On the design of incentive schemes under moral hazard and adverse selection

This paper characterizes a class of optimal incentive schemes in a simple principal–agent model which allows for moral hazard and adverse selection. We show that incentive compatible allocation can always be (approximately) implemented through a menu of quadratic incentive schemes. It is also proved that the set of incentive compatible allocations is independent of the distribution of the additive uncertainty which affects the outcome. Informational requirements and economic interpretation of quadratic and linear schemes are discussed.     

The impact of endowment heterogeneity and origin on contributions in best-shot public good games

Economists and psychologists have long argued the origin of wealth influences individual behavior. In a previous study (Cherry et al., 2005), we found the origin of endowment did not significantly affect behavior in linear public good games with summation contribution technology. In such games, however, both Nash behavior (everybody gives nothing) and social optimal behavior (everybody gives the entire endowment) call for symmetric levels of contributions. Results from this new study indicate that the origin of wealth might matter in more asymmetric situations, such as in a best-shot public good game with heterogeneous groups. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at . JEL Classification C72, C92, H41     

和谐社会视角下黑龙江省农村养老保险模式选择

黑龙江省作为农业大省,构建和完善农村养老保险制度是十分必要的。与国内外先进国家和地区构建农村养老保险的环境和条件进行比较,黑龙江省已经初步具备建立农村养老保险制度的条件。但由于省内各地区经济条件不均衡,在具体实施农村养老保险政策时应区别对待,农村社会保障制度在实施过程中应视不同地区的不同情况,在不同时期实施不同的政策措施,即“分类实施,滚动执行”的操作方案。     

Compliance and multidimensional firm performance: Evaluating the efficacy of rule-based code of corporate governance

This study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of the Pakistani Code of Corporate Governance by finding out its impact on firm's performance and efficiency. This exploration is done in the context that Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan's choice of corporate governance regulations is heavily influenced by Anglo-Saxon approach, whereas de-facto realities of Pakistani corporate environment are quite in contrast.Using a panel data of 119 firms for the period of 8 years i.e. 2003 to 2010, and using a multidimensional performance framework i.e. financial performance and technical efficiency, we find that the extent of compliance has increased since the issuance of code in 2002. After controlling for firm size, growth, dividend payout, age and leverage, we find significant positive impact of compliance on firm's performance (ROA, ROE and ROCE). We also find a weak positive relationship between compliance and technical efficiency. We suggest that compliance is not linearly related with financial performance and we find that high compliant firms are less profitable than average or low compliant firms. This implies that one-size-fit all approach along with mandatory compliance is a questionable approach for Pakistani firms.This study is first in Pakistan in providing empirical evidence on efficacy of the rule-based Code of Corporate Governance and also adds to growing but underdeveloped literature on compliance and firm performance in emerging/developing economies. Further, this study offers insight to policy makers on the efficacy of current corporate governance regulations and offers a research framework for assessing the extent of compliance, effectiveness and economic impact of code of corporate governance.     

A factor endowment theory of international trade under imperfect competition and increasing returns

Abstract.  Constructing a two‐good (competitive and imperfectly‐competitive goods), two‐primary factor (capital and labor) and two‐country model of international trade where the imperfectly‐competitive sector is subject to increasing returns to scale, we establish an oligopolistic version of the Heckscher‐Ohlin theorem. JEL classification: F10, F12     

On the design of optimal grandfathering schemes for emission allowances

This paper derives optimal schemes for the free allocation of emission allowances in a dynamic context. We consider emissions- and output-based allocation rules which allow for updating of the basis of allocation over time and thereby do not rely on historical data only. We show that such dynamic schemes do not necessarily induce inefficient outcomes. In closed trading systems with an absolute cap on emissions, grandfathering schemes which allocate allowances proportionally to past emissions are first-best. However, in open trading systems where allowances can be traded with outsiders, first-best allocation schemes must not depend on firm-specific decisions while second-best schemes correspond to a Ramsey rule of optimal tax differentiation and are generally based on both past emission and output levels.     

The efficiency of bonus-or-terminate incentive schemes under subjective evaluations

We study a repeated principal–agent model with subjective evaluations. We construct simple bonus-or-terminate incentive schemes. In these schemes, the principal evaluates the agent every T periods. The principal pays a bonus and asks the agent to work for T more periods if the evaluation is positive. The relationship is terminated if the evaluation is negative. The inefficiencies in these schemes vanish as the agent can be more frequently evaluated. This result holds generally under objective or subjective evaluations.     

New evidence on the effects of job creation schemes in Germany—a matching approach with threefold heterogeneity

This paper evaluates the effects of job creation schemes on the participating individuals in Germany. The very informative dataset at hand justifies the application of a matching estimator and allows to take account of threefold heterogeneity. The recently developed multiple treatment framework is used to evaluate the effects with respect to regional and individual heterogeneity as well as to differences in the programme sectors. The results show considerable differences with respect to these sources of heterogeneity, but the overall finding is very clear. At the end of our observation period, that is 2 years after the start of the programmes, participants in job creation schemes have a significantly lower success probability on the labour market in comparison to matched non-participants.     

完善我国居家养老服务的对策研究

随着我国人口老龄化步伐的加快,大力发展居家养老服务,是促进养老事业发展的重要途径之一。目前我国的居家养老服务仍处于初级发展阶段,在管理体制、财政分配、服务方式、法制建设等方面还存在许多问题,不能充分满足老年人对养老服务的需求。推进居家养老服务快速发展应当完善政府管理体系、扩展养老资金渠道、丰富养老服务方式、建立健全立法保障。     

Cross-country income mobility comparisons under panel attrition: the relevance of weighting schemes

This article aims to present an assessment of the effects of panel attrition on income mobility comparisons for some EU countries by using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). There are different possibilities of correcting the attrition problem by means of alternative longitudinal weighting schemes. The sensitivity of mobility estimates to these attrition correction procedures is tested in this article. Our results show that ECHP attrition is characterized by a certain degree of selectivity but only affecting some variables and countries. Different probability models corroborate the existence of a certain nonrandom attrition. The model chosen to construct the longitudinal weights to correct attrition offers up rather different results than those obtained when Eurostat's longitudinal weights are used. Although attrition does not seem to have a great effect on aggregated mobility indicators, it does have a decisive effect on decomposition exercises. Our tests reveal certain sensitivity of income mobility measures to the weighting system used.     

Money matters: an axiomatic theory of the endowment effect

We develop a framework that allows us to state precisely the relationship between leading concepts of the theoretical and empirical research on reference-dependent preferences, namely the status quo bias, the endowment effect and the willingness to accept (WTA)/willingness to pay (WTP) gap. We show that a monetary version of the status quo bias is a necessary condition for the WTA/WTP gap, and show how to factor out the part of the gap due to income effects from the part of the gap due to the endowment effect. As a byproduct, we show that reference-dependent phenomena are generated by reference-independent factors, i.e., an underlying reference-independent preference relation the properties of which are discussed at length.     

Royalty reform and illegal reporting of harvest volumes under alternative penalty schemes

We study royalty reform in a timber concessions framework. Illegal logging in the form of underreporting of harvesting is modeled. Harvesters can be either risk neutral or risk averse. Detection of illegal logging by the government is imperfect and costly. We focus on the government’s policy problem, solving first for socially optimal royalty and auditing levels, and then examining a revenue-neutral reform toward this benchmark. We find that higher royalty progression will always decrease actual harvest volume regardless of risk preferences for the harvester, but the effect of a reform on reported harvest volume is sensitive to the penalty scheme imposed by the government. If the fine is levied on evaded royalty payments, then higher royalty progression may increase reported harvest volume. But when the fine is levied on undeclared harvest volume, the reverse happens. Higher royalty regression increases actual harvest volume under both penalty schemes, but it may decrease reported harvest volume. Higher regression will increase undeclared harvest volume when the fine is levied on evaded royalty payments.      

On evaluating scientific research: The contribution of the psychology of science

This paper critically discusses the nature various schemes for evaluating scientific research. Through the use of Jungian personality theory, it attempts to explicate the psychological forces and assumptions underlying the vast majority of evaluation schemes. The paper argues that most schemes are greatly restricted in their choice of an underlying psychological basis. It is argued that science administration, evaluation, and technological forecasting all require a greater ability to appreciate, and even more important to integrate, the psychological functions described in this paper.“It has been lately fashionable in some quarters to think that physical science iormally progresses by moving on the whole fairly calmly in one direction, and that such progresses is interrupted only at certain periods of great upheaval in science.“But this can be true only in a limited sense. Not far below the surface, there have coexisted in science, in almost every period since Thales and Pythagoras, sets of two or antithetical systems or attitudes, for example, one reductionistic and the other holistic … “Science has always been propelled and buffeted by such contrary or anithetical forces. Like vessels with draught deep enough to catch more than merely surface current, , scientist of genius are those who are doomed, or privileged, to experience these deeper current in their complexity. It is precisely their special sensitivity to contraries that has made it possible for them to do so, and it is an inner necessity that has made them demand nothing less for themselves [5, pp. 375–376].”     

On the performance of endogenous access pricing

Endogenous access pricing (ENAP) is an alternative to the traditional procedure of setting a fixed access price that reflects the regulator’s estimate of the supplier’s average cost of providing access. Under ENAP, the access price reflects the supplier’s actual average cost of providing access, which varies with realized industry output. We show that in addition to eliminating the need to estimate industry output accurately and avoiding a divergence between upstream revenues and costs, ENAP can enhance the incentive of a vertically integrated producer to minimize its upstream operating cost. However, ENAP can sometimes discourage surplus-enhancing investment.     

On the economic performance of nascent entrepreneurs

This paper assesses the R&D performance of nascent and established technology-based small firms that receive a Phase II R&D award from the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Our empirical analysis is based on a two-stage selection probit model, which is used to estimate the probability of commercialization conditional on the Phase II project having not failed. Our model predicts, and our analysis confirms, that nascent firms are more likely to fail in their SBIR-supported R&D endeavors. Further, we find that nascent firms that do not fail have a higher probability of commercializing their developed technology.     

新型农村社会养老保险基金管理模式探究

新型农村社会养老保险基金是国家为保障农村老年居民的基本生活、建立和完善社会保障制度而设立的专项基金。如何对此项基金实行有效监督和管理,以及在目前条件下投资运营,实现农村养老基金的保值增值,对新型农村社会养老保险制度的稳定、农村经济的可持续发展及农民生活水平的提高,都有着至关重要的作用。     

On the role of unobserved preference heterogeneity in discrete choice models of labour supply

The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of unobserved preference heterogeneity in empirical applications of discrete choice models of labour supply. Typically, unobserved heterogeneity is estimated either with continuous or discrete mixture models. However, in order to avoid estimation difficulties, most of the empirical analysis assumes a relatively constrained mixture, standard examples being models where only few coefficients are allowed to vary with independent normal distributions or with discrete distributions with few mass points. We compare labour supply elasticities obtained with these typical specifications of unobserved heterogeneity with those from a more general model that we are able to estimate through an EM algorithm for the nonparametric estimation of mixed models. Results show that labour supply elasticities change significantly with respect to a basic model without unobserved heterogeneity only when the joint distribution of the varying tastes is left completely unspecified.     

技术标准对我国综合国力贡献率的初步研究

技术标准在与综合国力密切相关的社会、经济发展和生态环境保护的各个领域中起着至关重要的作用,探讨技术标准与综合国力的相互关系对于我国标准化事业发展有着重要的意义。结果表明,近10年来(1991～2000),技术标准对经济力的贡献率由于受科技进步贡献率的影响,前期较低,后期则上升较大,后期虽然有一定波动,但基本稳定。技术标准对综合国力中科技力的贡献率则呈现出逐年稳定增加的趋势。1998～2000年技术标准对我国综合国力的贡献率约为1．5％。技术标准对综合国力的促进作用和贡献率较为明显,有必要加大这方面的投入。     

Life insurer performance under the bailout of distressed asset purchases

ABSTRACT

The paper develops a structure-break contingent claim model to examine how government bailout affects a life insurer’s performance (policyholder protection and insurer survival). The distressed assets purchased by the government enhance the optimal insurer interest margin, and policyholder protection. Bailout as such helps the life insurer, implying a higher likelihood of survival in particular when a financial crisis deteriorates seriously, thereby contributing to the stability of the insurance system. In addition, we suggest that low participation of the profit-sharing policy increases insurer survival. This strategic participation effect becomes more significant when the economic state of structural break volatility is increased, and thus, enhancing insurer survival and solving financial problems.     

On the microeconomics of diversification under learning

This paper investigates the microeconomics of diversification, based on a two-period model of an owner-managed firm facing uncertainty. The analysis focuses on the role of learning. Economies of diversification are defined based on a certainty equivalent and its decomposition into three components: expected profit (capturing scope effects), the risk premium (measuring the cost of risk aversion), and the value of information associated with learning. For each component, the influence of scale effects, trans-ray concavity effects, and income effects on economies of diversification are examined. By integrating risk, scope and the role of information, the analysis provides new insights into the microeconomics of diversification. While scope economies and risk aversion can provide general incentives for diversification, we argue that information and learning can give incentives to specialize. Implications for economic analysis are discussed.