PPPs: Nature, Development And Unanswered Questions

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are the newest and latest "new public management" development for the public services. PPPs are becoming a worldwide development, although the origins can be traced to the United Kingdom's private finance initiative (PFI), which remains the most advanced and developed form of PPP. This paper explores the development of PPPs, concentrating first on the PFI and then tracing the increasing presence of PPPs in Europe, the Americas and Australasia.     

Old-Age Social Insurance and Household Consumption: Evidence from China

Improving social welfare and stimulating consumption are two important issues in promoting economic growth. Based on the panel data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011 and 2013, this article precisely calculated the Social Security Wealth of employees and residents. The fixed-effect model and quantile regression method were employed. Besides, this study used the interaction of year dummy and age dummy as an instrumental variable. The results from this study indicate that Social Security Wealth can promote the total household consumption as well as improve the household consumption structure. However, the impact varies in both employees and residents’ groups.     

社会保障税:优化社会保障筹资模式的最佳选择

由于我国社会保险面临转轨成本、资金缺口和人口老龄化等三重压力,因此,通过依照职工工资总额征收养老保险金、失业保险金、医疗保险金、工伤保险金及生育保险金的方式所筹集的社会保障基金难以满足支出的需求。建议尽快由依靠企业统筹社会保障基金收费过渡到依靠税务机关征收社会保障税,以法律手段取代行政手段。这既是建立稳定的社会保障基金筹资机制、保证社会保障基金稳定来源的必需,也是适应社会主义市场经济发展需要、优化社会保障筹资模式的最佳选择。     

Credit Relationships: Evidence from Experiments with Real Bankers

We experimentally examine to what extent long‐term “lender–borrower” relationships mitigate moral hazard. The originality of our research lies in recruiting not only students but also commercial and social bankers. The opportunity to engage in bilateral long‐term relationships mitigates the repayment problem. Lenders take advantage of their long‐term situation by increasing their rates. Consequently, borrowers are incited to take more risk. Improving information disclosure ameliorates the repayment but does not incite lenders to offer more credits. Social bankers exhibit a higher probability of granting a loan and make fairer credit offers to borrowers than the other subject pools do.     

Security regulations,access to capital markets,and firm performance: Evidence from China

This study explores the cost of security regulations in China, where firms are required to meet a certain profitability benchmark before applying for permission to raise more equity via secondary equity offerings (SEOs). Using a difference-in-differences setting, we show that firms affected by the regulation (i.e., firms with high external financing demands (EFD) but profitability lower than the regulatory requirement) significantly underperform their counterparts, while unaffected firms do not. The affected firms’ performance decline increases (decreases) when the requirement of profitability is more (less) restricted. Consistently, the three-day cumulative abnormal return (CAR) of firms with high EFD is significantly negative (positive) when the regulation is tightened (loosened). Our study provides evidence on how the cost of regulation affects companies that have growth opportunities.     

Earnings Forecast Revisions and Security Returns: Canadian Evidence

The impact that revisions of financial analysts' forecasts of earnings have on Canadian security returns during the 1979-1988 period is tested using an event study methodology. A post-revision announcement drift in security prices is documented; the Canadian capital market displays a marked delay in reacting to positive revisions in earnings forecasts. Contingent on revision size, positive and significant excess returns are apparent for up to seven months following their release. The returns, before transaction costs, are not marginal; over a 12-month holding period, excess returns are 18.2%. The results for negative and non-revisions in earnings forecasts suggest that the market reacts quite efficiently to the information implicit in these events. An explanation for the asymmetrical results for the positive and negative revision portfolios is offered. These findings are robust to five control procedures used to test the sensitivity of the reported results to changes in the methodology. A number of explanations for this result are proposed including overlapping excess returns and beta shifts; none reconciles the anomalous results.     

Empirical Evidence on Capital Investment, Growth Options, and Security Returns

Growth in capital expenditures conditions subsequent classification of firms to portfolios based on size and book‐to‐market ratios, as in the widely used Fama and French (1992, 1993) methods. Growth in capital expenditures also explains returns to portfolios and the cross section of future stock returns. These findings are consistent with recent theoretical models (e.g., Berk, Green, and Naik (1999)) in which the exercise of investment‐growth options results in changes in both valuation and expected stock returns.     

Convertible Bond Issues: Evidence from Security Markets

A convertible bond (CB) is a hybrid security containing elements of both common stock and straight debt. Still, empirical investigations on CB issue announcements have failed to discern any pattern in the stock market reaction that is consistent with announcements of either common equity or straight debt issues. This study shows that (a) motives for issuing the CB and (b) its rating (and to a less extent the riskiness of the issuing firm) help explain the stock market reaction to CB issue announcements. Specifically, announcement of a CB issue with an explicitly stated motive for the use of proceeds, when coupled with a high (low) bond rating, generates a stock market response similar to a straight debt (common stock) issue. On the other hand, the preference of CB holders is dictated by the motive for the use of proceeds and the conversion premium. These findings highlight the critical importance of the motive of issue in determining reactions in both the stock and bond markets.     

寻求合资的新模式

<正> 道格拉斯·马克:合资前要做许多充分的准备工作。从我公司过去10年的经验来看,建立合资企业应注意六个方面:(1)要有新的结构、模式和资本;(2)对于合作伙伴要充分了解,了解对方合资的动机;(3)集中决策,相信第一线管理人员;(4)合资双方有一方应处于决定性地位;(5)建立合资关系要合情合理,95%仅依靠关系来做的企业会失败,加入WTO后这一趋势会更明显;(6)在很多情况下中国的法律未得到执行,政策法规常发生变化,对这种具有中国特色的模糊情况不必苛求。将来中外合资主要会出现三种情况:     

Expected Default Probabilities in Structural Models: Empirical Evidence

We apply a set of structural models (Black and Cox 1976; Collin-Dufresne and Goldstein 2001; Ericsson and Reneby 1998; Leland and Toft 1996; Longstaff and Schwartz 1995; Merton 1974) to estimate expected default probabilities (EDPs) for a sample of failed and non-failed UK real estate companies. Results are generally consistent with models’ predictions and estimates of EDPs for different models are closely clustered. The results of z-scores and synthetic ratings misclassify 33% of the total sample in contrast to 8% misclassification by structural models. Further analysis of EDPs based on logistic regressions suggests the observed misclassification of the companies by structural models is due to special company management and/or regulatory circumstances rather than limitations of these models.      

Earnings, Cash Flows and Security Returns Over Long Return Intervals: Analysis and UK Evidence

The aim of this paper is to provide a fuller understanding of the process linking security returns and accounting data by focusing on the effect of long return intervals on the association between security returns and earnings and cash flow variables. First, we develop a theoretical basis for empirical analysis of the relationship between security returns and cash flow data over long return intervals. Second, we carry out empirical analysis of both the information content of cash flow variables and the incremental information content of accounting earnings and cash flows using UK data over the period 1985–92 for annual, two year and four year return intervals. Our results provide strong evidence of the valuation relevance of cash flow information for the dataset examined.     

Capital and Earnings Management: Evidence from Alternative Banking Business Models

This paper examines whether institutional characteristics distinguishing Islamic from conventional banks lead to distinctive capital and earnings management behavior through the use of loan loss provisions. In our sample countries, the two banking sectors operate under different regulatory frameworks: conventional banks currently apply the “incurred” loan loss model until 2018 whereas Islamic banks mandatorily adopt an “expected” loan loss model. Our results provide significant evidence of capital and earnings management practices via loan loss provisions in conventional banks. This finding is more prominent for large and loss-generating banks. By contrast, Islamic banks tend not to use loan loss provisions in either capital or earnings management, irrespective of the bank's size, earnings profile, or the structure of their loan loss model. This difference may be attributed to the constrained business model of Islamic banking, strict governance, and ethical orientation.     

名义价格幻觉——基于证券分析师目标价格预测的经验证据

本文利用证券分析师发布的股票目标价格预测,为名义价格幻觉提供了能够直接反映心理预期的经验证据。研究发现,证券分析师对低价股未来收益的心理预期显著高于高价股,该行为偏误在规模小、上市时间短、股票波动性大、财务透明度低和无形资产占比高等估值难度更大的股票中表现得更加明显。我们还利用股票送转,对证券分析师是否受到名义价格幻觉的影响做进一步验证,发现由送转引起的与基本面无关的名义价格下降显著提升了证券分析师对股票未来回报的心理预期。进一步研究表明,上述发现并不是因为证券分析师准确预见了低价股和高价股未来有不同的投资机会,也不是为了最大化其供职证券公司的利益而有意迎合投资者。     

Variations in Trading Volume,Return Volatility,and Trading Costs: Evidence on Recent Price Formation Models

Patterns in stock market trading volume, trading costs, and return volatility are examined using New York Stock Exchange data from 1988. Intraday test results indicate that, for actively traded firms trading volume, adverse selection costs, and return volatility are higher in the first half-hour of the day. This evidence is inconsistent with the Admati and Pfleiderer (1988) model which predicts that trading costs are low when volume and return volatility are high. Interday test results show that, for actively traded firms, trading volume is low and adverse selection costs are high on Monday, which is consistent with the predictions of the Foster and Viswanathan (1990) model.     

The Impact of Landownership Security: Theory and Evidence from Thailand

This article develops a model of farmers' land acquisition andinvestment decisions. The model clarifies the relation betweenland values, landownership security, and credit markets. Therisk of eviction on untitled lands and the advantages in accessto credit associated with titled land are shown to account forthe higher price of titled land. Furthermore, observed landprices are distorted when credit is priced below the opportunitycost of capital and the risk of eviction is positive. Thereforesocial benefit analysis of land titling cannot utilize landprices without correcting for these distortions. The articleoffers formulas for performing such corrections. Econometricestimates of the value of legal ownership in three provincesof Thailand using cross-section land price data show a statisticallysignificant effect of ownership security on land price. Theeconometric estimates of ownership security are combined withthe formulas generated by the model to yield estimates of thesocial benefit of land titling in the three provinces. The analysisimplies that granting full legal ownership to squatters canbe a socially beneficial policy in many provinces.     

社保基金持股与企业盈余质量:A股上市公司的证据

本文利用中国A股上市公司2006-2015年的数据,研究社保基金持股对上市公司盈余质量的影响。我们用上市公司财务重述作为测度盈余质量的指标,发现社保基金持股能够显著降低企业发布财务重述的概率,这表明社保基金对上市公司盈余质量的提高具有促进作用。并且,社保基金的这一治理作用在国有企业、内部治理水平较差以及市场化程度较低地区的上市公司中更加显著。通过双重差分模型和安慰剂检验等方法弱化了内生性问题之后,以上结论依然成立,说明社保基金持股和盈余质量提升之间存在因果关系,我们称之为社保基金的公司治理作用。进一步研究发现,社保基金可以通过抑制控股股东资金占用、增加机构调研次数等途径提升被持股公司的盈余质量。本文有助于认识和评估社保基金持股对于上市公司的监督与治理作用。     

Adverse Selection,Investor Experience and Security Choice in Venture Capital Finance: Evidence from Germany

This article analyses 336 German venture capital transactions from 1990 to 2005 and seeks to determine why selected financial securities differ across deals. We find that a broad array of financial instruments is used, covering straight equity, mezzanine and debt‐like securities. Based on the chosen financial securities’ upside potential and downside protection characteristics, we provide an explanation for the differing use of these securities. Our results show that investors’ deal experience, adverse selection risks and economic prospects in the public equity market influence the selection of financial securities.     

财务重述、管理层权力与股价崩盘风险：来自中国证券市场的经验证据

股市震荡引发投资者和监管层对股价崩盘风险的关注。从财务重述背后所反映的财务信息质量低下和公司治理失效出发,探讨其对股价崩盘风险的影响,结合管理层权力这一影响组织行为和产出能力的代理人特征,探讨其对财务重述与股价崩盘风险之间关系的影响。研究结果表明：相比未发生财务重述的公司,发生了财务重述的公司的股价崩盘风险明显更高;进一步纳入代理人特征———管理层权力后,发现代理人的这一特征对上述关系有明显的促进作用。