Initial wealth effects of the Brexit vote on UK ADRs

On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to exit the European Union. The outcome of this vote, called Brexit, impacted financial markets in the days following the vote results. This article investigates the impact of Brexit upon UK equities trading as American Depository Receipts (ADRs) on the New York Stock Exchange. On the day after the vote results were in, UK ADRs lost over 10% of their value with an additional loss of over 5% the following day. These losses were significantly greater than those of the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indexes.     

Climate,diseases, and the origins of corruption

It has been commonly observed that tropical countries tend to suffer from intense corruption and underdevelopment. This study provides an explanation for this long-standing disparity across the world based on variation in the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (UV-R). The central hypothesis is that UV-R is positively associated with the (historical) prevalence of eye diseases, which significantly shortens work-life expectancy as a skilled worker. This helps shape the worldwide distribution of corruption by affecting the incumbents' window of opportunity. Using data for up to 139 countries, I consistently find empirical support for the positive relationship between UV-R and corruption. The main findings withstand accounting for numerous alternative explanations for international differences in corruption levels. Employing individual-level data from the World Values Survey, I document suggestive evidence that exposure to UV-R is linked to surveyed respondents' tolerance towards corrupt activities. Furthermore, a subnational analysis for China lends credence to the cross-country evidence.     

Economic transition and the distributions of income and wealth

This paper relies on a model of wealth distribution dynamics and occupational choice to investigate the distributional consequences of policies and developments associated with transition from central planning to a market system. The model suggests that even an efficient privatization designed to be egalitarian may lead to increases in inequality (and possibly poverty), both during transition and in the new steady-state. Creation of new markets in services also supplied by the public sector may also contribute to an increase in inequality, as can labour market reforms that lead to a decompression of the earnings structure and to greater flexibility in employment. The results underline the importance of retaining government provision of basic public goods and services; of removing barriers that prevent the participation of the poor in the new private sector; and of ensuring that suitable safety nets are in place.     

Household wealth, public consumption and economic well-being in the United States

Standard official measures of household economic well-beingin several countries are based on money income. The generalconsensus is that such measures are limited because they ignorecertain crucial determinants of well-being. We examine two suchdeterminants—household wealth and public consumption—inthe context of the US. Our findings suggest that the level anddistribution of economic well-being is substantially alteredwhen money income is adjusted for wealth or public consumption.Over the 1989–2000 period, median well-being appears toincrease faster when these adjustments are made than when standardmoney income is used. Adding imputed rent and annuity from householdwealth to household income increases measured inequality, whileadding public consumption reduces it. However, all three measuresshow about the same rise in inequality over the period.     

政府规模、市场化与地区腐败

Using a panel data at the provincial level during the period of 1989–2004, this paper examines the effects of social and economic factors such as government scale, privatization, openness, and education on regional corruption. Applying a fixed-effect model and IV estimation, we find that government size positively affects the incidence rate of corruption, and the effect becomes larger with the increase in the size of the core department of the government. 1% increase in the core department of the government leads to a 0.68%–1% increase in the number of corruption cases. While the proportion of FDI is positively associated with the corruption of regional officials, the ratio of the import and export trade to GDP is negatively associated with corruption. The impact of privatization on corruption is ambiguous. We also identify the significant impacts of the size and structure of the government expenditure on corruption. __________ Translated from Jingji Yanjiu 经济研究 (Economic Research Journal), 2008, (11): 16–26     

Political corruption and capture of the minority

This article presents a model of political corruption in which a briber can choose either to bribe only the incumbent party or to capture also the opposition party to sterilize its monitoring role. The analysis also explores interparty collusion, media independence, and political contestability. The model suggests that policies aiming to strengthen the role of minorities can produce ambiguous effects as they may induce bribers' avoidance behavior. Reputational sanctions appear to be less effective than criminal ones, although political contestability increases their deterrence effect. Paradoxically, harsh criminal sanctions may induce tacit collusion because minorities highly regard their outcomes once in power.     

Financial development,control of corruption and income inequality

This paper examines the effect of financial development and control of corruption on income inequality in 21 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1985–2011 using the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator. The empirical results show that financial development measures have positive impact on income inequality, which suggest that financial development increases income inequality. On the other hand, the coefficients of control of corruption are negative and significantly related to income inequality which implies that corruption control reduces income inequality. Further, the interaction of the financial development and the control of corruption is found to be negatively and significantly related to income inequality. Equally the interaction of the financial development and transparency index (an alternate measure of corruptibility) is found to be negatively and significantly related to income inequality. These findings suggest that the control of corruption and transparency in governance are crucial in reducing income inequality in SSA.     

医疗行业腐败的根源与对策

医疗行业的腐败是一个全球性的问题,其产生的根源既存在一定的共性,也与各国的医疗体系自身特点有关。在发展中国家和转型国家,医疗行业腐败现象显得尤为严重。本文回顾了与医疗腐败相关的经济学文献,分析了医疗行业产生腐败现象的根源,并特别指出,转型国家中的医疗腐败现象具有鲜明的时代特征;对医疗腐败具体行为进行了分析,着重研究了转型国家中常见的非正式支付现象;最后,结合我国的特点提出了相关政策建议。     

腐败的预警预控体系分析

分析了在我国建立腐败预警预控体系的紧迫性和必要性,界定了腐败预警预控体系的定义和内涵,建立了腐败预警预控体系的结构,并详细阐释了腐败预警预控体系的运用流程,为我国腐败的预警预控工作提供参考和借鉴。     

A contribution to the empirics of press freedom and corruption

We test the relationship between aggregate press freedom and corruption performing a modified extreme bounds analysis. We also test the relation among different forms of restrictions to press freedom using previously unexplored disaggregated data. Our results support the theoretical view that restrictions to press freedom leads to higher corruption. Furthermore, we obtain that both political and economic influences on the media are strongly and robustly related to corruption, while detrimental laws and regulations influencing the media are not. In all cases the evidence indicates, although not conclusively, that the direction of causation runs from a freer press to lower corruption.     

Political decentralization and corruption: Exploring the conditional role of parties

This study investigates how national levels of corruption are influenced by the interaction of two factors in political decentralization: the presence of local elections and the organizational structure of national parties. Previous studies have focused primarily on the role of fiscal decentralization on corruption and have mostly ignored the institutions of political decentralization. Using new data in a series of expansive models across multiple countries and years, we find that corruption will be lower when local governments are more accountable to and more transparent toward their constituents. This beneficial arrangement is most likely to occur when local elections are combined with nonintegrated political parties, meaning that party institutions themselves are decentralized from national control. Such an institutional arrangement maximizes local accountability by putting the decision to nominate and elect local leaders in the hands of those best in a position to evaluate their honesty—local electors.     

Distortions in oil contract allocation and environmental damage in the presence of corruption

This article investigates how distortions in oil contract allocation can alter a government official’s decisions and shows that corruption enlarges the parameter space over which multinational oil companies win the contract against the smaller companies. It is found that corruption superficially creates an equilibrium outcome that looks efficient even when it is not, and diminishes the official’s concern for environmental damage by weighing damage to the public less and oil revenues more. Sensitivity analyses show that for all levels of environmental damage and corruptibility, multinational oil companies always win the contract. An important policy implication is that corruption distorts optimal decisions and causes oil contract allocation decisions to be based primarily on monetary benefit than social welfare.     

The nexus of white collar crimes: shadow economy,corruption and uninsured motorists

This article empirically examines the nexus of three white collar crimes: shadow economy, corruption and uninsured motorists. Whereas the shadow economy–corruption linkage has been studied, the linkages with uninsured motorists have not been formally studied. Results, based on US data and accounting for possible bidirectional causalities, show complementarity between shadow economy and corruption and between uninsured motorists and the shadow economy. The magnitude of the impact of uninsured motorists on the shadow economy is greater than that of corruption. In other findings, shadow economy was lower in most prosperous states and in states that did not impose a sales tax.     

Some additional evidence on the interplay between corruption,tax policy and firm entry using US states

The effects that corruption and tax policy have on entrepreneurship and firm growth have been often studied in the literature. This current article adds to that literature by evaluating how the interaction effect between corruption and tax policy influences firm entry at the US state level, using a panel data set of all 50 US states between 2001 and 2014. Overall, the findings are consistent with the literature and suggest that while high levels of corruption and relatively burdensome tax policy have a negative effect on firm entry, high levels of corruption tend to dampen the negative effects associated with relatively high tax rates. Potential policy implications are discussed within this article.     

Valuing the social cost of corruption using subjective well being data and the technique of vignettes

Corruption can have an effect on people's happiness and satisfaction, and therefore, can generate a social cost. However, the perceptions of corruption and satisfaction can also vary across subjects, due to socioeconomic and cultural characteristics. This article studies the differences in the perceptions of corruption and satisfaction across subjects, utilizing the technique of vignettes for the correction of the bias that follows from the differences in the response scale across individuals. The evidence comes from a sample of citizens in Spain, who are asked about their perceptions of corruption and personal satisfaction. The results show that there exists a response scale bias, both for corruption and satisfaction. These results are utilized to approximate the social cost of corruption.     

高等学校加强党风廉政建设存在的问题与对策

当前加强高等学校党风廉政建设的紧迫性日益突出,然而目前存在着的诸如思想认识不到位、责任落实不明晰、体制机制不健全、监管力度不够强等方面的问题,严重阻碍了高等学校自身发展与党风廉政建设的步伐。加强高等学校党风廉政建设需要在提高思想认识、加强制度建设与推进民主参与等方面探求切实可行的途径。     

The nexus between corruption and academic freedom: An international investigation of the underlying linkages

Studying a relatively under-researched aspect in economics, this paper examines the nexus between corruption and academic freedom. Our main hypothesis is that greater corruption undermines academic freedom and we test this hypothesis using data for 104 nations from 2012 to 2018. Our results support the main hypothesis, and this finding also generally holds across alternative aspects of academic freedom. Another contribution of this work lies in dissecting the direct and indirect (through corruption) effects of various drivers of academic freedom. Finally, additional insights are gained by considering different dimensions of academic freedom and how they are impacted by corruption.     

Stock markets in turmoil: political institutions and the impact of elections

This paper explores how elections impact stock markets across diverse political institutions. I argue that electoral and party systems impact the fragmentation, credibility, and predictability of electoral information, influencing levels of uncertainty resolved by elections and leading to distinct stock market reactions. First, elections in majoritarian electoral systems produce larger cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) than elections in proportional representation systems. Second, the weaker institutionalized a party systems is, the larger are the CARs around elections. Third, these two institutional variables interact. Elections in majoritarian (proportional representation) systems with weak (strong) party system institutionalizations will have particularly large (small) CARs. I formally derive these propositions, conduct event studies of the impact of 87 elections on SMs in 21 countries from 1999 to 2016, and analyze four case studies.     

Steel safeguards and the welfare of U.S. steel firms and downstream consumers of steel: a shareholder wealth perspective

Abstract.  This paper analyses the steel safeguards applied during 2001–3. Results reveal that for shareholders of U.S. steel companies safeguards generated positive 'abnormal' returns of approximately 6%. The cancellation of the safeguards resulted in wealth gains of about 5%. Steel shareholders experienced negative abnormal returns of −5% in response to the WTO ruling that the U.S. had violated WTO law. Our results are consistent with the neoclassical view that producers gain at the expense of consumers. Also, findings indicate that downstream-consuming firms that diversify production in NAFTA countries avert some trade policy risk associated with higher steel costs caused by safeguard protection.