Bookkeeping conventions and the micro-macro link

The formal accounting logic of the national accounts and other macroeconomic statistics is not always well understood. In addition, the relation between macro statistics and micro accounting data often is not clear. This paper starts out by summarizing the main bookkeeping conventions at the macro level. A distinction is made between vertical and horizontal double-entry bookkeeping, which, if applied simultaneously, result in quadruple-entry bookkeeping. Vertical bookkeeping refers to the double-entry bookkeeping used in business practice. Horizontal bookkeeping requires that the transactions and other economic relationships between agents answer strict consistency rules regarding valuation, timing, and classification. At the micro level, this consistency is not guaranteed. The article reviews three options to reinforce the micro-macro link (proposals by Nancy and Richard Ruggles, proposals by Harry Postner, and the intermediate accounts in France), and concludes with a few suggestions that could be used in the upcoming revisions of the international statistical manuals.     

会计信息质量保障措施研究

随着中国经济体制改革的不断深化和市场经济的日益发展,会计信息在宏观调控和微观管理等方面正发挥着越来越重要的作用。会计信息已经日益成为企业管理者、投资者、债权人、社会公众及政府管理部门改善经营管理、评价经济状况、做出投资决策、制定有关政策的重要依据,会计信息是否真实、完整,将直接影响有关方面的利益和经济秩序,会计信息质量越来越受到社会各界的广泛关注。     

A PROTOTYPE MICRO-MACRO LINK FOR THE CANADIAN HOUSEHOLD SECTOR

This paper seeks to forge a link between Canadian macro and micro data relating to the household sector. The analysis is in three parts. The first part begins with National Accounts data on the personal sector. These data are adjusted to remove transactions relating to non-biological persons, so that the result is income and expenditure for the household sub-sector. The second part starts with the annual household survey used to collect income distribution data. These survey data are augmented in various ways to account for under-reporting and to add information from other micro data sets particularly the periodic survey of household expenditure patterns and a sample of individual income tax returns. The result is a comprehensive, albeit partially synthetic, household micro data set. In the final part of the paper these two largely independent data sets are compared, and the general quality of the results is discussed.     

LINKAGES BETWEEN MACRO AND MICRO BUSINESS ACCOUNTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ECONOMIC MEASUREMENT

The paper shows the relationship between microbusiness accounting based on double-entry bookkeeping and macroeconomic accounting based on quadruple-entry bookkeeping. In order for microaccounts to successfully aggregate into macroaccounts (i.e. preserve macro/micro linkages), quadruple-entry bookkeeping requires that the traditional double entries, recorded by transacting microbusiness units, be "consistent" with each other. In fact national economic accounting implicitly assumes that such consistency is maintained when national "aggregates" are uniquely extracted from national accounts and when national "identities" are claimed to hold true.
The main purpose of the paper is to show important examples where quadruple-entry consistency is not satisfied. These examples typically involve "complex" economic transactions between business units in which the legal form of the transactions do not necessarily represent their economic substance. When this occurs, different business units have genuinely divergent conceptions and perceptions with respect to their mutual economic transactions. Therefore, microbusiness accounts cannot be successfully aggregated into macroeconomic accounts without violating the integrity of microdecision making records.
The conclusion of the paper introduces a new theory called Perpetual Imbalanced Accounting. The theory shows that inconsistent (or imbalanced) economic accounting does tend to become consistent (or balanced) over sufficiently long time periods. Therefore, we must adopt a more dynamic view of national accounting if we desire to preserve successful macro/micro linkages. However, the problems of imbalanced macroaccounting and its statistical consequences cannot be entirely avoided no matter how long the accounting time period is taken. All of the above have important implications for the revision of the United Nations System of National Accounts.     

利率市场化能解决小微企业融资难问题吗*——基于行为金融学视角的分析

本文研究了银行信贷集中问题的成因,讨论了利率市场化背景下小微企业融资问题难的解决思路。本文首先以行为前景理论和心理账户理论为基础,考察授信者行为因素对银行授信决策的影响,以探讨小微企业融资困境形成和银行信贷集中问题产生的机制。然后本文讨论了分析信贷集中和小微企业融资问题所依赖的假设和变量,从收益和风险两个方面对商业银行信贷决策做出了研究。研究发现利率市场化改革可以有效缓解小微企业融资难和信贷资金集中于大中型企业的问题。     

论附加价值会计

建立附加价值会计,是现代会计的发展趋势。文章在阐述附加价值会计理论含义的基础上,将附加价值会计与传统财务会计进行了比较分析,认为附加价值会计能够更为准确反映企业的财务信息,协调各方关系,减少企业的短期行为,是联系微观会计和宏观会计的纽带。     

The relationship between government accounts and national accounts, with special reference to the netherlands

National accounts are a macro-economic accounting system that is compiled on the basis of a globally harmonized accounting standard, that is SNA93/ESA95. To a large extent, the SNA93/ESA95 accounting principles are also suitable for government (micro-)accounting purposes, if only because the accounts drawn up according to this standard are comparable across (types of) units and over time. That facilitates performance monitoring and benchmarking. In addition, the ESA95 guidelines and procedures deal with innovative transactions and accounting, which increases the credibility of the accounts. Finally, accounts for government units are then directly comparable with the macroeconomic accounts, which facilitates the link between forecasts for the national economy and drawing up government budgets. This paper also describes the present conversion of government accounts to national accounts for the government sector in the Netherlands and the plans of the Dutch government to change from a cash-based to an accrual government accounting system.     

The Government Deficit and the Exchange Rate

As government deficit spending declines, the question of its impact on the exchange rate is clearly relevant. Recent empirical work has been contradictory. This paper presents a two-country cash-in-advance model to calculate explicitly the long- and short-term effects of government deficit spending on the exchange rate. It is shown that increases in deficit spending result in a short-term appreciation of the currency. The currency will eventually depreciate, to what degree and for how long depending on the method used to finance the deficit.     

THE INTEGRATION OF MACRO AND MICRO DATA FOR THE HOUSEHOLD SECTOR1

National accounts in their present form do not serve very well as a framework for microdata, largely because of differing concepts and coverage in the macro and micro data. This article identifies the differences in sectoring and the handling of imputations and attributions between macro and micro data, and then proposes a form of presentation of the macro accounts that will facilitate their integration. Data for the United States in 1980 are used as an illustrative example. The final section explores the consequences of the proposed alterations in the macro accounts for the analysis of saving and investment and the accumulation and distribution of wealth, using U.S. data for the period since 1947. The article concludes that the proposed alterations do lead to new analytical insights, and further, that in their present form the national accounts are both misleading and inadequate.     

The anatomy of the aggregate labor supply elasticity

We show that the aggregate Frisch elasticity of labor supply can greatly exceed the corresponding individual-level parameter, and we illustrate the “anatomy” of the former in terms of intensive and extensive margins. The methodology consists of using micro data from the PSID to construct a panel of individuals and an aggregate time series obtained by aggregating these individuals each year. These two data sets represent exactly the same sample at different levels of aggregation, and we use them to identify the parameters of two distinct MaCurdy-type micro and macro equations. We find a micro elasticity of about 0.1 and a much larger macro elasticity that ranges from 1.1 to 1.7. There is no conflict between the two estimates: the micro one reflects only the intensive margin while the macro one reflects, in addition, the much more volatile extensive margin. Furthermore, aggregation of only continuously employed individuals allows us to provide a reliable estimate of the intensive margin elasticity in the range 0.3–0.4. This implies an extensive margin elasticity in the range 0.8–1.4. These findings suggest that micro evidence is not a benchmark for assessing how large the Frisch elasticity of labor supply should be in a model of the aggregate economy.     

我国政府审计功能的多维立体观——公共治理理论下的解读

政府审计功能与公共治理存在密切联系.基于公共治理理论视角,我国需要从四个方面对政府审计功能进行重新审视与构建.新时期下,应以建设有效政府为目标充分发挥绩效审计的增值功能;以建设有限政府为目标充分发挥公共财政审计对宏观调控的保证功能;以建设授权与分权政府为目标充分发挥基层领导干部经济责任审计对权力的制约功能;以建设透明政府为目标完善审计公告制度,充分发挥其对实现政府审计功能的保障作用.     

Theory and practice of value management and its innovation natural resources from the perspective of sustainable development

The supreme obstacle for sustainable development of natural re,sources is the scarcity bottleneck.So how to promote the sustainable utili-ing and increase the using efficiency of natural resoures is worth studying.this paper suggests that we should improve the model and means of evaluating method and value management based on the theory of natural resource compensation.This paper discusses the User Cost Method based on the microeconomic aspect which can change the evaluating method for natural resources.From the perspective of value management model,we should use the User Cost Method to realize the linkage and integration (ifmicro and macro compensation for natural resources.Based on the evaluating and accounting idea of User Cost Method,this paper presents a theo retical framework to harmonize and link micro and macro compensation for natural resources.At present,we should seek the new approach and method to manage natural resources,so can we realize the capitalization management focusing on the vahte management for natural resources.     

Theory and practice of value management and its innovation for natural resources from the perspective of sustainable development

The supreme obstacle for sustainable development of natural resources is the scarecity, bottleneck. So how to promote the sustainable utilizing and increase the using efficiency of natural resources is worth studying. This paper suggests that we should improve the model and means of evaluating method and value management based on th~ theory of natural resource compensation. This paper discusses the User Cost Method based on the microeeonomicaspect which can change the evaluating method for natural resources. From the perspective of value managemen model, we should use the User Cost Method to realize the linkage and integration of micro and macro eompensation for natural resources. Based on the evaluating and aecounting idea User Cost Method, this paper presents a theo. retical framework to harmonize and link micro and macro compensation for natural resources. At present, we should seek the new approach and method to manage natural resources, so can we realize the capitalization managemen focusing on the vahte management for natural resources.     

Why Do Poor democracies Collect a Lot of Tariff Revenue?

Governments in developing countries typically collect a significantly higher proportion of their revenue in the form of trade taxes, than their developed country counterparts. This paper provides a political–economic explanation for this phenomenon. A model of trade in vertically differentiated products is used in order to determine the preferences of the households among different ways of raising government revenue. It is shown that the majority of households in poor countries will consume low-quality, domestically produced varieties of differentiated products and would thus register a preference for the government to rely more on tariff rather than income tax revenue in order to finance its operations.     

Economic Mismeasurement and the Bias in Policy Choice

The level of economic activity is never measured perfectly because of problems of definition, inaccuracies in data collection, and the existence of the hidden economy. Such mismeasurement implies that government policies based on official statistics can be optimal only by chance. The analysis formalizes this observation in a two-sector economy and attempts to quantify the direction and extent of the bias introduced into policy by the failure to account for the true size of the economy. It is shown that short-term reform (which need not balance the government budget) can be detrimental. When a budget constraint is imposed, this ensures that reforms will be beneficial no matter how bad is the mismeasurement.     

Aggregation bias in estimates of demand for local services: Empirical evidence

Studies of demand for local public services have long been of interest for the value they can have for state and local public finance policy. While both macro and micro studies of these demands are common, most of these evidences are derived from macro studies based on the median-voter model. Specification error arising from a median aggregation can be quite significant. This paper finds a substantial difference in the coefficients on property tax prices and education service resulting from aggregated data compared with those from their micro data. These findings are important for the allocation and design of local budgets and state programs for intergovernmental revenue sharing.     

Changes in Development Finance in Asia: Trends,Challenges, and Policy Implications

There have been shifts in the composition and nature of development finance in Asia, such as the mainstreaming of private sources of finance and the emergence of domestic resources potentially available for development purposes. In parallel, new trends and challenges are identified in such areas as the transformation of development aid, public–private partnerships, and green finance. A common challenge is how to strengthen financial intermediaries for longer term sustainable financing from domestic and external sources for investment serving development purposes. To address this, policymakers should bear in mind policy coherence and consistency from macro, sector, and micro perspectives. For various financial resources to bring about tangible benefits, policymakers should take account of complementarities and synergies among the full range of available financial resources. The effective utilization of private sources of finance depends on commercial viability. The key to success is incentive design and risk mitigation measures.     

STATISTICAL UNITS STANDARDS AND CENTRAL REGISTER SYSTEMS: KEYS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC ACCOUNTING

National accountants, model builders and analysts who work with statistical material that has been compiled without the discipline of well-developed unit standards rules and central register controls may be constructing information systems that are basically unsound because of the uncertain nature of their building bricks of economic units.
This paper draws attention to the nature and importance of statistical unit standards and central register systems in the provision of economic statistics for economic accounting, planning and management. These are viewed as essential conceptual and operational tools for compiling economic statistics on an integrated basis and for making progress towards establishing a comprehensive data base with positive links between macro economic analysis and data about individual economic agents. Some of the problems and possibilities for countries who wish to proceed along these lines are discussed, with particular reference to the experience of Australia.     

Private versus social returns to human capital: Education and economic growth in India

This paper investigates whether differences between private and social returns to education of government sector employees can contribute to an explanation of the “micro–macro paradox” in the literature on education and growth. We hypothesize that in India educated people find privately rewarding jobs in a sector in which social returns are low, namely the government sector. This could help explain high returns to education at the micro level and small or negative coefficients on education growth in growth regressions at the macro level. The empirical results, which are consistent with this hypothesis, are based on an analysis of state-level data from India spanning 40 years.     

German Finance Capitalism: The Paradigm Shift Underlying Financial Diversification

This article is concerned with the genesis of German financial liberalisation. A refined inventory of financial system change – including new meso-level data on finance pattern and the marketisation of banking – reveals a varied pattern of change across German finance. It is argued that this financial diversification can only be understood with careful reference to the underlying ideational factors. An analytical narrative traces how technocratic ideas of financial modernisation during the 1980s began to open up space for the political program of finance capitalism to absorb liberal and leftist discontents with insider control and bank dominance. Upon reaching a tipping point of discursive dominance, the program was distinctly adopted across the political economy as the result of compartmentally different political, ideational and structural factors; creating a non-hegemonic financial paradigm that became identifiable in the face of recent crises. By developing analytical steps that link incremental and dynamic theories of institutional change in a conceptual framework of belief shifts, the paper contributes to efforts of adapting existing models of change to complex domains and accounting for the dynamic nature of the paradigm-generating process. The findings inform the larger debate about internal capitalist diversity and the coherence of national economic models.