A general equilibrium model of bilateral trade with strategic public investment in commercial infrastructure

We explore how public investment in commercial infrastructure affects the composition of trade between countries. To this end, we develop a model of bilateral trade in which two countries produce, consume, and trade a continuum of goods. Goods are produced by a single homogeneous factor, labor, the productivity of which depends on the quality of the country’s commercial infrastructure, broadly conceived to encompass transportation, communication, and power transmission networks; regulatory and legal institutions; and basic research and educational systems. Countries may improve the quality of their commercial infrastructures through increased public investment. However, returns on these investments are constrained by fixed ‘natural’ endowments, with the better-endowed country enjoying greater labor productivity for a given level of public investment. We begin by analyzing optimal investment in public infrastructure in one country when public investment by the trading partner is fixed. We find that, ceteris paribus, greater public investment in commercial infrastructure raises general labor productivity, leading to gains in workers’ real income. We then analyze a non-cooperative game in which both countries strategically vary public investment in commercial infrastructure. We find that, in a Nash game, the better-endowed country optimally spends more on infrastructure and produces the goods requiring the greatest labor productivity. However, in a Stackelberg game, the results are ambiguous. An empirical analysis based on recent international trade data supports our theoretical finding that investment in public infrastructure is positively related to the export of ‘high-end’ goods.     

Assessing the Benefits of Trade Facilitation: A Global Perspective

This paper estimates the relationship between trade facilitation and trade flows using a panel of disaggregated manufactured goods for the 2000–2001 period for 75 countries. Four categories of trade facilitation are defined, measured and assessed for their impact on bilateral trade flows using a gravity model. The four measures of trade facilitation are: port infrastructure (air and maritime), customs environment, regulatory environments and e‐business infrastructure. The results suggest that raising global capacity halfway to the world average in the four areas would increase trade by $377 billion. Most regions of the world increase exports more than imports. In large part, this result stems from increased exports to OECD markets that is obtained through a country's own effort to improve ports, customs, regulations and services infrastructures. In addition, the results suggest that reform and capacity building in trade facilitation in areas related to GATT Articles V, VIII and X that are under discussion at the World Trade Organisation could expand trade and exports significantly. Many of the reform measures necessary to achieve this goal need not necessarily require large‐scale investment projects, but rather action in legal and administrative reform to facilitate trade.     

On Income Convergence among China,Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau were reunited with China in the late 1990s as two special administrative regions (SARs). Over the last half century, they were China's good examples of economic development, windows of openness and investors. Owing to historical reasons, China lagged far behind Hong Kong and Macau in terms of per capita incomes. However, rapid economic growth in China over the last three decades must have brought about a significant convergence of the three economies. China's economic success has benefited from the integration of its two SARs and the coastal provinces, especially Guangdong, in terms of technological spillover, massive investment and trade. The economic trickledown, direct investment and trade must have been important drivers of economic integration and income convergence. This paper aims to analyse the trend and studies the determinants of income convergence between China and its two SARs. Both parametric and non‐parametric techniques are employed to quantify the pace of convergence on per capita incomes in Hong Kong, Macau and the Chinese provinces over a period of more than 40 years. We find no evidence of convergence in the pre‐reform period, but strong evidence of both absolute and conditional β‐convergence in the post‐reform period. Over the reform period, the pace of convergence is less than 1 per cent per annum without controlling for trade and more than 2 per cent conditional on trade.     

Beyond Border Barriers: The Liberalisation of Services Trade in Tunisia and Egypt

Tunisia and Egypt have both recently undertaken significant steps toward trade reform. They have committed to a partnership agreement with the European Union. Both countries have also joined the WTO and are participating in Doha Round discussions on the liberalisation of non‐tariff barriers on both goods and services trade. These developments provide an interesting context within which to investigate not only the changes in welfare associated with reforms affecting the trade in goods, but also the impacts of services liberalisation. Using open‐economy computable general equilibrium models for both Tunisia and Egypt, this paper explores the reasons why structural differences in these two economies imply different opportunities and challenges with trade reform and services liberalisation. The gains from eliminating barriers at the border for goods trade are significantly greater for Tunisia than Egypt. Both countries, however, gain substantially from liberalisation of foreign direct investment in services. Furthermore, economic growth is more evenly distributed across sectors than with liberalisation of trade in goods alone. In addition to reporting on the impact of alternative policies on income, output, employment and trade, sector‐level effects are also considered.     

Is Infrastructure Spending an Effective Fiscal Policy?

The impact of expansionary fiscal policy intended to increase economic growth by using infrastructure‐focused stimulus packages is analyzed by considering the debt to GDP ratio dynamics model. It is shown that for the data characterizing the current state of the US economy the government investment in infrastructure cannot decrease the debt to GDP ratio. The paper contributes to the ongoing fiscal policy debate whether government investment in infrastructure is an effective approach to boost the economy.     

外商直接投资、对外直接投资与国际收支——基于国际收支平衡的我国对外直接投资

在我国,引进外商直接投资和对外直接投资之间存在着严重的不对称性。我国国际收支中投资收益逆差抵消了大量的贸易顺差,在未来贸易顺差和外资流入减少的情况下,这将会导致中国国际收支的恶化。因此,需要大力推进我国的对外直接投资以谋求国际收支平衡。     

基于多阶段动态博弈模型的中国外贸高坏账率形成机理及对策研究

尽管改革开放以后中国的出口贸易在量上已取得了前所未有的突破,但在质的发展上却仍令人担忧。居高不下的外贸坏账率,必将严重影响中国整个外贸业的长期发展。本文构建了一个多阶段动态博弈模型,分析出口贸易过程中形成高坏账率的主要机理,同时,也给出了防范外贸高坏账率的相应政策建议。     

地方政府债务对工业资本配置效率的非线性影响效应——基于动态面板平滑转换回归PSTR模型的检验

经济新常态下,提高工业资本等要素配置效率是实现经济向高质量增长转变的必然要求。本文在政府主导、投资驱动的工业发展模式下,结合地方债务压力和金融发展差异门限变量,在非线性框架下运用动态面板平滑转换回归模型实证检验地方债务规模与工业资本配置效率的渐进演变关系。研究发现,适度的地方债务规模有助于提高资本配置效率,但随着债务压力增加,举债对资本配置的正效应逐步减弱并产生负效应。究其原因,适度举债能补齐工业基础设施短板,压低土地成本,对工业发展产生杠杆效应,从而提高资本配置效率;但过度举债推升财政风险,占用信贷资源并强化企业融资约束,造成资本配置低效率。此外,研究发现,地方信贷规模提升,能缓解举债的融资约束,促进工业行业间的资本流动;而工业金融深化程度提高,能增强市场竞争机制在要素配置中的作用,缓解举债造成投资错配,从而增强资本配置效率。以上分析结果表明,地方政府举债应更理性、适度、规范。     

Infrastructure,returns to scale and sovereign debt

This paper explores the nexus between the issue of sovereign debt and investment in infrastructure, emphasizing the case of economies of scale. The focus is on debt contracts that are incentive compatible. It is shown that public and private financial institutions may need to lend amounts above some threshold to force the borrowing sovereign to take full advantage of any economies of scale that may be present. Low levels of lending may or may not result in default. Sufficiently high amounts of lending may be needed to ensure repayment and may prove to be mutually beneficial.     

从有效需求看政府在提高居民购房能力中的作用

随着我国住房制度改革的推进,我国住房市场出现了城镇中等收入居民有强烈的购房欲望,然而又因为收入偏低而没有实际支付能力,即有效需求不足的局面。凯恩斯的消费函数具有普遍意义,就当前来说,居民对住房的消费尚属于其引致消费的一部分,政府应该通过增加中等收入居民的可支配收入来提高他们对住房的消费能力。而可支配收入的提高又有赖于税收杠杆,政府对国内居民发行公债和参与保险可以增加政府的转移支付能力,从而提高中等收入居民的可支配收入。     

FDI,openness and income

This is an empirical study of the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on income. It presents cross-country evidence that inward FDI is positively correlated with income. In addition, an instrument for FDI is constructed to address the issue of endogeneity. The results show that instrumental-variables (IV) estimates of the impact of FDI on income are positive and greater than OLS estimates, similar to the findings on trade in Frankel and Romer (). The evidence in this paper suggests that inward FDI contributes to higher income, and favours the argument of Irwin and Terviö () that trade openness is subject to measurement error – in particular, trade is an imperfect proxy for many income-enhancing interactions between countries.     

农村基础设施投资中的政府作用与农民意愿研究——以农村饮用水、学校、灌溉项目为例

尽管国家财政用于农业基建投资的部分在逐年增加,但真正落入农村基层基础设施投资的数量仍不容乐观。以农村饮用水、学校、灌溉三个典型的基础设施项目为例,从农村基层的角度分析基础设施投资中的政府作用,并对村自筹资金投资方向与农民需求意愿的一致性进行验证。结果表明:政府的公共财政投入更偏重于对学校等文化事业类项目的投入,其它两类项目投资主要依靠村自筹资金实现;而从农民需求意愿的角度看,村自筹资金投资流向的项目更符合农民意愿。另外,政府对贫困落后的低收入地区存在明显的扶植倾向。     

对外贸易、FDI与中国农民收入及其分化的实证研究

对于我国来说,对外开放的主要形式就是对外贸易和外国直接投资。本文利用了全面开放时期的季度时间序列数据,分析对外贸易和外国直接投资对于我国农民收入及其分化的影响。实证研究表明,对外贸易会带来农民收入的降低和更严重的分化,而外国直接投资会带来农民收入的增加和分化程度的降低。     

开放经济条件下中国收入分配状况分析——对中国入世1O周年的总结与反思

本文研究了改革开放30年尤其是入世10年来中国参与经济全球化及其对收入差距的影响情况。结果发现,贸易全球化短期内会加剧中国的收入差距,我们将其原因归结为“人口红利陷阱”,但在长期内贸易参与贸易全球化将有助于缩小中国的收入差距;生产与投资的全球化也会扩大收入差距,而金融发展与深化对中国收入分配差距的影响最大;技术进步、受教育程度提高以及劳动力由低阶部门向高阶部门的转移则在一定程度上可以缓解收入差距过大。虽然文章发现中国参与全球化加剧了收入分配差距,但同时认为本质是由于中国开放程度依然不高、市场化程度依然较低导致,建议中国需要进一步推进改革开放,加快融入全球化的步伐,同时加快服务业的发展,加大科研投入力度、提高高等教育普及程度,从而缩小收入差距。     

贸易收入余额对中美贸易的影响

随着经济全球化的加深,越来越多的跨国公司通过对外直接投资向海外销售产品和服务的方式来获取收益。传统的贸易余额没有包含对外直接投资收入。本文指出与传统的贸易余额相比,加入对外直接投资净收入的贸易收入余额更能反映当今一国的对外贸易状况及国家间的经济利益,用贸易收入余额衡量的美国贸易逆差和中国贸易顺差将大幅减少,中美贸易收入逆差将使中美贸易逆差小幅下降。     

外商投资企业通过资本弱化来避税?——来自中国1998—2008年面板数据分析

在放松MM定理假设条件基础上构建一个简单FDI资本弱化模型,理论推演表明:企业债务利息在企业所得税征收前列支条件下,中国FDI企业通过举债以规避企业所得税缴纳,使其资本结构逐渐弱化。对1998—2008年港澳台、外商投资的限额以上餐饮服务业、批发零售业面板数据的实证分析证实了理论模型得出的结论。     

中国商贸流通业发展方式的评价及其转变的路径分析

改革开放以来我国商贸流通业取得了快速发展,但由于经济体制转型过程的复杂性,导致我国商贸流通业发展方式比较粗放,不能适应我国经济发展方式转变的要求。文章基于对中国商贸流通业发展方式的统计数据分析,运用经济增长和发展理论来分析资本、劳动、技术进步等因素对商贸流通业发展的综合影响,对中国商贸流通业发展方式做出评价,认为现阶段中国商贸流通业发展方式基本还处于投入推动型的粗放式发展阶段,要实现商贸流通业从粗放式向集约式发展方式的转变,必须在增加物质资本投入的同时,增加人力资本的投入。通过加快流通企业的技术进步,来提高流通效率和效益。在加大技术投入的基础上,进一步促进流通业的信息化。     

外国直接投资对我国外贸竞争力影响途径的计量检验

本文利用2001、2002、2003年我国的工业行业数据,检验了外国直接投资影响我国外贸竞争力的途径。结果表明,外国直接投资促进了我国外贸竞争力指数的提升,同时也发现,在外商投资企业技术创新水平较高的行业,外商投资企业自身的出口和技术创新都是提升我国外贸竞争力指数的因素,在外商投资企业技术创新水平较低的行业,外商投资企业自身的出口提升了我国的外贸竞争力指数,而技术创新却降低了我国的外贸竞争力指数。     

Funding development infrastructure without leverage: A risk‐sharing alternative using innovative sukuk structures

Muslim countries of the developing world suffer indebtedness resulting mostly from funding development infrastructure. Faced with a dire need for development infrastructure but with inadequate resources to fund them domestically, these governments often resort to foreign borrowing. As neither foreign banks nor international debt markets would allow for the debt to be in home currency, the funding is invariably denominated in foreign currency. For the borrowing country, in addition to currency exposure such borrowing increases the country's leverage and economic vulnerability. As these countries typically have a narrow economic base with heavy reliance on commodity exports, they are susceptible to the vagaries of commodity price fluctuation. Leverage increases the amplitude of the economy's fluctuation, resulting if not in outright crisis, then, at least in financial distress and depreciating home currency. As a result, when the foreign currency funded project comes on stream, it is burdened with huge accumulated debt which in many cases makes the project unmanageable without further government help through subsidy of operating costs. This further stresses already stretched government budgets and perpetuates indebtedness. This cycle of borrowing, leverage and vulnerability can be broken by innovative use of sukuk. The problem with debt financing is that the servicing requirements are independent of the underlying project's risk or cash flows. This paper presents two sukuk structures based on the risk sharing principles of Islamic finance. Sukuk that have returns linked to the nation's gross domestic product growth if the funded project is non‐revenue generating and linked to earnings of the project if it is revenue generating can avoid the problems above. The pay‐off profile, estimated cost of funds and returns to investors of these sukuk are discussed. When designed in small denomination, such sukuk can enhance financial inclusion, help build domestic capital markets and enable the financing of development without stressing government budgets.     

Trade openness,foreign direct investment,and finance-growth nexus in the Eurozone countries

The paper investigates causal relationships between trade openness, foreign direct investment, financial development, and economic growth in 19 Eurozone countries over the period 1988–2013. Using a panel vector error-correction model (VECM), the empirical results show that these variables are cointegrated. The study shows that a combination of opening the Eurozone countries for trade and fostering their financial and economic development have elevated inflows of foreign direct investment into the region in the long run. At the same time, increasing inflows of foreign direct investment in the short run have propelled economic growth, which in return has strengthened the role of financial development and international trade to sustain economic growth in the region through feedback effects. The empirical results have important policy implications for countries in the Eurozone, especially those who face challenges as a result of lack of confidence in their financial system and those who face a sovereign debt crisis.