Political Connections and Allocative Distortions

Exploiting a unique institutional setting in Korea, this paper documents that politicians can increase the amount of government resources allocated through their social networks to the benefit of private firms connected to these networks. After winning the election, the new president appoints members of his networks as CEOs of state‐owned firms that act as intermediaries in allocating government contracts to private firms. In turn, these state firms allocate significantly more procurement contracts to private firms with a CEO from the same network. Contracts allocated to connected private firms are executed systematically worse and exhibit more frequent cost increases through renegotiations.     

Does the Type of Political Regime Matter for Trade and Labor Market Policies?

This article uses cross-country data to examine the link betweena country's type of political regime and its degree of opennessand labor market distortion. The analysis indicates that moreauthoritarian regimes are associated with higher trade protectionand greater labor market distortions. This supports the viewthat political authoritarianism may be counterproductive todevelopment in important respects.     

The Political Economy of Volatility Dynamics in the Hong Kong Stock Market

Despite its obvious importance, little empirical research has examined the impact of political risk on stock market volatility. This paper uses data on the Hong Kong stock market over a long sample period to investigate whether political risk has induced regime shifts in stock market volatility. Regime shifts are modelled via a Markov switching EGARCH model that allows for regime-dependent volatility asymmetry. We find strong evidence of regime shifts in conditional volatility as well as significant volatility asymmetry in high volatility periods. Major political uncertainties were reflected in a switch to the high-volatility regime. However, contrary to popular perceptions, we find no evidence that the Hong Kong stock market has become persistently more volatile since the start of Sino-British political negotiations in 1982.     

金融深化、劳力资本扭曲与产业结构升级优化

通过搜集中国2000—2017年省域面板数据,采用面板OLS和差分GMM模型分析金融深化、劳力资本扭曲对产业结构转型升级优化的本地效应影响,结果表明,金融深化显著促进产业结构高度化和产业结构合理化,劳力资本扭曲抑制产业结构高度化和合理化。金融深化与劳力资本扭曲交互项结果表明,劳力资本扭曲对金融深化影响产业结构优化升级的效果是非线性的,即在劳力资本扭曲严重的地区,金融深化反而不利于产业结构升级优化,而在劳力资本扭曲较轻的地区,金融深化促进产业升级效果更显著。进一步构建空间计量模型,发现不考虑空间因素会低估金融深化和劳力资本扭曲对产业结构的影响。     

Incremental Reform and Distortions in China's Product and Factor Markets

The purpose of economic reform is to reduce distortions andenhance efficiency. However, when reforms are partial and incremental,individuals and local governments are often able to capturethe rent inherent in the gradual transition process. Young (2000)warned that such rent-seeking behavior might lead to increasingmarket fragmentation. Empirical studies have shown the oppositein the product market. This article argues that as the rentfrom China's product market has been squeezed out due to deepeningreforms, rent-seeking behavior may have shifted to the capitalmarket. Further reforms are needed in the capital market tosqueeze out these rent-seeking opportunities, just as thosefrom the product and labor markets were squeezed out earlier.     

论民营经济与市场经济的联系

民营经济与市场经济存在着有机联系,民营经济是市场经济的重要组成部分,市场经济为民营经济提供制度保障,二者相互促进。只有充分认识二者的相互关系,才能通过加速民营经济的发展促进市场经济的繁荣。     

市场经济知识经济比较研究

国内理论界关于市场经济和知识经济的探索有两个时间标志：一是20世纪90年代初邓小平南巡谈话之后，对市场经济的多方面理论探索高潮迭起；二是党的十五大之后，知识经济的理论探寻热潮此起彼伏。比较思考市场经济和知识经济的理论探索，研究其理论探索的特点、规律，阐释探索中存在的问题，避免把市场经济和知识经济相混淆，其意义重大。市场经济和知识经济同属于商品经济范畴，二既有区别又有联系，构成现代商品经济发展的不同阶段，也是现代商品经济纵向的由低级向高级演化的有机联系与统     

劳动市场摩擦与机会主义货币政策

本文在存在劳动市场摩擦的DSGE模型框架下考察机会主义货币政策的合理性。研究发现,当经济中存在显著的工资粘性、雇佣成本和搜寻匹配摩擦时,实行灵活通胀目标的机会主义货币政策在社会福利效果上优于以稳定通胀和产出缺口为目标的标准泰勒规则,并接近无约束最优政策的福利效果。因此在这些条件下,机会主义货币政策是中央银行合理的政策选择。     

The Impact of Labor Market Regulations

This article investigates the impact of labor market regulationsin a setting with incomplete compliance. It takes as its startingpoint the limited evidence regarding the distortionary costsof labor market regulations and argues that there may existnatural limits to the efficiency losses engendered by such regulations.The article reviews some stylized facts regarding labor marketbehavior, presents an analytical model that may explain suchbehavior, and provides a checklist for assessing the distortionaryimpact of regulations such as minimum wages.     

农民转移就业与劳动力市场建设

农民转移就业催生中国劳动力市场,然而目前农民转移就业方面出现的许多问题又凸显出劳动力市场功能的缺陷,主要原因就在于城乡分割体制下劳动力市场的“分割”上。这就需要理清思路,在统筹城乡就业政策的引导下,对一系列制度体制进行深层次的改革,同时也要注意因地制宜的拓宽就业渠道,培育劳动力市场。     

Product Market Imperfections and Loan Commitments

I show in a model of competitive banks that the characteristics of loan contracts are affected by product market imperfections in the borrower's industry. A bank loan commitment increases the value of a borrower firm operating in an imperfectly competitive industry and thus dominates a simple loan even in the absence of risk sharing considerations and informational asymmetries between the borrower and the bank. While it is individually rational for a firm to obtain a loan commitment, all the firms in that industry taken together are made worse off by the existence of loan commitments.     

Stealth Acquisitions and Product Market Competition

We examine whether and how firms structure their merger and acquisition deals to avoid antitrust scrutiny. There are approximately 40% more mergers and acquisitions (M&As) than expected just below deal value thresholds that trigger antitrust review. These “stealth acquisitions” tend to involve financial and governance contract terms that afford greater scope for negotiating and assigning lower deal values. We also show that the equity values, gross margins, and product prices of acquiring firms and their competitors increase following such acquisitions. Our results suggest that acquirers manipulate M&As to avoid antitrust scrutiny, thereby benefiting their own shareholders but potentially harming other corporate stakeholders.     

按照市场经济规律办事 积极开拓农村市场

积极开拓农村市场,关键在于按照市场经济规律办事。即一方面根据市场经济的基本规律──价值规律的基本要求,采取综合经济措施,提高农民的收入,增加有效需求;另一方面,研究农村消费的特点和市场需求变化发展的规律性,增加对农村的有效供给。     

Explaining Welfare Reform: Public Choice and the Labor Market

This paper seeks to identify factors which could plausibly have led to the contractionary welfare reform initiatives begun at the state and federal levels in the U.S. in the 1990s, initiatives concentrated on the AFDC program. A review of aggregate time series evidence, cross-section regression research, and studies of attitudes toward welfare spending and toward welfare recipients suggests a role for three types of factors. First, a major expansion of the U.S. welfare system in the late 1980s in terms of expenditures and caseloads may have led voters to desire to retrench by cutting back on the AFDC program, even though that program was not primarily responsible for the expansion. Second, declines in the relative and absolute levels of household income, wages, and employment rates among the disadvantaged population may have driven up caseloads and costs, increased the social distance of voters from the poor, heightened concern with work incentives, and may have led, more generally, to a decrease in the perceived deservingness of the poor. Third, a surge of births to unmarried mothers in the 1980s is suggested, by cross-sectional and attitudinal evidence, to have led to a reduction in voter support for the AFDC program.     

产品市场势力、公司治理与股票市场流动性

本文实证研究了我国股票市场的流动性问题。结果表明,产品市场势力能够促进信息传递,提高股票的流动性。这种影响即使控制了公司治理因素依然显著,同时随着信息不对称程度的提高而更为明显。另外,在对股票流动性的影响上,产品市场势力与董事会规模、高管薪酬激励之间存在替代关系。同时,股权分散能增强产品市场势力的影响,但是产品市场势力会削弱股权分散的积极作用。     

论社会主义市场经济的融合性

社会主义与市场经济的结合本身带有极强的“融合”性。选择“融合”具有理论支撑,也是现实要求。但是“融合”是有条件的,围绕企业问题产生的种种矛盾,正是“融合”过程中摩擦的具体体现。缓解摩擦的切入点就是多元微观经济主体的构建,这一微观基础是择优机制,激励约束机制和竞争机制发挥作用的前提,也使社会主义市场经济体制不断走向完善。     

信托理财仍为主打产品高端市场又添竞争强手——近期银行业理财产品市场动态

近期银行理财产品市场上，信托贷款类产品发行加速，挂钩类产品规模触底反弹，高端产品创新持续增强，无固定期限产品颇受青睐，客户投资回报显著提升，外币产品同业发行策略各有侧重。“一对多”基金专户产品竞争高端理财市场。与银行高端理财、私募基金和券商“小集合”产品初步形成四类竞争主体。未来一段时期，银行理财业务审慎稳健发展势在必行，客户精细化分层管理仍待加强。     

经济浑浊迷茫市场波澜起伏--2003年第一季度国际金融市场简评

2003年第一季度,世界经济的发展依旧呈现不甚明朗的态势,虽然大家对未来充满希望,但是诸多带有全球性的不确定性因素却阻碍着这种希望的实现,其主要表现为经济发展预期的不同向.国际货币基金组织和联合国于今年1月上旬发表了今年世界经济发展预期报告,其分别预期2003年全球经济增长率将达到3.7%和2.75%;而欧盟则预期今年第一季度欧元区经济最好仅能增长0.3%、甚至有可能出现0.1%的负增长.     

虚拟经济与我国证券市场

长期以来，总有人将证券市场等同于虚拟经济，将虚拟经济等同于泡沫经济，以偏概全、舍本逐末，混淆和曲解实体经济、虚拟经济、泡沫经济的概念及相互关系。这是一个理论误区，如不及时纠正将会造成人们认识上的混乱。探讨虚拟经济与实体经济，结合我国证券市场发展和建设过程中存在的一些问题，我国证券市场必须进一步完善.