Bank Income Diversification,Asset Correlation and Systemic Risk

This paper explores whether the asset correlations among the non-interest activities of banks are the key causes for enhancing the bank diversification-systemic risk nexus. Our empirical evidence indicates that banks' income diversification significantly raises systemic risk. After removing those banks with high asset correlations, the effect of individual banks' diversification on banking systemic risk turns insignificant or even inverse. The results show that high asset correlations among banks could introduce bank failures, thereby leading to higher systemic risk in the financial sector.     

论农村信用社的产权多元化

信用社有着自己的基本特征。中国农村信用社实践中存在三大误区:与集体经济相提并论;信用中介与一般中介特征相混淆;改革中出现行政化、机关化问题突出。因此,进行农信社的产权多元化是关键。本文分析的逻辑表明,我国农信社的改革应坚持两条道路,一是将多数农信社改造为商业银行;二是按照合作原则对部分农信社改造成真正意义上的信用社组织。     

Currency Substitution in Laos

This study investigates the determinants of currency substitution in Laos based on the function of money demand. The empirical model is estimated using the autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration for the period 1993–2012. Our estimation results indicate that the interest rate differential is a significant currency substitution determinant in the Laos economy. Moreover, there is evidence supporting the existence of a ratchet effect in the currency allocation of deposits, implying that particularly strong policies should be pursued over an extended period of time in order to convince depositors to switch back to kip‐denominated assets.     

社会组织与农村贫困主体消除的多元化

贫困所描述的现象是由于制度缺失而导致的诸多社会现象中的一种。消除贫困是摆在中国政府面前的一项艰巨任务。我国目前农村贫困现象非常严重。政府一直是消除农村贫困的唯一主体。由于其自身所具备的特点,身处国家体制外社会组织参与扶贫对于缓解和消灭农村贫困现象,提高农村贫困救助的效率,实现农村贫困救助主体的多元化有良好的促进作用。     

Two Decades of Declining Poverty but Rising Inequality in Laos

Over the past two decades consumption inequality has risen within Laos, while absolute poverty incidence has halved. The estimated Gini coefficient of private household expenditures per person rose from 0.311 to 0.364. This increase in the sample‐based estimate of inequality was statistically significant and occurred in all regions, in both rural and urban areas and among all major ethnic, educational and sectoral employment categories. Within‐group increases in inequality dominated between‐group changes. Official policy largely overlooks this point, focusing on reducing inequality between rather than within major groups. Economic inequality seems certain to become a more pressing policy concern.     

我国环境保护投融资主体多元化的发展趋势

新中国成立60年来,我国环境保护投入资金的渠道已从单纯的政府财政扩展为政府和企业双支柱。然而,为了扩大资金来源、提高投资管理效率、分散项目风险,我国环境保护投融资必须走多元化发展的道路。在新的社会环境和经济环境下,我国投融资多元化的方式将不断创新和发展,呈现出政府角色逐步丰富、受益者及污染制造者缴费制度建立、民间资本参与方式多样化、公益性捐助作用增大等主要趋势。     

Financial literacy,financial inclusion,and savings behavior in Laos

This study examines the effects of financial literacy on financial inclusion and savings behavior in Laos. Compared to previous literature, we use a broader definition of financial literacy which covers not only financial knowledge but also financial behavior and financial attitudes. We also use a new definition of financial inclusion which goes beyond the supply-side perspective to consider the consumer’s perspective. To do so, we use the survey instrument designed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development International Network on Financial Education. We also used more reliable instrumental variables to investigate the effects of financial literacy on financial inclusion (and its components) and savings behavior. We find that financial literacy has statistically positive effects on both financial inclusion and savings. Moreover, the effects of financial literacy on different measures of financial inclusion vary. Our results further show that individuals with higher financial literacy scores are more likely to hold savings in both formal and informal forms than those who have lower financial literacy scores, even when we control for income and education.     

我国中央企业重组驱动的多元化与EVA研究

中央企业重组是实现国有经济布局和结构调整、提高我国综合国力的重要内容,也是提高央企核心竞争能力、实现可持续发展的要求。中央企业重组带动了多元化战略的实施。文章对2007-2009年央企控股上市公司多元化类型与EVA关系进行了研究,并分析了多元化构成要素的专业化率和关联率对EVA的影响。研究表明:相关多元化央企EVA最高,单一型央企EVA最低;关联率与EVA正相关,专业率与EVA呈U型相关。在此基础上提出了政策建议,本文的研究成果对推进央企重组具有参考价值。     

Urban agriculture promotes sustainable livelihoods in Cape Town

Urban agriculture has long been endorsed as a means to promote food security and economic wellbeing in African cities. However, the South African context presents mixed results. In order to establish the contributions of urban agriculture to sustainable livelihoods, the sustainable livelihoods framework is applied to a case study on cultivators from Cape Town’s Cape Flats. This study contributes to the empirical literature on urban agriculture by providing a deeper understanding of the benefits cultivators themselves attribute to urban agriculture. The key finding is that cultivators use urban agriculture in highly complex ways to build sustainable livelihoods. NGOs are central to this process. Distrust, crime and a lack of resources are, however, limiting factors. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to support pro-poor urban agriculture in African urban centres.