The employment and wage effects of export VAT rebates: evidence from China

Review of World Economics - This paper studies the employment and wage effects of VAT rebates to exporters with comprehensive firm-product-level data of China. It is found that the adjustments in...     

非国有大股东对国企超额雇员的影响:成本效应还是激励效应

基于竞争理论的国企改革思路强调减少政策性负担摊派,基于产权理论的改革思路侧重于引入非国有资本,以解决产权不清晰与所有者缺位问题.本文尝试融合两种理论,以国企超额雇员问题为研究对象,从非国有大股东视角探究混合所有制改革成效.研究发现:非国有大股东能够显著降低国企超额雇员,减弱超额雇员对公司价值的损害作用,且该治理作用会随非国有大股东相对力量的提高而增强;从作用机制来看,该治理作用不仅表现为劳动力成本尤其是员工薪酬的节约,还表现为内部薪酬差距和管理层薪酬业绩敏感性的提高,兼具成本效应与激励效应;该作用在地区就业压力较小、劳动密集度较低以及劳动保护水平更低的环境下更为显著.     

区际产业转移关联溢出与产业高质量发展——对电子设备制造业的实证检验

基于我国区际产业转移大背景，使用1999-2016内地年30个省市、27个二位数工业行业数据定量测度区际产业转移，选择产业关联较强的电子设备制造业为研究对象，使用投入产出法识别关联产业、测算其关联产业溢出，利用2004—2016年内地28个省市面板数据构建模型对关联产业溢出效应与电子设备制造业转移的关系、产业转移中的关联产业溢出与电子设备制造业高质量发展的关系分别进行了实证检验。研究发现：①2014年中国工业空间基尼系数出现拐点，总体工业由之前的分散转移转为新的集中转移，而电子设备制造业仍处在向中部地区和西南地区集聚的分散转移中；②电子设备制造业转移中的产业关联溢出效应确实存在，且促进了电子设备制造业生产效率的提高和产业高质量发展；③产业转移中第三产业关联溢出效应对电子设备制造业分散转移的作用高于工业，但工业的关联溢出对电子设备制造业生产效率提升的作用明显高于第三产业。     

经济增长目标影响了企业风险承担吗?-基于市场和政府双重视角的考察

中国经济的增长在很大程度上受到中央和地方政府政治和财政激励的影响.地方政府每年都制定明确的经济增长目标以指导地方发展.虽然许多研究从宏观经济的角度研究了该目标的作用,但很少有研究具体考察增长目标在微观经济中的作用方式.文章从地方政府经济增长目标的角度,匹配2009-2015年233个地级以上城市经济增长目标数据和2381家沪深A股上市公司数据,考察了政府经济发展规划如何影响企业风险承担水平.研究发现,地方经济增长目标的提高显著增加了企业风险承担水平,且在更换了企业风险承担和经济增长目标衡量方法以及考虑内生性问题后,结论依然存在.在外部资源的调节效应方面,经济增长目标对能获得高政府补助、融资约束程度低以及能获得高贷款的企业的风险承受水平的提升作用更大.而异质性检验发现,地方经济增长目标对企业风险承担水平的刺激效应主要体现在具有一定规模、国有企业和具有政治关联的企业中;以及主要体现在发展水平较低和市场化程度较低的城市中.这些发现表明,地方经济增长目标对企业风险承担水平的正面影响主要还是地方政府主导资源分配的结果,而并非市场信号机制的结果.     

Capital asset pricing model in Portugal: Evidence from fractal regressions

We examine risk profiles of the Portuguese stock market index component stocks using a novel approach to the classical capital asset pricing model (CAPM). Specifically, we estimate the CAPM via fractal regressions that allow studying the marginal effects at selected scales. In this way, we can reveal whether the risk is perceived differently by market participants with different investment horizons. Apart from the analysis itself, we provide new statistical insights into the issue of separating and comparing the scale-specific effects with statistical validity. We find several stocks deviating from an expected risk perception homogeneity across investment horizons. This is true for both analysed periods, i.e. before and after the global financial crisis. There are also several stocks that changed their relationship to the market portfolio in between, which has strong implications for possible portfolio construction. The proposed methodology is not limited to financial topics but can be used in any discipline where the scale-specific marginal effects might be of interest.     

The Structure of Problem Structuring Conversations: A Boundary Games Approach

One of the questions associated with facilitated problem structuring is how the micro level of actors’ multimodal communications, contributes to the emergence of a macro level, framing the possibilities for action in a workshop. This paper shows a way to study this macro level, building the visualization of the conversations’ structure starting from a boundary games theory micro analysis of the interactions. Our empirical evidence comes from following a group of academic consultants working to define a value proposition for their activity. We focus on analyzing two out of nine workshops that were felt diametrically opposite in terms of facilitation and achievements. Moving from the micro towards an upward level, three configurations building the structure are identified—shifting, branching and converging. The work carried out allows us to: (1) visualize the structure of conversations in a problem structuring context, (2) highlight the role of multimodal communications in building the conversations and (3) construct an interpretation bridging the micro and macro readings of a workshop. This knowledge is useful for facilitators guiding the dynamic of a workshop and for researchers looking forward to understanding how micro level interactions build higher levels of the social phenomenon of intervention.     

Public debt and economic growth in Spain, 1851–2013

In this paper we investigate the long-run relationship between public debt and economic growth in the Spanish economy for the period 1851–2013. We develop a cliometric analysis of the debt–growth nexus using novel time series methods. We find some support for a negative relationship between both variables, but no clear evidence of a debt threshold. The estimated long-run elasticity in a one-break model shows a tendency to decrease over time from a nonsignificant 0.011 to a ?0.070, indicating that a 10 percentage increase in the public debt-to-GDP ratio is associated with 0.70 percentage points lower real economic growth. Indeed, we find for the first subsample (1851–1939) either “decoupling” or “saturation,” while in the second subsample (1940–2000) the long-run elasticity coefficient becomes negative and significant. When we extend our analysis up to 2013, we find a break in 1971 coinciding with the twilight of Franco’s dictatorship and the Spanish transition to democracy.     

Structural comparisons of networks and model-based detection of small-worldness

In this paper, we consider the problem of assessing the “level of small-worldness” of a graph and of detecting small-worldness features in real networks. After discussing the limitations of classical approaches, based on the computation of network indicators, we propose a new procedure, which involves the comparison of network structures at different “observation scales”. This allows small-world features to be caught, even if “hidden” deeply into the network structure. Applications of the procedure to both simulated and real data show the effectiveness of the proposal, also in distinguishing between different small-world models and in detecting emerging small-worldness in dynamical networks.     

Consumer Law and Policy in Ghana

This paper presents a picture of the landscape of consumer law and policy in Ghana and reviews the scope of protection of consumer interests with specific regard to product safety and liability, consumer sales, and telecommunication services. It assesses the legislative and policy framework on consumer contracts, product safety, and unfair commercial practices; discusses the role of national agencies in enforcing safety standards; and highlights some critical consumer issues in telecommunications service delivery. The paper examines the regulatory framework on other consumer issues such as advertising, labelling, and marketing of consumer products; terms and conditions of consumer contracts; and after sales services including the enforcement of guarantees, warranties, refund, and return policies. The paper also discusses the extent of external influence on the development of consumer law and policy in Ghana and reviews the level of interaction with other legal systems and supranational bodies in the three focal areas. The contribution also explores areas of Ghana’s consumer protection framework which could benefit from guidance from the EU transnational model on consumer protection and makes recommendations for the enhancement of the emerging legislative and policy regime on consumer protection in Ghana.