Migration and household investment in rural China

In this paper, we demonstrate how household investment is affected by participation in migration in rural China. We both describe investment patterns across different regions of China and by households with different experiences with migration. We then describe a set of hypotheses about the relationship between migration and investment, and test the hypotheses using household data that we collected in rural China in 2000. We find that in areas with median incomes that are more than twice the poverty line, migration is associated with investment in housing and other consumer durables that is 20% higher than the average. We find no evidence of a link between migration and productive investment.     

Savings,investment, and capital mobility within China

This paper addresses the capital mobility among regions within China. Using a range of panel estimators which deals with the non-stationarity of time series components, individual heterogeneity and common unobserved factors, we show that the savings and investment (both expressed as ratios to GDP) are positively correlated for a sample of 28 Chinese provinces over the period of 1978 to 2006. According to the Feldstein-Horioka's argument (1980, Economic Journal (90), pp.314–329), such a correlation can be interpreted as evidence of low capital mobility. In addition, by means of Granger causality test, we fail to provide consistent evidence to support the hypothesis of efficient capital allocation in China. Combining the results given above, it is believed that the capital may be inefficiently retained within the provincial confines. We conjecture that the intermarriage between financial power and local authorities is primarily responsible for this worrying phenomenon.     

Human capital,FTAs and foreign direct investment flows into ASEAN

In this paper, we examine the impact of foreign direct investment flows into ASEAN in a gravity model using the bilateral FDI data from 2000 to 2009. In particular, we study the key factors that determine the FDI flows into the region including human capital development and whether membership of a bilateral or regional trade agreement has a differential impact on FDI flows using an extended gravity model. The empirical results indicate that free trade agreements do have positive impact on FDI inflows. However, the returns on FDI inflows depend on the domestic absorptive capacity of the economy and region. It is imperative for ASEAN to align its infrastructure, human capital and technologies to provide MNCs with the necessary linkages to the global network and also to move the domestic industries seamlessly up the global production value-chain. The paper highlights that this is crucial for deeper ASEAN integration and for sustainable growth in the region.     

Foreign direct investment, agglomerations, and demonstration effects: An empirical investigation

Previous studies have shown that the localisation of firms can be an important factor in attracting new foreign direct investment into a host country. The authors distinguish between “efficiency agglomerations” which arise as firms increase their efficiency by locating close to each other, and “demonstration effects” whereby existing firms send signals to new investors as to the reliability and attractiveness of the host country. They try to disentangle these two effects by examining the location of US firms in Ireland. They find that both sources of agglomerations have been important determinants of US firm entry into Ireland. JEL no. F23     

外商直接投资在中国资本形成的效应

从近期对FDI在我国外溢效应的研究看，多数研究集中于FDI在技术、贸易及就等方面外溢效应的研究，而对FDI对我国国内资本形成影响的论述甚少。其实对我国这样一个发展中国家，资本形成对经济增长的推动作用是至关重要的，也是其他经济要素所无法比拟的。因此，研究FDI在我国的资本形成效应具有重要的现实意义和理论价值。本文首先总结了国内外学者在这方面的研究成果，随后建立模型对FDI在我国的资本形成效应进行实证分析。实证结果指出，FDI有助于我国当年国内资本形成，但对下年国内资本形成具有明显的“挤出效应”，最后根据分析结果提出若干政策建议。     

我国利用外资与产业结构调整实证研究

改革开放以来，我国利用外商直接投资取得了巨大的成效，利用外资规模已连续8年居发展中国家首位、全球第2位。但我国利用外资也存在技术滞后，与产业结构调整结合不紧密等问题，加入WTO后，我国应从扩大外资准入、加大创新力度，提高外资质量等方面采取积极有效的措施。     

Women-headed households and household welfare: An empirical deconstruction for Uganda

Analysis of the first nationally representative household survey of Uganda shows that women-headed households are not poorer when assessed by consumption or income. Nor do they appear consistently disadvantaged on social indicators. Some subgroups of women-headed households do have lower economic welfare, including those headed by widows and those in urban areas. Gender inequalities in educational attainment appears to be the major source of what economic disadvantage such women-headed households do face. High remittances receipts play a key role in maintaining economic parity between women and men-headed households.     

中国政府消费与城乡居民消费状况比较研究:1978-2010

消费需求是国民经济运行管理中一个很重要的环节,也是当下宏观经济调控的重点所在;而政府消费与居民消费的关系及其对宏观经济的影响则是其中一个较重要的问题。采用对比分析和计量估计方法,以统计资料为依据,分别从消费倾向、消费支出、国际比较和模型计量四个方面,全面分析和研究了1978年改革开放以来我国政府消费与城乡居民消费状况,并得出了一些有意义的观点和结论。     

政府支出与私人消费关系的实证检验:基于财政分权的视角

本文运用1995-2009年间中国省际面板数据对政府支出与私人消费的关系及作用机制进行实证检验。我们认为:第一、政府支出通过收入效应和替代效应影响私人消费,政府支出与私人消费呈倒"U"型关系。第二、财政分权导致政府支出结构扭曲,并且生产性支出以吸引FDI为目的,替代效应以及FDI对国内投资的挤出效应和锁定效应导致生产性支出挤出私人消费。     

Human capital, signaling, and the pattern of returns to education

This paper analyzes the implications of the pattern of returnsto education for human capital and signaling models. The USCurrent Population Survey shows diploma effects and small returnsto the interval just before college graduation. A human capitalmodel explains this pattern only under special circumstancesunlikely to be stable. A Spence-type signaling model can explaindiploma effects, but not the low return prior to graduationunless there is substantial measurement error. I propose anextension of the signaling model where agents are initiallyunsure of their ability.     

An empirical re-evaluation of wealth effect in Japanese household behavior

This study investigates empirically the role of wealth in the behavior of Japanese households from two standpoints. One is concerned with what types of wealth are relevant in consumption decision by households. The other is which component of consumption spending is affected by wealth. We find that the liquid financial wealth appears as a significant explanatory variable in expenditure function of many commodity groups as well as total consumption. It turns out that variations of liquid wealth are responsible for about one third of the change in aggregate consumption in the boom period starting from the middle of 1980s.     

Demand for broad money and expenditure components in Japan: an empirical study

The main objective of the present study is to examine empirically the long-run relation of broad money demand and its determinants in Japan. In contrast with previous study, the present study considers various components of final expenditure demand as determinants that are final consumption goods, expenditure on investment goods and exports. Using quarterly data over the period 1973Q1–2000Q2, the results of the bounds test [J. Appl. Econ. 16 (2001) 289] indicate a stable long-run relationship between demand of real M2 and its determinants. The empirical results also highlight that different domestic demand components yields different effects on Japanese broad money demand behavior. The estimated unrestricted error-correction model appears to track the data well and the results have important policy implications.     

Exchange controls, international capital flows and saving-investment correlations in the UK: An empirical investigation

Exchange Controls, International Capital Flows and Saving-Investment Correlations in the UK: An Empirical Investigation. - This paper reexamines the Feldstein-Horioka approach to measure the degree of international capital mobility, focusing on the difference between the short-run and the long-run saving-investment correlation coefficient. The authors also investigate the effectiveness of the abolition of exchange control which, in October 1979, ended a long period of restrictions on capital flows between the UK and the international economy. Their results suggest that the short-run saving-investment correlation is significantly higher than the long-run one. Unlike most of the relevant literature, the empirical evidence suggests that the UK is financially highly integrated with the world economy after 1979.     

Inequality of opportunity and household risky asset investment: Evidence from panel data in China

Based on the household panel data over three waves in China, this paper investigates how inequality of opportunity of a region affects household risky asset investment. The empirical results show that inequality of opportunity raises both the probability and the share of household risky asset investment in the region. Our key results are robust to a series of sensitivity checks. The heterogeneity analyses tell us that richer and more educated households seem to be affected more by inequality of opportunity of the county they reside in. The paper also tests several possible channels behind the observed relationship, showing that the following channels help bring upon this effect: increasing material aspiration, changing risk preferences, and reducing household expenditures.     

An empirical analysis of the expenditure budget in research and development*

Abstract. This paper extends the prior empirical research that explains the perceived use or importance of budget control or both, with organizational context and structure in manufacturing organizations. In this paper, the perceived importance of expenditure budget control in research and development (R&D) work groups is explained empirically by organizational context (R&D work group size, source of R&D funding, and size of R&D budget) and the management control system (steps in the control process, social control). Data obtained from 76 R&D work groups in ten organizations support the five hypotheses. Generally, there is an interaction between the steps in the control process and each of the other independent variables on the perceived importance of expenditure budget control for management control of the R&D work group. Résumé. Le présent article s'inscrit dans le prolongement des travaux de recherche empiriques précédents visant à expliquer l'utilisation perçue du contrôle budgétaire ou son importance - sinon les deux - dans le contexte et la structure d'organisation des entreprises manufacturières. Dans cet article, l'importance du contrôle du budget des investissements perçue par les groupes de travail en recherche et développement (R & D) s'explique concrètement par le context organisationnel (la taille du groupe de travail en R & D, la source de financement des activités de R & D et l'importance des crédits affectés à ces activités) et par le système de contrôle de gestion (étapes du processus de contrôle, contrôle social). Les données obtenues auprès de 76 groupes de travail en R & D dans dix organisations viennent confirmer les cinq hypothèses des auteurs. L'on relève, de façon générale, une interaction entre, d'une part, les étapes du processus de contrôle et chacune des autres variables indépendantes et, d'autre part, l'importance perçue du contrôle du budget des investissements aux fins du contrôle de gestion du groupe de travail en R & D.     

An empirical study of structural factors and regional growth in China

Based on data of 31 Chinese provinces over the period 1980–2004, the study in this paper presents new evidence on the effects of structural shocks and structural transformation on growth and convergence among the Chinese regions. The division of overall regional growth in labour productivity into three components – growth due to structural shocks, growth due to structural transformation and a ‘residual’ indicating growth due to region-specific changes – provides us with a better framework than the traditional one-sector Solow growth model for attributing growth and convergence to various different sources. Among other findings, the study has shown that during 1990–1999, structural shocks worked to widen the gap between rich regions and poor regions in China, while structural transformation worked to narrow the gap.     

The expansion of higher education and household saving in China

We examine whether access to higher education impacts household saving rates. A 2-period model of household saving decisions demonstrates why increased college opportunities induce households with children to save more. We examine this theory using survey data from Chinese households during the unprecedented education expansion. Using estimates of the change in the expected probability of college attendance, we estimate the effect on household saving rates by comparing households before and after the reform. We find that a 10-percentage point increase in the probability of going to college raises the saving rate by 5.9 percentage points.     

对我国资本-劳动力-能源投入和科技进步的贡献率的非参数测算

本文以扩展的“索洛余值”模型为基础,利用多元非参数模型的局部线性估计,研究了改革开放以来我国经济技术进步率的变化以及资本、劳动力、能源投入和全要素生产率在经济增长中的贡献。得出结论,我国经济增长中劳动力的贡献率逐渐降低,能源的贡献率基本不变,而投资和技术进步在产出中起着越来越重要的作用。