区位基尼系数的计算、性质及其应用

基于产业规模探索区位基尼系数的简化计算、区域分解和两位数产业分解,给出产业份额、区位商以及产业份额空间测度加权区位基尼系数的分解公式,提供相对边际效应和增量分解的计算公式。利用我国2004年、2008年的经济普查数据,计算国民经济19个字母产业的区位基尼系数,得出以产业份额计算的区位基尼系数更能反映产业聚集程度的结论,并使用产业份额区位基尼系数进行实证分析。     

DEA and Dynamic Yardstick Competition in Scandinavian Electricity Distribution

Multi-period multi-product regulatory schemes for electricity distributors are presented, based on cost information from a productivity analysis model and an agency theoretical decision model. The proposed schemes are operational and demonstrate considerable advantages compared to the popular CPI-X revenue cap regulation. The schemes avoid arbitrariness, excessively high or negative informational rents as well as ratchet effects and they promote rapid productivity catch-up by making full use of available data. More generally, the paper contributes to the theoretical unification between firm-based Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) productivity models and micro-economic reimbursement theories.JEL Classification: D24, D82, L12, L51, L94     

Traffic density,congestion externalities,and urbanization in China

ABSTRACT

Although there is an abundant regional literature analyzing traffic congestion, only a few studies have explored extending such analysis with spatial effects. This study uses a dynamic spatial Durbin model and city-level panel data for the period 2003–14 to investigate the spatial spillover effects of traffic congestion on urbanization in China. The results show that there is an inverted ‘U’-shaped relationship between urbanization and traffic density in local and neighbouring cities, and congestion effects have appeared. In the short and long run, the spatial effects of traffic congestion have become an important force restricting the effective promotion of urbanization in China.     

On the Decomposition by Subgroups of the Gini Index and Zenga's Uniformity and Inequality Indexes

Besides a brief historical outline of the Gini index decomposition proposals, we compare, in a subgroups framework, the decompositions of the Gini index and of the uniformity and inequality indexes recently proposed by Zenga. The two decompositions follow a similar scheme: in both cases the overall index can be at first expressed as a weighted average of convenient "cross" measures, with their own interpretation, and afterwards it is decomposed into a within and a between term by merely distinguishing measures evaluated within the same subgroup from the ones regarding different subgroups. This procedure does not depend on an a priori definition of the within or the between term and allows their contribution to be naturally evaluated preserving the structure of the index itself. In the last section the two decompositions are applied to the Italian net household wealth provided by the 2006 central Bank of Italy sample survey on household budgets.     

Inference by linearization for Zenga’s new inequality index: a comparison with the Gini index

Zenga’s new inequality curve and index are two recent tools for measuring inequality. Proposed in 2007, they should thus not be mistaken for anterior measures suggested by the same author. This paper focuses on the new measures only, which are hereafter referred to simply as the Zenga curve and Zenga index. The Zenga curve Z(α) involves the ratio of the mean income of the 100α % poorest to that of the 100(1?α)% richest. The Zenga index can also be expressed by means of the Lorenz Curve and some of its properties make it an interesting alternative to the Gini index. Like most other inequality measures, inference on the Zenga index is not straightforward. Some research on its properties and on estimation has already been conducted but inference in the sampling framework is still needed. In this paper, we propose an estimator and variance estimator for the Zenga index when estimated from a complex sampling design. The proposed variance estimator is based on linearization techniques and more specifically on the direct approach presented by Demnati and Rao. The quality of the resulting estimators are evaluated in Monte Carlo simulation studies on real sets of income data. Finally, the advantages of the Zenga index relative to the Gini index are discussed.     

A Structural Decomposition Analysis of Pollution in the Netherlands

This paper reviews the results of a structural decomposition analysis in which the annual changes in a number of air pollutants and solid waste are decomposed according to their causes. The analysis in this paper is applied with the help of the so-called National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (NAMEA) for the Netherlands, covering annual data for the period 1987-1998. In a sensitivity analysis it is shown that the average of any pair of so-called 'mirror image' decomposition forms will substantially reduce the variation in the estimates. These mirror image couples are approximately just as reliable as the full average of all decomposition forms. Besides reliable results, the full average also foresees the mutual comparability between the distinguished change factors and is therefore applied in the empirical analyses presented in this paper. The results of these analyses contain the macro-economic developments, results on the industry level as well as a comprehensive overview of the origin and destination of pollution in the Dutch economy that includes the environmental consequences of consumption and international trade.     

Asymptotic properties of random extremes under general normalization from nonidentical distributions

In this paper we study the weak convergence of the generally normalized extremes (extremes under nonlinear monotone normalization) of random number of independent (nonidentically distributed) random variables. When the random sample size is assumed to converge in probability and the interrelation between the basic variables and their random size is not restricted, the limit forms as well as the sufficient conditions of convergence are derived. Moreover, when the random sample size is assumed to converge weakly and independent of the basic variables, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the convergence are derived.Acknowledgment. The authors are grateful to a referee for several helpful comments and for pointing out the extensive paper by Galambos (1992) leading to improvement of the representation of the paper.Received January 2002     

城市道路交通与大气污染及相应的解决措施研究

文中建立模型阐述了城市道路交通与大气污染之间的关系。从材料技术角度、规划建设角度和管理角度分析城市道路交通造成大气污染的原因。并据此提出了四类解决措施,即,技术层面的解决措施——减少尾气排放、交通规划层面的解决措施——优化交通结构,降低小汽车的使用率、交通控制层面的解决措施——实现交通分流,减少城市拥堵和法治道德层面的解决措施——提高人们的环保意识。以实现城市道路交通与环境协调发展的目标。     

A micro-macro linkage in the measurement of inequality: Another look at the Gini coefficient

The aim of this paper is to help readers understand the significance of the Gini coefficient. We have two major formulae for the Gini coefficient. One of the formulae bases on the idea of aggregation of the microscopic differences between individuals' incomes or wealth. The idea that underlies the other formula is macroscopic presentation of distribution or concentration of income or wealth. We will show an unabridged proof of the equivalence between these formulae to examine how the two conceptions of the measurement of inequality are linked to each other.     

Intra-regional Wage Inequality in Portugal

Abstract

Studies on intra-regional inequality are scarce, particularly for European countries. This paper aims at further investigating inequality by focusing on wage differences within regions. We consider the case of Portugal, which is considered one of the countries with the highest level of economic inequality. In particular, we analyse the evolution of intra-regional wage inequality between 1995 and 2005, employing a quantile-based decomposition method. Our results show that wage inequality evolution has been different across the various regions, increasing in some regions and decreasing in others. Different changes in the workforce composition explain these diverse developments.     

Evaluating the forecasting performance of econometric models of air passenger traffic flows using multiple error measures

Airline traffic forecasting is important to airlines and regulatory authorities. This paper examines a number of approaches to forecasting short- to medium-term air traffic flows. It contributes as a rare replication, testing a variety of alternative modelling approaches. The econometric models employed include autoregressive distributed lag (ADL) models, time-varying parameter (TVP) models and an automatic method for econometric model specification. A vector autoregressive (VAR) model and various univariate alternatives are also included to deliver unconditional forecast comparisons. Various approaches for taking into account interactions between contemporaneous air traffic flows are examined, including pooled ADL models and the enhanced models with the addition of a “world trade” variable. Based on the analysis of a number of forecasting error measures, it is concluded that pooled ADL models that include the “world trade” variable outperform the alternatives, and in particular univariate methods; and, second, that automatic modelling procedures are enhanced through judgmental intervention. In contrast to earlier results, the TVP models do not improve accuracy. Depending on the preferred error measure, the difference in accuracy may be substantial.     

Incentive schemes for executive officers when forecasts matter

This paper develops a new perspective on results‐based incentive schemes for non‐CEO managers. It shows that it is possible to establish incentive schemes that take into account both the actual output obtained and the forecast figure previously established as a target, without the negative consequences derived from the perverse loop of hiding‐ratchet effects. A general linear two‐staged scheme is proposed. In addition, relevant properties of this incentive system are stated that show how principals (corporate management) may determine the expected forecasting behavior of agents (executive officers) by suitably choosing the scheme parameters according to a simple set of rules. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sharing diseconomy: impact of the subsidy war of ride-sharing companies on urban congestion

ABSTRACT

As a typical example of the sharing economy, ride-sharing, in theory, can improve market efficiency and enhance the welfare of consumers and service suppliers. However, negative externalities resulted from ride-sharing, such as quasi-public goods, are often overlooked. In this paper, we used AutoNavi’s big data to measure traffic congestion in cities, and built DID, PSM-DID and DDD models to analyse the impact of the subsidy war among ride-sharing companies on the traffic congestion in Shanghai. The subsidy war led to an increase in the congestion index of Shanghai by 0.068–0.077, which was equivalent to an increase in transit time by 3.51%–5.53%. Excessive subsidies offered by ride-sharing companies to vie for market share will eventually distort the market. As a result, increased social costs will ultimately harm the well-being of the entire society, leading to diseconomy.     

Hierarchical analysis: Classification with ordinal object dissimilarities

Summary Lerman [1970] has demonstrated, that the dissimilarity indices normally used in data analysis are identical up to strictly monotone transformationsf:R ₊R ₊ if the data are nominal and each set of attribute scores is finite.In that case he proposes to use a preorder between pairs of objects to express similarity or dissimilarity, in order to avoid inconsistent classification results that might occur, if clustering schemes which are not monotone invariant are applied to a quantitative index. Here it is shown, how a hierarchy on the objects can be calculated if such a preorder relation is given.     

Audit Fees in a Joint Audit Setting

Abstract

This paper uses the uniqueness of the French audit environment to conduct an in-depth study of audit pricing issues associated with the requirement to hire two independent auditors (joint audit). I use a model derived from Simunic's [(1980). The pricing of audit services: Theory and evidence. Journal of Accounting Research, 18(1), 161–190] seminal work to examine to what extent audit fees are influenced by the number of Big 4 joint auditors (zero, one, or two). After controlling for well-known drivers of audit fees that are specific to audit client firms (size, complexity, and risk), for governance characteristics and for auditor selection, the paper shows that the decision to hire two Big 4 auditors as joint auditors does not require the payment of a higher Big 4 premium compared to the choice of one Big 4 auditor paired with a smaller auditor, other things being equal. The choice of two Big 4 auditors thus appears to be a rational economic choice for large and international firms.     

CEO Pay Contracts and IFRS Reconciliations

Abstract

We examine whether UK managers exploit the discretion provided in the UK GAAP to IFRS reconciliation process to manage earnings and whether this earnings management is associated with the structure of the managers' compensation contracts. We use a comprehensive data set of mainly hand-collected information from the firms' annual reports to provide evidence that, given the existence of an accounting-related vesting target in their pay schemes, CEOs use UK GAAP to IFRS reconciliations as an earnings management tool. We test our hypotheses under a number of different specifications, including a propensity score matching analysis. Our study contributes to the literature on the relation between earnings management and contractual incentives by focusing on a major structural change in accounting policies.     

The Effect of Income Distribution on the Ability of Growth to Reduce Poverty: Evidence from Rural and Urban African Economies

The present study examines the extent to which income distribution affects the ability of economic growth to reduce poverty, based on 1990s data for a sample of rural and urban sectors of African economies. Using the basic‐needs approach, an analysis‐of‐covariance model is derived and estimated, with the headcount, gap, and squared gap poverty ratios serving as the respective dependent variables, and the Gini coefficient and PPP‐adjusted incomes as explanatory variables. The study finds that the responsiveness of poverty to income growth is a decreasing function of inequality, albeit at varying rates for the three poverty measures: lowest for the headcount, followed by the gap and fastest for the squared gap. The ranges for the income elasticity in the sample are estimated at: 0.02–0.68, 0.11–1.05, and 0.10–1.35, respectively, for these poverty measures. Furthermore while, on average, the responsiveness of poverty to income growth appears to be the same between the rural and urban sectors, there are substantial sectoral differences across countries. The results suggest the need for country‐specific emphases on growth relative to inequality.     

Designs for smoothing spline ANOVA models

Smoothing spline estimation of a function of several variables based on an analysis of variance decomposition (SS-ANOVA) is one modern nonparametric technique. This paper considers the design problem for specific types of SS-ANOVA models. As criteria for choosing the design points, the integrated mean squared error (IMSE) for the SS-ANOVA estimate and its asymptotic approximation are derived based on the correspondence between the SS-ANOVA model and the random effects model with a partially improper prior. Three examples for additive and interaction spline models are provided for illustration. A comparison of the asymptotic designs, the 2^d factorial designs, and the glp designs is given by numerical computation. Received May 2000     

ON ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN: FROM A LINEAR PROGRAMMING POINT OF VIEW

This paper analyses the impact of different organizational structures on the coordination problem of the multilevel organization. The two basic structures analysed is the U-form and the M-form within the framework of a price-directive coordination mechanism. Issues such as vertical and horizontal decomposition, the length of the planning period, the level of aggregation, etc., are discussed. The basis for the analysis is results from decomposing of linear programming models. ¹ 1 This research was supported by a grant from Staten Samfundsvidenskabelige Forskningsråd, Denmark, and the paper has benefited from discussions with Art Kuhn and Rich Burton.