以政府职能转变推动收入分配改革

收入和财富分配的不平等一直是中国改革发展中的重要问题。针对中国经济的特点,可以从政府改革的角度来研究如何更好地进行收入分配改革。地方政府主导推动地方经济的做法对收入不平等的扩大起了重要作用,加快政府职能转换,是使收入分配改革真正落到实处的破局之处,也是实现收入分配合理化可行的第一步。要改变地方政府的经济职能,降低它直接参与基础设施的程度,改革地方土地财政,建立垂直管理机构,以分散它的一部分经济管理职能,为收入分配改革打开空间。     

The effect of heterogeneous beliefs on mergers and acquisitions

This article investigates the effect of heterogeneous beliefs on firms’ mergers and acquisitions (M&A) decisions. Using data of China’s financial market, which is featured with great heterogeneity of belief, we find that heterogeneous beliefs are positively associated with the occurrence of M&A transactions, and firms with greater heterogeneous beliefs are more likely to pay the transactions with stock. Moreover, we show that government intervention, measured by state ownership, weakens the effect of heterogeneous beliefs on firms’ M&A decisions.     

A general endogenous grid method for multi-dimensional models with non-convexities and constraints

The endogenous grid method (EGM) significantly speeds up the solution of stochastic dynamic programming problems by simplifying or completely eliminating root-finding. We propose a general and parsimonious EGM extended to handle (1) multiple continuous states and choices, (2) multiple occasionally binding constraints, and (3) non-convexities such as discrete choices. Our method enjoys the speed gains of the original one-dimensional EGM, while avoiding expensive interpolation on multi-dimensional irregular endogenous grids. We explicitly define a broad class of models for which our solution method is applicable, and illustrate its speed and accuracy using a consumption–saving model with both liquid assets and illiquid pension assets and a discrete retirement choice.     

Urban Warfare Ecology: A Study of Water Supply in Basrah

This article assesses the impact of armed conflict on the drinking water service of Basrah from 1978 to 2013 through an ‘urban warfare ecology’ lens in order to draw out the implications for relief programming and relevance to urban studies. It interprets an extensive range of unpublished literature through a frame that incorporates the accumulation of direct and indirect impacts upon the hardware, consumables and people upon which urban services rely. The analysis attributes a step‐wise decline in service quality to the lack of water treatment chemicals, lack of spare parts, and, primarily, an extended ‘brain‐drain’ of qualified water service staff. The service is found to have been vulnerable to dependence upon foreign parts and people, ‘vicious cycles’ of impact, and the politics of aid and of reconstruction. It follows that practitioners and donors eschew ideas of relief–rehabilitation–development (RRD) for an appreciation of the needs particular to complex urban warfare biospheres, where armed conflict and sanctions permeate all aspects of service provision through altered biological and social processes. The urban warfare ecology lens is found to be a useful complement to ‘infrastructural warfare’ research, suggesting the study of protracted armed conflict upon all aspects of urban life be both deepened technically and broadened to other cases.     

Option Implied Dividends Predict Dividend Cuts: Evidence from the Financial Crisis

We employ the forward‐looking implied dividend information contained in option prices to predict dividend cuts and omissions during the recent financial crisis. The large number of dividend cuts and omissions during the 2008–09 financial crisis period provides the opportunity to study the predictability of dividend cuts in a controlled environment. Implied dividends and implied volatility, based on put–call parity and computed from put and call option prices, prove to be effective in predicting those cuts, especially compared to only using the equity market and accounting variables conventionally used for this purpose. Options‐derived variables (implied dividends and implied volatility) enhance the ability to identify firms more likely to reduce or omit dividend payments.     

Adaptive learning and distributional dynamics in an incomplete markets model

Recent research shows that several DSGE models provide a closer fit to the data under adaptive learning. This paper extends this research by introducing adaptive learning in the model of Krusell and Smith (1998) with uninsurable idiosyncratic risks and aggregate uncertainty. A first contribution of this paper establishes that the equilibrium of this framework is stable under least-squares learning. The second contribution consists of showing that bounded rationality enhances the ability of this model to match the distribution of income in the US. Learning increases significantly the Gini coefficients because of the opposite effects on consumption of the capital-rich and of the capital-poor agent. The third contribution is an empirical exercise that shows that learning can account for increases in the income Gini coefficient of up to 25% in a period of 28 years. Overall, these findings suggest that adaptive learning has important distributional repercussions in this class of models.     

《野草在唱歌》的生态女性主义解读

多丽丝·莱辛的处女作《野草在唱歌》不仅展现了男权社会中女性和其他弱势群体的生存状态，而且还饱含作者对自然与人类间关系的深刻思考。《野草在唱歌》是从角色的共性、地位的共性、生态女性主义的终极关怀这三个角度来体现生态女性主义的。     

重庆农村经济发展调查——以綦江区隆盛镇振兴村为例

在当代的社会主义市场经济和建设社会主义新农村的大环境下,为了进一步发展农村经济本文以綦江区隆盛镇振兴村为探究对象,探究其在改革开放后的经济发展成就、存在问题和解决措施,从而为解决＂三农问题＂提供借鉴。     

布哈林的思想政治教育思想研究

布哈林长期从事苏联的意识形态工作,有丰富的思想政治教育思想。他在1925年写作的《无产阶级和文艺政策问题》一文,论述了基本国情教育、集体主义教育、共产主义教育等思想政治教育的基本内容,提出了民主的方法、自我教育的方法、批评的方法等思想政治教育的基本方法,指出了思想政治教育对于巩固无产阶级的政治领导权和取得文化领导权具有重要意义。《无产阶级和文艺政策问题》是苏联思想政治教育史上一篇重要的马克思主义文献,对于我国进行思想政治教育工作具有重要的理论和实践价值。     

Nondiscretionary residential water use: the impact of habits and water‐efficient technologies

Several studies published in the last few decades have demonstrated a low price‐elasticity for residential water use. In particular, it has been shown that there is a quantity of water demanded that remains constant regardless of prices and other economic factors. In this research, we characterise residential water demand based on a Stone‐Geary utility function. This specification is not only theory‐compatible but can also explicitly model a minimum level of consumption not dependent on prices or income. This is described as minimum threshold or nondiscretionary water use. Additionally, the Stone‐Geary framework is used to model the subsistence level of water consumption that is dependent on the temporal evolution of consumer habits and stock of physical capital. The main aim of this study is to analyse the impact of water‐saving habits and water‐efficient technologies on residential water demand, while additionally focusing attention on nondiscretionary uses. This is informed by an empirical application using data from a survey conducted among residents of Brisbane City Council, Australia. The results will be especially useful in the design of water tariffs and other water‐saving policies.