Convergence Clubs: Some Additional Evidence

The paper shows that the joint presence of moral hazard and repudiation risk generates an important interaction effect. In order to provide the proper incentives to borrowers, the optimal financial contract under moral hazard calls for all available resources to be paid to the lender in the event of a poor realization for output. Repudiation risk limits the size of this transfer, as the debtor has the option to default. This upper bound on the resource transfer exacerbates the moral hazard problem, reducing lending and the equilibrium level of investment and output.     

Some International Evidence on Double-Dip Recession

International Advances in Economic Research - With quarterly data on real gross domestic product for 21 nations from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, this paper...     

浅论企业财务战略

在日益复杂多变的竞争环境条件下,企业财务战略愈显重要和必要.本文在综述财务战略一般研究结论的基础上,系统、概要地论述了企业财务战略的概念、特征、制定和实施等基本问题.     

浅论企业财务战略

在日益复杂多变的竞争环境条件下，企业财务战略愈显重要和必要。本文在综述财务战略一般研究结论的基础上，系统、概要地论述了企业财务战略的概念、特征、制定和实施等基本问题。     

Some Evidence on the Adjustment of Producer Prices*

We document producer price adjustment using a low‐inflation micro price dataset. On average 24% of prices adjust each month, with an average increase/decrease of 6%. Producer prices adjust more frequently than consumer prices, but their size of adjustment is typically smaller. Sectoral heterogeneity in the frequency of price adjustment is strongly related to heterogeneity in the cost structure. Fluctuations in aggregate producer price inflation occur to a large extent through variation in the relative share of upward and downward price adjustment.     

Exports and Economic Growth: Some Evidence from the GCC

International Advances in Economic Research -     

Adjustment in General Equilibrium: Some Industrial Evidence

The link between output changes and factor-mix adjustments in general equilibrium is examined for each of nine industries using pooled data from 12 developed countries over the years 1970–85. Specifications of the Stolper-Samuelson theorem and the specific-factors model of production are built on the assumptions and structure of theory with each industry isolated in turn. In their simplest version with only capital and labor input, these competitive general-equilibrium models explain a good deal of the observed variations in industrial factor mixes. The specific-factors model performs better.     

Computers And Productivity In France: Some Evidence

In this paper, we make a first attempt to explore the relationship between computer use and productivity in French manufacturing and services industries. We match information on computer utilization in the work place collected at the employee level in the years 1987,1991 and 1993, with information on firm productivity, capital intensity and average wage available at the firm level. Being based on the answers of very few interviewed employees (only one for 75% of the firms in our samples), our measure of firm computer use is subject to important sampling errors, and hence our estimates of computer impacts are largely affected by random errors in variables downward biases. Nonetheless we find coherent and persuasive evidence that the computer impacts on productivity are indeed positive and that the returns to the firm should at least be in the same range as the returns to the other types of capital. We also show that the sampling errors in measurement biases can be assessed, and we make the general point that econometric studies of the firm can be effectively and substantially enriched by using information collected from workers, even if very few of them are surveyed per firm.     

Contingency Fees, Settlement Delay, and Low-Quality Litigation: Empirical Evidence from Two Datasets

Although flat fees are common for divorces, wills and trusts,and probate, lawyers in personal injury cases generally arepaid by contingency fee or at an hourly rate. Arguments havebeen made that contingency fees increase low-quality, "frivolous"litigation but counterarguments suggest that contingency feesactually limit such litigation and instead it is hourly feesthat increase low-quality litigation. Using a difference indifferences test and data on a cross section of states in 1992,we test whether legal quality is lower under contingency orhourly fees. We also examine medical malpractice claims in Floridausing a time series centered around a law change that limitedcontingency fees. We also examine the impact of fee arrangementson the expected time to settlement. We find that hourly feesencourage the filing of low-quality suits and increase the timeto settlement (i.e., contingency fees increase legal qualityand decrease the time to settlement).     

Reforms and Entry: Some Evidence from the Indian Manufacturing Sector

Traditional research in the context of product market entry has explored the strategic reactions of incumbent firms when threatened by the possibility of entry, and have identified industry-specific factors that affect entry rates. However, following de Soto (1989 ), there has been increasing emphasis on regulatory and institutional factors governing entry rates, especially in the context of developing countries. Using three-digit industry-level data from India, for the 1984–97 period, we examine the phenomenon of entry in the Indian context. Our empirical results suggest that during the 1980s industry-level factors largely explained variations in entry rates, but that, following the economic federalism brought about by the post-1991 reforms, variations in entry rates during the 1990s were explained largely by state-level institutional and legacy factors. Past productivity growth affects net entry rates as well.     

Some Evidence Regarding the Reciprocal Dumping Hypothesis

Reciprocal dumping occurs in intraindustry trade (IIT) when domestic and foreign firms that have market (monopoly) power effect cross hauling through International price discrimination. Data relating to 255 U. S. 4-digit SIC manufacturing industries were used to test the existence of the necessary (but not sufficient) characteristics for reciprocal dumping of (1) intraindustry trade, (2) monopolistic firms, and (3) high profits. These characteristics were found not to exist among U. S. manufacturing industries. [F12]     

Speculative Efficiency and the Exchange Rate: Some Evidence Since the Float

This paper considers whether the speculative efficiency hypothesis holds in the foreign exchange market since the floating of the Australian dollar in December 1983. For the post-float period as a whole, the speculative efficiency hypothesis can be rejected in the 30-day market but not in the 15-day or 90-day markets. Evidence of a structural change in the market in February 1985—the time of the first major depreciation - was also found.     

UK Output Variability and Growth: Some Further Evidence

This paper re-examines the empirical evidence concerning the relationship between UK output variability and growth using GARCH-M models applied to post-war monthly industrial production data, estimated under quasi-maximum-likelihood with the consistent variance–covariance estimator of Bollerslev and Wooldridge (1992). In contrast to previous results suggesting a significant positive relationship between UK output variability and growth, we find no significant relationship. Rather than suggesting a connection between risk and return in the attitudes of investors, our findings may be interpreted as more supportive of macroeconomic models which dichotomize the determination of output growth and variability.     

Segmentation of Rural Labour Contracts: Some Further Evidence

The paper offers an explanation of labour tying commonly observed in seasonally agricultural economies. Employers may either hire regular labourers in the slack season to satisfy all or most of the labour demand in the high season but have underutilised labour in the low–demand season or rely on casual labourers only. Thus farmers hiring regular labour may also hire some casual labour as and when needed to minimise the hoarding costs of regular labour. Secondly, daily regular wages are usually lower than daily casual wages, but regular labourers usually get some wage–advance as well. Thus asset–poor workers have incentives to choose regular labour with interest–free wage advance because they face high marginal costs of credit in the segmented credit markets. The optimum hoarding costs decrease with increase in farm size, but increase with increase in spot market wages. However with improved availability of alternative employment opportunities and/or cheaper credit facilities to the asset–poor labourers, the supply of regular labour is likely to decline. Empirical evidence from the ICRISAT villages in south India seems to be consistent with the primary propositions of the model.     

Female Earnings and Divorce Rates: Some Australian Evidence

The purpose of this article is to examine whether female earnings have influenced divorce rates in Australia, using state‐level data for the past four decades. Following a recent study by Ressler and Waters (2000), which concludes from comparable US data that female earnings and divorce rates may be jointly endogenous, initial testing is performed to identify whether female earnings can be treated as exogenous. A Hausman specification error test finds no evidence of a simultaneous relationship in the Australian data, in contrast to the findings of Ressler and Waters. The test result supports the hypothesis that other underlying factors affect female earnings, of which higher divorce rates are merely another symptom. A divorce rate equation is estimated. In accordance with much of the literature, the rise in female earnings over the past four decades is found to have increased Australian divorce rates.     

Some Evidence on the Value of Instructors in Teaching Economic Principles

Using data collected from three universities, the authors of this article attempt to show that student attitude is “an important dimension of learning” and that the quality of instruction is indeed associated with attitude. The attitude referred to here is that of student opinions toward economics (as measured by Karstensson's “Questionnaire on Student Attitude Toward Economics”) rather than opinions on economic issues. Posttest scores on the TUCE and the attitude instrument were the dependent variables, while scores on the TUCE pretest, ACT scores, sex, major field, economics background, university attended, and quality of instruction were used as independent variables.     

股东代表诉讼的再思考--从近期一起股东代表诉讼案未被受理所想到的

股东代表诉讼是一种特殊的诉讼制度，在保护小股东权益、完善资本市场方面有着不可或缺的作用。在实践中，已有一些股东提起了股东代表诉讼，但是在我国现行的诉讼制度和实体法中却没有相关规定。本文结合近期一起未被法院受理的股东代表诉讼案，从诉讼主体、诉讼启动程序、诉讼请求、举证责任等方面对之进行了探讨，并在其中穿插提出了构建我国股东代表诉讼的立法建议。     

经理持股的自主权效应研究

本文在Burkart-Gromb模型基础上定义上经理自主权，分析发现经理自主权随经理持股提高呈先增长然后下降的曲线变化关系，并得出经理持股水平介于（ωd^*,ωc^*）范围内时，由此产生的自主权效应和控制效应对公司净资产价值的贡献点总和最优。