The political economy of tax projections

This paper addresses the political economy of tax projections. It argues that governments face incentives to present upward biased tax projections. In election years, this may help them to increase the chance of reelection. If this chance is low, biased tax projections help governments to bring forward favorable expenditures and to burden their successors. These hypotheses are tested using West German states between 1992 and 2002. While there is only weak support for a general upward bias in tax projection and the importance of elections and partisanship, the degree of overestimation is found to be significantly higher, the less popular the incumbent party is and the poorer the state-specific economic performance.     

中小企业融资中的银企关系

多年来,中小企业融资一直处于尴尬局面,备受融资难的困扰。据国家信息中心和国务院中国企业家调查系统等机构的调查,中小企业短期贷款缺口大,长期贷款更无着落。这主要是各大银行贷款一直"嫌贫爱富"、"嫌小爱大"。但近两年以来,各商业银行开始大力拼抢小企业信贷市场,使长期被银行资金所冷落的中小企业,成为了中国金融机构眼中的"香饽饽"。中小     

The political economy of implementing environmental taxes

This paper considers the problems that countries have encountered in three areas: technical design issues, the treatment of the distributional effects of environmental taxes arising as a result of intramarginal transfers, and defining the purpose of the tax. It concludes that it would have been possible to predict and often avoid many of the reasons for failure to successfully implement ecotaxes. The paper draws on work of the OECD Joint Sessions on Taxation and the Environment in looking at strategies for the successful implementation of environmental taxes.     

The political economy of derived pension rights

Derived pension rights (including survivor benefits and spousal compensations for one-earner couples) exist in most Social Security systems but with variable generosity. They are mainly viewed as a means to alleviate poverty among older women living alone. The purpose of this paper is to explain how they can emerge from a political economy process when Social Security is a combination of Bismarckian and Beveridgean pillars. We find that the pension system should be contributive but with a positive level of derived rights. We also show that such a system encourages stay-at-home wives, thus revealing an unpleasant trade-off between female labor participation and poverty alleviation.     

正确引导民间融资，推动区域经济健康发展

随着国家宏观经济政策和人民银行货币政策的调整,区域金融机构用于支持当地经济发展的资金明显减少。一方面,区域经济突飞猛进,原有企业和新建项目需要大量资金;另一方面,金融机构贷款业务萎缩,支援经济发展的投入杯水车薪,自身经营效益日趋下降。以衡水市故城县为例,该县2007年新增投资亿元以上项目5个,5000万元以上的项目10个,1000万元以上的项目50个。     

Elections,political competition and bank failure

We exploit exogenous variation in the scheduling of gubernatorial elections to study the timing of bank failure in the US. Using hazard analysis, we show that bank failure is about 45% less likely in the year leading up to an election. Political control (i.e., lack of competition) can explain all of this average election year fall in the hazard rate. In particular, we show that the reduction in hazard rate doubles in magnitude for banks operating in states where the governor has simultaneous control of the upper and lower houses of the state legislature (i.e., complete control) heading into an election.     

Monetary policy and regional availability of debt financing

The relative availability of bond and bank financing should affect the firm's external financing and investment decisions. We define a measure that proxies for the regional borrowing inflexibility to substitute between bank and bond financing: “debt inflexibility”. Debt inflexibility tilts the firm's financial structure towards equity and reduces investment. The impact is stronger during the period of tight monetary policy, particularly for smaller firms and firms without banking relationships. Debt inflexibility increases the sensitivity of cash holdings to cash flows, reduces the likelihood of dividend payment and makes the firm more likely to pay equity in mergers and acquisitions.     

The political economy of mixed public and private schooling: A dynamic analysis

This paper analyzes the political economy of education, acquired through a combination of compulsory public schooling and supplementary private education, in the context of an OLG model in which growth is driven by the accumulation of human capital. The level of public schooling, fully funded by a proportional income tax, is determined by majority vote, while supplementary private education is purchased individually. We show existence of a political-economic equilibrium, and examine its characteristics, describing the evolution of the publicprivate mix over time: for moderate parameter values the share of public schooling increases as incomes rise, and inequality falls.     

银行卡欺诈问题及其对策

银行卡欺诈问题一直以来都受到业界关注。如何制定反欺诈策略是目前反欺诈部门的主管面临的一项特殊挑战。     

The political economy of corporate governance in developing economies: The case of Bangladesh

The paper investigates the influence of concentrated shareholding, boardroom politics and interest group politics in the quality of corporate governance in listed firms. It finds that the controlling shareholders exert influence in boardroom politics through family-aligned board and executive management. The evidence shows that concentrated ownership, family-aligned board and management, and political connection(s) of the controlling shareholder(s) tend to be inversely associated with the quality of corporate governance in a firm. The findings of the study suggest that the broad-based interest group politics which influence both political preference and corporate control politics contribute significantly to the current state of corporate governance in developing economies.     

Access to bank financing and the collateral channel: The case of Tunisian firms before and after the revolution

This article is aimed to study the impact of collateral liquidity on debt-access. Such an effect is proven with regard to the difficult economic conditions which ensued from the Tunisian revolution in 2011. The results show that the previously acquired liquid assets enhance debt access. This result is realized by a first measure through the positive relationship between inventories and short term debt and between fixed assets and long term debt. A second measure highlights the positive effect of lands, buildings, machineries and equipments and the negative effect of other fixed assets on debt-access. After the revolution, the creditors lowered their lending to firms to deal with liquidity shocks in the monetary market. Also, they became more selective through their excessive demand for liquid collateral. This result is justified by the intensive effect of real estate assets (lands and buildings) and by the regressive effect of the movable assets (machineries, equipments and other fixed assets).     

十二大举措改善实体经济融资缺口

四大投融资政策解读 第一,在需求侧围绕有效投资,扩大有效投资.有效投资兼顾短期和长期,既拉动短期需求,同时要看到长期对经济有效的拉动作用.最重要的着力点是要确保到2020年全面建成小康社会."十三五"规划期间,中国平均每年的经济增长速度约为6.5%,全面建成小康社会是中国"五个全面"中领头的第一个,这也是中共中央对全国人民的庄严承诺.为保持到2020年全面建成小康社会,虽然目前消费已经成为拉动经济的主动力,但必要的投资对稳增长非常重要.初步预测,如果到2020年每年经济增长保持在6.5%,投资约增长8%,就可以保障全面建成小康社会的主要目标.     

随着投资和信贷激增 中国经济加快复苏

亚洲开发银行发布的《2009年亚洲发展展望》更新版预测,由于银行贷款和固定资产投资的激增,中国的经济增长率2009年将达到8.2%,这个数字要比亚行在3月份的预期高出1.2个百分点。     

The implications of unverifiable fair-value accounting: Evidence from the political economy of goodwill accounting

I study the evolution of SFAS 142, which uses unverifiable fair-value estimates to account for acquired goodwill. I find evidence consistent with the FASB issuing SFAS 142 in response to political pressure over its proposal to abolish pooling accounting. The result is interesting given this proposal was due in part to SEC concerns over pooling misuse. I also find evidence consistent with lobbying support for SFAS 142 increasing in firms’ discretion under the standard. Agency theory predicts such unverifiable discretion can be used opportunistically.     

中小企业板块的表演开始了

中小企业板块终于启动了。创新,活力,财富,炒作,还有高科技……揭开面纱,中小企业板块究竟是个什么样子?     

The political economy of financial harmonization: The East Asian financial crisis and the rise of international accounting standards

In the aftermath of the East Asian financial crisis, western nations established a new international financial architecture that relied upon enhanced financial transparency and international financial standards, including international financial reporting and auditing standards, to govern an expanding and crisis-prone international financial system. This paper examines the West’s response to financial crisis in the late 1990s and its implications for the rise and diffusion of international accounting standards from a theoretical perspective that blends institutional analysis and political economy. The aim is to understand how the history of accounting has both shaped and been shaped by transformations in the late 20th century international political economy where financial capital and the power of the financial sector play an increasingly central role in the process of accumulation.