Remittances and Currency Crisis: The Case of Developing and Emerging Countries

Employing the first-generation currency crisis model of Flood and Garber (1984), I explore the financial effects of migrants' remittances on the economies of developing and emerging countries in a currency crisis. The model implies that remittances can contribute to a reduction in the likelihood of a currency crisis and appreciation in foreign exchange rates via the promotion of foreign exchange reserves. Panel estimation with twelve developing and emerging countries that previously experienced financial crises confirms the implications, suggesting that migrants' remittances can play a significant role in mitigating financial constraints and thus contribute to financial stability.     

Private Participation in Infrastructure and Financial Sector Development: Evidence from Developing Countries

This article studies whether private participation in infrastructure (PPI) investments promote financial sector development (FSD). With data from 62 developing countries over the period 1990–2013, we provide evidence of a positive and significant relationship between PPI investments and FSD, irrespective of different control variables, estimation methods and measures of FSD. With heterogeneity tests, we illustrate that the promotion effect is larger in emerging countries than in the other countries; however, the difference is marginal. We also identify that both civil and common legal origins have a comparative advantage than socialist legal origin for FSD.     

西方国家私人股权投资基金的监管及其对我国的启示

西方国家对私募融资的私人股权投资基金主要通过证券私募豁免注册制度和合格投资者管理制度进行管理,一般不进行严格监管.我国目前对不同类型的私人股权投资基金采取不同的监管标准,而且未建立私募融资与合格投资者管理制度.为此,我国应加快建立证券私募融资制度和合格投资者管理制度,统一对不同类型私人股权投资基金的监管标准,在维持私人股权投资基金业较为宽松监管环境的同时,加强对部分潜在风险的监测.     

新型农村养老保障制度改革——北京模式的探索意义及其适用条件

本文以北京模式为案例,探讨了新型农村养老保障体制改革的主要特征和改革方向。北京模式明确提出政府提供基本养老保障的职责,推动建立人人共有的基本养老保障制度,使其具有研究价值和经验借鉴意义。当然,北京市的社会经济发展水平和财政能力,使其推广上应注意适用条件,特别是针对人口老龄化水平高的中西部劳动力输出大省,以及财政能力薄弱的省份,单纯依靠地方财政将面临巨大的财政压力。在分税制的情况下,需要在制定合理的财政补贴标准基础上,科学地划分中央财政和地方财政的支持比例,才能确保财政的可持续性,建立全国统一的新型农村养老保障体系。     

The Emergence of Equity Investment in Developing Countries: Overview

Equity flows to developing countries have increased sharplyin recent years. Foreign equity investment can be beneficialto developing countries because of its risk-sharing characteristicsand effects on resource mobilization and allocation. Empiricalevidence shows that the stock markets of developing countrieshave become more, although not fully, integrated with worldfinancial markets, and this increased integration implies alower risk-adjusted cost of capital. Constraints to furtherincreasing the flows and expanding the benefits are macroinstability,poorly functioning stock markets, and insufficiently open financialmarkets. Empirical evidence does not support the view that equityflows are more volatile than other types of capital flows orthat equity flows have a negative impact on the volatility ofstock prices.     

GATT Law, Agricultural Trade, and Developing Countries: Lessons from Two Case Studies

This article examines the relevance and applicability of thelaw of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) totwo specific problems faced by Thailand: the negotiations ofa voluntary export restraint agreement on cassava with the EuropeanEconomic Community and the increased subsidies on rice givenby the United States under the Food Security Act of 1985. In the case of cassava, Thailand appears to have had parts ofGATT law on its side, but the government was very reluctantto use the law to its own advantage. This reluctance was dueto unclear procedures under GATT as to how to make effectiveuse of these legal advantages. On the rice subsidy issue, conversely,the substantive law is unclear and provides limited protectionfor competing exporters. The wider lesson drawn from the two cases is that GATT's lawshould be modified and its role reevaluated so that both developedand developing countries can participate more fully in the GATTsystem. This will be necessary if the GATT's laws are to becomeuseful instruments in the hands of developing countries in theirbilateral negotiations with contracting parties which are themore powerful economically.     

Saving in Developing Countries: An Overview

This article reviews the current state of knowledge on the determinantsof saving rates, presenting the main findings and contributionsof the recently completed World Bank research project, ‘SavingAcross the World.’ The article discusses the basic designof the research project and its core database, the World SavingDatabase. It then summarizes the main project results and placesthem in the context of the literature on saving, identifyingthe key policy and nonpolicy determinants of private savingrates. Special attention is paid to the relationship betweengrowth and saving and the impact of specific policies on savingrates. The article concludes by introducing the studies includedin this special issue.     

The Costs and Benefits of Regulation: Implications for Developing Countries

The literature on the benefits and costs of regulation demonstratesthat this issue can be explored systematically using standardeconomic analysis. It also shows that regulation can have asignificant adverse impact on economic growth. Specifically,regulation aimed at controlling prices and entry into marketsthat would otherwise be workably competitive is likely to reducegrowth and adversely affect the average standard of living.In addition, process regulation can impose a significant coston the economy. Nonetheless, social regulations may have significantnet benefits for the average consumer if designed judiciously. There are several policies developing countries might consideradopting to improve their general approach to regulation. Theappropriate regulatory tools and framework will depend on manyfactors, including bureaucratic expertise, resource availability,political constraints, and economic impacts. There is a generalneed to enhance the capability for evaluating regulation atthe local and national levels.      

Urbanization in Developing Countries

The rapid urbanization in many developing countries over thepast half century seems to have been accompanied by excessivelyhigh levels of concentration of the urban population in verylarge cities. Some degree of urban concentration may be desirableinitially to reduce inter- and intraregional infrastructureexpenditures. But in a mature system of cities, economic activityis more spread out. Standardized manufacturing production tendsto be deconcentrated into smaller and medium-size metropolitanareas, whereas production in large metropolitan areas focuseson services, research and development, and nonstandardized manufacturing.The costs of excessive concentration (traffic accidents, healthcosts from exposure to high levels of air and water pollution,and time lost to long commutes) stem from the large size ofmegacities and underdeveloped institutions and human resourcesfor urban planning and management. Alleviating excessively highurban concentration requires investments in interregional transportand telecommunications to facilitate deconcentration of industry.It also requires fiscal deconcentration, so that interior citiescan raise the fiscal resources and provide the services neededto compete with primate cities for industry and population.      

Housing Segmentation in Developing Countries in Transition: A Recent Case Study of Residential Development in Bangkok

This article utilizes case study research of the residential market in Bangkok to investigate residential development and market segmentation in developing countries with emerging market economies. The article first considers the process of economic reform and transformation before examining the entrepreneurial, legal, and institutional environments in Thailand and evaluating the pattern of urban growth in Bangkok. Segmentation studies are then presented by product type, price level, and spatial distribution before conclusions from the case study are generalized to developing countries in transition.     

Sites and Services--and Subsidies: The Economics of Low-Cost Housing in Developing Countries

Sites and services projects represent a major innovation inshelter policy in developing countries and have been sponsoredby international aid agencies for somewhat more than a decade.Such government projects deliver a package of shelter-relatedservices, the standards of which depend on the ability and willingnessto pay of intended beneficiaries. Typically, such projects representa sharp break with preexisting government shelter policies inthat they attempt, in principle, to focus directly on lower-incomegroups and to deliver shelter and services with small or nosubsidies. This article describes the background of the sitesand services concept; reviews recent evaluations of sites andservices projects; presents an analytical model of the sitesand services paradigm (which is used to examine how major projectoutcomes are influenced by project design); summarizes recentresearch on housing demand in developing countries (which isrelevant to designing appropriate sites and services projects);reviews planning assumptions used in World Bank sites and servicesprojects; compares these assumptions with empirical evidenceon willingness to pay for housing; and examines project experiencein light of contrasts between actual planning assumptions andempirical research on demand for shelter. The article concludeswith suggestions for ways to improve the project design processand reform housing sector policies to increase the efficacyof the sites and services paradigm.     

Housing Policy in Developing Countries: Conjectures and Refutations

This article discusses housing policy in developing economies.It examines recent research findings in light of earlier argumentsas to the benefits of more market-oriented approaches. It alsolooks at whether the recommendations of earlier work have beenrefuted or developed in subsequent analyses and policy measures.In particular, it reviews the empirical analysis of the effectsof policy on housing supply, the richer understanding of theeffects that land market regulations have on housing affordabilityand the functioning of urban areas, and the alleged mysteriouseffects that researchers claim effective property rights haveon housing policy and on development more generally. It alsoexamines the effects of the increased emphasis on communityparticipation, showing how it helps to more fully reconcilethe incentives faced by beneficiaries of housing policy anddonors. Finally, it examines recent literature on the welfareeffects of rent control. The article shows that some of theconjectures as to the likely benefits of more market-based policyhave been refuted, but large welfare gains for poor people canstill be realized by adapting this approach. Furthermore, thisapproach appears to be gaining ground as the consensus approachto effective housing policy.      

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。     

被征地农民社会保障工作的基本情况与政策取向

目前,我国存在大量的被征地农民,为解决这部分群体的社会保障问题,中央政府先后出台了一系列政策措施,并确立被征地农民社会保障的基本原则、资金来源、政府责任、工作程序等政策内容,地方政府也采取相关政策措施积极配合。在实际工作中形成了两种做法、六种政策措施,取得了一定成效,但是各地在开展此项工作时也存在一定问题。为实现十七届三中全会“同地同价”和“先保后征”的更高要求和标准目标,解决实际工作中的问题,本文提出相关政策建议。     

发达国家和发展中国家财政政策顺周期问题的研究与借鉴

国外关于发达国家和发展中国家财政政策顺周期问题的研究结果表明:(一)发达国家财政政策具有温和的逆周期性,即在经济上升期增加收入、减少支出、在经济下滑期减少收入、增加支出;也有一些研究成果认为发达国家的财政收入、财政支出具有顺周期性。(二)发展中国家财政收入、财政支出等政策变量,在经济上升期,具有快速增长的顺周期性;在经济下滑期,具有快速减少的顺周期性。     

中国保障措施制度的发展对策研究

随着保障措施被世界各国越来越频繁的运用,中国与保障措施”打交道”越来越多,发展并完善中国的保障措施制度也成为一项十分紧迫的任务。本文从保障措施立法、国内产业、具体规定、前提条件等方面提出了完善中国保障措施制度的对策,从而促进中国保障措施制度的发展。     

Capital Structures in Developing Countries

This study uses a new data set to assess whether capital structure theory is portable across countries with different institutional structures. We analyze capital structure choices of firms in 10 developing countries, and provide evidence that these decisions are affected by the same variables as in developed countries. However, there are persistent differences across countries, indicating that specific country factors are at work. Our findings suggest that although some of the insights from modern finance theory are portable across countries, much remains to be done to understand the impact of different institutional features on capital structure choices.     

Exchange Rate Fluctuations and Output in Oil-Producing Countries: The Case of Iran

Conventional wisdom states that currency depreciation in oil-producing countries is contractionary because demand effects, limited by the prevalence of oil exports priced in dollars, are more than offset by adverse supply effects. Iran, however, has experienced a rapid increase in nonoil exports in the past decade. Against this background, the paper tests whether the conventional wisdom still applies to Iran and concludes that the emergence of the nonoil export sector has made currency depreciation expansionary. The expansionary effect is particularly evident regarding anticipated persistent depreciation in the long run. Notwithstanding the varying effects of exchange rate fluctuations on the demand and supply sides of the economy, managing a flexible exchange rate gradually over time toward achieving stability in the real effective exchange rate may strike the necessary balance.