Segmented Labour Markets: Theory and Evidence

This paper examines the possibility of accepting the labour market segmentation approach as a valid alternative to the classical and neo-classical analysis of labour markets. It consists of three main parts. The first part contains a historical analysis of both the distant and recent origins of the labour market segmentation hypothesis. Part two outlines the central ideas of both segmentationalists and radical theorists who attempted to explain the fragmented nature of labour markets and the importance of institutional and social influences upon pay, employment and mobility of individual workers between different labour market sectors. The third part examines the case for labour market segmentation using four alternative techniques and discusses the issue of mobility among different labour market segments. It is thereby concluded that the lack of agreement among the segmented labour market theorists on both theoretical and methodological issues has prevented them from developing a consistent and convincing argument based on verifiable empirical evidence to validate their thesis.     

Consumer Information and Pharmaceutical Prices: Theory and Evidence*

The impact of a reform that increased consumer information on brand name and generic pharmaceutical prices is analysed both theoretically and empirically. The theoretical results show that an increase in information likely reduces the price of brand name pharmaceuticals, while the results regarding generics are less clear. In the empirical part of the article, the introduction of the substitution reform in the Swedish pharmaceuticals market in October 2002 is used as a natural experiment regarding the effects of increased consumer information. The results clearly show that the reform has lowered the price of both brand name and generic pharmaceuticals.     

The Economics of Charities: Revised Theory and New Evidence

Can economic principles be applied to the behaviour of charities? Professor Edwin West of the Universities of Carleton and Emory, claims that charities are susceptible to the same type of analysis as companies - but with important differences.     

Unit Root Testing Using Covariates: Some Theory and Evidence

This paper analyzes the conditions under which power gains can be achieved using the Covariate Augmented Dickey-Fuller test (CADF) rather than the conventional Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), and argues that this method has the advantage, relative to univariate unit root tests, of increasing power without suffering from the large size distortions affecting the latter. The inclusion of covariates affects unit root testing by: (a) reducing the standard error of the estimate of the autoregressive parameter without affecting the estimate itself, and/or (b) reducing both the standard error and the absolute value of the estimate itself. Conditions in terms of contemporaneous correlation and Granger causality are derived for case (a) or (b) to arise. As an illustration, it is shown that applying the more powerful CADF (rather than the ADF) test reverses the finding of a unit root for many US macroeconomic series.     

Central Bank Independence: An Update of Theory and Evidence

This paper reviews recent research on central bank independence (CBI). After we have distinguished between independence and conservativeness, research in which the inflationary bias is endogenised is reviewed. Finally, the various challenges that have been raised against previous empirical findings on CBI are discussed. We conclude that the negative relationship between CBI and inflation is quite robust.     

Reputation in Auctions: Theory, and Evidence from eBay

Employing a procedure suggested by a simple theoretical model of auctions in which bidders and sellers have observable and heterogenous reputations for default, we examine the effect of reputation on price in a data set drawn from the online auction site eBay. Our main empirical result is that seller's, but not bidder's, reputation has an economically and statistically significant effect on price.     

Monetary Policy and the Stock Market: Theory and Empirical Evidence

This paper gives a comprehensive review of the literature on the interaction between real stock returns, inflation, and money growth, with a special emphasis on the role of monetary policy. This is an area of research that has interested monetary and financial economists for a long time. Monetary economists have been interested in the question whether money has any effect on real stock prices, while financial economists have investigated whether equity is a good hedge against inflation. Empirical studies show that money can be helpful in predicting future stock returns. Empirical evidence also suggest that equity is not a good hedge against inflation in the short run but may be so in the long run. The short-run negative relation between stock returns and inflation can easily be explained by theoretical models. If the central bank conducts a countercyclical monetary policy this will result in a negative relation between inflation and stock returns, while if it conducts a procyclical policy we could observe a positive relation. According to both theoretical and empirical studies investors receive an inflation risk premium for holding equity.     

Managerial Ownership and Earnings Management: Theory and Empirical Evidence from Japan

This paper examines the relationship between managerial ownership and opportunistic managerial behavior relating to earnings management. Economics theory identifies two apparently conflicting effects of managerial ownership on managers' incentives: the incentive alignment effect and the management entrenchment effect. We construct a theoretical model demonstrating the two effects. This model suggests that as managerial ownership increases, earnings management decreases for both high and low levels of managerial ownership, while it increases for intermediate levels of managerial ownership if the sensitivity of the probability of managerial dismissal to the corporate performance is high enough and/or the manager's private benefit derived from managerial position is high enough. In a sample of Japanese firms, we find a significant nonmonotonic relationship between managerial ownership and discretionary accruals, consistent with our model.     

Dependent and Accountable: Evidence from the Modern Theory of Central Banking

In this paper we take another look at the literature on central bank independence. We show that the representative-agent approach to monetary policy is seriously flawed and does not provide a sound basis for deriving institutional solutions to the inflationary-bias. We then argue that the political approach to monetary policy provides a better account of the inflationary-bias and that this has important implications for the set-up of institutional arrangements, like central-bank independence, and the role of contractual arrangements, like indexation. Central bank independence, if appropriately modeled, can fail to reduce inflationary pressures in plausible circumstances. We then identify some issues in the theory of central banking that have not been clearly resolved and we offer some intuition as to the way they could be studied. We conclude by showing some potentially worrisome implications for the future of the European Monetary Union.     

弹药维修事故致因理论及预防研究

对事故致因理论的了解,有助于分析事故产生的原因及发展,能够预先提出措施,减少事故发生的概率。针对弹药维修过程中产生事故的原因和发展等问题,在给出弹药维修事故定义和主要事故类型的前提下,运用综合-动态事故致因理论,建立了弹药维修事故致因理论分析模型。通过该理论模型,对弹药维修事故产生的原因与发展做了进一步研究,分析了人、物、环境和管理等因素对弹药维修事故产生的影响,给出各因素之间内在联系,并制订了弹药维修事故的预防措施,从多方面、多角度降低事故发生的可能性。     

浅论物资的保管保养

对物资进行合理科学的保管保养,是企业生产经营和仓库管理的重要职能之一。如何根据物资本身的具体性能、特点进行有效的保养与维护,成为仓储管理的关键环节。保管保养的目的就是使物资不变质、不受损、保持原有的使用价值,保管保养工作的好坏,直接关系到物资的安全以及企业的效益。文中通过对物资保管保养的要求、需要重点抓好的环节、保管方法与存放、堆码苫垫等方面对物资保管保养进行了论述;同时,提出了仓库温度管理的办法。     

稳定性地权的养老保险替代效应:理论分析与实证检验——兼论土地永用和新农保政策下的农村土地制度改革

通过建立世代交叠模型研究了稳定性地权和养老保险之间的替代关系.理论模型显示:相对于不拥有土地使用权的家庭来说,拥有土地永用权的农户较少购买养老保险.对全国农村固定观察点数据的实证分析证明了稳定性地权对养老保险确实具有显著的替代作用.基于稳定性地权所具有的养老保险替代功能,土地永用和新农保两大政策的出台将对土地利用、农地流转、征地制度改革等方面产生重大影响.     

交易费用的会计计量及其对公司绩效的影响:理论与证据

交易费用是新制度经济学的核心范畴,但交易费用能否计量以及如何计量存在许多争议.交易费用的计量问题使得交易费用只能是一种分析工具,而难以成为一种内生变量,从而限制了新制度经济学的深入发展.对于企业实际发生的交易费用,既可以利用企业的会计核算资料和成本会计系统间接计量,又可以通过改进企业日常的会计处理直接计量.交易费用对公司绩效影响的实证研究结果表明,经营性交易费用对公司绩效具有显著的负面影响,分配性交易费用与公司绩效显著正相关.     

Urban Conflict and Social Movements in Poor Countries: Theory and Evidence of Collective Action

This paper evaluates the perennial question of whether the urban poor in developing countries are autonomous political actors or co-opted tools of patronage. I develop a theoretical interpretation of urban politics, arguing that collective action is shaped by changing configurations of state, economy and civil society. Collective action is expressed in struggles over labor, public goods and political rights — issues of varying salience in different periods of development. The theoretical framework generates a set of propositions which I evaluate with reference to a wide range of secondary evidence. At bottom, the data indicate that collective action varies in form and intensity (militance) with specifiable conditions. Illustratively, clientism did predominate during the ‘developmental decades’ (1960–80) that followed earlier (1930–60) experiences of militant labor conflict and yielded in the current period of neoliberalism to struggles for political rights. Cet article évalue l’éternelle question de savoir si les pauvres des villes dans les pays en voie de développement sont des participants politiques autonomes ou des instruments de patronage cooptés. Je développe une interprétation théorique des politiques urbaines soutenant que l’action collective est formée par les configurations changeantes de l’état, de l’économie et de la société civile. L’action collective s’exprime dans les luttes pour le travail, les biens publics et les droits politiques — des problèmes dont l’importance varie suivant les périodes de développement. Ce modèle théorique engendre un ensemble de propositions que j’évalue par rapport à une variété de preuves secondaires. En fin de compte, les données indiquent que la forme et l’intensité (activisme) de l’action collective varient selon des conditions qui peuvent être spécifiées. Pour illustrer, le clientisme prédominait durant les ‘décennies de développement’ (1960–1980) qui suivirent les experiences précédentes (1930–1960) de conflits des travailleurs militants et a donné lieu, dans la période actuelle de néo-libéralisme, aux luttes pour les droits politiques.     

“六西格玛理论”与汽车维修企业建设

六西格玛理论是最新的指导思想和科学的管理理论,特别是它的"六个重要原则"是汽车维修类企业在加强质量管理,提高服务水平,增强企业竞争力方面,获得发展新的管理理论和新的指导思想。     

现代生产设备差异预防维修理论研究

本文剖析了传统预防维修理论的局限性,在此基础上,根据现代生产设备的故障特点,并结合我国企业设备维修管理实践,构建了现代生产设备的差异预防维修理论体系。