National Income Accounting and Public Policy

Modern national income accounting was designed in the early 20th century for the purpose of providing improved indicators about the performance of the economy so that government policy makers could better control the economy. The way that performance is measured affects the types of policies used to try to accomplish policy goals. Two attributes of national income accounting are analyzed for their effects on economic policy. First, government production is included in the national income accounts at cost, rather than at market value as private sector output is measured. This biases policy toward a larger public sector. Second, output is measured as a homogeneous dollar amount. This biases policy toward focusing on increasing quantities of inputs and outputs in the production process, rather than on innovation and entrepreneurship, which are the true engines of economic progress. Economic policy could be improved by focusing less on national income as an indicator of policy, and more on the underlying processes that foster economic progress.     

政府生命周期模型--对公共政策理论基础的重新阐释

文章以财政的视角,在一个契约的框架内通过对穷人、富人以及代理人集团博弈的财政过程的描述建立了政府生命周期模型.在此基础上对公共政策的理论基础进行了重新阐释,得出了公共政策的实质是权利分配、政府通常偏好短期政策操作、公共政策多是"穷则思变"的结果、权威在公共政策施行中起着独特作用的结论.本模型在还政府行为本来面目的同时,可以扩展到对企业家生命周期和对经济史上制度变迁的研究中.     

对我国商业银行流动性过剩问题的再探讨

从经济、制度、技术和国际层面分析了我国出现流动性过剩的原因,以及这种流动性过剩所带来的潜在风险;在此基础上给出了我国商业银行应对不断深化的流动性过剩的措施：提高风险定价能力,拓展新的贷款业务、尝试与非银行金融机构进行合作,开展混业经营以及加快金融创新,增强商业银行管理能力。     

Are low-skill public sector workers really overpaid? A quasi-differenced panel data analysis

Public–private sectoral wage differentials have been studied extensively using quantile regression techniques. These typically find large public sector premiums at the bottom of the wage distribution. This may imply that low skill workers are ‘overpaid’, prompting concerns over efficiency. We note several other potential explanations for this result and explicitly test whether the premium varies with skill, using Australian data. We use a quasi-differenced Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) panel data model which has not been previously applied to this topic, internationally. Unlike other available methods, this technique identifies sectoral differences in returns to unobserved skill. It also facilitates a decomposition of the wage gap into components explained by differences in returns to all (observed and unobserved) skills and by differences in their stock. We find no evidence to suggest that the premium varies with skill. One interpretation is that the compressed wage profile of the public sector induces the best workers (on unobserved skills) to join the public sector in low wage occupations, vice versa in high wage occupations. We also estimate the average public sector premium to be 6% for women and statistically insignificant (4%) for men.     

The Canadian tax-free savings account: a programme to help the rich get richer?

This article examines participation in the Canadian tax-free savings account (TFSA), implemented in 2009, and its potential impact on wealth inequality in Canada. Data from the 2012 Survey of Financial Security is used to estimate probit, tobit and Heckman probit selection models to test the hypothesis that high-income earners and wealth holders are the most likely recipients of the benefits associated with the TFSA. Empirical results highlight the significance of net worth as a key determinant of both participation in and contribution levels of the TFSA. The results are expected to be relevant to public policy-makers concerned with reducing inequality and those endeavouring to encourage savings for all socio-economic groups.     

扶持农民专业合作社发展的财税政策研究

农民专业合作社是稳定和完善农村基本经营制度、进一步推进农村改革发展的重要举措,而当前财税政策扶持农民专业合作社发展却处于缺失状态.应制定专门的财税政策,推动配套改革,改善外部环境,以扶持农业专业合作社的建立和发展.     

城乡统筹的公共财政检讨与政策取向

在市场经济条件下,公共财政既是政府经济干预的重要工具,也是政府实施他干预的重要载体。从一定意义上讲,公共财政是推动城乡统筹的经济体制基础和保障。本文从财政角度分析我国城乡分割的形成机理,通过实践反思公共财政体制框架下,实施城乡统筹取向的财政政策。     

Does Financial Sector Development Augment Cross-Border Capital Flows?

ABSTRACT

The sharp increase in volatility of capital flows in recent years has resulted in many countries altering the regulations governing the flow of foreign capital only to find such changes having a limited impact. We postulate that one reason for the limited effectiveness of such changes in regulations is the level of financial sector development in the country. As a country enhances its level of financial sector development, it also develops more and more sophisticated financial instruments. The more advanced the domestic financial instruments are, and the deeper is the integration of the domestic financial markets with the world markets, the greater is the likelihood of developing strategies to bypass capital account management measures. In this paper, we use various empirical techniques to identify the impact of financial sector development on capital flows, after accounting for regulatory regime. The empirical results indicate that there is a threshold effect in the financial sector development capital flow relationship. In particular, financial sector development augments greater integration with global capital flows only above a threshold level. Below the threshold level we find financial development reduces the extent of integration with global capital markets.     

Differences in measures of the fiscal multiplier and the reduced-form vector autoregression

The literature has recently asked whether the effects of fiscal policy vary with the state of the economy (Christiano, Eichenbaum, and Rebelo 2011; Rendahl 2014; Auerbach and Gorodnichenko 2012). We study this question in the context of vector autoregression (VAR) estimation. We show formally that, if (asymptotically) the parameters of the reduced-form VAR differ, then the dynamic effects of fiscal policy differ as well, generically and for any set of identification assumptions. Thus, in theory, the econometrician can detect these differences (either across time or space) generically just by relying on reduced-form VAR estimation.     

中国当前通货膨胀形成原因经验研究:2003—2007年

2003年以来,我国新一轮通货膨胀具有结构性、非平衡性、温和性、不确定性和信念不一致性等特点。我国新一轮通货膨胀到目前为止,同时具有需求拉动通货膨胀和成本推动通货膨胀的特征,但流动性过剩对当前居民消费价格上涨的影响还不明显。因此,对我国当前通货膨胀进行治理应当着眼于当前通货膨胀的形成机制,而不是盲目实施紧缩性货币政策和财政政策。     

关于我国财政政策导向调整的研究

近年来我国实施的积极财政政策确实在很大程度上促进了经济和社会的发展。但是随着经济市场化程度的不断提高和经济环境的变化，这种积极财政政策也表现出诸多的不适应性。因此应适时调整财政政策导向以适应经济和社会发展的新要求。拟从我国近年来实施的积极财政政策的成效分析出发，阐述了当前调整财政政策导向的必然性，并提出了今后我国财政政策的调整方向。     

国际金融危机与我国宏观经济政策反思

国际金融危机使得全球贸易与金融旧秩序被重新审视,新的变革即将开始。面对国际局势,我国必须立足国情,认真分析与反思当前一揽子经济刺激计划,在政策方针和微观经济活动之间建立有效的宏观政策传导机制,以政府投资引导和激发民间投资,改革阻碍发展的体制机制约束,尽早考虑大规模计划的退出机制,为获得长期发展战略竞争优势未雨绸缪,在国际政策博弈中牢牢争取把握主动。     

公共产品供给主体及边界确定的交易费用经济学分析——兼论我国公共产品供给过程中交易费用的计量

将新制度经济学中交易费用理论引入公共产品供给分析,给出了供给公共产品的主体确定的理论模型,并在威廉姆森范式扩展的基础上得出了各个主体的边界,认为最优公共产品供给方式的选择和主体边界的确定,取决于公共产品供给过程中发生的交易费用.测算了中国公私部门供给公共产品过程中存在的交易费用,发现就我国公共产品的供给而言,在一定的条件下将公共产品供给由政府部门交给私人部门与第三部门可以节约交易费用,提高公共产品供给的效率.     

财政学：两大传统的分立与融合

20世纪80年代以来,中国的财政学教学与科研逐渐摆脱了原苏联财政学体系的影响,全面转向以英美财政学传统为主要特色的当代西方主流财政学。这既加速了中国财政学“国际化”的进程,同时,这种以“英美化”为标志的“国际化”进程,也对当代中国财政学研究带来了负面影响。本文在对当代主流财政理论两大源流--英美财政学传统与欧洲大陆财政学传统--的理论特色和历史演化进行梳理的基础上,提出了“中国财政学应向何处去”的问题。