WHEN DOES IT PAY TO GET INFORMED?*

A repeated principal–agent problem where both sides start out symmetrically uninformed about a productivity‐related parameter and where the principal has the option to costlessly learn this parameter is analyzed. Typically, the principal delays the acquisition of information to avoid costly signaling. If the learning decision of the principal is observable by the agent, the expected delay is longer than if it is unobservable. The discrepancy is due to the ability of the principal to avoid costly signaling when he is known to be uninformed.     

公用事业B+G TO C发展模式探讨

传统的公用事业之所以导致财政负担沉重、生产效率低下、服务质量差和投资建设主体单一等一系列问题,其根本原因在于没有找出合适的赢利模式,影响公用事业的发展潜力.     

TO的基本原则和我国税收政策的调整

中国进入WTO指日可待。进入WTO后中国肯定会从经济全球化中获得一定的经济利益 ,但是中国也必须为满足WTO的基本原则而承担一部分机会成本。调整现行的税收政策以符合世界贸易组织各成员国的要求就是我国必须的选择。本文从世界贸易组织的基本原则和我税收政策的调整方面阐述了作者的观点。     

公用事业B+G TO C发展模式探讨

传统的公用事业之所以导致财政负担沉重、生产效率低下、服务质量差和投资建设主体单一等一系列问题,其根本原因在于没有找出合适的赢利模式,影响公用事业的发展潜力。在公用事业民营化的浪潮下,吸引企业参与建设和改造公用事业,采取B+GtoC的赢利模式,无疑成为各级政府的首选策略。其中,B是business,G是governance,C是consumer。     

AT LAST,CAPITAL SPENDING STARTS TO JOIN THE RECOVERY

Withprofitsandcashflowimproving,corporatepursestringsarelooseningFormonths,capitalspendinghasbeenlimitedbyahostofprob-lems,includingthetechbust,aprof-itsrecession,andovercapacity.ThrowinworriesovertheMiddleEast,risingoilprices,plusthethreatofterrorism,andit’seasytoseewhycorporateexecutiveshavebeenhesi-tanttoshelloutmoremoneyfornewassemblysystems,copymachines,andofficespace.Now,though,capi-talspendingistakingaturnforthebetter.Thesignsaresmall,butgrow-ing:Keyareasofbusiness-equipmentinvestmen…     

DOES THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE MATTER FOR DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS?

We find that sensitivity of fund flows and fund performance are both related to participants' right to choose their investments in defined contribution plans. Under the Mandatory Provident Fund system of Hong Kong, both employers and employees are required to contribute to a retirement account. Originally, employees' investment choices were restricted to a subset of funds chosen by their employers. The system was later modified so that employees are allowed to invest in any fund within the system. We present evidence that flows of fund have become more sensitive to past fund performance after this policy change, and that average fund performance in the system has also improved. Based on the improvement in fund performance, we estimate the accumulated cost of the lack of choice to be around 10% of the current total asset value of the system. (JEL G14, G18)     

WHEN IS A GOOD TIME TO RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE?

I analyze changes in the target efficiency of the federal minimum wage over the past 25 years. Using static simulation methods I find that minimum wage target efficiency is currently close to its 25‐year peak—of the total monetary benefits generated by a 12% increase in the federal minimum wage, 16.8% would flow to workers in poverty. This exceeds the least target efficient year over this period by 4.7 percentage points and is only 0.6 percentage points below the peak. Furthermore, I find a very strong positive relationship between minimum wage target efficiency and the real federal minimum wage. The implication is that, from an efficiency standpoint, a good time to raise the minimum wage is when it is already high. This discovery raises the possibility that the minimum wage increases the employment of low‐skilled poor individuals relative to the employment of low‐skilled non‐poor individuals. Moreover, this discovery may bolster the rationale for an indexed minimum wage whereby it is prevented from falling to less efficient levels. (JEL J21, J31, J38)     

CREDIT UNION TO MUTUAL CONVERSION: DO INTEREST RATES DIVERGE?

This study conducts a cross-sectional analysis of 175 depository institutions, assessing the impact on the interest rates charged on loan products and offered on savings products by the size of the institution, its liquidity, its net worth, its tax and salary payments, and its status as a for-profit institution, a credit union (CU), or a converted CU. We find that banks and converted CUs have interest rates significantly less favorable for consumers than CUs, suggesting that a CU converting will result in adverse interest rate movements for its customers. ( JEL 621, L3)     

TO JOIN OR NOT TO JOIN? DO BANKS THAT ARE PART OF A FINANCIAL HOLDING COMPANY PERFORM BETTER THAN BANKS THAT ARE NOT?

This study compares the performance of banks that are part of a financial holding company (FHC banks) with that of banks that are not (independent banks) using Taiwan data from 2002:Q1 to 2006:Q2. The comparisons are based on 14 performance ratios resulting from the concept of CAMEL (which is an acronym for Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management efficiency, Earnings ability, and Liquidity sufficiency). To ensure that becoming part of an FHC is a random process, we used four matching methods to select the controlled banks so that the characteristic variables of banks in the two groups are statistically indifferent. By using the data before matching, it was found that FHC banks significantly defeat independent banks, regardless of their performance ratios. Conversely, when the sample was used after the matching, the results changed dramatically. Although FHC banks still beat the independent banks in terms of capital adequacy, asset quality, and liquidity sufficiency, FHC banks and independent banks are found to have equal profitability and management efficiency. Earlier studies that do not consider the endogeneity problem tend to overestimate the joining effect.(JEL C21, G21)     

TO中弱国无外交、小国没有发言权吗?

一些人认为,在ＷＴＯ中,弱国无外交,小国没有发言权。这种看法有些片面。(1)ＷＴＯ每个成员都有一票投票权,不分国家经济实力和人口多少,一视同仁。弱国影响有限,参与相关问题谈判的能力有限,但同样有合法的权利,如不加入ＷＴＯ,连这样的权利也不会有。(2)ＷＴＯ具有其他任何地     

USING COMMERCIAL DISCIPLINE TO IMPROVE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE PROCUREMENT: MISPLACED ENTHUSIASM?

Australia, like other democracies, has long sought to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of procurement for national defence. A recent review exhorted Defence procurement managers to exert greater “commercial discipline.” Similar calls have been made in other countries. This paper tests such public sector emulation of commercial practice by comparing the relative effectiveness of procurement via in‐house arrangements; a public procurement agency detached from Defence; and privatized provision. We show that what matters is not public or private ownership but how ownership and management are integrated and what incentive structures are applied. (JEL H44)     

电子商务赢利模式初探——B＋G TO C模式剖析

电子商务的崛起改变了企业和消费者的权力话语，因此对企业来说选择合适的赢利模式取得可持续发展、满足消费者利益要求和对抗竞争对手的挑战，就显得蔚为重要。目前电子商务的四种赢利模式即B to B、B to C、C to C和C to B都不可避免忽视了政府的经济功能。本文即针对这些模式的缺陷提出B G TO C的盈利模式，以充分发挥政府“有形的手”的作用共同获得企业和政府的双赢。     

IS HISPANIC POPULATION DISPERSION INTO RURAL COUNTIES CONTRIBUTING TO LOCAL ECONOMIC GROWTH?

In the 1990s, rural counties in the United States, which had been losing population, became the destinations for an increasing number of Hispanics, slowing and in some cases reversing population declines. In this paper, we examine whether faster growth in the Hispanic population is linked to faster growth in income per capita in rural counties. Our results indicate strong support for the hypothesis that population growth caused by the increase in Hispanics, whether from international immigrants, migrants from within the United States, or from natural growth in families, has fueled increased economic growth in those small, rural communities whose populations had been in decline during the 1970s or the 1980s. (JEL J15, J61, R11)     

CAN STATE TAX POLICIES BE USED TO GROW SMALL AND LARGE BUSINESSES?

The existing literature studying the relationship between small business activity and U.S. state tax policy has focused primarily on a few measures of small business. We expand this literature by estimating the effect of state tax policy on small businesses by using broader measures of small business activity using a longitudinal dataset for the U.S. states. We also estimate the relationship between state tax policy and large business activity. Results provide evidence that state tax policy can influence small business firm, establishment, payroll, and employment growth in important ways but provide limited evidence that such policy significantly influences large business growth. (JEL H2, H7, R1)     

DO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS MATTER TO TAIWAN'S EXPORTS? A DYNAMIC PANEL APPROACH

This article analyses whether and how Taiwan's exports are sensitive to national differences in intellectual property right (IPR) protection, as well as the degree of imitation threat. Applying a longitudinal IPR index developed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and using the generalized method of moments dynamic panel data modelling technique to control for endogeneity and panel unit root problems, the empirical results show that the strength of importing countries' IPR protection has a positive impact on Taiwan's exports, supporting the standpoint of market expansion that stronger IPR protection will induce more trade. Under various classification systems to differentiate the degree of threat of imitation across countries, both positive and negative export effects of IPR are found in Taiwan's case. However, the pattern of threat of imitation–trade nexus seems to contradict theory predictions. Moreover, high‐tech exports are found be more IPR sensitive than non‐high‐tech exports.     

DO DEPOSITORS RESPOND RATIONALLY TO BANK RISKS? EVIDENCE FROM JAPANESE BANKS DURING CRISES

This paper empirically examines depositors' ability to distinguish healthy banks from problematic banks, a necessary condition for depositors to impose discipline on banking institutions. We analyzed a large panel of 784 deposit‐taking institutions in Japan during the period from the 1992 financial year to the 2002 financial year. Our estimates indicate that depositors rightly appreciated the difference between healthy banks and risky banks, and that depositors of larger institutions are more sensitive to the bank risks than those of smaller institutions. We further argue that the estimated risk sensitivities of depositors are large enough to discipline the deposit‐taking institutions.     

DO LABOUR SOCIETIES PERFORM DIFFERENTLY TO COOPERATIVES? EVIDENCE FROM THE SPANISH BUILDING INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT: Labour Societies and Cooperatives are both Social Economy enterprises, but with noticeable differences, some of which are imposed by legislation in Spain. The aim of this paper is to study whether such differences affect their management capacity and, in particular, efficiency. In doing so, Data Envelopment Analysis techniques and the metafrontier approach proposed by O’Donnell et al. (2008) are used on a sample of Spanish Labour Societies and Cooperatives belonging to the building industry. Scores of technical efficiency and metafrontier ratios are computed at firm level and, as a novel contribution to existing literature in this field of research, at input‐specific level. The main finding shows that Cooperatives enjoy some technological advantages over Labour Societies, particularly in regard to the management of labour, fixed assets and current assets.     

HOW TO VALUE THE POORER PROSPECTS OF YOUTH IN THE EARLY 1990s?

Young workers in the 1990s can expect greater economic insecurity, as well as lower average earnings, compared to older workers, or compared to the youth of previous decades. The cost of greater insecurity depends upon an individual's probability of unemployment, marginal utility of income gains/losses and the extent to which individuals can smooth consumption over time by borrowing and drawing down assets. Since unemployment insurance cutbacks and higher unemployment have increased the risk exposure of youth, changes in the expected value of their income may understate utility losses as measured by the change in certainty equivalent income.
This paper uses a behavioural microsimulation model to compare the impacts of 1971 and 1994 unemployment insurance legislation and unemployment rates in Canada. It calculates both the expected value of income changes and, using a Stone-Geary utility function, the change in inequality of well-being (as measured by certainty equivalent income) for youth and for prime age workers. Both calculations reveal that youth were disproportionately affected by Canada's changing labour market environment. Very few youth have enough assets to finance consumption during spells of unemployment.     

DOES APPRECIATION OF THE RENMINBI DECREASE IMPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES FROM CHINA?

In 2005, China abated its fixed exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and began to appreciate the Renminbi (RMB). In this paper, I explore the effect of the appreciation of the RMB on imports to the United States from China by augmenting the gravity model with the exchange rate. Using an industrial panel data set during the period 2002–2008 and controlling for the endogeneity of the bilateral exchange rate, this extensive empirical analysis suggests that the appreciation of the RMB against the U.S. dollar significantly reduced imports to the United States from China. This finding is robust to a variety of econometric methods and to coverage in different periods. (JEL F1, F2)     

FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO COOPERATE IN ECOSYSTEM SERVICE PROVISION: DOES TRUST MATTER?

Ecosystem service provision in agriculture may require cooperation between farmers. Trust fosters cooperation in many economic and social interactions and is important to the success of traditional agricultural cooperatives. Little is known about how trust affects farmers’ willingness to cooperate to provide an ecosystem service, what types of trust are most important, and under what conditions trust may matter. In this study, we present results of a survey of Missouri crop farmers exploring the role trust plays in farmers’ stated willingness to cooperate to control pests. We find that most farmers say they are willing to cooperate, and most farmers are willing to trust others. However, we find little evidence that trust positively influences farmers’ willingness to cooperate to control pests. Instead, we find that trust may only matter under certain conditions, such as when participants’ farms are dissimilar, and that other determinants, such as the perceived benefit of cooperation and environmental concern, are more important than trust to farmers who are contemplating cooperation to control pests.