Socio-demographics,political attitudes and informal sector employment: A cross-country analysis

In this paper, we empirically investigate the relationship between informal sector employment and micro-level socio-demographic characteristics, political acts and attitudes, and individual norms. Using self-reported individual micro-level data from the World Values Survey for seven developing countries (China, Ecuador, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Yemen), our cross-country regressions and principal component analysis reveal that socio-demographic characteristics of individuals are strong predictors of their informal sector employment. Our estimations further document that individual preferences for an economically strong, interventionist and egalitarian state and confidence in state and political institutions are positively and significantly correlated with informal sector employment, whereas variables associated with confidence in free market institutions and support for competition are negatively and significantly correlated with informal sector employment. We also show that individuals who participate either actively or inactively in peaceful and lawful political processes are significantly less likely to work in the informal sector. Finally, we document that individual norms, such as religiosity and tax morale, are negatively correlated with informal sector employment. Throughout our analysis, instead of having to rely on ad-hoc informality categorizations of third parties, we base our measurement of informal sector employment directly on the self-evaluation of individuals, who have the best information on the degree of their informality.     

Domestic political connections and international expansion: It's not only ‘who you know’ that matters

Former politicians on the board of directors bring to the firm domestic political connections and political knowledge. Previous research has mainly highlighted the role of contacts, without fully recognizing the role of political knowledge accumulated at home. By focusing on the effect of domestic political connections on foreign direct investment, we show that domestic political knowledge also shapes foreign expansion. We argue that contacts provided by former politicians may not be useful for foreign expansion whilst their political knowledge can be of help in countries with discretionary governments and with similar institutional environments to the one of the home country.     

我们为什么选择了社会主义市场经济

我们选择市场经济，是因为迄今为止的历史证明市场经济是可以富其国裕其民的。然而，我们所要的富裕，不是少数人的富裕，而是人民群众的共同富裕。不仅要富裕，而且必须是共同富裕的市场经济。因此，我们必须对市场经济进行改造，创造出我们自己的市场经济，这就是有中国特色的社会主义市场经济。该文遵循实事求是和历史唯物主义的原则，从市场经济旨在提高效率、社会主义则是坚持党的领导和社会公正、路径依赖和历史沿革体现了市场经济的中国特色等四个方面论证了中国共产党领导全国人民选择社会主义市场经济是一个具有历史必然性的伟大选择。这样的选择使得中国经济发展和人民富裕。     

COMPARING PPP WITH TRADITIONAL PROCUREMENT: THE CASE OF SCHOOLS PROCUREMENT IN IRELAND

Advocates of public‐private partnerships (PPPs) argue that they can deliver public infrastructure more efficiently than traditional procurement through timelier completion and superior value for money. Despite these claims comparative analysis of the performance of both procurement methods has received scant attention in the PPP literature to date. This paper addresses this issue by providing an in‐depth, case‐based comparison of PPP versus traditional procurement in the schools sector in Ireland. Through detailed semi‐structured interviews with key stakeholders and an examination of the available documentation, we assess whether the key objectives of using PPP have been achieved. Overall, we find no evidence that PPP leads to faster delivery of infrastructure when the overall procurement process from contract notice to delivery is accounted for. In addition, we find only limited evidence to suggest that PPP results in better value for money.     

中国股市行业风险与宏观经济之间的风险传导机制

本文采用行业收益率溢出指数度量股市行业风险,并进一步研究中国股市行业风险与宏观经济的相互影响,同时引入股息率和利率两个中介渠道深入挖掘其传导机制。我们运用GARCH-in-Mean模型对股市行业风险和宏观经济变量之间的一阶矩和二阶矩相互关系同时进行分析,结果发现,股市行业风险和宏观经济变量之间水平值和波动率都存在双向影响,对外溢出效应较大的行业起主导作用。此外,股市行业风险对宏观经济变量的影响方面,股息率和利率均起到中介渠道作用;宏观经济变量对股市行业风险的影响方面,只是利率起到中介渠道作用。股市行业风险与宏观经济的传导效应在不同时期差异显著。本文研究结论有助于深刻理解金融与实体经济之间的风险传导机制,对防范系统性风险、防止金融和实体经济“风险共振”以及提升金融服务实体经济能力等具有参考意义。     

以企业文化为切入点加强和改进企业思想政治工作

企业为了搞好经营，都十分重视提高员工的工作积极性，而提高员工的工作积极性往往采取增加薪酬、改善福利的方式，当然，这种方式的运用无可厚非，也比较见效，但随着企业各项制度的不断完善和员工构成的高学历化，单纯的经济刺激已不足以应对员工的多元化需求；因此重新审视我党的思想政治工作，将它与企业文化建设有机结合，在提高员工经济收入的同时，努力提高员工的“精神收入”，成为企业提升管理品质、吸引人才、锻造内力的有效途径。     

社会主义市场经济的矛盾和问题

市场经济的主要矛盾是生产与消费的矛盾，它决定商品与货币、供给与需求、总供给与总需求的矛盾。社会主义市场经济的主要矛盾是社会主义制度与市场经济体制的矛盾。当前存在的主要问题是生产相对过剩、消费需求不足，分配不够公平、贫富差距过大，市场秩序混乱、腐败现象严重，资源消耗过度、环境状况恶化，等等。只有正确处理社会主义市场经济的矛盾和问题，处理好公有制和私有制、计划与市场、效率与公平、自力更生与对外开放等各方面的关系，才能促进国民经济又好又快地发展。     

转型进程、发展战略转变与金融转型

随着经济转型从体制转型阶段进入到经济发展阶段,中国的经济发展战略也应当从比较优势转向竞争优势。而转型进程以及发展战略的转变都内在统一于经济发展的虚拟化进程当中。现代经济发展的虚拟化强化了金融在整个经济体系中的核心作用,因而随着中国成为完全市场经济国家,金融转型的成败将对中国向好的市场经济迈进起着决定性的作用。     

试析"入世"与我国经济发展

加入WTO，我国经济与世界经济融为一体，给我国经济带来全新的历史机遇，有利于我国现代企业制度的建立和经济改革的发展，有利于提高人民生活水平，有利于农、林、牧均衡发展和生态建设。同时也带来了挑战，必须转变政府职能，致力环境创新，建立与国际接轨的社会主义市场经济体制，依托科教进步，实施跨越式发展。     

论我国经济转型时期新一轮经济结构调整的任务及政策取向

在计划经济向市场经济转轨的条件下 ,我国宏观经济出现了由供给约束向需求约束的转型 ,在转型中宏观经济的结构性矛盾日益严重。这一结构性矛盾具有综合性、深层次性、萎缩性特征。在转型时期 ,新一轮经济结构战略性调整的任务是积极发展高新技术产业 ,搞好国有企业的职能定位 ,优化经济结构 ,提高国民经济的整体素质。新一轮经济结构调整政策取向的内涵是 :全面推进市场化改革 ,形成以市场为基础的经济结构调整 ;解决结构优化过程中的制度缺位问题 ;进一步调整国有经济结构 ,加快非公有制经济的发展 ;发展特色经济 ,提升产业结构。