ANIMAL HEALTH SERVICES: FINDING THE BALANCE BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE DELIVERY

Growing fiscal deficits and greater awareness of the huge economiccost of often-inefficient government activities have renewedinterest in transferring the delivery of important servicesfrom the public to the private sector in developing countries.This article, drawn from a longer study, offers a frameworkfor determining the appropriate roles of the public and privatesectors in delivering animal health services, such as veterinarysurveillance, disease vector control, vaccination, clinicaltreatment of sick animals, inspection of livestock products,and veterinary research and extension. The profitability and therefore the supply of private veterinaryservices is governed by several factors arising from economiesof scale, such as the size of the livestock enterprises in thelocality, the nature of potential or actual diseases, and thetypes of animals raised in the production systems. Thus, inareas where private veterinary work is unprofitable or whereother types of market failure occur, economic or social concernsmay make some type of public intervention necessary. The transferof animal health services from the public to the private sectormust be done selectively, and government support may be neededto ensure the success of such transfers.      

外资引入对生产性服务业的就业效应分析

依据2004-2016年全国32个省直辖市和286个地级市数据,进行实证检验.结果显示,外资引入和制造业就业都对全国生产性服务业具有直接正向的就业效应;外资引入通过制造业就业对全国及各细分生产性服务业均产生了间接正向的就业效应.并且,外资引入对交通运输和仓储业、租赁业和商务服务业这类资金密集型的生产性服务业的就业效应是积极的,而对知识技术密集型的信息传输、计算机服务和软件业、金融业和科学研究、技术服务和地质勘查业的就业具有抑制效应,对房地产业就业效应不显著.产业结构优化也对生产性服务业就业具有积极作用,城市人口规模和工资水平对生产性服务业具有基础性的促进作用.     

城市服务多样性与劳动力流动——基于“美团网”大数据和流动人口微观调查的分析

新时代背景下人们对美好生活的追求倾向愈加凸显,城市服务的多样性福利将成为吸引劳动力和优化人才结构的重要支撑。本文利用“美团网”生活服务分类和2017年中国流动人口动态监测调查(CMDS)数据,研究城市服务多样性对劳动力流动的影响。结果显示,城市服务多样性会显著降低流动人口的迁出意愿,服务品类多样性每增加1%,劳动力迁出的概率平均约降低3.23%;城市服务多样性的影响具有群体差异性,年轻化、高技能群体的敏感度更高,边际效应可达4.62%和4.03%。考虑调节效应和地区异质性的扩展分析进一步发现,城市信息化、市场化水平对服务品类多样性吸引留住人才具有正向放大作用,尤其是在东部地区和500万人口以上大城市中表现尤为突出。本研究为城市人才吸引和劳动力竞争提供了政策启示。     

中国制造业与房地产业协调发展的测度与判断

产业间的良性互动是经济高质量发展的一个重要体现。本文基于2004-2016年我国各省份29个细分制造业行业与房地产业的数据,采用耦合评价模型,对我国制造业与房地产业协调发展的变化情况进行了测度。同时,本文尝试从内在机制上找出两产业的最佳耦合度,并实证分析了两产业耦合协调度对全要素生产率和经济增长率的影响。进一步,本文运用渐进式双重差分法分析了房地产限购政策这一外部冲击对两产业耦合度的影响。测度结果表明,两产业的互动程度不断增强,由2004年的失调发展上升到2016年的良好协调发展;中西部地区制造业与房地产业的耦合协调度略高于东部地区;东中西部地区房地产业的总体发展水平均于2012年前后超过制造业。计量结果显示,东部地区制造业与房地产业协调发展的过程中会产生一些负面的经济影响,这能从东部地区过热的房地产市场中找到原因;对于房地产过度发展地区而言,限购政策改善了地区内制造业与房地产业的耦合度。     

Future cities in a warming world

More than half the global population are already urban, and the UN and other organisations expect this share to rise in future. However, some researchers argue that the future of cities is far from assured. Cities are not only responsible for 70% or more of the world's CO₂ emissions, but because of their dense concentration of physical assets and populations, are also more vulnerable than other areas to climate change. This paper attempts to resolve this controversy by first looking at how cities would fare in a world with average global surface temperatures 4 °C above pre-industrial levels. It then looks at possible responses, either by mitigation or adaptation, to the threat such increases would entail. Regardless of the mix of adaptation and mitigation cities adopt in response to climate change, the paper argues that peak urbanism will occur over the next few decades. This fall in the urban share of global population will be driven by the rise in biophysical hazards in cities if the response is mainly adaptation, and by the declining attraction of cities (and possibly the rising attraction of rural areas) if serious mitigation is implemented.     

城乡基本公共服务均等化的财政政策研究

城乡“二元结构”利益固化的财政政策,导致局部地区城乡公共服务差异大,且地区城乡基本公共服务均等化程度因地而异。推进城乡基本公共服务均等化的财政政策,根本目标在于实现公共服务城乡统筹发展,应加快扩大国家财政“三农”支出比重、明确地方财政承担“三农”支出的责任、规范财政转移支付、加快推进新型城镇化,并同步推进城乡一体化建设。     

房价对城镇居民收入差距的影响研究

依据我国33个大中城市2000—2017年的面板数据构建动态面板模型,考量房价对城镇居民收入差距的影响及区域性差异。结果表明：房价上涨对于城镇居民收入差距扩大具有显著正向影响,且对东部城市的影响显著高于非东部城市,人均GDP、政府教育投入、城镇人口比重和第三产业比重也对城镇居民收入差距具有一定影响。鉴此,宜从税收政策、产业结构、政府教育投入及居住成本等方面合理控制城镇居民收入差距。     

MACROECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The short-run adjustment problem in developing countries involvesboth the improvement of the current account and the reductionof inflation. In both cases, the usual reason for adjustmentis shown to be the fiscal deficit. The article distinguishesprimary adjustment costs, which are inevitable, from secondarycosts, which result, for example, from failure to devalue orfrom real wage rigidity. The article then analyzes the effectsof expenditure reduction and currency devaluation on varioussectors of the economy. Reducing inflation involves both aninflation tax replacement and a price adjustment problem, and"heterodox" policies designed to deal with the latter are discussed.If the fiscal deficit cannot be reduced, the article argues,improving the current account may be at the cost of increasinginflation and likewise reducing inflation may be at the costof worsening the current account.      

产业集聚与大城市郊区城镇化——以上海为例

产业集聚是人口集聚的依托,人口集聚是产业发展的基础.以制造业为核心的产业集聚带动人口集聚,促进大城市郊区小城镇迅速发展;以制造业为核心的主导产业拉动其他产业迅速发展;主导产业的功能定位决定小城镇的功能定位多样化.     

中国城市文化产业效率研究

运用 DEA 模型测算中国城市文化产业的投入产出效率。结果表明：城市文化产业投入产出效率整体不高,纯技术效率明显低于规模效率,地理分布呈现“东高西低”的特征,表明中国城市文化产业生产规模均不是帕累托最优。鉴此,应加速科技创新与文化产业融合、产业集聚发展,发挥文化品牌效应,加强公共文化设施投入,利用地方特色文化资源,提升中国城市文化产业效率。     

生产性服务业集聚对工业竞争力提升的影响研究——基于珠三角城市群面板数据的分析

基于珠三角城市群面板数据,运用全面FGLS方法考量生产性服务业集聚对工业竞争力提升的影响。结果表明：生产性服务业集聚对工业企业竞争力提升具有显著的促进作用,反映为对工业企业获利能力的贡献。其中,物流业、金融业、技术服务业和商务服务业对工业企业利润率的贡献依次递减,表明现阶段传统生产性服务业的支撑作用更大。鉴此,应构建国家价值链,减少对外资的依赖,加大科学和教育的投入,推进基础设施建设等,以助于工业竞争力的提升。     

财政自主权、财政支出结构与全要素生产率--来自230个地级市的检验北大核心

本文尝试将财政自主权、财政支出结构与经济效率联系,在我国财政分权理论框架下揭示地方财政自主权与技术进步之间的关系。在理论上,提出了"地方财政自主权越高,技术进步水平也越高,但随着经济性财政支出边际效率递减以及社会性财政支出的长期不足,财政自主权对技术进步的影响正在减弱"的命题假说。在实证上,以1999-2013年230个城市数据,采用工具变量法检验了财政自主权对城市全要素生产率的影响。实证结果表明:(1)城市财政自主权对城市全要素生产率影响较弱,主要是对TFP组成中的规模效率(SE)和技术进步(TP)产生了较为明显的正影响;(2)财政自主权越高的城市,越倾向于增加经济性财政支出比重,而对于社会性支出则更有动机展开"逐底竞争";(3)财政自主权对全要素生产率构成中的规模效率(SE)和技术进步(TP)的影响呈现出减弱的趋势;(4)城市财政自主权的提高可以显著改进微观企业层面的全要素生产率水平。     

The Evolution of Private Equity in Emerging Markets: The Case of Poland

In the last ten years, there has been a pronounced shift toward emerging markets in institutional investor allocations of capital to private equity. While the lion's share of the allocations to emerging markets have gone to the “BRIC” nations, lesser‐known markets like Poland are threatening to steal the spotlight. Economic stabilization, development of the private sector, a favorable business outlook, and continuous improvement of the local institutional infrastructure (laws, accounting rules, and fiscal regimes) have all contributed to the development of a vibrant private equity industry in Poland. Most private equity firms in Poland structure their deals around five broad investment themes: technology; media; and telecommunications; manufacturing; consumer services; business services; and financial services. Local private equity firms have traditionally adopted two different strategies towards these sectors. The first group of private equity firms initially targeted manufacturing, with the conviction that, as the Polish economy developed, the satisfaction of consumer needs for basic products would be the largest source of market demand. The second group assumed that the market would require access to more services to accommodate the growing local economy. Both approaches have proved reasonably successful, as the leaders among these two groups of firms have continued to succeed in raising new funds while achieving high returns for their limited partners. And while the accomplishments of the private equity industry have been made possible by the extent of Poland's transformation from a socialist into a market economy, the industry itself continues to play an important role in this transformation by providing both outside capital and know‐how for local firms and managers.     

COMMODITY EXPORT BOOMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This article surveys the experiences of commodity-exportingcountries faced with resource discoveries and widely fluctuatingworld prices. Favorable developments of the commodity exportmarket often prove to be a mixed blessing, as poor boom managementleads to major internal and external economic imbalances. Manydeveloping countries overconsume during boom periods. More oftenthan not, the unsustainable increases in spending are initiatedby the public sector. When the boom ends, tardiness in decreasinggovernment spending and in increasing revenues from nonboomingsectors creates fiscal deficits and monetary control problems. In the 1970s many booming economies allowed regulated pricestructures, and particularly exchange rates, to deviate substantiallyfrom free market levels, discouraging efficient resource allocationand greatly compounding the problems of adjustment to subsequentdrops in export prices. Countries that managed booms well weretypically those that (a) did not allow fiscal variables, exchangerates, agricultural producer prices, and wages to get badlyout of line, (b) avoided indulging in wasteful and inefficientinvestment or investment that involved burdensome recurrentcosts, (c) limited increases in government spending to levelsconsistent with long–term trends in revenue collection,and (d) maintained prudent external borrowing and foreign exchangereserve policies.      

Walking up the Down Escalator: Public Investment and Fiscal Stability

When growth-promoting spending is cut so much that the presentvalue of future government revenues falls by more than the immediateimprovement in the cash deficit, fiscal adjustment becomes likewalking up the down escalator. Although short-term cash flowsmatter, too tight a focus on them encourages governments toinvest too little. Cash-flow targets also encourage governmentsto shift investment spending off budget by seeking private investmentin public projects, irrespective of its real fiscal or economicbenefits. To deal with this problem, some observers have suggestedexcluding certain investments (such as those undertaken by publicenterprises deemed commercial or financed by multilaterals)from cash-flow targets. These stopgap remedies may help protectsome investments, but they do not provide a satisfactory solutionto the underlying problem. Governments can more effectivelyreduce the biases created by the focus on short-term cash flowsby developing indicators of the long-term fiscal effects oftheir decisions, including accounting and economic measuresof net worth, and, where appropriate, including such measuresin fiscal targets or even fiscal rules. JEL codes: O23, E62, H60, H54     

Competition and Scope of Activities in Financial Services

This article analyzes the costs and benefits of different degreesof competition and different configurations of permissible activitiesin the financial sector and discusses the related implicationsfor regulation and supervision. Theory and experience demonstratethe importance of competition for efficiency and confirm thata competitive environment requires a contestable system—meaningone that is open to competition—but not necessarily alarge number of institutions. A competitive banking system canimprove the distribution of consumer credit, enhance the corporatesector's access to financing, and mitigate the risks of financialcrises. In an open market, in which services and products areprovided in response to market signals, financial institutionsrespond by offering a wider scope of financial services. Theoptimal institutional design for supervisory functions is lessobvious.      

From Prices to Incomes: Agricultural Subsidization without Protection?

Drawing from the experience of the direct income support programsrecently introduced in the European Union, Mexico, and the UnitedStates, this article highlights problems that may arise whenthe agricultural sector of a developing economy moves from price-basedsubsidization to less distorted income support. Such programsare a step in the right direction, but as currently implemented,they have many shortcomings. Moreover, developing countriesmay lack the necessary supporting arrangements needed to makesuch programs effective. The article argues that the programsshould not restrict the use of land, that the programs shouldlast for a stipulated period of time, and that the fiscal costsshould be contained by linking income support payments to worldprices.      

Climate Change, Agriculture, and Developing Countries: Does Adaptation Matter?

Because most developing countries depend heavily on agriculture,the effects of global warming on productive croplands are likelyto threaten both the welfare of the population and the economicdevelopment of the countries. Tropical regions in the developingworld are particularly vulnerable to potential damage from environmentalchanges because the poor soils that cover large areas of theseregions already have made much of the land unusable for agriculture. Although agronomic simulation models predict that higher temperatureswill reduce grain yields as the cool wheat-growing areas getwarmer, they have not examined the possibility that farmerswill adapt by making production decisions that are in theirown best interests. A recent set of models examines cross-sectionalevidence from India and Brazil and finds that even though theagricultural sector is sensitive to climate, individual farmersdo take local climates into account, and their ability to doso will help mitigate the impacts of global warming.      

Developing Countries and a New Round of WTO Negotiations

This article summarizes some of the results and findings emergingfrom an ongoing World Bank research and capacity-building projectthat focuses on the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiatingagenda from a developing country perspective. Recent researchsuggests that the potential gains from further multilateralliberalization of trade remain very large. The payoffs associatedwith attempts to introduce substantive disciplines in the WTOon domestic regulatory regimes are much less certain. This suggeststhat the focus of current and future negotiations should beprimarily on the bread and butter of the multilateral tradingsystem—the progressive liberalization of barriers to tradein goods and services on a nondiscriminatory basis. In addition,priority should be given to ensuring that rules are consistentwith the development needs of poorer countries and to helpingdeveloping countries implement WTO obligations.      

MACROECONOMIC POLICY AND TRADE LIBERALIZATION: SOME GUIDELINES

Appropriate conduct of macroeconomic policy can play a crucialrole in the success of trade liberalization. At a given nominalexchange rate, a trade liberalization that significantly reducestariffs and quantitative restrictions on imports normally impliesa reduction in the general level of domestic prices and wages,especially in the import-competing sector. To diminish recessionaryeffects of domestic price and wage deflation, it is often appropriateto devalue a country's currency in conjunction with a majortrade liberalization. Monetary policy needs to be consistentwith exchange rare policy— avoiding both restrictivenessthat might induce recession and excessive ease that would fuelinflation and force future devaluations. Since trade liberalizationcan induce a short-run deterioration of the government's budgetposition, fiscal policy needs to remain restrained in orderto limit the dangers posed by large government deficits. Wagepolicy should be directed toward facilitating adjustments inrelative wage rates that accompany resource reallocations stimulatedby trade liberalization. Credit policy should assume that adequatecredit is available to finance expansion of export industriesand that difficulties experienced by import-competing enterprisesdo not threaten the financial system. Finally, government policyshould avoid large balance of payments deficits that createdoubt about the government's ability to maintain a liberal tradepolicy.