in SACCOS. Thus, the growth of SACCOS via increasing loan to members, members’ savings, shares, and institutional capital should be encouraged as it increases the efficiency of SACCOS. Also, SACCOS should minimize the allocation of assets in other investments which are different from credit to members.     

Evaluating the performance of higher education institutions in Europe: a nonparametric efficiency analysis of 944 institutions

Although a long tradition exists of studying the economics of education, performance comparisons of different kinds have traditionally been difficult to undertake. An important impediment has been the lack of comparable data. To a large extent, this study remedies the shortcomings of earlier studies. Our contribution is twofold. First, the current higher education policy of contraction and economizing, common to most European countries, make knowledge of potential efficiency gains crucial. Second, a unique database allows us to study a broad diversity of organizations as well as organizations located in a number of different European countries. The study suggests evaluating higher education institution (HEI) performance in a production theory context, applying the well-known data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to a cross section of 944 HEIs in 17 European countries. The DEA approach is particularly suitable in this context where little is known about production technologies and economic behaviour of the HEIs. On average, provision of education is found to be most efficient in the Slovak Republic followed by Belgium and Latvia, while Denmark and Norway display the lowest efficiency. The study also indicates a positive relation between efficiency and HEI size and efficiency and research intensity. Furthermore, the study points to the importance of continued data collection.     

Cost and learning efficiency drivers in Australian schools: a two-stage network DEA approach

This article explore performance issues in Australian public schools, using a two-stage DEA network model, which accounts simultaneously for both cost and learning efficiency levels. In the cost efficiency stage, different types of expenses and investments are employed to support a given number of students, teachers and administrative staff. In the learning efficiency stage, these groups of individuals help to produce important outputs related to performance in student tests and school rankings. Results indicate that Australian public schools are heterogeneous. Policy implications are also discussed.     

区域经济效率与公平兼顾模型的构建及实证分析

如何兼顾效率与公平,一直是经济学研究的主题和难题之一。针对区域经济发展中的效率与公平问题,基于SUP-CCR-DEA模型,在保证整体效率最优的同时,增加政府进行区域补贴后的居民收入区域差异最小化的约束条件,建立区域经济效率与公平兼顾模型,对中国东、中、西、东北四大区域进行实证分析,并用锡尔系数进行验证。分析表明,通过政府补贴改变区域间居民的收入分配,可以改善区域经济公平性,也可增进整体经济效率;西部和中部地区应获得更多的政府补贴;在缩小四大区域经济发展差距的同时,也要积极改善各大区域内部的经济公平性。