Worthiness versus Self‐Interest in Charitable Giving: Evidence from a Low‐Income,Minority Neighborhood

We examine the impact of perceived worthiness and financial self‐interest on charitable giving. Both participants and recipients come from a low‐income, predominantly African‐American community in the United States. To examine this issue, we introduce a “Comparative Dictator Game,” where participants make dictator allocations for four possible recipients, each with different characteristics. We find higher charitable giving toward more “worthy” (i.e., disabled, females who are head of household, and individuals with more children) recipients when individuals donate money to different recipients. Additionally, subjects then select their preferred recipient/allocation. When only one recipient must be selected for a donation, individuals select recipients to whom they provided smaller donations and recipients with children. The results highlight the trade‐off between a desire to engage in philanthropy, supporting those who are deserving, and financial self‐interest.     

Perceptions of common helminth infections in a rural community

Common parasite infections cause energy depletion and growth stunting in children in endemic areas, and there is a suggestion that mental processes and school achievement are affected. The efficacy of control and treatment programmes, as with other development programmes, will depend to a great extent on the acceptance and support of people in affected areas. This study focused on the views of women who have young children in their care with the object of understanding their perceptions, and the implications these would have for intervention programmes.     

Asset or burden? Impact of children on parents’ retirement

If parents receive financial support in retirement from their children, having more children with higher earning power may expedite their retirement. On the other hand, retirement may be delayed if parents are burdened with educational expenses for children. We empirically investigate how the quantity and the education of children influence their parents’ retirement decisions. Due to the endogeneity of childrearing in the retirement decision, we employ the instrumental variable method with twin births and child deaths as instruments. We find that parents retire earlier when they have more children and better educated children and they receive a significant amount of transfers from children.     

中国利率市场化改革的路径选择

以麦金农—肖学派为核心的传统金融发展理论指出,只有实行以利率市场化为核心的金融自由化道路,才能使发展中国家摆脱金融抑制,走上金融发展与经济增长的良性循环道路。以这一理论为基础,中国从1993年开始走上了利率市场化改革的道路,经过10多年的努力,到目前为止,中国已经在多个领域,多个层次初步实现了利率市场化。可以说,中国的利率市场化改革已经走在了金融自由化进程的前边。     

Human capital investment in children: An empirical study of household child education expenditure in China, 2007 and 2011

Household education expenditure is an important component of human capital investment in children. In China, the rising child education expenditure and the subsequent financial burden on families have attracted much research and policy attention in the recent years. Using 2007 and 2011 data from the Urban Household Education Surveys, our empirical study provides new evidence on the education expenditure level, ratio of expenditure to household income, and inequality in this expenditure. We also elucidate changes in China's household education expenditure and explore factors associated with such changes. From the analysis, we obtain the following findings. First, education expenditure incurred outside the school significantly contributes to increasing household education expenditure. Second, compulsory education programs are effective in curbing in-school education expenditure; however, it does not prevent the rapidly increasing education investment outside school. Third, education expenditure disproportionally increases with family income. In other words, a larger share of the income earned by lower income families is spent on children's education, compared to higher income families.     

Financial Factors,Openness and the Natural Interest Rate in China

China's financial market has undergone significant changes since financial deleveraging commenced and regulatory supervision was tightened in 2017. Intensifying China–US trade tensions have further increased the uncertainties of external environments. In this article, we use a Bayesian approach instead of the standard maximum likelihood estimation in the Laubach–Williams model to estimate the natural interest rate by considering financial factors and open conditions, and analyze the relationships among the natural interest rate, economic activities and monetary policies. We find that technological and demographic factors are the main drivers of natural interest rates, while financial factors and open conditions also play important roles. In particular, shocks in the financial markets and the external economic environment in recent years are important reasons for the decline of China's natural interest rate. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen research on the estimation of the natural interest rate to ensure China's transformation into more price‐based monetary policy and high‐quality development.     

子女同住对养老第三支柱建设的影响研究——基于CFPS的经验证据

2021年11月出台的《中共中央、国务院关于加强新时代老龄工作的意见》在倡导“鼓励成年子女与老年父母就近居住或共同生活，履行赡养义务、承担照料责任”的同时，强调要“促进和规范发展第三支柱养老保险”。两者之间能否兼容促进很大程度上决定了中央积极应对老龄化战略能否切实贯彻到解决养老问题的实践之中，但现有文献对两者之间关系缺乏必要关注。文章利用2016年和2018年中国家庭追踪调查CFPS数据，从老年人金融参与的视角检验了子女同住对养老第三支柱建设的影响。研究发现，子女同住显著促进了养老第三支柱建设，提高了老年人金融参与积极性，尤其是对风险金融资产投入的促进更加显著。老年人为男性、居住东部地区、子女教育水平和个人收入高时这种促进效应更显著。机制研究发现，子女同住降低了老年人风险厌恶程度、增加了老年人知识认知和信息接触，从而增加老年人金融投资；同时发现老年人给予子女的劳动支持更能促进个人养老金参与，而子女对父母的照料未发现该促进效应，支持了子女同住的代际交换动机。结论表明，子女同住与养老第三支柱建设可有效互补。发展养老第三支柱不但能够满足老年人在子女赡养能力不足的情况下高质量的自我养老需求，更...     

For the Motion

The interest rate is one of the most important factors in farmers’ decision-making of borrowing and lending in the informal financial market in China. This paper explores the determinants of the interest rate with microfinance data. Results show that the income disparity, the relationship between borrowers and lenders, the usage of borrowing, and formal credit constraints are important factors affecting interest rates. More importantly, to borrow from those in the higher income hierarchy, farmers have to bear higher interest rates. We attribute this to different social capitals across income groups and higher default risks for the poor. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the informal financial market in rural China and sheds light on the mechanism of higher informal interest rate formation.     

资产财富和居民消费——来自中国省际面板数据的经验证据

随着"双循环"发展战略的提出，如何提升我国居民消费成为研究热点。与已有研究不同，文章首先从省际视角研究了居民消费行为的影响因素，证实了金融资产和住房资产分别对消费产生的促进作用和抑制作用，且金融资产的促进作用大于住房资产的抑制作用。其次，文章探讨了两种资产对不同种类消费品的影响，金融资产增加主要促进教育娱乐医疗等改善性消费，住房资产增加则主要抑制基本品消费。最后，文章对不同省份居民消费的影响因素进行异质性分析，发现金融资产对消费的促进作用随收入、资产增加先上升后下降，而住房资产对消费的抑制作用随收入、资产增加先上升后下降，金融资产和住房资产在东部地区影响小于西部地区，且受区域教育、人口和收入结构影响。综上来看，提升居民收入水平，改善居民收入结构，控制房价过度上涨，改善资本市场在资产分配中的作用，加大政府在教育、医疗、养老等公共服务方面的投入能够有效改善家庭资产结构，提升居民消费水平。     

对服刑人员未成年子女的帮扶途径

服刑人员未成年子女是一个数量相当的(约60万)弱势群体。由于种种原因,这一特殊人群经济上拮据、教育上空缺、精神上空虚、前途上渺茫。本文从理论工作者的视觉、社会稳定的高度、关注民生的良心、体现民本的理念,提出了对其在经济上要有稳定政策保证;在教育上要有明确目标定位;在心理上要有坚强精神支撑;在发展上要有周密规划安排的帮扶途径体系。     

Monetary policy and financial stability: what role for the interest rate?

We propose an ex-post analysis of the behavior of a central bank confronted with financial turmoil. For this purpose, we rely on a DSGE model that combines credit market frictions with a boom and bust scenario on the price of capital. Within this framework, we seek to understand the extent to which central banks could have intervened to limit the effects of the financial bubble and its bursting. We compare the results obtained in terms of economic stabilization under a simple Taylor rule with those of an augmented rule that takes into account a financial indicator. We show that a central bank using as sole instrument the interest rate cannot simultaneously improve inflation and credit cycles.     

基于金融稳定目标的规则型货币政策研究

随着货币政策与金融稳定之间联系的不断深化，中央银行理应在防范金融市场系统性风险中发挥重要的作用。文章首先构建我国金融稳定指数，并将其加入线性货币政策规则，研究结果表明，中央银行在调整名义利率时的确对金融稳定状况有所关注，相比于传统泰勒规则，纳入金融稳定指数的泰勒规则中通胀系数与产出缺口系数均有显著改善，其能够更好地拟合中央银行的实际政策操作。随后，为了进一步考察货币当局对名义利率调整的动态变化特征，文章通过TVP-SV-VAR模型对拓展的时变参数泰勒规则进行了再估计。研究发现，随着经济周期和金融形势的更迭，中央银行也会不断动态调整其政策目标。其中，货币政策对通货膨胀的调控不存在明显的惰性区域，控制通胀始终是中央银行工作的重心。其次，中央银行存在规避经济收缩的偏好，在经济下行时期其对货币政策的调整会向产出缺口倾斜。最后，为了抑制金融机构的过度风险承担，货币当局在本次金融危机之后显著增强了对于金融稳定的关注。     

‘Fit to play’: Labour market behaviour in a cohort of public-sector antiretroviral treatment patients

Given the rapid scale-up of antiretroviral treatment (ART), it is necessary to explore the impact of ART on labour force participation, employment and labour productivity. This article investigates labour market outcomes in a prospective cohort of public-sector ART clients in the Free State province of South Africa. Empirical results suggest that labour force participation increased markedly as the proportion of those too ill to work declined, becoming indistinguishable from participation rates in the general population. Unemployment rates, however, remain above those reported for the general population. ART and its health-related benefits therefore translate into increases in labour force participation, but not employment. Employment status at HIV diagnosis strongly predicts absorption in the labour force. Public-sector ART clients should be referred to vocational rehabilitation and occupational therapy programmes, and to welfare-to-work programmes, and the unskilled to adult education and training and further education and training programmes.     

家庭结构对金融资产影响的实证研究

文章利用微观数据分析了家庭结构各维度对家庭金融资产的影响。分析发现,家庭生命周期的不同阶段对金融资产有不同的偏好和需求。家庭平均年龄与家庭存款量呈倒“U”型关系;老年型家庭对金融产品有规避倾向;教育程度的提高有利于金融产品的普及;家庭金融资产在城乡间有很大差别。文章提出了丰富居民理财知识、提高居民受教育程度和健全社会保障体系等政策建议。     

Bailout Clauses and the Price of Credit: The Dutch Experience for Housing Corporations

The bulk of capital provided to Dutch housing corporations is explicitly guaranteed by a bailout clause. Using a dataset with loans provided by the largest Dutch public sector bank (BNG Bank), we find substantial evidence that this bailout clause has reduced interest rates by about 72 basis points. The annual benefits of reduced interest costs outweigh the costs of default. We also find that the interest rates for guaranteed loans are insensitive to the financial position of corporations. We therefore surmise that the bank relied on the bailout clause. Finally, the bailout clause for corporations (which guarantees individual loans) and the one for municipalities (which entirely protects municipalities from defaulting) lead to a similar reduction in interest.     

Gender and child sensitive social protection in South Africa

Drawing from a 2010 study of women receiving the Child Support Grant in an urban area of South Africa, this article discusses the link between social protection, women's empowerment and the well-being of children. It appears that the Grant enhances women's power and control over household decision-making in financial matters, general household spending and child well-being. At the same time, the data show that women continue to bear the greatest burden of care in the household and that these responsibilities significantly heighten gender inequalities. Therefore, while the Grant has benefits for child well-being and women's empowerment, it cannot on its own transform unequal and unjust social relations of power. It should be working in concert with other public programmes not only to focus on children's needs but also to strive for gender equality for poor women.     

利率互换与我国商业银行利率风险管理

随着我国金融改革的深化,金融市场的不断开放,市场化利率逐渐形成,利率风险越来越受到金融机构从业者的关注。在我国开展利率互换交易的条件基本成熟的情况下,引入的利率互换为我国商业银行的利率风险管理展开了新的一页。由于仍存在阻碍利率互换交易发展的定价、风险、制度及供需问题,所以需要从加快利率市场化;加快相关制度建设;加快市场培育,增加参与主体;完善信用风险防范等方面来推进商业银行的利率风险管理。     

Does productive microcredit improve rural children's education? Evidence from rural Vietnam

Whether increasing access to microcredit results in better educational outcomes for children’s education in rural areas remains an important but inconclusive topic in development literature. This paper contributes to this strand of research both theoretically and empirically. We develop a theoretical model where a representative household uses microcredit to fund its family business and maximises its lifetime utility. Based on the outcomes of its business, the parents make an optimal decision on the level of their children’s schooling investment. Solving the maximisation problem, we show that a household’s optimal education for its children is directly related to the level of microcredit. Empirically, we utilise the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) dataset from 2008 to 2016 to estimate the impact of microcredit on rural children’s schooling. We find that microcredit borrowing by rural households negatively affects their children’s education, which is more profound for boys than girls. Policymakers need to be aware of such side effects in designing microcredit policy and adopt auxiliary measures, such as incorporating a clause on children's education in the borrowing terms, to alleviate the negative impact on children’s educational outcomes.     

Monetary Policy Impulses and Retail Interest Rate Pass‐Through in Asian Banking Markets

This paper considers the integration of financial markets and mutual influences of monetary policies in the USA and Asia based on monthly data from 1994 to 2007. We used panel‐type and time‐series and quantile panel‐type error correction models to test the influences of expected and unexpected monetary policy impulses on the interest rate pass‐through mechanism in the financial markets of 9 Asian countries and the USA. The empirics show that if interest rate integration exists in the financial markets, the following effects are observed: (i) positive impulses of unexpected monetary policy will lead to an increase in the long‐run multiplier of the retail interest rate; (ii) the adjustment of retail interest rates with short‐run disequilibrium will lead to an increase in the long‐run markup; and (iii) the empirical results of quantile regression prove that when the interest variation is greater than the 0.5th quantile and unexpected monetary policy impulses are greater than the expected monetary policy impulses, the short‐run interest rate pass‐through mechanism becomes more unstable.     

Whom to educate? Financial literacy and investor awareness

We conducted an experiment and survey in Shenzhen, China, to measure individuals' risk preferences, financial literacy, and the effect of a financial education program. A proportion of individuals may be unaware of the high risk associated with a high-return financial product and thus may purchase financial products inconsistent with their risk attitudes. Participating in our education program significantly reduced individuals' tendency to hypothetically invest in high-risk products, especially for those who are risk-averse. Therefore, rather than randomly assigning the education program to investors, we suggest that risk-averse investors be targeted. We find that the responses to standard financial literacy questions are not related to individuals' awareness of the link between high risk and high return, calling for a newly designed question of financial literacy as proposed in our study.