Self-employment and business cycle persistence: Does the composition of employment matter for economic recoveries?

Self-employment comprises an important share of employment in many countries, and tends to expand during downturns through higher inflows from unemployment. Furthermore, countries with higher self-employment shares exhibit lower cyclical output persistence. I build a business cycle model with frictional labor markets where individuals can be self-employed or salaried employed. I show that economies with larger self-employment shares exhibit faster economic recoveries. Differences in the ease of entry into self-employment as the economy recovers explain the contrasting cyclical dynamics. The model successfully captures the cyclical patterns of self-employment and the relationship between self-employment and output persistence in the data.     

LONG DARK SHADOWS OR INNOVATIVE SPIRITS? THE EFFECTS OF (SMOOTHING) BUSINESS CYCLES ON ECONOMIC GROWTH: A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract It is argued that fiscal policy can play a part in preventing a possible downward spiral or be instrumental in achieving a higher long‐term path of growth. Never before has this argument been advanced as frequently as in the current economic crisis. However, the economic literature – an overview of which is given here – does not provide an unambiguous answer, either theoretically or empirically, to the question of the relationship between (the smoothing of) cyclical fluctuations and long‐term growth. In this context, two main contrasting explanatory paradigms can be identified: Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction and the learning by doing hypothesis. Even if it were possible to identify the relationship more clearly on this basis, it is important not to lose sight of the problems associated with the real‐time assessment of the current economic situation, time lags and political economic incentives even in difficult times.     

The role of financial intermediaries in monetary policy transmission

The recent financial crisis has stimulated theoretical and empirical research on the propagation mechanisms underlying business cycles, in particular on the role of financial frictions. Many issues concerning the interactions between banking and monetary policy forced policy makers to redefine economic policies, and motivated macroeconomists to focus on the implications of financial intermediation constraints for asset price fluctuations, the behavior of non-financial firms, households, governments and in turn for real macroeconomic performance. This paper surveys research on the role of financial intermediaries and financial frictions in the transmission of monetary policy and discusses how to design both the new banking regulatory and supervisory structures and monetary policy in order to stabilize the economy. It also serves as an introduction to this special issue.     

股利政策与公司盈余——基于稳定性研究

股利政策是现代公司理财活动的核心内容之一。从股份公司诞生之日起,股利分配便已成为公司管理者与投资者共同关注的一个焦点问题。本文从股利政策稳定性的角度出发,对我国上市公司股利支付数量和支付形式进行研究。结果发现:无论是从支付形式还是从支付数量看,除公用事业行业外,我国其余行业上市公司实行的均是不稳定的股利政策,短期行为严重。     

Introducing financial frictions and unemployment into a small open economy model

Which are the main frictions and the driving forces of business cycle dynamics in an open economy? To answer this question we extend the standard new Keynesian model in three dimensions: we incorporate financing frictions for capital, employment frictions for labor and extend the model into a small open economy setting. We estimate the model on Swedish data. Our main results are that (i) a financial shock is pivotal for explaining fluctuations in investment and GDP. (ii) The marginal efficiency of investment shock has negligible importance. (iii) The labor supply shock is unimportant in explaining GDP and no high frequency wage markup shock is needed.     

Costly external finance and labor market dynamics

We study the role of agency frictions and costly external finance in cyclical labor market dynamics, with a focus on how credit-market frictions may amplify aggregate TFP shocks. The main result is that aggregate TFP shocks lead to large fluctuations of labor market quantities if the model is calibrated to the empirically observed countercyclicality of the finance premium. A financial accelerator mechanism thus amplifies labor market fluctuations by rendering rigidity in real wage dynamics. In contrast, if the finance premium is procyclical, which the model can be parameterized to accommodate, amplification is absent, and labor-market fluctuations display the Shimer (2005) puzzle.     

上市公司股利分配理性化引导

本文认为,我国上市公司股利不分配股利的公司居多,且分配股利的以股票股利为主,现金股利的支付水平极低。这种非理性化股利政策对我国上市公司、投资者和资本市场均造成了极为不利的影响。为此,迫切需要尽快将上市公司的股利分配引导到理性状态。     

WILL BUSINESS CYCLES IN THE EURO AREA CONVERGE? A CRITICAL SURVEY OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Abstract.  This survey of business cycle synchronization in the European monetary union focuses on two issues: have business cycles become more similar, and which factors drive business cycle synchronization. We conclude that business cycles in the euro area have gone through periods of both convergence and divergence. Still, there is quite some evidence that during the 1990s business cycle synchronization in the euro area has increased. Higher trade intensity is found to lead to more synchronization, but the point estimates vary widely. The evidence for other factors affecting business cycle synchronization is very mixed.     

Urban search models under high-relocation costs. Theory and application to spatial mismatch

We develop a search-matching model in which mobility costs are so high that it is too costly for workers to relocate when a change in their employment status occurs. We show that, in equilibrium, wages increase with distance to jobs and commuting costs because firms need to compensate the transportation cost difference between the employed and unemployed workers at each location in the city. We also show that the equilibrium land rent is negatively affected by the unemployment benefit because an increase in the latter induce firms to create less jobs, which, in turn, reduces the competition in the land market. We then use this model to provide a mechanism for the observed spatial mismatch between where black workers live and where jobs are. We finally show that a transportation policy consisting in subsidizing the commuting costs of black workers can increase job creation and reduce unemployment if the level of the subsidy is set at a sufficiently high level.     

西方现代股利政策理论的演进与评价

股利政策是个谜。四十多年来,西方财务学者分别从不同的角度、运用不同的方法对股利政策进行了大量的理论和实证研究。本文对此进行了较为系统和全面的回顾与评述。早期股利理论研究主要集中在股利政策与股票价格是否有关的研究上,其观点主要有在手之鸟理论和股利无关论。20世纪八十年代后,股利之争主要集中在股利为什么会引起股票价格变化,其观点有追随者效应、信号理论、代理学说和行为学派等。虽然这些学派的观点在不同程度上还存在一些缺点,但它们改变了传统理论的思维方式和分析方法,极大地扩展了财务学的研究视野,从而使股利政策研究在“量”和“质”上均产生了很大的飞跃。     

我国上市公司股利政策实证研究

影响股利政策的因素有法律方面的,也有公司自身方面的。其中公司自身的资本结构是最主要也是最关键的因素。资产负债率、资产的流动性、负债的内部结构以及公司规模、股权集中度会直接影响到股利分配。     

上市公司现金股利政策影响因素研究——来自钢铁行业的经验数据分析

本文以2002年～2004年派发现金股利的钢铁上市公司数据为对象,对其现金股利政策的影响因素进行了实证研究,结果表明:公司的现金股利支付率与每股收益以及每股经营现金流量净额呈正相关关系,与资产总额没有显著相关关系,与公司净资产收益率和公司的利润增长率呈负相关关系。