A positive theory of government debt

A government that cannot commit to future policy choices faces a trade-off that explains the level of debt. On the one hand, there is an incentive to increase debt and delay taxation, so as to reduce current distortions. On the other hand, inflating current prices lowers the real value of nominal debt and so there is a motive to reduce it now. The size of long-run debt will depend on the interaction of these two opposing incentives. The critical determinant is the willingness of households to substitute away from goods being taxed by inflation. Numerical simulations show that the model matches some qualitative and quantitative properties of U.S. policy variables, including the fact that wars are frequently financed with a mix of instruments. The theory interprets the unusual post-World War II inflation and fast liquidation of accumulated debt as being due to higher long-run debt and expenditure in the period leading up to the war.     

欧盟金融服务市场准入法律制度研究

欧盟金融服务市场准入的发展,是金融服务逐步自由化的代表。金融服务自由化必须以法律制度的完善为基础,法律制度的确立和运作应该与金融服务发展的实际相结合。欧盟的实践经验验证了这一点,其经验对中国加入WTO之后逐步完善规范金融服务市场准入的法律制度具有一定的借鉴价值。     

Trade liberalization, foreign ownership, and the environment in a small open economy

This paper examines the effects of trade liberalization on firm ownership and the environment for a small open economy. It is found that trade liberalization via tariff reductions can result in a dramatic switch in firm ownership from domestic to foreign, coupled with a lower pollution tax.     

Do liberal trade policies promote trade openness?

Although trade liberalization and trade openness are assumed to be strongly associated with each other and often used interchangeably, the empirical evidence has not been forthcoming. This article is an attempt to fill this gap. By investigating the link between trade openness and trade restrictions, it argues that while a negative link between various types of trade restrictions and trade openness is evident, the relationship is weak, statistically not always significant and there is no clear evidence that the removal of trade restrictions (trade‐liberalization) invariably leads to improved trade openness.     

Peaking of fiscal sizes of government

Transfers, spending, and tax revenue peaked as percentages of the gross national product (GNP) in most OECD countries during 1972–1992. The evidence suggests that a number of countries pushed transfers close to or perhaps beyond sustainable limits imposed by the Laffer curve. Namely: (i) stylized calculations of Laffer limits suggest peak fiscal sizes in the range of observed peaks in the countries with the greatest peak sizes; and (ii) the countries with the greatest peak sizes had the greatest declines in fiscal sizes from peaks until 1992.     

基于“钻石模型”的中国服务贸易竞争力分析及其对策

本文首先介绍迈克尔·波特的“钻石模型”，进而对我国服务贸易的国际竞争力进行了分析，从服务贸易出口世界占有率、服务贸易知识含量以及国内服务贸易品种与地区结构三个方面揭示我国服务贸易存在的问题，最后提出发展我国服务贸易的相关对策建议。     

政府采购领域商业贿赂表现形式及对策

通过分析政府采购的工作实践中存在的不正当采购行为的表现形式及由此所引发的结果，提出了治理政府采购领域商业贿赂的对策建立健全有效预防和治理商业贿赂的工作机制，进一步说明了商业贿赂是政府采购工作的大敌，高度重视治理政府采购领域的商业贿赂工作，有利于营造和谐的政府采购环境，使政府采购领域成为一片“公平公正竞争”的净土。     

The role of credit constraints and government subsidies in farmland valuations in the US: an options pricing model approach

The Modigliani–Miller (M–M) theorem of financial asset theory concludes that asset values are independent of financing. In other words, debt-solvency (credit constraints) does not affect asset values. Therefore, using the M–M theorem one can argue that credit constraints in the farm sector (where land is the most important asset) do not affect the value of farmland. However, this proof relies on several arbitrage assumptions that are violated in the case of agricultural assets. This paper examines the effect of debt-solvency and government payments on changes in annual farmland values by state in the United States. Using panel cointergration method, results indicate that farmland values are significantly affected by both solvency and government payments. In addition, the results imply that government payments may affect agricultural asset values beyond the direct effect hypothesized in the literature.      

On the growth and welfare effects of monopolistic distortions

The most fundamental proposition about growth and competition is that there is a tradeoff between static welfare and long-term growth. This paper reconsiders this basic proposition in an expanding variety endogenous growth model with competitive markets for “old” innovative products and for a traditional good. We shed light on some implications of monopolistic distortions which tend to be ignored by standard models. First, no growth may be better than some growth, since modest positive growth potentially requires sizeable static welfare losses. Second, the economy may converge to a steady state with zero growth, even though a locally saddle-point stable steady state with positive growth exists if the initial share of “cheap” competitive markets is sufficiently high, as this implies a relatively low demand for “expensive” innovative goods. Third, such a “no-growth trap” may happen in a world economy made up of several countries engaged in free trade with each other. The policy implications are that growth-enhancing policies may be misguided and that quick deregulation as well as quick trade liberalization can lead to stagnation in the long term.      

Does mutual recognition of qualifications stimulate services trade? The case of the European Union

This article analyses the services trade impact of recognition of professional qualifications using a unique database compiled by the European Commission. It observes that there is large variation in the number of regulated professions across the EU. The number of recognitions is small relative to total employment in regulated professions. Nevertheless, a robust positive relationship between services trade and recognition of qualifications is found. Recognition stimulates two-way trade between the source and the host country, suggesting that arms-length exports as well as cross-border outsourcing take place. Recognitions in health and education professions are most strongly related to services trade.     

Government size,government debt and globalization

This article empirically investigates the effect of globalization on government size and debt. Using panel heterogeneous cointegration techniques to a panel of developing and developed countries, it finds that globalization reduces government size and debt. In terms of components of globalization, government size is found to increase with trade openness but decreases with financial, social and political globalization. On the other hand, government debt increases with financial and trade openness but decreases with social and political globalization. The evidence is robust to different estimation methods and different samples. Our data also indicate unidirectional causality running from globalization measures to government size and debt.     

外部风险对中国地方政府规模的影响

本文利用我国28个省市区1978—2006年的数据,分析了我国外部风险对地方政府规模的影响。研究发现,在当前我国更为开放的市场经济中,外部风险导致了地方政府规模的扩大,且外部风险与社会保障和社会福利支出显著正相关。为了抵御外部风险,必须把一部分经济资源配置到政府部门,以增加社会保障和社会福利等方面的支出。     

Leisure time, savings and trade patterns A two-country growth model

This paper proposes a simple two-country endogenous growth model with endogenous consumption, leisure time and wealth accumulation. The model examines possible causes for the world economic growth and the existence and persistence of trade patterns between countries with different preferceces and human capital under internationally free capital mobility. We show how differences in preferences in consumption, leisure time and wealth between the two countries may affect long-run world economic growth.     

企业与机关事业单位离退休人员养老待遇差异研究

企业与机关事业单位离退休人员的养老金存在差距已是不争的事实。研究发现,1999—2009年它们之间的差距呈不断扩大趋势,但差异扩张的速度在下降。造成企业与机关事业单位养老金差异的原因主要是二者之间养老金的计发基础不同,替代率差异较大,养老金调节机制不同。如果不及时解决二者的差异,将产生不可估量的社会风险。建议构建全民统一的基本险加强制性补充险构成的双层次养老保险制度,调整现有的养老金替代率政策,优化企业退休人员基本养老金补助政策。     

培育和发挥我国行业协会在反倾销作用中的政府行为研究

在国际竞争中，政府在许多场合充当了重要的角色，但在反倾销中却难以走到前台，若撇开政府让熟悉微观运行的企业去参与反倾销，又会出现许多问题，这些问题又会引发本国企业在反倾销中的惧怕和畏缩，从而放弃中诉和应诉，进一步损害国家和企业本身的切身利益。行业协会是市场经济的必然产物，它作为一种企业的社会中介能够发挥政府无法替代的作用。所以我国政府也应当随着市场经济的逐步完善进一步转变政府职能，培育行业协会以便其在反倾销中发挥应有的作用。     

Public spending and growth: The role of government accountability

This paper examines the role of institutions in the nexus between public spending and economic growth. Empirical results based on a newly assembled dataset of 80 countries over the 1970–2010 period suggest that particularly when institutions prompt governments to be accountable to the general citizen does public capital spending promote growth. Taking account of the type of financing for this spending, we show that the growth-promoting effect under an accountable government appears to prevail for various financing sources, including a reallocation from current spending, an increase in revenue, and a rise in the budget deficit. However, government accountability does not seem to play a key role in the growth effects of current spending.     

中国流域生态补偿中的政府作用研究

流域生态补偿封解决经济发展和流域环境保护的“两难”困境具有深远的意义,但目前对流域生态补偿的概念认识模糊,不利于生态补偿的展开和生态环境保护目标的实现。通过对中国流域生态补偿案例的总结分析,揭示中国流域生态补偿政府主导的特点,并根据在流域生态补偿各阶段的实践经验,提出中国进行流域生态补偿机制建立过程中应注意的问题和相关建议。