The relationship between financial sector development and savings mobilisation in South Africa: An empirical study

This article examines the link between financial sector development and savings mobilisation in South Africa for the period 1980–2012. Taking the life-cycle hypothesis as our theoretical background and using Johansen co-integration that allows for hypothesis testing, the empirical results revealed a long-run relationship between savings, interest rates and financial sector development. We find an inverse relationship between the interest rate and savings, implying that South Africans are net borrowers because the income effect overwhelms the substitution effect. This in part explains the low level of savings in recent time. Important policy lessons for boosting the national savings rate are discussed.     

Saving dynamics in the Asian countries

This paper investigates empirically the factors that have influenced the savings behavior in the fast growing Asian economies—Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Both the short and long-run movements of savings are modeled during the 1960–1997. The empirical results of the analysis based on time series data may be summarized as follows: (i) foreign savings deters domestic saving both in the short and long run; (ii) savings does not Granger cause economic growth, except for Singapore; (iii) the effect of interest rate on saving in Asian countries is inconclusive and it reflects the extent of financial liberalization adopted in these countries; and (iv) in the long run the causality runs from foreign to domestic savings.     

Interest Rate Liberalization and Economic Growth in Zambia: A Dynamic Linkage

Abstract: This paper examines the dynamic impact of interest rate reforms on economic growth in Zambia—using two models in a stepwise fashion. In the first model, the efficacy of interest rate liberalization is examined by regressing the interest rate on the level of financial deepening. In the second model, the causal relationship between financial depth and economic growth is examined by incorporating savings as an intermittent variable in the bivariate setting, thereby creating a simple trivariate model. Using the cointegration‐based error correction model, the study finds strong support for the positive impact of interest rate liberalization on financial deepening. In addition, the study finds that financial deepening, which results from interest rate liberalization, Granger causes economic growth. The results apply irrespective of whether the causality is estimated in the short run or in the long run. Other results show that: (1) lagged financial depth leads to further financial deepening; (2) savings and economic growth Granger cause each other; and (3) financial development Granger causes savings in the long run.     

A fisherian analysis of individual retirement accounts

Conclusions This paper has employed a Fisherian analysis of intertemporal choice to evaluate the use of IRA's. The analysis shows that with perfect capital markets assumptions, the presence of IRA's will generate no other effect on savings than would a simple tax rabate. Further, it shows that if the tax revenue loss due to IRA's is not accompanied by an expenditure reduction, but is financed with taxes or borrowing, rational households will still employ IRA's, but their effect on intertemporal choice will be nil. The analysis also shows that IRA's do act as a savings incentive to the extent that there are market imperfections, specifically to the degree that transactions costs are important. However, empirical evidence from the literature does not lend firm support to this possibility. The conclusion is that a market imperfection is not a firm basis on which to construct savings incentives. Finally, one can note that the same analysis applies to any tax-based savings incentive that is designed to operate by lowering the tax on interest income. The reason for this finding is that the provision of tax sheltered interest income, along with the deductibility of interest on borrowing, creates general tax arbitrage opportunities for households and that tax arbitrage opportunities do not, in general, generate greater savings in an intertemporal choice model. It follows that significant restriction or elimination of the deductibility of interest on borrowing is a prerequisite for IRA's and other tax based savings incentives to produce their intended effect.     

Analysing disequilibrium interest-rate systems in developing countries

Under equilibrium conditions, monetary policy measures to raise institutional interest rates are contractionary. When interest rates are held below their free-market equilibrium levels, however, an increase can be expansionary. Higher institutional interest rates may deter savings in the form of unproductive inflation hedges and encourage savings in the form of financial claims issued to finance productive investment. In most developing countries, money is the predominant financial repository of savings and bank loans are a major source of investible funds. Hence, attention is focused here on models which analyse the effects of binding interest-rate ceilings on financial intermediation. Empirical evidence reported in this paper is consistent with the view that binding institutional interest-rate ceilings can have a substantial growth-reducing impact.     

上海投资与经济增长对就业的拉动效应

采用上海1990～2010年时间序列数据,利用弹性分析及计量经济模型就投资、GDP对就业的拉动效应进行实证研究,得出如下结论：（1）上海近21年投资、GDP增长为扩大就业创造了有利条件,非农产业GDP就业弹性和投资就业弹性均具有显著的波动性,两者之间偏离程度逐渐拉大;（2）新增投资、新增GDP与新增就业的行业分布存在差异性;（3）政府投资对就业的拉动效应低于民间投资,但我们应该关注到民间投资占总投资的90％以上。对就业的拉动效应只比政府投资略高一些,并没有出现预期的民间资本投资带动大量就业的效果,建议政府将就业纳入优先目标中,并鼓励民间投资流向吸纳就业潜力大的领域。     

中国财政政策降低不平等的效应分析:嵌入失业风险的视角

本文通过构建一个包含个体失业风险的Hank模型来分析财政政策降低不平等的影响路径与政策效果.研究发现:(1)由于储蓄规则和流动性约束作用,不平等的加剧会增加总储蓄率,不利于向以消费为主的经济结构转型;(2)降低收入所得税对减轻不平等的效果取决于其累进程度,降低比例税可降低不平等,增加一般性转移支付对改善不平等效果不显著...     

Another Look at Yield Spreads: The Role of Liquidity

Liquidity plays an important role in explaining how banks determine their allocation of funds. This paper examines whether this fact can explain yield spreads and the term structure of interest rates. The paper models banks' demand for liquidity in a manner similar to that often used to study household liquidity needs, namely, by using a cash-in-advance type model. The paper finds that the cash-in-advance constraint (liquidity constraint) plays an important role in determining yield spreads. The empirical part of the paper shows that the expectations hypothesis might be salvaged when account is taken of the liquidity premium and the risk premium.     

Financial innovations and the interest elasticity of money demand: Evidence from an error correction model

The difficulty of estimating a stable money demand function has been blamed on financial innovations of the past two decades. Gurley and Shaw's [1960] thesis implies that a proliferation of money-like assets resulting from financial innovations increased the interest elasticity of money demand. However, Hafer and Hein [1984] provided empirical evidence to the contrary. This paper presents the empirical results of the M2 demand for money using an error correction model for the period 1959:1–87:4 and two subperiods 1959:1–73:4 and 1974:1–87:4. The findings suggest lower interest and price elasticities for money demand in the second sample in which money substitutes proliferated.     

The optimal length of a patent with variable output elasticity and returns to scale in R&D

This paper extends the pure theory of patents to make it consistent with the empirical evidence on R&D which shows both variable returns to scale and a variable elasticity of cost reduction with respect to R&D (output elasticity). Using a generalized invention possibility function, the authors show that for a given social rate of discount, a socially optimal patent depends only on output elasticity and demand elasticity. The authors also show that an optimal patent can exist for increasing returns as well as for constant and decreasing returns to R&D. In general, the constant elasticity assumption overestimates the optimal life of a patent.     

我国居民储蓄与股市联动效应及对策

文章通过对我国股市与居民储蓄相关性的实证剖析,论证了居民储蓄与股市价量的联动效应,解释了影响储蓄与股市联动效应的因素。探讨了合理分流储蓄、推动投资渠道多元化、加强监管、保持政策调控持续性等促进股市稳健发展的对策建议。     

The Wage Elasticity of Labour Supply: A Synthesis of Empirical Estimates

Summary This paper performs a meta-analysis of empirical estimates of uncompensated labour supply elasticities. For the Netherlands, we find that an elasticity of 0.5 for women and 0.1 for men is a good reflection of what the literature reveals. The elasticity for men hardly differs between countries, but for women some cross-country variation is found. The increasing participation rate of women may lead to a somewhat lower elasticity in the future. Both the specification of the hours function and the estimation method are found to affect elasticity estimates.      

人民币汇率对中美双边贸易的影响——基于多边汇率与双边汇率的研究

本文运用协整向量自回归模型(cointegrating VAR)、误差修正模型(VEC)和方差分解等计量方法,研究人民币对美元双边实际汇率、人民币多边汇率变化与中美双边进、出口及贸易差额的关系,并在模型中引入供给弹性和政策变量以提高检验的准确性。研究结果表明:人民币汇率是影响中美双边贸易的重要因素,人民币汇率升值可以改善中美双边贸易不平衡,其效应在短期内即可显现,但对双边进、出口的影响则取决于人民币对美元双边实际汇率变化与多边汇率变化的综合比较,两国经济增长均将扩大我国对美出口和美、中贸易逆差,而贸易政策对双边贸易的影响也不可忽视。     

On the comparison of alternative specifications for money demand: The case of extremely low interest rate regimes in Japan

Using Japanese money market data, this paper compares the predictive ability of the log–log specification with infinite elasticity at a zero interest rate and the semilog specification with a one time switch from moderate to relatively high semielasticity at annual interest rates less than 0.5%. We find that the latter specification dominates the former in terms of predictive ability for the extremely low interest rate regime (the period between 1999 and 2006) because under the former the semielasticity is excessively sensitive to slight changes in interest rates. We find that interest rate semielasticity has remained stable at a high level since the mid-1990s.     

我国储蓄结构变化对外贸影响的实证分析

国民经济储蓄部门结构一般可以由居民储蓄、企业储蓄、政府储蓄来表示。本文采用协整分析、格兰杰因果关系检验的方法对我国储蓄结构的变化与对外贸易的关系分别进行了实证分析。实证结果表明:出口、进口与三部门储蓄存在着长期的均衡关系,企业部门的储蓄是出口和进口增加的重要原因。保持对外贸易的平衡依赖于政府对各部门储蓄结构分布的合理引导。     

反倾销措施产业救济效果:基于寡占竞争模型的理论研究

近年来,随着全球反倾销案例的快速上升,反倾销措施的产业救济效果受到广泛关注,国内外已有相关研究以实证居多,但理论分析比较鲜见.本文通过将国际贸易理论与寡占竞争理论相结合,构建了开放经济体系的寡占竞争模型.在此基础上,重点探讨了进出口国的行业集中度、进口集中度、进出口国厂商之间的竞争激烈程度等因素影响反倾销措施的产业救济效果的内在机理.理论推导发现:本国进口竞争行业集中度、本国厂商间的产量推测弹性以及本国厂商对外国厂商的推测弹性都对反倾销措施的产业救济效果产生不利影响,而进口集中度会对反倾销措施的产业救济效果产生积极影响.     

Relationship between foreign capital flows,domestic investment and savings in the SADC region

The importance of foreign capital in the domestic economy cannot be underestimated as it bridges the gap between domestic capital demand and supply. Given this background the paper studies the relationship between the different types of foreign capital flows in the Southern Africa Development Region (SADC) region – foreign direct investment (FDI), remittances, cross border bank flows (CBF), overseas development assistance (ODA) – and domestic savings and investment, employing the panel cointegration test and the dynamic ordinary least squares method (DOLS). The empirical results reveal that there is a strong positive relationship between domestic investment and domestic savings, FDI and remittances. These findings indicate that FDI remittances help in overcoming the limits on the domestic capital formation in the SADC region through permitting a rate of investment which is in excess of that which can be generated by domestic savings. Important policy implications on attracting foreign capital flows are discussed in the paper.     

我国居民消费的平滑性研究——基于“相关性UC模型”的实证

我国居民消费的平滑性是扩大内需的政策产生效果的一个障碍。本文利用"相关性UC模型"来研究收入-消费关系,试图利用该模型中消费、总收入和持久收入之间新息的相关性来验证我国居民消费行为更符合哪一种消费行为理论。最后实证结果说明,凯恩斯主义消费理论,习惯形成理论和预防性储蓄,持久收入假说都不能完美的解释我国居民的消费行为。相对来说,其消费行为更接近于持久收入理论。     

金融摩擦下利率市场化改革对经济增长的影响研究

当前我国正面临经济增长放缓、流动性趋紧、利率居高不下的复杂局面,如何推进利率市场化改革以维护金融稳定、促进经济增长是重要的课题。文章构建包含金融摩擦因素的经济增长模型,并选用1980—2013年的数据进行实证检验。研究认为,利率变化对储蓄的影响是正向的,对投资的影响在2000年前后由正转负,与经济增长长期负相关,随着利率市场化改革的深入,利率的经济增长弹性呈增大趋势。未来利率市场化改革的重点,在短期应稳健审慎推进存款利率上限放开,在长期应优化金融市场结构畅通利率微观传导机制。