Credit ratings quality: The perceptions of market participants and other interested parties

The global credit crunch of 2008 and related sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2007 have made credit ratings agencies (CRAs) the focus of international attention. In particular, the quality of ratings information and the responsibilities CRAs owe to financial markets have come under intense scrutiny. Specifically, commentators, politicians, and regulators have expressed concern at the involvement CRAs might have had in creating global financial instability. However, the term ratings quality remains largely absent from the academic literature.This paper constructs a measurement instrument to capture ratings quality provided by CRAs, and assesses differences in perceptions of ratings quality amongst four stakeholder groups in public debt markets. Two macro-constructs of ratings quality are identified, labelled Technical Qualities and Relationship Qualities. The two macro-constructs are measured by ten micro-attributes, labelled: Cooperation; Independence; Internal Processes; Issuer Orientation; Methodology; Reputation; Service Quality; Shared Values and Norms; Transparency; and Trust. Each micro-attribute is operationalised into individual items, and then empirically tested using data obtained in the UK from 121 issuers, 75 non-debt issuing financial managers, 90 investors, and 120 other interested parties.The data suggest that ratings quality involves, in order of importance: the CRA's reputation; those values and norms of the CRA shared by users; the methodologies employed by the CRA; the independence of the CRA; and internal processes within the CRA. Multivariate analysis of variance finds no statistically significant variation between the groups for Technical Qualities factors. However, issuers rate Relationship Qualities and its micro-attributes of Trust, Issuer Orientation, and Service Quality higher than other market participants; a finding that reflects the dyadic relationship between the issuer's treasurer and lead analyst of the CRA. The paper concludes with a number of policy-relevant issues.     

新时期加强教师职业道德建设的若干思考

新时期加强都职业道德建设具有重要的意义，要从教师职业特点出发，突出重点，抓住关键环节，搞好教师职业道德教育。     

反腐败之"高薪养廉"对策辨误

“高薪养廉”是很多人极力推崇的对策之一，无论是从理论上还是实践上看，“高薪养廉”都不适合中国国情，不能从根本上解决腐败问题。腐败问题的解决是一项系统工程。     

Consumer behaviour and the purchasing of dental services: Influences on selection and evaluation of health care services

This paper examines the process of interaction between consumers and providers of dental services in terms of the key selection and evaluation criteria employed by consumers. Focusing on the United Kingdom, it examines the impact of changes in both pricing and provision on the utilisation and evaluation of dental services. Based on a questionnaire survey of dental patients, in the context of the evolving body of literature concerned with consumer behaviour in respect of services, the paper attempts to improve the current understanding of the key factors shaping consumer choice in respect of professional services. Specifically, it argues that the highly complex nature of professional services impacts on patterns of consumer behaviour, resulting in the relationship between the individual service professional and the consumer being the focus of consumer evaluation. This in turn has significant implications for the effective marketing of such professional services.     

Household Surveys,Consumption, and the Measurement of Poverty

Household surveys are playing an increasingly important role in the measurement of poverty and well-being around the world. The Living Standards Measurement Study, which was begun in the World Bank under the guidance of Graham Pyatt in 1979, has played an important role in this movement. Its surveys are widely used within the Bank to measure consumption-based poverty, and survey data are now the exclusive basis for the global poverty counts. This paper discusses a number of unresolved issues in using consumption-based surveys for measuring well-being, including the choice of a money-metric versus welfare-ratio approach, the collection of suitable price information, the effects of measurement error on estimation, and methods for correcting per capita consumption for the demographic structure of the household.     

制度运行机制研究

加入WTO以后，我国面临的最大的挑战是制度创新的挑战，而制度运行机制的创新又是创新的重要组成部分。长期以来，我国各项制度不完善主要表现在运行机制的不完善，因此，要加强制度运行机制的研究和建设。文章提出了制度运行机制的实现形式。     

行政许可法打造法治政府

通过对新颁布的《行政许可法》的梳理和分析，认为《行政许可法》在有限政府、程序政府、责任政府等方面建立了许多具有突破意义的制度和新的规定，这些制度的建立和新的规定的实施，必将为我国建立法治化政府，进而建设社会主义的法治化国家，带来深远意义的影响。     

应用期权方法构建商业银行贷款利率模型

以分析公司普通股所具有的看涨期权特性为出发点，以Black—Scholes看涨期权定价模型为基础，根据不同企业资本结构和资产回报风险的差别，构造了一个商业银行基本贷款利率模型。从期权角度来设计贷款利率模型，除考虑了企业的经营风险因责外，还同时考虑了企业融资结构所带来的财务风险，能更加全面地反映出商业银行贷款的保障程度。     

论我国行政指导的运行及制度构想

行政指导已成为现代市场经济国家行政发展的新趋势,在我国也有了社会经济背景、政府行政背景、民众意识背景和法学理论背景等方面的运行基础。行政指导在我国行政实务中开始得到广泛运用,其独特作用已经显露,但实践和制度上仍有很多不可回避的问题,需要对行政指导在实体规范、程序规范、监督救济机制以及配套规范方面进行制度设计。     

战略联盟类型与核心竞争力的匹配及其启示

通过对战略联盟与核心竞争力之间存在的二难困境——加盟企业以其自身的核心竞争力投入战略联盟，从中受益的同时，也有可能因盟友的学习而丧失其竞争优势——的分析，以战略联盟形态划分和核心竞争力的分类为基础，构建了二者的匹配框架，并提出其对企业的几点启示。