Corporate Governance Structure and Employment Adjustment in Japan: An Empirical Analysis Using Corporate Finance Data

I investigate the influence of corporate governance structures on employment adjustment in Japanese firms, using financial data for firms listed on the Japanese stock market. The results indicate that corporate governance structures affect the rate of employment adjustment. The presence of large stockholders and the degree of stock cross–holding lengthens the period the firm remains in debt and slows down the speed of employment adjustment.     

中国就业增长的实证分析与地区比较

本文利用年度数据对我国的就业增长进行实证分析,并利用地区面板数据展开研究,进行地区比较.研究表明:从全国来看,经济增长和工资水平增加对就业增长具有正效应,而资本对就业增长具有替代效应.从地区来看,经济增长对就业具有创造效应,工资水平增加对就业的影响具有负效应.不考虑工资水平增加对就业的影响,国内投资对就业的影响具有负效应,外商直接投资对就业的影响因地区不同而有差异.未来,我国需要制定相应措施,缩小地区之间的差异,如继续加快经济发展步伐;将外商直接投资更多投向中部和西部地区;以国家政策为指导,增加就业.     

江苏省就业人数与三大产业产值关系实证分析

通过对1989~2008年间江苏省就业人数与三大产业产值间关系的协整分析,得出江苏省就业人数与各次产业产值之间存在长期的均衡关系;同时构建模型对江苏省不同产业的GDP与就业人数进行了回归分析,利用不同产业的GDP就业弹性,比较分析了江苏省不同产业对就业吸纳作用的差异,并据此提出了相应的政策建议。     

Temporary Help Service Workers: Employment Characteristics and Wage Determination

This paper studies temporary help service (THS) workers, a growing component of the secondary labor market. It analyzes two samples of workers in the same four clerical occupations-bookkeepers, typists, key-punch operators, and clerks. The two samples-one for workers employed via a large THS firm in Israel, the other for full-time, non-THS workers drawn from the 1983 Israeli Census-are compared for demographic and human capital characteristics, wage levels, and wage regressions. The results lead us to conclude that viewing THS workers as a homogeneous group of "secondary" workers is not warranted.     

Sharing Risks of Labour Market Transitions: Towards a System of Employment Insurance

The increasing polarization of the labour market is closely related to the spread of non‐standard employment relationships that largely results from poor risk management of critical transitions over the life course. The question, therefore, arises whether labour market regulation, in particular unemployment insurance, is still properly designed for the new world of work. This article argues for an extension of unemployment insurance towards a system of employment insurance by summarizing the concept of transitional labour markets, indicating the risks that challenge current and future labour markets, laying the theoretical groundwork, and discussing the main features of an employment insurance system.     

An Analysis of Office Market Rents: Some Empirical Evidence

This paper provides an empirical analysis of office building rents using data for a five-year period in a medium- sized city. The results indicate that rent levels respond to various factors in the expected manner: rents vary systematically across classes of buildings and locations, overall market conditions have a significant impact on rents, and contract variations are associated with rent differences. We also present the first evidence at the building level on the rent-vacancy adjustment process. The results show a significant relationship between rent changes and vacancies.     

The Improvement Expenditures of Urban Homeowners: An Empirical Analysis

This paper presents evidence on the factors influencing the housing improvement expenditures of urban homeowners. In comparison to prior work, a more completely specified model was estimated. In particular, variables measuring the price of inputs and neighborhood quality were included and found to have a statistically significant impact on the maintenance and improvement expenditures of central city homeowners.     

区域高校经费投入与经济发展关系的实证分析

利用1998—2006年中国各地区数据,得用面板数据模型对区域高校经费投入与经济发展的关系进行了实证分析,结果表明高校经费投入与经济发展正相关,且经济越落后,教育负担越重。     

Yardstick Competition to Elicit Private Information: An Empirical Analysis

The Japanese regulatory authority has introduced a new hybrid regulation that combines a fixed-price contract with ex ante yardstick inspection for local (public utility) gas distribution. The latter compares a firm??s reported costs with those of ??similar?? firms, and penalizes high-cost firms. We infer the effect of yardstick on information revelation by comparing the actual welfare level with the hypothetical full-information welfare level. Our results suggest that only the very first inspection was effective in reducing firms?? incentive to report higher costs.     

Early Retirement and Bridge Employment Intentions Among Older Workers in Singapore

This paper examined the relevance of 14 demographic, cognitive, and affective factors in individuals' intentions to voluntarily retire early and to secure bridge employment after retirement. Results based on a sample of 361 respondents aged between 40 and 59 suggested that marital status, perceived negative age-health relationship, gender psychological readiness for retirement, and family orientation were related to early retirement intentions. Work centrality, perceived organisational attitude towards older employees, and psychological readiness for early retirement were related to bridge employment intentions. Implications for research were discussed.     

An Empirical Analysis of Mexican Merger Policy

A newly created dataset including 239 decisions made by the Mexican Federal Competition Commission on horizontal mergers is used to estimate the different factors affecting the Commission’s resolution decisions. The decision-making process has been approximated by two different discrete choice models. Our results indicate that, contrary to the Commission’s objective, the presence of efficiency gains increases the probability of a case being challenged. We also find that factors different from the ones explicitly mentioned by the Commission have a significant effect upon the Commission’s final decision. In particular, the presence of a foreign company among the would-be merger firms significantly increases the likelihood of observing an allowed merger.      

Alternative Mortgage Instruments, Qualification Constraints and the Demand for Housing: An Empirical Analysis

Government-guaranteed mortgage loans (GFRMs) and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) were introduced to make payment to income (PTI) and loan-to-value (LTV) qualification conventions less restrictive. This paper analyzes the effect of GFRMs and ARMs on the demand for housing. Using a large national data set for the 1988 to 1989 period, we employ a two-stage procedure to estimate housing demand. In the first stage, a multinomial logit model estimates the probability of choosing an FRM, ARM or GFRM. Predicted values from the logit are used to construct user costs and estimate housing demand. Using the model estimates, we simulate demand under four different mortgage availability regimes: FRM, FRM and GFRM, FRM and ARM and all three. These simulations indicate that GFRMs, by relaxing LTV constraints, increase housing demand by approximately 6.2% relative to the FRM regime; the addition of ARMs, by relaxing both PTI and LTV constraints, raises demand by an additional 6%, for a total of 12.2% with inclusion of all alternatives.     

An Empirical Analysis of Global Airline Alliances: Cases in North Atlantic Markets

This paper empirically investigatesthe effects on air fares, passenger volume, andconsumer surplus of four major alliances in NorthAtlantic aviation markets. The four alliances areBritish Airways/USAir, Delta/Sabena/Swissair,KLM/Northwest, and Lufthansa/United Airlines. We findthat equilibrium passenger volume increased by some36,000 passengers annually and equilibrium air faresdecreased by an average of $41 on the routes servedby the allying carriers, and that consumers weregenerally better off due to the alliances.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Potential for Market Power in California's Electricity Industry

Using historical cost data, we simulate the California electricity market after deregulation as a static Cournot market with a competitive fringe. Our model indicates that, under the pre-deregulation structure of generation ownership, there is potential for significant market power in high demand hours, particularly in the fall and early winter months when hydroelectric output is at its lowest level relative to demand. The results also show that two of the most important factors in determining the extent and severity of market power are the level of available hydroelectric production and the elasticity of demand.     

An Empirical Analysis of UK Credit Card Pricing

Previous studies show that the credit card market is imperfectly competitive. Using a reduced form hedonic model, the current paper demonstrates a relationship between credit card interest rates and product differentiation characteristics. The characteristics capture issuers’ attempts to: (1) screen/separate customers with different default risk characteristics and (2) better meet heterogeneous customer preferences. The results are consistent with risk-based pricing and monopolistic competition in the credit card market.     

中国上市公司经理层治理评价与实证研究

本文在对国内外经理层治理评价研究进行述评的基础上,构建了中国公司经理层治理评价系统,并对中国上市公司经理层的治理状况进行了指数化评价。评价结果显示,经理层治理状况总体偏低,且行业间和各主、子因素指数间的得分有较大差异。通过对经理层治理评价指数与公司绩效关系的实证分析发现,经理层治理水平的提高,有利于改善企业的绩效。最后,我们提出了完善中国上市公司经理层治理的一些建议。