“诺思第二悖论”及其新破解

在新制度经济学家看来,制度的一个重要作用是降低作为经济运行的"摩擦力"的交易费用。理论上,交易费用会随着一国制度的进步和完善而降低。但是,据瓦利斯和诺思测算,美国自1 870年到1 970年的1 00年间总量交易费用占GNP的比例不仅没有降低,反而越来越高了。这种理论(随着制度的进步交易费用应该越来越低)与实际(测量到总量交易费用越来越高)的矛盾被称之为"诺思第二悖论"。瓦利斯和诺思测量到的总量交易费用并非交易费用的全部,表面上测量到的总量交易费用上升了,但"理论上"的总量交易费用是下降的,即是说,随着制度的进步,不仅每笔交易的交易费用下降了,理论上的总量交易费用也是下降的,所谓"诺思第二悖论"是不存在的。     

交易过程与交易成本

交易作为基本的经济活动,其过程的复杂性使得人们有不同的认识,因而形成了交易成本定义的多样性。人们对交易成本理解的分歧,使得在解释经济现象和构造经济理论时,产生了“新古典经济学”与“新制度经济学”两种解释模式。     

区域经济一体化对多边自由贸易体制的影响——一个简单的制度经济学解释

区域经济一体化组织的出现是否有利于推动多边自由贸易的实现,这一问题已经引起了学者们的广泛关注.从制度经济学的角度看,先走区域经济一体化的道路,然后再进行区域经济组织的自由贸易合作,从而最终实现全球贸易的自由化,能够比"一味地"等待世界所有国家同时实现贸易的自由化给各利益主体带来更大的现期净收益.因此,相比WTO所推行的多边贸易自由化而言,区域经济一体化具有更多的现实性和可行性,它将为世界自由贸易的实现做阶段性准备.当然在此过程中,还应该注意加强WTO对区域经济一体化组织的监督和协调,以引导它向更有利于提高世界福利和贸易自由化的方向发展.     

环境管制:从管理到治理的转变

环境管制旨在应对因资源环境消费而产生的外部性问题,它通过三种不同类型政策工具的运用得以实施,即:命令与控制型、基于市场型以及自愿型。对政府而言,这意味着三种具有不同交易成本发生和负担机制的管制手段选择。环境管制的发展沿革包含了一种政府在管制过程中不断减少交易成本的尝试,这种努力使得在最新的环境管制形态——自愿环境协议中,企业、非政府组织等多元社会主体共同形成决策并参与管制的实施,分担改善环境质量的社会责任与成本投入,环境管制因而实现了从管理到治理的转变。     

会计信息的私人产权及其交易研究

会计信息是企业资源的替代变量,是一种有价值的稀缺资源,其产权缺失是导致信息供求失衡的根本原因。会计信息产权是企业产权的延伸,企业组织形式的变革并未改变会计信息产权的私人性,只是改变了产权的行使方式。上市公司的会计信息从表面上看是一种公共物品,但其本质属性仍然是私人性的。会计信息产权的私人性为信息的市场化交易创造了条件,而现代网络技术的发展使得付费消费成为可能。     

Geographic price dispersion in retail markets: Evidence from micro-data

Using an extensive micro-price data of 266 retail goods and services across US, EU and OECD cities between 1990 and 2005, we study characteristics of geographic dispersion of deviations from the Law of One Price. We find that the magnitude of price dispersion is a function of the characteristics of both the type of good and set of locations under examination. Higher share of non-traded inputs and lower tradability of goods are both found to contribute to geographic price dispersion, with the former typically dominating in explanatory power. The role of tradability of good in accounting for the price dispersion is more significant as we move beyond an economic geography, while non-traded input level matters relatively more if we move to the interior of this geography. Our evidence suggests that the models of real exchange rates should incorporate the classical distinction between traded inputs and local inputs as well as a role for relative markups and traditional trade costs.     

The behaviour of producer prices: evidence from French PPI micro data

This paper provides some new empirical findings for how French producers set prices. We used the micro data that composes the producer and business-service price indices from 1994 to 2005. First we address how producer prices are collected. Then we present the main characteristics of how producers change their prices: they are modified infrequently and in small amounts. Also, a behavioural heterogeneity across sectors is observed. Business-service prices change less often than industrial producer prices. The data corroborates both time and state-dependent model predictions. Taylor contracts are not unusual, but a firm’s prices will also react to its economic situation. Nevertheless, the most relevant models, to explain producer price rigidity, are time-dependent.

“The fact that some prices are rigid or sticky, while others are variable, has attracted a good deal of comments from economists in recent years” Tucker (1938)

This study was conducted in the context of the Eurosystem Inflation Persistence Network. Data were processed under the responsibility of INSEE in the context of an agreement between INSEE and the Banque de France (20B-21B-E301/R05019/2005).     

Implicit transaction cost management using intraday price dynamics

Using the Exchange Liquidity Measure, we show that implicit transaction costs exhibit intraday regularities around specific price change signals for a sample of European blue chips publicly quoted on Euronext. Not only transaction costs follow a reverse J-shape throughout the day but they also decrease significantly around specific patterns of price dynamics. By focusing on these signals during the trading day, liquidity traders may detect intraday windows of opportunities during which implicit transaction costs are lower.     

Are there too few trades during the NFL draft?

College football players are initially assigned to teams in the National Football League (NFL) through the league’s draft selection process. At each team’s turn to pick, the team has the option of exercising the pick itself or trading it to another team. If gains from trade are exhausted, draft picks should be exercised by the team with the highest expected value. That is, the expected player contribution garnered from a given pick should not be dependent on whether the pick was traded or retained. Regression results, however, indicate that controlling for a player’s draft position, when a team trades up to acquire a player, that player is more likely to have greater on-field success. This suggests that there are too few draft day trades. Plausible reasons are high transaction costs or the fear of media scrutiny that draft trades can engender.     

A variable threshold band approach to measuring market linkages

Uncertain and changing economic conditions can have substantial effects on price relationships in spatially separated, linked markets. Although numerous studies have analysed price relationships to characterize market linkage structures, most assume that the relationships and associated linkages are time invariant. This study extends the literature by modelling and estimating time-dependent market linkages that are conditional on changes in exogenous factors. The methodology is used to investigate price relationships in North Carolina (NC) corn and soya bean markets. Empirical results indicate that generalized market-linkage models provide a better representation of price relationships over time, improving the understanding of price discovery dynamics and marketing strategies.     

The origin of money: A survey of the contemporary literature

Introducing money into a scheme of general economic equilibrium entails manifold problems, which have emerged in many contributions to the literature. Some of these problems have been adequately addressed at the level of micro-based approaches which can be traced back to the monetary theory of Carl Menger. In this survey we shall review such issues, after which we shall attempt to illustrate the contribution to solving the problem of the origin of money offered by the literature on transaction and information costs inspired by Menger's monetary theory. (JEL: E40, E42, D83) Although this paper is the fruit of a common effort, credit for Sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 goes in particular to Giuseppe Mastromatteo, and for Sections 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 6 to Luigi Ventura. The authors would like to thank the referees for most useful comments and suggestions; the usual disclaimer applies.     

市场交易过程信息透明度与市场质量——来自上交所Level-2行情的证据

上海证券交易所(SSE)于2006年7月正式推出了Level-2行情,大大提高了市场透明度。此次透明度改革与2003年的透明度改革在透明度变化维度等三个方面存在区别。本文以上证180指数成分股为样本股票,利用面板数据研究了此次透明度变化对市场质量和不同投资者交易成本的影响。研究结果表明,此次透明度变化改善了市场质量,显著降低了个人投资者的交易成本,而对机构投资者交易成本的影响不显著。本研究为透明度对市场质量的影响提供了新的证据,并指出证券市场监管实践中应充分考虑相关政策对市场各参与者的不同影响。     

中国沪深股市内幕交易者隐蔽交易行为的实证研究

在前人研究的基础上,实证研究了中国沪深股市内幕交易者的隐蔽交易行为及其影响因素。实证结果显示:沪深股市中的内幕交易者具有隐蔽交易行为;合法获取内幕信息者的交易时距显著长于非法获取内幕信息者的交易时距;内幕交易者的交易时距与交易规模以及买入日到信息公布日的时长显著相关。最后根据研究结论提出若干政策建议。     

Induced Institutional Innovation and Transaction Costs: The Case of the Australian National Native Title Tribunal

The theory of induced innovation says that technological innovations which economize on relatively scarce inputs will be invented and adopted. Hayami and Ruttan have hypothesized that this model also holds for institutional innovations. Coase and Williamson suggest that economic organization, such as vertical integration, is the result of transaction cost minimization. Coase discusses the transaction costs of negotiation versus other alternatives for solving externality problems. This paper brings these previously unconnected threads of the literature together and incorporates transaction costs in an induced institutional innovation model.

This conceptual model is brought to bear on the issue of institutional innovations over time in relation to the National Native Title Tribunal. In addition to the reductions in transaction costs from a negotiated settlement rather than litigation, there are other advantages of negotiation. These may include improved “quality” of settlements, improved relations between the negotiating parties, and more timely resolution.     

企业边界变迁的产业组织演化

交易成本理论从成本角度分析企业边界形成与变迁,企业能力理论则采用比较利益的方法从收入角度分析.短期中,如果企业能力有很大的差异,交易成本降低,位于价值链中上下游的企业将趋于专业化生产;如果企业能力均匀分布,交易成本降低,对专业化生产没有影响.长期中,企业能力、交易成本、企业边界形成互动循环的演化机制,并且在竞争过程中实现自然选择,引起产业组织演化.     

交易成本与西部经济的发展

实施西部开发是解决中国区域经济发展不平衡问题的一项重大举措,但目前东西部的差距在进一步增大,西部经济发展面临着诸多障碍,交易成本高昂是其中一项重要原因,降低交易成本是促进西部经济快速发展的重要路径。