The Capital-to-Income Ratio: Thoughts Engendered by the Work of Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez

This article examines the connection between economic growth and the capital-to-income ratio in the context of the work done on wealth distribution by Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. The article employs a simple mathematical formulation to understand the key influences on the capital-to-income ratio, and uses the stage theory of capitalism to conceptualize the long term theoretical relationship between growth and wealth concentration. The article contends (i) that inequality and growth are negatively related, (ii) that high wealth concentration can lead to low growth rates and vice versa, and (iii) that high inequality augments savings and speculation which, together, undermine growth and financial stability.     

Shareholder Value Maximisation,Stock Market and New Technology: Should the US Corporate Model be the Universal Standard? 1

In 1992 a blue‐ribbon group of US economists led by Michael Porter concluded that the US stock market‐based corporate model was misallocating resources and jeopardising US competitiveness. The faster growth of US economy since then and the supposed US lead in the spread of information technology has brought new legitimacy to the stock market and the corporate model, which is being hailed as the universal standard. Two main conclusions of the analysis presented here are: (a) there is no warrant for revising the blue‐ribbon group’s conclusion; and (b) even US corporations let alone developing country ones would be better off not having stock market valuation as a corporate goal.     

中小私营企业劳动关系的多维困境及平衡机制--基于广东省问卷调查的实证分析

通过对广东省中小私营企业的问卷调查发现,私营企业的劳动关系受到月收入、克扣工资、病假工资、工伤请假工资等物质环境要素以及工作环境、工会等人文环境要素的制约和影响。当下私营企业的劳动关系尽管总体上处于一个相对平和的状态,但也要看到,私营企业的劳动关系依旧是非均衡的,面临着诸如劳动关系主体发育不成熟,劳动关系规范化、制度化程度低,工人合法权益受损严重,劳动关系冲突无序化等多维困境。上述困境需要培育私营企业劳动关系主体成长,提升规范水平,革新工会体制以及规范冲突程序等机制加以化解。     

Profiling the Fuzzy Latent Structure of Multidimensional Poverty: Toward Valuable Insights for Poverty Policymakers

Abstract

Several multidimensional poverty indices have been proposed, and have been extensively studied in the literature. On the other hand, the need for aggregation of poverty indicators into one multidimensional index has been questioned. It has been argued even so that this aggregation can be misleading for political targeting strategies. Subsequently, some researchers have advocated that the use of the latent class analysis would address these issues. However, this setting does not allow to take into account the fuzzy nature of the latent poverty concept. The contribution here is to use the Grade-of-Membership (GoM) model to profile the fuzzy latent structure of multidimensional poverty, for a more realistic handling of this phenomenon. The application of the GoM methodology to multivariate poverty data for the Tunisian case reveals four most prevalent multidimensional poverty profiles. The results emphasize the role played by contextual effects. Indeed, the rural cluster is suffering more intense deprivation and groups in the central and coastal regions have a more comfortable status in comparison with the group of households residing in inland regions. A thorough analysis of these patterns is put forward in this research, giving valuable insights to policy makers.     

虚拟价值:价值规律的新视野

广义虚拟经济试图在马克思的生活对象化理论指导下,超越物本思维进行经济理论创新.生活的对象化有两层涵义:一是生活凝结成人们之间进行交往的对象;二是生活成为人们认识和观照的对象.这个理论将本体论、价值论、认识论、逻辑学有机地统一在一起,成为解释价值现象的理论原点.当充分的市场平台出现时,虚拟价值进入了交换领域,广义虚拟经济...     

Structural Features of Female Employment Status and Earnings Mobility: The Experience in Germany

Structural changes in basic economic indicators, changes in traditional role patterns, and in female employment behavior shed light on the performance of the European labor markets in the 90s. This paper focuses on the cyclical sensitivity of women's employment status and earnings position in Germany. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) we test the hypothesis that labor market adjustments are not gender-neutral but affect women's employment status and women's relative earnings position to a greater extent than those of men. Cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analysis indicate positive effects on female employment status and earnings position during a period with worsening economic indicators. Logistic regression analysis confirms an increasing likelihood of an upward earnings mobility for women in the 90s. Notwithstanding these positive trends the results show that - due to social norms and attitudes - women are still discriminated against in the labor market and in terms of their relative earnings position. Thus social policy is called upon to improve women's social and employment conditions.     

Channels of redistribution: Inequality and poverty in the Russian transition

Contrary to popular perception, Russia entered the transition with significant inequality. Using the large Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey dataset, we demonstrate that inequality has subsequently risen yet further and by end-1996 was roughly comparable to inequality in Mexico, Colombia or Malaysia. Driving this increase has been not only wealth transfers through privatization but also changes in government expenditure and a sharp growth in earnings dispersion. There has been a large, associated shift in the structure of income. The paper also looks at the incidence and depth of poverty over the period 1992-96. At the start of transition, roughly half the population of households fell below the poverty line. While this has subsequently declined, at end-1996 nearly 40 per cent of households were below the poverty line and a substantial stratum of households were locked in chronic poverty.     

Capacity utilization and technology shocks in the US manufacturing sector

The ability of real business cycle models to generate reasonable aggregate fluctuations depends on the time series properties of technology shocks measured by the change of total factor productivity. Three specifications of a non‐parametric productivity analysis which correct to different degrees for variations of capacity utilization are compared in this article using data for three‐ and four‐digit US manufacturing industries during the years 1958–1996. The results show that correcting for utilization generally leads to substantially smaller technology shocks that are less strongly correlated with growth of output and hours. Moreover, the probability of technological regress is considerably lower after the correction.     

Forward rates and the expectations theory of the term structure: Tests for the Federal Republic of Germany

The expectations theory of the term structure was tested using data from West German capital and money markets for the period 1975:01–1986:12. If forward rates implicit in the term structure are market expectations of future spot rates, and if term premia are not time-dependent, then forward rates should follow a martingale sequence. This hypothesis was tested with the aid of standard time series techniques (autocorrelation functions, Box-Pierce, unit-roots,F-tests and co-integration). The expectations theory was for the most part rejected, although the martingale property, or equivalently, weak form efficiency, held for the latter part of the test period. The rejection of the simple expectations theory is consistent with the hypothesis of time-varying term premia. The author thanks an anonymous referee and especially Prof. Dr. J. Wolters (Free University of Berlin) for helpful comments and criticism.     

Identifying the structure of knowledge networks in the US mobile ecosystems: patent citation analysis

With the emergence of smartphones, the paradigm of the mobile ecosystem has changed rapidly. In particular, global mobile firms focus on technological competition when jostling for market position in recognition of the strategic need to secure a strong mobile platform. In this paper, we analyse the network structure of technological knowledge flows in mobile ecosystems using US patent citation information. We find that two subsectors, platform providers and application and software providers, are at the centre of knowledge exchange activity and play a brokerage role as the key knowledge mediator. Then, we categorise mobile firms into five different groups based on the patterns of their network centrality: knowledge keystone players, knowledge-distributing mediators, knowledge-absorbing mediators, catch-up players, and pure knowledge receivers. The categorisation of firms demonstrates that knowledge flows in the mobile industry converge towards a few leading firms, and such patterns are shaping the mobile ecosystem with respect to technological knowledge. The firms categorised as catch-up players have played a brokerage role within their group, while the firms categorised as knowledge keystone players play a brokerage role across different groups.     

社会财富及其源泉--使用价值形成论

在现代发达市场经济和高技术的生产过程中,呈现出生产要素的多维化：除了劳动力、工具力,对象力,科学力而外,管理力,环境力等成为生产过程的有效因素,并且对产品使用价值和社会形成发挥重要作用,从而表现出生产方式进步中社会财富新泉源到开发和富源的多样化。主要依托科学力（知识力）创造财富是人类进行财富创新的最高形式,也是财富创造效率最高的方式,在使用价值形成中非劳动要素作用和贡献的增大和活劳动的作用,功能的减缩,并不意味着劳动创造价值命题的失效,劳动是财富生产的原动力,是要素力的启动力,是多要素有机结合的粘合力。     

Multidimensional mechanism design: Revenue maximization and the multiple-good monopoly

The seller of N distinct objects is uncertain about the buyer's valuation for those objects. The seller's problem, to maximize expected revenue, consists of maximizing a linear functional over a convex set of mechanisms. A solution to the seller's problem can always be found in an extreme point of the feasible set. We identify the relevant extreme points and faces of the feasible set. We provide a simple algebraic procedure to determine whether a mechanism is an extreme point. We characterize the mechanisms that maximize revenue for some well-behaved distribution of buyer's valuations.     

The quest for status and endogenous labor supply: the relative wealth framework

We analyze the implications of relative wealth preferences in a Ramsey model with endogenous labor supply. In contrast to relative consumption preferences, they allow for the possibility that agents work too little in the long run, while under both specifications the steady-state levels of consumption and the stock of physical capital exceed their socially optimal counterparts. Even in the case of excessive leisure agents are worse off in terms of intertemporal utility because initial transitional dynamics are characterized by under-consumption and excessive work effort. “Too much” long-run consumption of goods and leisure is possible due to the excessive capital-labor ratio.      

Rethinking the Links between Human Relationships and Economic Efficiency Using Local Institutions: The Case of Two Emerging Economies

Emerging countries around the world have been growing fast over the last thirty years, with most of these countries basing their economic development on a state capitalism. Within these countries, there is a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few people. This fact confirms the analysis of Thorstein Veblen (1898 Veblen, Thorstein. “Why Is Economics Not an Evolutionary Sciences?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 12, 2 (1898): 373–397.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) who shows the gap that exists between the vested interest of the rich and the unmet needs of the poor. The world happiness report (Helliwell, Layard and Sachs 2016 Helliwell, John F., Richard Layard and Jeffrey Sachs, eds. World Happiness Report 2016. World Happiness, 2016. Available at http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/HR-V1_web.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2016. [Google Scholar]) also shows for the emerging economies a gap between the world rank in economic growth and in wellbeing. I propose a new paradigm of development for two emerging economies, Brazil and South Africa, by putting human development in the center of economic development and by using different approaches in economics and psychology. My analysis links the theories of Carl Shapiro and Joseph E. Stiglitz regarding “efficiency wages” (1984 Shapiro, Carl and Joseph E. Stiglitz. “Equilibrium Unemployment as Worker Disciplines Devices.” American Economic Review 74, 3 (1984): 433–444.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) with the complexity approach (Le Moigne 1995 Le Moigne, Jean-Louis. La modélisation des systèmes complexes. Paris, France: Dunod, 1995. [Google Scholar]). This approach combines the results of positive psychology (Kahneman 2011 Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. London, UK: Penguin, 2011. [Google Scholar]) with the role of local institutions for improving the economic development of emerging economies (Deaton 2016 Deaton, Angus. La grande évasion: Santé, richesse et origine des inégalités. Paris, France: PUF, [2015] 2016. [Google Scholar]). In the first section of the article, I examine definitions of economic and human wealth. In the second section, I analyze the gaps that exist between the standard-of-living ranking and the wellbeing ranking for both Brazil and South Africa in order to present meso-happiness indexes linking the micro- and macro-levels of human wealth. In the last section, I analyze the way local institutions in Brazil and South Africa could create dynamic links for these countries’ efficient functioning in the world economy.     

Pricing-to-Market Behavior: Japanese Exports to the US, Asia, and the EU

The paper examines the pricing-to-market (PTM) behavior of Japanese exporters in the US, Asian, and EU markets. Empirical evidence shows that PTM elasticity is highest to the US market. This matches the in-tuitive reasoning that the US market is more competitive than the EU and Asian markets for Japanese exporters. Furthermore, PTM elasticities estimated in this paper using expected exchange rates are positive but their amounts are smaller than PTM elasticities estimated by previous studies with actual exchange rates. The difference may be due to the fact that the invoice currency for most Japanese exports is the US dollar.     

Politics and the stock market: Evidence from Germany

We analyze the interaction of stock market movements and politics in Germany. Evidence from popularity functions and VAR-based evidence suggests that stock market returns have affected the popularity of German governments. We only find weak evidence that the political process has had an impact on the stock market. In contrast to empirical evidence for the U.S., we do not find that German stock market returns tend to be higher during left-wing than during right-wing governments. Also in contrast to results for the U.S., we find no evidence for an election cycle in German stock market returns.     

S-S定理在中国的适用性检验——贸易对地区和城乡收入差别的影响

1941年根据发达国家情况提出的S-S定理在中国是不是适用,需要检验.根据中国这个发展中大国各地经济贸易发展程度不同和城乡差别巨大这样两个事实,对贸易与反映中国整体收入分配情况的基尼系敖、贸易与中国地区收入差距、贸易与中国城乡收入差别之间的关系,分别进行实证检验后发现,被解释的三大收入分配关系的确发生了如S-S定理所说的变化.因此.这个定理在中国是适用的.     

从疫情看中美关系:表现、原因及对策

在2020年暴发的新冠肺炎疫情中,中美本应借机缓和前期的贸易冲突危机,但美国不仅没有缓和与中国的关系,反而从医疗产品进口、供应链转移、舆论战等方面,加大与中国的分歧,这背后的原因包括:美国对中国的战略打压、借机转移国内矛盾、中美发展模式之争,以及科技竞争加剧等。为此,本文建议中美之间增进相互信任,中国应谨防陷入美国的话语陷阱,专注于解决自身国内问题,以及加强底线思维,做好最坏打算。     

信誉、财富与农村信贷配给——欠发达地区不同农村金融机构的供给行为研究

文章使用2006年云南、宁夏近800个农户家庭的调查数据,实证分析了欠发达地区不同农村金融机构的信贷供给行为.在区分农户的名义需求和有效需求的基础上,研究发现信用社和银行在发放贷款时偏向富有农户,民间借贷者没有这种偏向,因而其服务的覆盖面远远超过正式机构.两者都重视农户的信誉状况,但信用记录没有实现共享.这些行为的差异主要来源于各类金融机构之间信息成本和交易成本的差别.     

企业高管的政府背景与企业社会责任事件的溢出效应——基于“环保风暴”下金沙江水电项目紧急叫停案的研究

2009年6月11日中国两大电力公司华能与华电在金沙江的项目被环境保护部紧急叫停,这是一起典型的环境保护社会责任事件。这一事件不仅对涉事两家企业产生了影响,而且具有显著的行业溢出效应。本文运用事件研究法发现,电力行业的投资者对该事件普遍做出消极的市场反应,而且对企业高管曾担任过政府官员的电力行业企业,投资者的反应更为消极。具体表现为股价下跌更厉害、资金流出率更高。这一研究结果意味着,在面临社会责任事件所引发的政府管制时,企业通过高管建立的政治关系对股东而言可能具有负面效应。本文认为,政治关系对股东的负面效应是因为具有政治背景的高管的激励来自于其所任职企业的财富激励较低,而主要取决于政治升迁激励,相应地,他们会更有动力去执行政府的意志。