The Economics of Director Heterogeneity

We investigate the potential costs and benefits of firms constituting a heterogeneous pool of directors relative to more homogeneous boards. We measure director heterogeneity along six separate dimensions and divide board heterogeneity into occupational and social components. Our empirical analysis indicates that corporate complexity and managerial control exhibit significant influence on board heterogeneity. Using the heterogeneity of the county population of the firm's headquarters as an instrument, we also find that investors place valuation premiums on heterogeneous boards in complex firms but discount heterogeneity in less complex firms. Overall, our analysis indicates greater heterogeneity may not necessarily improve board efficacy.     

境外上市经济学

据世界证券交易所联合会(World Federation of Exchanges)统计,1996年其会员交易所中外资股的交易额为1．37万亿美元,占总交易额的比率为8．76％,到2005年,这两项数字分别达到了5．76万亿美元和11．28％,表明外资股在境外交易所中的活跃度日益增强。本刊美国特约编辑杰姆斯·巴茨(James Barth)博士推荐此稿,两位作者分别为美国萨佛克大学(Suffolk University)金融副教授和伊丽莎白城学院(Elizabethtown College)金融助理教授,他们在文中简要分析了境外上市的好处和成本,意在为即将或已经赴境外上市的中国各家银行提供些参考。     

The Economics of Housing Savings Plans

Housing Savings Plans (HSP) are contractual savings products in which a household is granted a mortgage at preferential terms (or option for such) in exchange for accumulating savings in the plan and in the institution offering it. As such, they represent a bundle of savings and borrowing financial services. While such plans are common in some countries, the reasons for their use have not been fully explored. In some cases, HSPs are used because financial markets and institutions have not reached sufficient levels of development to attract savings or raise capital for housing finance, and in other cases, tax and subsidy incentives may be at play. Here, we ask under which circumstances households and financial institutions will voluntarily contract to participate in HSPs even in advanced capital markets and in the absence of tax/subsidy incentives. We argue that the HSPs may be chosen by households because of their hedging qualities. We model HSPs and show how changes in variables affect the willingness of households to join the HSP and the characteristics of any HSP chosen.     

The Economics of Low-Income Mortgage Lending

The presumption that mortgage markets for low-income borrowers and neighborhoods are underserved by lenders has led to a variety of increased government interventions on the supply side of the housing market. Although many studies of low-income lending at the neighborhood level have been published, none is from the firm's perspective. We adopt such a framework to test the twin propositions that the low-income mortgage market is no different from the non-low-income mortgage market and that the low-income mortgage market is underserved.We examine empirically whether the operating costs including credit losses, revenues, and profits of savings and loan institutions engaged in more low-income lending differ systematically from those that do less low-income lending. We find that firms engaged in more low-income mortgage lending have higher costs than those engaged in less low-income lending, which is consistent with higher credit risk for low-income loans. Nevertheless, these firms are no more profitable than those that do less low-income lending, which is inconsistent with a market for low-income mortgage lending that is currently underserved.     

经济学界挺热闹

“郎旋风”,刮到何时是尽头?最近,中国经济学界挺热闹,把大腕们的言论分分类、归整归整,很有意思;也能让关心中国经济学理论界的人们快速浏览一下,知道个大概其。眼下一个影响颇大的     

企业集团组建的经济学解释

对于企业集团的形成,有交易成本、规模经济、协同效应、风险分散、市场势力等不同的理论解释.事实上,企业集团形成的原因是多种多样的,特别是在我国,企业集团形成过程中政府的作用很大,因此需要联系具体情形进行解释,试图用一种理论解释所有的企业集团组建是不现实的.     

对审计机构行为的经济学思考

本文对审计机构理性行为建立了八个基本假设,在此基础上对审计机构与监管机构、审计机构与上市公司、审计机构与投资者及监管机构三方面分别进行了经济学分析,并从法律制度建设层面及具体执行层面,如完善会计制度、理顺各方的利益关系,减少利益冲突以及加大处罚力度,降低审计机构的预期风险收益等方面,提出减少审计机构造假行为的对策与建议。     

电力期货和电力期货合约的设计

引言 在传统的电力工业管理体制下,国家对电价实行严格管制,政府统一管理电价,对电价实行严格审计.在这样的硬性控制下,电价的波动很小,几乎没有独立发、输、配电企业,因此不会面临由于电价波动造成的风险.但随着电力体制向市场化方向改革的进行,电力市场中批发电价和零售电价都将逐步放开.电价通过市场竞价方式来确定,将不可避免地导致市场价格的波动.由于电力商品的特殊性,其需求弹性很小,这样电价很容易受电力供求关系的影响,从而使电价产生剧烈波动,例如一日内负荷处于高峰时的实时电价与负荷处于低谷时的实时电价可以相差几倍,有时甚至低谷电价可以为零或负值,而不同天、不同月份的电价则相差更大.这样,将使电力市场的参与者面临巨大的价格风险.     

风险投资的信息经济学分析

新兴企业的融资市场上由于存在着较为严重的信息不对称现象,使得创业企业特别是高科技企业难以在传统金融市场上获得资金支持.而风险投资以其合理的机制设计较好地解决了资金供求双方的信息不对称,推动了高科技产业的迅猛发展.本文拟从信息经济学角度出发,解释该机制的内在合理性,以期对我国的风险投资的机制设计有所启示.     

The Information Economics Approach to Financial Reporting

This paper provides a non-technical overview of the literature on the economics of information and its implications for financial reporting. This paper attempts to spell out the unity of approach which underlies all information economics models and focuses on the main implications of the literature for accounting policy makers. The central section of the paper identifies precise conditions under which the provision of public information can lead to an improvement in social welfare. An understanding of these conditions is essential for policy makers if they are to take into account the economic effects of their decisions. The final section highlights three important unresolved issues and identifies promising directions for further research.     

新供给经济学的来龙去脉

可持续的增长只能是生产能力的增长.为了追求长期生产能力的可持续增长,我们必须从供给侧着力,加大投资力度,促进资本积累,加快创新和技术进步,努力促进制度变革.     

凯恩斯不确定性经济理论的形成机制

在凯恩斯的不确定性经济理论中,概率是知识或信念的所有物,而不确定性对应着一种数字上不可测量的概率情形.凯恩斯通过把不确定性与信息完备性联系在一起,从而奠定了现代不确定性理论的基础.凯恩斯的一个重要贡献就是将不确定性和预期置于宏观经济分析的中心,不确定性理论成为其建立宏观经济学的逻辑起点和基石,而认知不确定性则作为一个关键性内容贯穿于凯恩斯经济分析的全过程.     

理念的转变与多维的视角--二十世纪九十年代以来发展经济学的新进展

以发展的理念和发展的动因为主线,对1990年代以来国际发展理论的新进展作了梳理和总结.近年来,随着发展的研究视野的不断拓展,人们逐渐认识到发展不仅要实现经济增长,还要实现变革、社会转型、人的权利和自由等目标.此外,影响经济增长和发展的也不仅仅是经济因素,制度、知识、社会资本、民主等非经济因素对增长和发展也有着深刻的影响.     

The Rise of China Energy

As of 3Q 2006, there are 6 energy deals happened in China, 3 of them occurred in the third quarter. In addition, there are lots of other outstanding performance occurred in China venture capital market.     

案例导向型方法在金融学教学中的应用研究

以案例教学为基础的案例导向型方法是金融学教学创新的有效手段,有利于培养创新型金融人才.在阐述案例导向型教学方法内涵的基础上,文章分析了案例导向型方法对金融学教学的重要意义,将金融学部分教学内容和多个经典实例结合起来,深入探讨了案例导向型方法在金融学教学中的具体应用,最后分析了推进案例导向型教学的后续保障.     

Economics and Ethics: The Case of Salomon Brothers

The author draws two main lessons from the Treasury bond bidding scandal at Salomon Brothers that took place in the early 1990s, which led to a sharp curtailment of both the firm's franchise value and its future as an independent company: (1) private market forces provide strong deterrents to unethical conduct, thereby reinforcing ethical standards and in some cases limiting the need for regulation; and (2) badly designed laws and regulations—those that effectively provide people with incentives to cheat customers and otherwise game the system—are almost certain to produce the bad corporate culture and ethical lapses that many observers are all too ready to attribute to capitalism and the pursuit of profit. The second of these two lessons appears to have gotten through to the U.S. Treasury, which in 1998 replaced the multiple‐bid procedure that many identified as inviting manipulation with a single‐bid auction that Milton Friedman, among others, recommended as early as the 1970s. And the Treasury auction process has since proved scandal‐free.     

僵尸经济学

经济僵尸化未必会使人更穷,毕竟财富是取决于经济生产力而不是人口总数或者年龄状况,尽管后者会造成一些影响。     

纺织服装业应逆风而跑

以纺织、服装等轻工业为主的中国制造业经历了加入WTO的井喷式发展后．在内忧外困下．正经历着飞雪的“寒冬”。据8月3日国家发改委中小企业司有关负责人透露,全国2008年上半年纺织行业中小企业倒闭超过1万多家。另据中国纺织品进出口商会副会长曹新宇提供的数据显示．2008年6月份．我国纺织服装出口同比下降42％,其中服装出口下降15％。