Negotiating ecology: Marine bioregions and the destruction of the Southern California Bight

Bioregional studies tend to focus on landscapes and associated cultural and biological diversity. This essay provides a general overview of the ecology of the Southern California Bight (SCB), which is the coastal marine bioregion of southern California. The bioregion is considered one of the most threatened ‘hot spots’ for biodiversity in the world. The SCB includes the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, the Channel Islands National Park, and a designated ‘biosphere reserve’ of the United Nations Man and the Biosphere Program. The essay describes the destruction of southern California's coastal watersheds and wetlands, and provides a summary of the significant decline in ecological productivity of the marine bioregion. Despite the decline in general marine ecosystem integrity, there has been no large-scale planning effort that focuses on the entire coastal marine bioregion. With this in mind, the essay provides an overview of recent policy initiatives that call for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas or MPAs to protect marine ecosystems. Without a new institutional approach to the entire bioregion the future of the coastal marine ecosystems of the system is rather dim. With this in mind, the author recommends a number of institutional changes that support large-scale bioregional planning.     

一张图表：浓缩对中国经济的看法

自2001年底加入WTO以来,中国令人印象深刻的经济表现可以归因于一个重要的结构性因素:全球化与中国大量剩余劳动力的结合。为全面地展示中国经济的大格局,作者归纳了一张图表。图表列出了促使中国经济近年来强劲表现的基本结构性因素,同时显示各种经济现象之间的逻辑关系。本文还解读了目前方针政策的各种依据以及一些使这些现象长期存在的"外因"。解决这些问题需要调整政策并进行结构性改革。     

The Time-Series Properties of House Prices: A Case Study of the Southern California Market

We examine the time-series relationship between house prices in eight Southern California metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). First, we perform cointegration tests of the house price indexes for the MSAs, finding seven cointegrating vectors. Thus, the evidence suggests that one common trend links the house prices in these eight MSAs, a purchasing power parity finding for the house prices in Southern California. Second, we perform temporal Granger causality tests. The Santa Anna MSA temporally causes house prices in six of the other seven MSAs, excluding only the San Luis Obispo MSA. The Oxnard MSA experiences the largest number of temporal effects from six of the seven MSAs, excluding only Los Angeles. The Santa Barbara MSA proves the most isolated. It temporally causes house prices in only two other MSAs (Los Angeles and Oxnard) and house prices in the Santa Anna MSA temporally cause prices in Santa Barbara. Third, we calculate out-of-sample forecasts in each MSA, using various vector autoregressive and vector error-correction models, as well as Bayesian, spatial, and causality versions of these models with various priors. Different specifications provide superior forecasts in the different MSAs. Finally, we consider how theses time-series models can predict out-of-sample peaks and declines in house prices after in 2005 and 2006. Recursive forecasts, where we update the sample each quarter, provide reasonably good forecasts of the peaks and declines of the house price indexes.     

Biomedical risks and citizenship: depoliticizing cell site deployment in the Netherlands and Southern California

Cell phone technology has become a ubiquitous quasi-utility worldwide. Meanwhile, controversies around its health risks are continually emerging in locations around the world. In this paper, we argue that the ongoing controversy is primarily the effect of practices that are trying to govern cell site risks, rather than inherent uncertainties or qualities of the technology. We understand this as a process of medicalization that engenders bio-citizenship. We extend bio-citizenship theory by exposing how actors show an astute and reflexive awareness of the mobilizing potential of medicalization.

We study the governance practice of cell site deployment in the Netherlands and Southern California, USA and investigate how the risk issues and citizenship concerning cell site deployment are co-produced in four main governance practices. Network roll-out practices move health risks backstage, prevention practices push health risks and uncertainties into the future. Design practices actively avoid cell site risks, whereas care practices contain them. Government and industry have become aware of the contentious effect of cell site deployment and govern this to protect the roll-out of the technology. We call this depoliticization. Depoliticization can unintendedly open up new avenues for citizen mobilization.     

Single stock futures: Listing selection and trading volume

On November 8, 2002, two new exchanges, OneChicago and NQLX, began trading single stock futures (SSFs). We study how these exchanges choose the listed products. The selection process is consistent with the objective of maximizing the market opening success. The estimated probability of listing is a good predictor of the single stock futures' post-listing success, as measured by their trading volume in the first year.     

Multiple versus Single Banking Relationships: Theory and Evidence

A theory of the optimal number of banking relationships is developed and tested using matched bank-firm data. According to the theory, relationship banks may be unable to continue funding profitable projects owing to internal problems and a firm may thus have to refinance from nonrelationship banks. The latter, however, face an adverse selection problem, as they do not know the quality of the project, and may refuse to lend. In these circumstances, multiple banking can reduce the probability of an early liquidation of the project. The empirical evidence supports the predictions of the model.     

European Banking Union and bank risk disclosure: the effects of the Single Supervisory Mechanism

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - This paper provides evidence on the impact of European Banking Union (BU) and the associated Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) on the risk...     

Single versus multiple banking: lessons from initial public offerings

A vast research in banking addresses the question of the costs and benefits of multiple bank relationships versus a single bank relationship. Although no clear-cutting conclusion is reached, several contributions suggest that multiple bank relationships might lead to a sub-optimal level of monitoring, compared to a single bank relationship, as a result of free riding and coordination problems. We take a novel approach to tackle this research question, by looking at the role, if any, played by the number of lending relationships in initial public offerings (IPOs). We look at the short-term performances of IPOs as measured by underpricing and find that firms that go public with multiple bank relationships exhibit more underpricing than those that go public with a single bank relationship. This finding is independent of the number of bank relationships and/or whether any of the lending banks also acts as underwriter in the offering. We interpret our results as suggesting that the market attributes a weaker certification role to multiple bank relationships because of their less effective monitoring of IPO firms.     

试论“国库单一帐户”制度改革

大胆借鉴国际经验，结构中国国情，在我国推行国库单一帐户制，是当前理论界人士和政府工作的共识，本文论述了我国衽国库单一帐户制度的必要性和面临的困难，并提出了实施这项改革的一些对策。     

Europe's Single Banking Market

This article provides an overview of the main principles underlying the regulatory for banks in Europe.     

银行个体的信用评级及银行债务评级（上）

国际信用评级制度已有一百多年的历史，评级是关于评级对象未来违约概率的估价，随着市场经济的发展和经济运行不确定性的增强，信用评级在社会经济金融活动中发挥着越来越重要的作用。从经济学角度讲， 信用评级的作用主要表现为：一是解决投资与筹资（债务人）之间的信息不对称，减弱投资风险；二是向投资提供筹资（债务人）或某一机构的违约概率，评价其履行金融义务的能力；三是拓宽债务发行（筹资）的融资渠道，帮助其降低筹资费用。由于信用评级机构的评级活动和行为模式不受股东的影响、评估对象的压力和政府的干预，具有较高的独立性、而且依靠专业技术和内部管理来保证其资信评估的客观性，所以信用评级尤其是权威评级机构的评级结构具有较高的可信度，从而，信用评级的服务范围和服务领域不断扩展。     

欧盟银行单一处置机制研究

2008年金融危机爆发前,欧盟缺乏统一的银行处置法律制度,银行监管与处置的法规局限在国家层面,无法有效应对跨国银行处置。危机后,欧盟金融改革的重点之一即是推动建立欧盟层面的银行处置机制,以有效规范欧盟成员国银行的恢复与处置。作为本轮改革的成果之一,欧盟银行单一处置机制(SRM)于2016年1月1日起开始正式运行。本文首先分析了SRM的理论与背景、适用对象、组织架构、政策工具、恢复和处置计划,单一处置基金的使用条件及程序等,进而总结了SRM治理结构、融资机制、决策程序等方面的经验及不足。最后,本文提出了我国借鉴SRM的经验完善我国银行处置体系、维护金融稳定的政策建议。