FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES,INCOME INEQUALITY,AND POVERTY: EVIDENCE FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The past two decades have witnessed widespread attempts to reform fossil fuel subsidies in developing countries. If the reforms are likely to improve economic efficiency, the expected effects on income distribution and poverty are more controversial. This paper reviews the recent literature that examines the impacts of fossil fuel subsidies and their reforms on income inequality and poverty in developing countries. It identifies the different channels that have been explored in the literature and surveys the empirical evidence on the importance of these channels in practice. Drawing on diverse country experiences, it also discusses why fossil fuel subsidies are particularly challenging to reform and highlights several ways in which efforts to reform may be feasible and successful.     

股票指数期货：工具与监管

本文从股票指数期货在金融交易中发挥的作用、股票指数期货交易的开设对股票市场波动性的影响、以及我国当前的股票市场交易制度与监管三个层面上对开设股票指数期货交易进行分析研究,并指出:就股票指数期货作为一种金融衍生工具而言,我国应该及早引入股票指数期货,以提高股票市场的运作效率。同时考虑到我国经济正在进行深层次的结构性调整,市场交易制度有其自身的特点,当前更应着重加强资本市场的制度建设,提高监管力度,为早日开设股票指数期货交易创造条件。     

Corruption, institutions and regulation

We analyze the effects of corruption and institutional quality on the quality of business regulation. Our key findings indicate that corruption negatively affects the quality of regulation and that general institutional quality is insignificant once corruption is controlled for. These findings hold over a number of specifications which include additional exogenous historical and geographic controls. The findings imply that policy makers can focus on curbing corruption to improve regulation, over wider institutional reform.     

政府管制、事务所规模与审计意见——基于我国SEO管制的实证研究

结合我国特有的SEO管制环境,从制度变迁的视角动态地考察事务所规模对审计意见签发的影响及其相应的监管后果。经验数据表明,事务所规模对审计意见签发的作用程度会随着SEO管制环境的加强而得到强化,表现为小型会计师事务所在管制环境变迁后显著的不倾向于签发非标意见,而监管者对这一行为在统计上并没有如同变迁前一样进行有效的识别。本文的研究不仅为深入理解事务所规模对审计意见签发的作用程度受制度变迁的影响及其监管后果提供了直接的经验证据,也为当前我国证券市场的改革提供一定的政策启示。     

DESIRABILITY AND SEQUENCE OF LIBERALIZATION AND STRUCTURAL REFORM POLICIES IN A MODEL WITH INFORMAL SECTOR

The paper develops a three-sector general equilibrium model with informal sector and examines the welfare effects of liberalization and structural reform in the presence of labor and capital market distortions. It attempts to determine a credible sequence of reforms that may be the most welfare-enhancing, since implementation of reforms in all the markets at a single stage may be neither feasible nor optimal. Foreign capital is welfare-improving only in the presence of labor market distortion, while welfare deteriorates if the capital market is distorted. While tariff and capital market reforms may be welfare-enhancing in the absence of labor market distortion, labor market reform may intensify the formal-informal wage gap and have a worsening effect on welfare in the presence of tariff distortion and capital market imperfection. One of the plausible sequences of reforms may be to initially undertake tariff reform followed by capital and labor market reforms, respectively.     

Critical factors in technological innovation and their policy implications

This paper explores the critical factors which affect the innovation proccess. Some ways in which some of these factors can be influenced by appropriate policy measures are discussed. In particular, the role of the federal government in promoting innovation is discussed.The role of the government in stimulating and nurturing the innovation process is a controversial one. Proponents of the free enterprise system, many of whom are spokespersons for various industries, have persistently pointed out the deleterious effects of regulation and control on the innovation process. By contrast, advocates of an activist government role are often able to cite the protection of the common welfare as a primary need for government intervention. In truth, the “government” is a patchwork of many governments, operating through many agencies and affecting firms and individuals at several levels and leverage points. The same regulation that has deleterious effects on Industry A may be a stimulus for innovation in Industry B. Even in Industry A, the regulation may act as a force in directing efforts toward certain types of R&D programs that would not otherwise be undertaken.In this paper we examine the specific instances where innovation projects, both product or process types, were affected by government regulation. We also briefly review the critical factors which affect the innovation process and how various governments in industrialized countries have taken actions to influence these factors. Finally, we examine some general guidelines for policymaking purposes.     

FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION IN SUB‐SAHARAN AFRICA: WHAT DO WE KNOW?

Abstract Beginning from the early 1980s countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa embarked on financial liberalization policies with a view to reversing the ill‐effects of financial repression. This paper provides a survey of financial liberalization in Sub‐Saharan African countries over the period 1980 to 2004. Our review of empirical studies showed that financial liberalization has had diverse and contrasting effects on savings, investment and economic growth. Most studies found a significant positive effect of financial liberalization on investment whereas its effect on savings has been largely insignificant. The evidence on the effect on economic growth is inconclusive as different studies find contrasting results. It is found that financial liberalization policies have not had the desired and expected results as both financial and macroeconomic variables have not improved following financial liberalization in these countries. This calls for a rethinking of financial liberalization in Sub‐Saharan African countries. It is important that financial liberalization is carried out in a stable macroeconomic environment. In addition to this, there should be a building and reform of institutions and the strengthening of prudential regulation. Following this, financial liberalization can be embarked upon but it must be properly sequenced and not rushed.     

Corruption,regulation, and growth: an empirical study of the United States

This paper investigates whether the costs of corruption are conditional on the extent of government intervention in the economy. We use data on corruption convictions and economic growth between 1975 and 2007 across the US states to test this hypothesis. Although no state approaches the level of government intervention found in many developing countries, we still find evidence for the “weak” form of the grease-the-wheels hypothesis. While corruption is never good for growth, its harmful effects are smaller in states with more regulation.     

母国规制演化视角下我国海外直接投资的趋势特征与未来展望

我国作为发展中大国,开放型规制政策是当前海外直接投资(ODI)可持续发展的制度支撑.自改革开放以来,中国海外直接投资(ODI)规制经历了三个演化阶段,规制范式已从限制型规制、便利型规制逐渐演化为鼓励型规制.本文对我国海外直接投资(ODI)发展阶段进行了客观判断,发现改革开放以来我国海外直接投资的演变特征与邓宁的投资发展...     

Price distortion in the transition process: A CGE analysis of China's case

The correct evaluation of price distortion is a prerequisite for designing the correct price reform policy which is of tremendous importance in the transitions process from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the advantages and shortcomings of various criteria for evaluating price distortion. Based on the characteristics of a two-tiered planned-market system in Chinese economic reform, a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model has been built to evaluate quantitatively the degree of price distortion in the prevailing price system and the effects of price adjustments in order to propose a reasonable price reform policy. The difference between the planned price and the equilibrium price seems to be a better indicator for evaluating the degree of price distortion than others. Furthermore, this difference provides more accurate feedback for price reform policies in order to ensure a stable and controllable price reform process.     

Uncertain availability,spatial location and regulation: An application to the airline industry

This paper presents an analysis of industries characterized by both uncertain availability and spatial location of the product. The analyis is applied to the US airline industry and is used to analyze the differential effect of price regulation on different markets and firms. From this analysis we obtain insights into which firms and markets may have benefited most from the deregulation of the industry in 1978. Previous works on the regulation of the airline industry implicitly assume that markets have the same demand structure. If airline services are of homogeneous quality, men we do not expect the unregulated solution to depend on demand structures. If on the other hand airline services vary in their quality component, then different markets may have different equilibrium price-quality combinations depending on the characteristics of demand. This paper explores the implication of different demand structures on the impact of (de)regulation.     

School Finance Reform and Private School Enrollment: Evidence from California

Abstract: This paper uses the school finance reforms in California in the 1970s to examine whether the constraints such reforms impose on school districts lead to switching to private schools. Misspecifications of demand in previous work have led to understatement of reform effects. An empirical model of schooling share equations is derived from a discrete choice framework. Large biases are shown to result from failure to account for heterogeneity of demanders and school-district-specific fixed effects. Simulations indicate that the changes in public provision potentially resulting from reform explain a sizeable portion of the growth in the private school share.     

Securitization, liquidity, and the Brady plan

Securitization of bank loans is proposed as a solution to the ongoing debt difficulties for emerging market nations. This paper analyzes the effects of the Brady plan for four participating countries. In addition to resolving repayment problems, the plan had a statistically significant effect on prices due to its positive impact on liquidity. Previously, the market for traded bank debt was illiquid and dominated by a few large traders who depressed the price by exerting oligopsony power. By using Perron’s method of discerning breaks, it is found that the introduction of bonds led to structural change in the LDC secondary debt market. These effects are in addition to those of debt resolution and domestic reform.     

Regulation, Corporate Social Responsibility and Activism

This paper analyzes the interplay between firms' self-regulation (often denoted as corporate social responsibility) as opposed to the formal regulation of a negative externality. Firms respond to increasing activism in the market (conscious consumers that take into account the external effects of their purchase) by providing more socially responsible goods. However, because regulation is the outcome of a political process, an increase in activism might imply an inefficiently high externality level. This may happen when a majority of non-activist consumers collectively free-ride on conscious consumers. By determining a softer than optimal regulation, they benefit from the behavior of firms, yet they have access to cheaper (although less efficient) goods .     

Human resource strategies,workplace reform and industrial restructuring in Australia and New Zealand

In recent years, Australia and New Zealand have pursued two different routes of labour market reform. New Zealand opted for a radical experiment in the deregulation of industrial relations and other areas. Australia pursued a co-operative and co-ordinated approach to reform within the centralized arbitral system. Both reform initiatives were designed to stimulate improvements in organizational performance and cost competitiveness. In this paper, we argue that there are three main types of strategies that management can use to reduce labour cost and improve performance: productivity-enhancement, costminimization and work-intensification strategies. We argue that the former is a long-term sustainable strategy whereas the latter two are negative short-term strategies that may have deleterious longer-term effects. This paper reports the results of a cross-national survey in New Zealand and Australia into the extent of adoption of these management strategies. The results are presented by industry, employment size, mode of operation and countries as a whole. The research findings indicate that New Zealand's decentralization has encouraged a higher degree of employer experimentation with both positive and negative workplace change strategies, especially in the private sector. Australia's more centralized system limited the use of cost-minimization strategies but not productivity-enhancing strategies in the public and not-for-profit sector. The research found evidence of work intensification in both countries.     

FDI、环境规制与技术进步——基于中国省级数据的实证分析

本文利用中国30个省区市2000～2009年的数据考查FDI技术溢出效应、环境规制强度对工业技术进步的影响,同时估算了环境规制强度对FDI溢出效应的工业技术进步边际效应的影响,结果发现FDI溢出效应阻碍了各地区工业技术的进步,加强环境规制有利于各地区工业技术进步,而且环境规制对促进FDI溢出的边际效应存在显著影响。另外通过对各地区工业进行国有企业、私营企业以及"三资"企业分组后,发现环境规制强度对促进技术进步、FDI溢出存在异质性影响。     

城市基础设施运营的市场管制机制

运用当代主流管制理论的基本观点,构建了我国城市基础设施的市场管制的结构体系.重点围绕经济性管制和社会性管制,分别阐述了各种管制的原因、措施.针对我国城市基础设施发展的实际,本文突出了价格管制、服务质量和社会公乎管制等方面,就价格管制模型、消费者和政府的质量管制机制的方式等进行了详细的探讨.     

Legal rights,information sharing,and private credit: New cross-country evidence

Using improved measures and recent data from Doing Business, this paper reexamines the effects of legal systems and information-sharing on private credit. The results indicate that stronger legal rights, better contract enforceability and better information sharing are associated with higher private credit to GDP ratios across countries. These effects are significant even when the sample is restricted to include either developing countries only or poor countries only, but the effects of both legal rights and enforcement are stronger the richer the countries. Still, there is no evidence of substitution patterns among credit market institutions in poor countries. Overall, this paper may be viewed as enhancing the robustness as well as the generalizability of earlier evidence aimed at establishing a link between legal and information-sharing institutions on one hand, and the size of credit market on other hand.     

Competition,regulation and bribery: A further note

In this note we extend the analysis of Beck and Maher (1989) concerning the effects of discriminatory anti-bribery regulation. We argue that their approaches are challengeable due to an additional assumption that is most likely inconsistent with the benchmark model. Upon discarding the controversial assumption, we have an asymmetric bribery game. The corresponding Bayesian Nash equilibrium is nonetheless possessed with the properties described in Beck and Maher, despite the fact that their approaches may be incorrect.     

产权住房选择性供给支持中的激励规制风险研究

在经济适用住房的供给中,政府通过土地划拨、价格规制等方式选择性支持中低收入人群解决住房问题。在拓展垄断产品供给的激励规制模型下,构建经济适用住房供给支持的激励规制模型,分析存在信息偏在和规制俘获情况下的政府激励规制风险。同时,给出最佳规制情况下政府为弥合信息偏在风险所支付的信息租金、高成本企业效率损失租金以及政府为维护社会公平风险所支付的公平租金,并基于此探讨我国经济适用住房政策未来的改革方向。