The synergistic effect of insurance and banking sector activities on economic growth in Africa

It is widely understood that the insurance and banking sectors of every economy perform some functions in driving economic growth. What is not yet well documented is whether their roles are complimentary or substitutive. With the aid of the dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique, this paper evaluates the synergistic effect of both sectors on economic growth in a panel of 10 African countries that are responsible for most of the activities in the continent’s financial sector. The insurance-banking-growth nexus was also examined through bootstrap panel causality tests. The results show that the life insurance market and the banking sector, as well as the non-life insurance market and the banking sector, are complimentary. We find that, overall, the relationship between the insurance and banking sectors in Africa is a complimentary one and that their synergistic impact on economic growth is positive. The feedback hypothesis was also confirmed in the relationship between the insurance sector and economic growth and between the banking sector and economic growth.     

经济增长推动房地产市场发展的实证研究——以上海为例

租金、售价等价格指标及其周期性波动,常用于衡量房地产市场的发展程度。在运用三部门模型分析区域经济增长如何影响区域房地产市场发展的基础上,提出上海经济增长推高房地产整体市场和住宅子市场的租金、售价的假设。选取5项指标,利用上海1998—2012年的城市统计年鉴数据,通过格兰杰因果检验方法进行实证检验。结果表明,上海整体房地产市场和住宅子市场的租金增长,均以经济增长为格兰杰因;两个市场的售价与经济增长无法体现因果关系。因此,租金是比价格更有效、更稳定的市场指标。     

TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY IN A REGULATION-DRIVEN MARKET: LESSONS FROM THE US SUPERFUND PROGRAM

Estimates by the US Office of Technology Assessment of the costs to clean up the 1246 EPA National Priority List sites stand at more than $500 billion over the next 50 years. This cost estimate is based on existing technologies which are neither as technically advanced nor economically efficient as is necessary to realistically complete the job. However, despite the potential profits for remediation technology vendors, new and innovative technologies are not entering the market as rapidly as is needed. This is the result of major flaws in the US regulatory program, the Superfund, for dealing with the issue. Using neoclassical economic theories of technological change, the two primary obstacles to remediation technology research are identified: appropriability and market uncertainty. The conclusions reached offer valuable lessons for US policy-makers in revamping the present system. These lessons can also be applied to policy-makers in other countries as an example of how government intervention in the market can be not only inefficient, but also a hindrance for technological development.     

中国股票市场发展与经济增长关系的实证分析

以金融发展理论为基础,从理论上论述了股票市场发展与经济增长的关系;并将此理论应用于中国股票市场,对中国股票市场发展与中国经济增长的关系进行了实证检验。结果表明,我国股票市场发展与经济增长不存在显著的相关性。     

The effect of domestic and foreign risks on an emerging stock market: A time series analysis

This study investigates the effect of domestic factors – economic, financial and political risk – and foreign factors – global economic policy uncertainty – on the stock market index in Taiwan. To achieve the objective of this study, ARDL, DOLS and Markov Switching tests are employed. Quarterly data is used, covering the period 1997Q1–2015Q2. The findings reveal that the combination of domestic and foreign risk factors has a long-term effect on the stock market index. In addition, declining economic, political and financial risks are associated with the increasing stock market index in Taiwan.     

对我国体育经济发展的思考

随着经济的发展,体育本身所蕴含的巨大经济功能与价值越来越被人们认同,我国的经济市场正在转型之中,出现了很多矛盾和问题。在思考这些问题的时候,对体育经济市场在我国经济市场中的比重应该有新的认识。发展体育经济要从体育和市场两方面下手,这样才能找到科学合理的方向。     

Stochastic convergence analysis of US state economic freedom sub-components: Evidence from unit root tests for bounded processes

This study tests for convergence of the three main sub-components of economic freedom (government spending, taxation, and labor market freedom) for the 50 US states from 1981 to 2019. In particular, we test for stochastic convergence using unit root tests that account for structural breaks and bounded processes. By controlling for these sources of parameter instability, we find limited evidence in favor of stochastic convergence across the three sub-components of economic freedom. However, we find more evidence of stochastic convergence with respect to the sub-components than in the case of the overall economic freedom at the US state level. Our results highlight the distinct nature of the institutional quality across states as represented by government spending, taxation, and labor market freedom.     

THE ORGANIZATION OF INNOVATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN: NEOCLASSICAL AND RELATIONAL CONTRACTING*

This article discusses the role of intermediate governance structures between vertically related industries in the specific context of technological innovation. In the United States, relations between firms in vertically related industries correspond closely to the neoclassical contracting model, characterized by arms-length, spot contracting on the open market. In Japan, inter-firm relations are more likely to involve relational contracting, characterized by stable bonding mechanisms and a dense historical network of economic ties between the parties to the exchange. We focus upon the kinyu keiretsu type of relational contracting between firms of unequal size and power in vertically related industries, which is a special case of the more generally studied kigyo shudan, or inter-market financial group. For illustrative purposes, we compare the contractual arrangements used to manage the development of new technology by 46 US and 27 Japanese semiconductor equipment firms. We conclude by speculating that the organization of innovation in the Japanese semiconductor equipment industry has accelerated their development of new technology and led to their extraordinarily rapid worldwide market penetration.     

DATA REVISION AND MARKET RESPONSE: THE CASE OF UNITED STATES TRADE BALANCE ANNOUNCEMENTS†

ABSTRACT In this paper we study economic news, as reflected in the announcements of the United States trade balance by the Commerce department, to illustrate the importance of revised data versus preliminary data to economic agents. A new methodology has been developed here to study how agents in the exchange market respond to these monthly trade balance announcements and consequently, move the dollar's exchange rate. In contrast to previous studies where agent reactions to only preliminary trade figures were analyzed, this method is applied to examine market reactions to the preliminary and revised trade balance figures.     

Competitive bank pricing and adverse selection,with implications for testing the SCP hypothesis

Adverse borrower selection implies that competitive interest rates on bank loans will be an increasing function of the number of banks in the market, whenever the marginal cost of lending does not rise too sharply with market concentration (a condition supported by a variety of empirical evidence). Moreover, this linkage is stronger during economic recessions when more loans default. These findings suggest a need to reinterpret many prior empirical studies of loan price versus concentration, as well as raising new considerations in the appropriate construction of future empirical tests.     

THE CHINA MODEL: IS IT A GOLDEN FORMULA?

The economic crisis is an opportunity for governments to face the fact that Keynesian interventionist policies are not the path to success. However, support for such policies is being sustained by misperceptions of China's remarkable economic progress in recent years. Its success is commonly attributed to government‐led initiatives, labelled as ‘The China Model’, which divert credit away from the true source of growth: its experience of the free market. This article examines the development of the free market in China and explains why the government's recent behaviour threatens to undermine the gains of recent decades.     

竞争视角下市场占有均衡：理论模型与现实解释

市场占有行为是经济主体的理性行为,市场占有的实现方式有市场竞争与政策约束。文章构建市场占有均衡模型,指出经济主体基于自身的市场占有偏好进行市场占有,并根据市场收益的增减或发展目标的重新设计分别对市场占有偏好进行自发性纠正、战略性纠正,从而形成新的市场占有均衡。市场占有均衡因对手的竞争反应的差异而表现出不同的均衡状态。基于市场占有均衡模型,文章以新的角度审视了公共产品供给不足、厂商恶性竞争及国企改革等经济现象。     

TOWARDS A SYNTHESIS OF ISLAM AND THE MARKET ECONOMY? THE JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY'S ECONOMIC REFORMS IN TURKEY

Turkey has some unique characteristics, one of which is that it is the only Muslim country seeking to join the European Union. Internally, it has been going through a new and challenging experience in recent years: implementing free-market economic policies under a 'Conservative Democrat' government, the leadership of which comes from moderate Islamism. Many observers think that Turkish experience shows how Islam and the market economy are compatible. This article critically evaluates these reformist economic policies implemented since late 2002 and highlights the major factors behind Turkey's success story.     

住房市场的政府干预:来自新加坡的启示

在住房市场出现"过热"和"过冷"态势时,加强政府对住房市场的有效干预是科学发展观下促进社会经济又好又快发展的要求.本文对新加坡住房市场发展历程中两次大规模的政府干预行为进行了系统分析,阐述了新加坡政府干预住房市场的宏观经济背景.总结了住房市场"过热"与"过冷"两种运行态势下的政策目标和政策工具,归纳了新加坡政府干预住房市场的概念性框架.其主要经验包括:1)政府住房保障职能的提前实现缓解了房价快速上涨时政府干预的压力;2)住房市场HDB和CPF的制度安排有利于对整体供需进行有效干预;3)根据户型争最短居住时间征收分级累进的流转税和所得税,有利于准确打击住房投机需求.主要局限性包括:1)利率政策有效性不强;2)CPF放松管制可引发房价上涨;3)二手组屋市场导致补贴渗透到私人住房市场.     

THE BISHOP OF BRENTWOOD,MIGRANTS, THE MARKET AND THE PURSUIT OF GAIN

Employers who attempt to pay what others describe as a living wage may well undermine the opportunities available for migrants to experience economic flourishing. A market economy where profit is the prime motivation is an important contributor to the common good: this is clear in Catholic social teaching.     

Legal institutions and high-growth aspiration entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is crucial for economic growth, yet comparatively little research has examined the relationship between institutions and new firm formation. I test the impact of property rights institutions and contracting institutions on high-growth-aspiration (HGA) entrants using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey data for 2000-2005. I find that property rights are more significant for profound market expansion and rule of law is more significant for high job growth. The number of procedures to enforce a contract, the number of procedures to start a business, and the number of days to start a business are negatively correlated with all types of HGA entrepreneurship. A common law legal system is negatively correlated with entrepreneurship combining high job growth and market expansion. These findings add nuance to prior studies that tout the importance of property rights and rule of law for entrepreneurship.     

THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL EFFECTS OF RELIGION ON SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRICAL LITERATURE

Religion plays a fundamental role in most people's lives with profound implications for socioeconomic development. This survey provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of the causal mechanisms between religion and development discussed and tested in the economics literature, and reviews quantitative empirical evidence on the actual effects of religion on economic and social dimensions of development. We start by disaggregating the concept of religion into four religious dimensions and propose a framework to conceptualize causal mechanisms. Numerous mechanisms are possible but only a few uncontested findings exist. Religion is ambivalent vis‐à‐vis development: although religious ideas can foster certain forms of human capital acquisition and labor market participation, scholars have found a negative relationship between religious dimensions and both income and gender equality as well as innovation activities. Religious identity is also a source of labor market discrimination and has ambivalent effects on economic growth and social cohesion. Methodological challenges refer to the availability of fine‐grained data, especially for developing countries, the use of concepts and definitions, and the lack of causal inference.     

THE HOUSING MARKET IN 1993

What hope is there of a recovery in the housing market in the rest of 1993? Jonathan Morris, of economic consultant Lombard Street Research, analyses the influences that will affect the housing market.     

对电信增值业务项目投资及运营管理的探索与再思考

随着电信市场的开放,国内电信业务市场竞争日益激烈。文章根据新的市场经营形势,对电信增值业务项目开发投资及运营管理进行总结与思考,以提高企业的经济效益。     

对电信增值业务项目投资及运营管理的探索与再思考

随着电信市场的开放,国内电信业务市场竞争日益激烈。文章根据新的市场经营形势,对电信增值业务项目开发投资及运营管理进行总结与思考,以提高企业的经济效益。