Optimal targeting of latent tourism demand segments

This paper identifies for the first time the optimal target markets employing the latent tourism demand expenditure, a novel concept in tourism literature. The study quantifies latent tourism demand between each pair of origin-destination through distinguishing by type of tourism and seasonality. It works with market shares that are estimated via a fractional regression model. Moreover, latent demand is clustered using a market segmentation approach based on a latent class regression. Finally, the optimal target markets are chosen depending on the expected latent tourism expenditure. The result has clear policy implications in terms of which markets are promoted, the optimal channels of communication and the maximum budget for each marketing campaign.     

The Impact of Public Expenditure and International Trade on Agricultural Productivity in China

The “industry nurturing agriculture” reforms and World Trade Organization accession led to dramatic growth in public expenditure and international trade in China’s agricultural sector. This article aims to estimate the effects of public expenditure and trade on agricultural productivity in China for 2004–2015. A semi-parametric production function with shape constraints is introduced to derive more accurate productivity before the productivity determinants are analyzed with an emphasis on public expenditure and trade. The empirical result shows that public expenditure and exports can effectively improve agricultural productivity, while imports have no significant effects. Policy implications are discussed in the context of supply-side reforms.     

结构性减税与扩张政府支出的宏观经济效应

为了深入研究不同类型财政政策对宏观经济的影响效应，本文构建纳入异质性家庭和细化财税工具的新凯恩斯DSGE模型，并着重模拟分析了不同类型财政政策冲击对居民消费、私人投资、通胀率以及总产出水平的动态影响效应。研究结果表明，不同类型财税工具对宏观经济的冲击效果存在显著差异，对于税收政策，劳动收入税减税能够有助于提升消费水平和消费需求，并调节和完善消费结构；而对于政府支出政策，转移支付规模的扩张通过刺激家庭消费，引导消费内需有效提升，从而带动经济增长方式由投资驱动型向消费驱动型转变，进而推动经济高质量发展。     

Is health care a necessity or a luxury? Evidence from urban China

This article uses a smooth transition regression (STR) model to research the income elasticity of the health care expenditure of China’s urban residents in the 1990–2013 period. The results demonstrate that if the real income of China’s urban residents that lags a period is taken as a transition variable, urban residents’ health expenditure follows an LSTR1 nonlinear two-regime model. Here, the income elasticity of health care expenditure of China’s urban residents is 1.4919 in 1990–2002 and 1.2216 in 2003–2013. Overall, the income elasticity of health care of China’s urban residents is greater than 1, indicating that health care is a luxury.     

Prioritization of government expenditure on health in India: A fiscal space perspective

Unequal distribution of fiscal resources and lower prioritization of budget towards healthcare are the most important challenges in achieving universal health coverage in India. This study has examined relationships between government health expenditure and fiscal space (i.e. tax revenue, non-tax revenue, fiscal transfer, and borrowings) in twenty-one states of India for the period of 1980–2014. Our panel regression results imply that mobilization of tax revenue has a positive impact, while borrowings have a negative impact on the allocation of government expenditure on healthcare in the long-run. The panel quantile regression results show that states associated with the low and middle level of revenue growth have been mobilizing finance through central government transfer and borrowings in short-run. Further, the panel vector error correction models show that sum of the lagged coefficients of borrowings have a greater impact on health financing process as compared to other sources of fiscal space at short-run, and the speed of adjustment towards long-run equilibrium is relatively slower. The overall analysis concludes that less domestic revenue mobilization and higher dependency of borrowings for healthcare financing may create fiscal stress on state finances in the long-run, and thereby it could possibly reduce the prioritization of spending. Therefore, improvement in revenue growth and proper utilization of fiscal transfer would be appropriate policy implications from this study.     

中国横向税收竞争如何影响雾霾污染——基于环保支出中介效应的研究

分税制改革以来，省级政府间税收竞争激化带来的环境污染问题正在逐步凸现。在此背景下，首先从理论层面分析了税收竞争、环保支出及雾霾污染的关系，并提出假说；其次建立空间杜宾模型测度了税收竞争对雾霾污染的直接效应、间接效应和总效应，并利用中介效应方法实证检验了税收竞争通过环保支出对雾霾污染的作用路径。研究结果表明，税收竞争显著加剧了本地区雾霾污染，但是其间接效应和总效应并不显著；此外，环保支出是税收竞争影响雾霾污染的一个主要中介变量。     

均衡性转移支付、公共支出结构与经济高质量发展

本文首先从理论层面系统阐述均衡性转移支付、公共支出结构与经济增长质量三者之间的多重作用机制。其次立足“五大发展理念”构建综合指标体系对经济增长质量展开测度，本文发现我国地方经济增长质量虽然在整体上呈缓慢上升态势，但其绝对水平相对偏低，且具有较为明显的地区异质性。最后本文通过构建动态面板联立方程模型与采取三阶段最小二乘法进行实证考察，结果表明：地方政府公共支出结构与经济增长质量显著正相关，但均衡性转移支付与经济增长质量的正相关关系并不显著。标准化回归结果显示均衡性转移支付能够通过优化公共支出结构对地方经济增长质量产生间接提升效应。     

Impact of remittances on household health care expenditure: Evidence from the Nepal Living Standards Survey

This paper examines the effect of remittance inflows on health care expenditure in Nepal using the Nepal Living Standards Survey 2010–2011. Using the recursive three‐stage least square regression method, the propensity score matching method, and the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition method, we find a positive and significant effect of remittances on health care expenditure. In particular, our analysis shows a 0.099% increase in health care expenditure for every 1% increase in overall remittances. This effect increases to 0.189% for earned remittances (remittances received from a household member). We also find that remittance‐receiving households with at least one migrant family member have different health care spending behavior than those with no migrant members.     

Land rental in a multi-ethnic society: Insights from Southwest China

This study presents detailed evidence on the characteristics, processes, and consequences of land rental practices in a multi-ethnic rural society in Yunnan Province, Southwest China, which have rarely been explored. It contributes to the existing literature on land rental and control by considering the dimension of ethnicity. The findings show the following: Interethnic land rental is a very common and noteworthy feature in the selected Han-Jingpo multi-ethnic rural society. Han ethnic households rented and accumulated a large proportion of farmland and forestland from neighbouring Jingpo ethnic households. This was done to expand cash crops and timber forest, as opposed to the activities of Jingpo ethnic households. Interethnic land rental was mainly triggered by different development capabilities and attitudes towards agricultural commercialization supported by differences in resource assets due to ethnic living patterns and other dynamic socio-political reasons. Consequently, Jingpo ethnic households are experiencing an increasing income gap due largely to declines in farmland and forestland, while possibilities for positive interethnic interactions were found. These findings are relevant for rethinking land rental policies in China and also provide useful insights for rural sustainability in any multi-ethnic area where interethnic interactions of land or other resources coexist.     

秦迁陵县粮仓设置体系探讨--以出粮机构粮食来源问题为中心

除仓官外,秦迁陵县内的出粮机构还包括田官、离乡及司空等。它们并非都建有独立粮仓,所出粮食的来源也不尽一致。田官不设粮仓,它的出粮地是公共粮仓中的一间专属仓房。离乡建有供应该乡粮食开支的独立粮仓,且粮仓数量与该乡人口规模有关。小乡可能仅有一座粮仓,故有时会产生因储备不足而需要仓官额外输粮的问题。司空、发弩及■舍三者既未建有独立粮仓,也不如田官那般在公共粮仓内占有一间仓房,它们向外供应的粮食全都是由仓官转输。总之,秦迁陵县内设置的粮仓包括县级公共粮仓和离乡粮仓两类。田官、司空、发弩及舍虽承担了部分出粮职能,但并未给县内粮仓体系带来影响。