IS A GOVERNMENTAL MICRO‐CREDIT PROGRAM FOR THE POOR REALLY PRO‐POOR? EVIDENCE FROM VIETNAM

It is argued that without collateral the poor often face binding borrowing constraints in the formal credit market. This justifies a micro‐credit program, which is operated by the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to provide the poor with preferential credit. The present paper examines poverty targeting and the impact of the micro‐credit program. It is found that the program is not very pro‐poor in terms of targeting. The nonpoor account for a larger proportion of the participants. The nonpoor also tend to receive larger amounts of credit compared to the poor. However, the program has reduced the poverty rate of the participants. The positive impact is found for all three Foster‐Greer‐Thorbecke poverty measures.     

Households' participation in energy transition and sustained use of clean energy: Evidence from China's clean heating program

Household energy transition is a critical tool for air pollution mitigation and energy inequality reduction. The effectiveness of the transition largely relies on not only households' decision to participate but also their sustained use of clean energy after participation. However, the sustained use of clean energy has not yet received sufficient attention in policy making and in literature. This study examines China's Household Clean Heating program, which has switched millions of households' heating energy sources from coal to electricity and gas. We focus on both households' adoption and coal substitution behavior in the program. Based on the large-scale household survey conducted in rural areas of Northern China, we find that both high subsidies and compulsory measures effectively increased the household adoption rate; however, the latter did not guarantee sustained use of clean energy. We also find that In-person and repeated dissemination of program information had a better effect on involvement than passive announcements. Moreover, lower-income households were less likely to participate. Our findings suggest effective implementation approaches and supplementary measures to promote household energy transition, with fewer negative consequences for participants, particularly for the participants with lower income.     

The impact of financial development on the income and consumption levels of China’s rural residents

In this paper, we investigate the impact of financial development on rural residents’ income and consumption levels in China. We discover that the development of traditional financial services has little impact on the income and consumption levels of rural residents. In contrast, the development of emerging financial services has a significant positive impact on the income and consumption levels of rural residents. Traditional financial services, as is well known, require collateral and high expected future cash flows from customers, making financial inclusion difficult. Emerging financial services in China are special financial services promoted by financial regulators to support technological innovation, cultural development, environmental protection, and rural development. Our findings suggest that these emerging financial services are effective in increasing the income and consumption levels of rural residents. Interestingly, while emerging financial services that directly target rural development have no significant impact on rural residents' income and consumption, financial support for technological advancement and cultural development appears to be more effective in increasing rural residents' income and consumption.     

Reducing Agricultural Income Vulnerabilities through Agroforestry Training: Evidence from a Randomised Field Experiment in Indonesia

Although agroforestry is recognised as a means to stabilise farm income, little work has been done to differentiate farmers based on their incomes, their capacity to diversify crops, and the economic outcomes of agroforestry adoption. By distinguishing between high- and low-income farmers, this paper examines how agricultural training affects agroforestry promotion, and evaluates its relevance for the poor, the extent of its adoption, and its economic consequences. We found that although training generally increased participants’ knowledge of agroforestry, it increased crop diversity only for low-income participants. We also detected the presence of information spillovers from participants to non-participants, which may increase crop diversity among non-participants and consequently reduce the measurable impact of training. When income heterogeneity is considered, we found that the low-income participants benefited more from increasing their incomes and expanding their social networks than the higher-income participants. We also found that agroforestry adoption helped to reduce income volatility.     

Old‐Age Government Transfers and the Crowding Out of Private Gifts: The 70 and Above Program for the Rural Elderly in Mexico

We estimate the crowding out of private transfers caused by 70 y Más –a public assistance program for the rural elderly in Mexico for whom family support is an important source of income. Using data from the Mexican Income and Expenditure Survey and a triple difference approach, we find that the program crowds out private gifts by 37%, and it does so mostly by reducing the probability of receiving domestic remittances. As a result, the nonlabor income of beneficiaries increases by less than their government transfers. Thus, by reducing their private support to the elderly, domestic donors are dampening the effect of the program, although not completely neutralizing it.     

Promoting pro-poor growth through infrastructure investment: Evidence from the Targeted Poverty Alleviation program in China

This paper empirically estimates the effects of infrastructure investments on the level and distribution of impoverished households' income, utilizing the arguably exogenous investment shock from the Targeted Poverty Alleviation program in China. We focus on the agricultural income of poor rural households. We also examine whether these infrastructure investments increase or decrease income inequality within the impoverished group. We distinguish among different types of infrastructure investment, aiming to identify the investments effective in promoting growth in agricultural income, especially for the poorest. Based on a comprehensive household-level administrative dataset and econometric analysis, we find that electricity infrastructure significantly increases poor households' agricultural income and that the income benefit is equally distributed among the poor; agricultural irrigation infrastructure raises agricultural income significantly and delivers more benefit to the poorest households. An examination of the mechanism shows that both electricity and irrigation infrastructure increase the probability of participating in agricultural work and therefore increase agricultural income. These findings imply that, through increasing the utilization of agricultural land and the labor of impoverished households, electricity and irrigation infrastructure investments in rural impoverished areas are likely to lead to pro-poor and sustainable development.     

The impact of the rise and collapse of Japan's housing price bubble on households’ lifetime utility

This study estimates the impact of the dramatic changes in housing prices during Japan's bubble from the late 1980s to the 1990s on households’ asset accumulation and utility over their life cycle. We construct a life-cycle model explaining households’ consumption/saving and housing decisions under collateral and borrowing constraints. We estimate this model using data from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), which includes data on households’ housing wealth estimated from objective information. Using the estimated model, we then conduct a counterfactual simulation in which we assume that housing prices remained constant during the bubble period. Doing so allows us to quantify the gains/losses of lifetime utility due to the housing price boom and bust. We find that 72.2% of the households experienced an average decrease in lifetime utility equivalent to 5.7% of lifetime income. On average, Japan's housing price boom and bust caused a loss in lifetime utility equivalent to 4.7% of lifetime income. Moreover, we compare the impact of the housing price bubble across cohorts and find that the impact was greatest for those who experienced the bubble at ages 35–45.     

Marginal returns on Chinese agricultural technology transfer in Nigeria: Who benefits more?

Agricultural technology transfers are generally considered an effective means of solving persistently low yields in sub-Saharan Africa. This study assesses the impact of the Chinese agricultural training program on farmers' productivity and income using ex-post non-experimental data from Ogun State, Nigeria. Our empirical approach is based on marginal treatment effect models. We find that the returns for individuals who participated in Chinese agricultural technology training indicated a 68.5% increase in yield and a 45.3% increase in agricultural income. Furthermore, we show that the program targets farmers from advantaged backgrounds, who may benefit less from attending the program than disadvantaged farmers, who experience a lower incentive to participate. Finally, we suggest sufficient awareness and incentives to encourage highly resistant farmers to participate in such programmes.     

Credit access and transferable land rights

This paper develops a model in which small landholders earna return from their land but can increase their income by borrowingfunds to invest in a risky project. The model allows us to studythe impact of different legal policies governing the use ofland as collateral in debt contracts. In this framework, wefind that legislation sanctioning the use of land as collateralcan sometimes have unintended consequences. In particular, whenfarmers and banks have asymmetric valuations over land plots,introducing collateral based loans can lead to a reduction inthe number of low-risk farmers that choose to borrow funds.This finding offers one explanation for why farmers in countrieslike Bolivia and Mexico have resisted policies that promiseto facilitate the use of land as collateral.     

How do poverty alleviation coordinators help the impoverished in rural China? -- Evidence from the Chinese poor population tracking dataset

The loss of targeting efficiency due to information asymmetry is a longstanding problem in aid programs. China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program addresses this problem by assigning local government officials to individual impoverished households. These officials, referred to as poverty alleviation coordinators (PACs), are required to pay frequent home visits to the assigned households and to deploy policy resources for poverty reduction. The program is costly in terms of human resources because the officials also have regular duties in a variety of departments. We investigate the effects of the PAC system on poverty alleviation and explore the mechanisms of the effects. Based on the Chinese Poor Population Tracking Dataset and econometric analysis, we find that the households with a larger income increase are those whose PACs work in a department that has the type of resources needed by the household. This indicates that a good match between the resource and the need could enhance the effect of the TPA program. In addition, PACs at a higher position in the governance structure show a larger income increase in their assigned households, which is expected, because a higher position could have more resources to deploy. These findings shed light on role of institutional arrangements in alleviating information asymmetry in poverty reduction programs.     

农业培训对农民收入的影响——来自福建省茶农的经验分析

文章以福建省茶农为研究对象,实证考察了农业培训对茶农收入的影响.研究发现:茶园面积、农户种茶经验、农户到最近农技服务站的距离等因素对农户参加茶叶培训的决策产生显著性影响.同时,研究结果表明,在控制了内生性问题后,参加茶叶培训与否的决策以及参加茶叶培训的次数对农户种茶收入产生显著的促进作用,即显著提高了农户的收入水平.研究结果为进一步促进和推广农业培训项目的开展提供了比较科学的实证依据.     

房地产抵押价值评估中被动高估风险的成因分析

2010年以来,中国人民银行和银监会多次提示各家商业银行关注资产泡沫上涨等原因造成的贷款系统性风险,一再收紧银根并加强对存量贷款的风险管理。本文剖析了房地产抵押贷款评估中三个关键概念的混淆,指出这是造成被动高估风险的主要成因。建议重新审视现有抵押评估技术准则,以非公开市场基准下的抵押价值代替市场价值,并更多地考虑成本法和收益法的应用,以防止上述风险在新增房地产抵押贷款中的产生和扩散。     

AIDS Home- and Community-Based Waivers: Effects on Use of Services,Expenditures, and Survival

State Medicaid home- and community-based waiver programs for persons with AIDS (PWAs) were implemented with the expectation that PWAs would use these services in lieu of more expensive hospital-based care. If so, Medicaid spending per PWA should decline, and program costs fall. We analyze Florida Medicaid claims data for PWAs from December 1995 through December 1997 to determine how participation in the waiver program affects the use of inpatient services, the receipt of antiretroviral combination therapies (available to Medicaid recipients throughout the study period), monthly expenditures, and survival of PWAs. We find that waiver participants are more likely to receive combination therapies but less likely to use hospital-based care than nonparticipants; white men and sicker patients are more likely to join the waiver program than other eligible PWAs; monthly expenditures for waiver participants are 52% lower than for nonparticipants; and waiver participation does not affect survival.     

Growth opportunities,collateral and debt structure: the case of the Japanese machine manufacturing firms

We explore the determinants of debt structure by analyzing the Japanese machine manufacturing firms’ data from 1990 through 1996. We find that firms with abundant growth opportunities and scarce collateral are likely to borrow from banks rather than to issue bonds. This is robust even if we consider the simultaneous decision of the debt composition and leverage or managerial incentive. We also find that firms with abundant growth opportunities or collateral tend to depend on equity rather than on debt. Though banks reduce the agency costs of debt for growing firms, equity costs less than bank loans for them.     

Information contents of collateral under heterogeneous borrower qualities on the bank loans market in China

We analyze the risk of default and provision of collateral for bank loans made to firms of varied credit qualities using a unique dataset obtained from a major state-owned commercial bank in China. Both high and low quality borrowers provide collateral more often than medium quality debtors do. Using models that explicitly incorporate heterogeneous borrower qualities, we find a positive relation between collateralization and risk of default for loans issued to debtors with low credit ratings. In contrast, collateral provided by debtors with high credit ratings is negatively associated with the risk of default. These results suggest that low quality borrowers may be required to provide collateral at the bank's request to mitigate moral hazard problem. On the other hand, high quality borrowers may provide collateral willingly to signal quality in order to mitigate adverse selection problem when competing for getting access to bank loans. Our findings shed new lights on different information contents of collateral on the bank loans market of China, and have important implications for banks in screening, contracting and monitoring the risk of commercial loans for clients with diverse credit qualities.     

Cash Transfer Programs with Income Multipliers: PROCAMPO in Mexico

Cash transfer programs create multiplier effects when recipients put the money they receive to work to generate further incomes. When this is the case, the ultimate income effects are multiples of the amounts transferred. We analyze the PROCAMPO program in Mexico that was introduced to compensate farmers for the anticipated negative effect of NAFTA on the prices of basic crops. The transfer rules and the timing of the panel data collected allow unique control of biases in this impact analysis. We find that the multiplier among ejido sector recipients is in the range 1.5–2.6. Multipliers are higher for households with medium and large farms, low numbers of adults in the household, nonindigenous backgrounds, and located in the Center and Gulf regions. High multipliers reflect income opportunities that had remained unrealized due to liquidity constraints that are relaxed by the transfers. Opportunities come from the asset endowments that these households received through the land reform, particularly irrigated land, and they are enhanced by access to technical assistance.     

A quantitative evaluation of the Housing Provident Fund program in China

The Housing Provident Fund (HPF) is the largest public housing program in China. It was created in 1999 to enhance homeownership. This program involves a mandatory saving scheme based on labor income. Past deposits are refunded when the worker purchases a house or retires. Moreover, the program provides mortgages at subsidized rates to facilitate these home purchases. I calibrate a heterogeneous-agent life-cycle model to quantify the effects of these polices. My analysis shows that a housing program with these features is expected to raise the rate of homeownership by 8.7 percentage points and to increase the average home size by 20%. I discuss the economic mechanisms by which these outcomes are achieved and which features of the HPF program are most effective. I also consider several extensions of the model such as requiring employers to contribute to the program and allowing renters to withdraw funds from the HPF.     

INCOME INEQUALITY, RECIPROCITY AND PUBLIC GOOD PROVISION: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

This paper analyses the impact of income inequality on public good provision in an experimental setting. A sample of secondary school students were recruited to participate in a simple linear public goods game where income heterogeneity was introduced by providing participants with unequal token endowments. The results show that endowment heterogeneity does not have any significant impact on contributions to the public good, and that consistent with models of reciprocity, low and high endowment players contribute the same fraction of their endowment to the public pool. Moreover, individuals appear to adjust their contributions in order to maintain a fair share rule.     

Het winstbegrip in de open naamloze vennootschap

Summary The business organization is viewed as a coalition of participants. Net income is defined as that part of the total income (that is, total revenue) which belongs to the coalition members, whose compensation depends on the outcome of the business activities. For the information of shareholders (net)income has to be calculated at historic cost; for this purpose the realized holding gains and the holding losses included in (net) income should be mentioned separately. On the balance-sheet the assets have to be valued at current cost while the unrealized holding gains have to be shown as a part of the equity-capital. Management needs information on residual income, both at current and historic cost. Rede uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van gewoon hoogleraar in de bedrijfseconomie aan de Vrije Universiteit te Amsterdam op vrijdag 6 maart 1970.     

Effect of Concession‐Timing Strategies in Auditor–Client Negotiations: It Matters Who Is Using Them

In this study, we examine how norms about the use of negotiation strategies by different parties in an auditor–client negotiation influence the relative efficacies of these negotiation strategies. We conduct an experiment with experienced auditors/financial managers as participants, who enter into a negotiation on an income‐decreasing audit adjustment with a hypothetical client/auditor who uses a strategy where the same concessions are given either at the start, gradually, or the end of the negotiation. We find that the concession‐end strategy is more effective than the concession‐start strategy when used by auditors; however, the reverse is true when these same strategies are used by financial managers. The concession‐gradual strategy leads to superior outcomes when used by either auditors or clients. We also provide evidence that auditors’ and financial managers’ perceptions of the norms relating to the use of these strategies correspond to what we propose in our theory.