A New Phase in Economic Growth

<正>Deng Xiaoping said'We should allow some people to get rich first,and the rest will follow.'Now it’s time for the rest to follow,as the Chinese government has...     

Working for patients: Making the internal market effective

To be effective, the internal market for health care involves a recognition that there are different types of market, each with its own characteristics. Written contracts can only go so far. There is also a need to create administrative infrastructures which will ensure that the different markets function effectively.     

The Surprising Use of Credit Scoring in Small Business Lending by Community Banks and the Attendant Effects on Credit Availability, Risk, and Profitability

The literature has documented a positive relationship between the use of credit scoring for small business loans and small business credit availability, broadly defined. However, this literature is hampered by the fact that all of the studies are based on a single 1998 survey of the very largest U.S. banking organizations. This paper addresses a number of deficiencies in the extant literature by employing data from a new survey of the use of credit scoring in small business lending, primarily by community banks. The survey evidence suggests that the use of credit scores in small business lending by community banks is surprisingly widespread. Moreover, the scores employed tend to be the consumer credit scores of the small business owners, rather than the more encompassing small business credit scores that include data on the firms as well as on the owners. Our empirical analysis suggests that credit scoring is associated with an initial increase in small business lending activity that moderates over time and no change in the quality of the loan portfolio. Supplementary analysis suggests that the use of credit scores for small business lending has a negative initial effect on community bank profitability that moderates over time.     

Institutional trading and share returns

Using a unique database of daily transactions from Australian equity managers, we investigate the relation between institutional trading and share returns. The 34 institutional investors included in our sample exhibit a statistically and economically significant ability to predict large capitalization share returns for the ten days following their trades. Detailed analysis indicates that investment manager style is important in understanding the link between institutional trading and stock returns. The contemporaneous relation between institutional trading and returns depends on trade size, broker use, and investment style. We find growth-oriented managers are momentum traders, while style-neutral and value managers are contrarian.     

Net Wage Illusion in a Real‐Effort Experiment*

In a controlled laboratory experiment, subjects had to fold letters in order to earn money. While the net income per letter was the same in the three treatments, the gross income varied and the tax rate was 0, 25, and 50 percent. Although work incentives should be the same in all treatments, subjects worked harder and longer when they were taxed. We conclude that this is because of a net wage illusion effect. The existence of this effect demonstrates that not only are the tax rate and the tax base of importance for work incentives, but the perception of a tax is also important.     

An empirical comparison of flexible demand system functional forms

This paper compares the performance of eight frequently used flexible forms that are either (1) locally flexible, (2) ‘effectively globally regular’, or (3) asymptotically globally flexible. Results show that the functions with global properties generally perform better, particularly those models having asymptotic properties. Results, using US consumption data, indicate substitutability among the components of consumption at most data points. There is also some interesting substitution volatility around the time of recessions in the USA. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hypotheses concerning the development of Polish spas in the years 1949–2006

This research focuses on an analysis of the development of Polish spas and their life cycles. The author discusses hypotheses on the development of Polish spas to contribute to existing knowledge and an evolutionary model of spas. These concepts are based on Butler's model of the tourist area cycle of evolution in order to describe individual stages in the development of the domestic market of spas. The author analyzes the development of Polish spas in the period 1949–2006 by considering the data (statistical and nonstatistical) that relate to health tourism and historical events of this period.     

The state of total quality management: a review

As quality is seen as becoming a competitive mandate, many organizations are said to be embracing the practice of total quality management (TQM) as an improvement strategy. In this paper, we will be examining the extent to which quality management (QM) - TQM in particular-has been adopted by organizations. Just as there are companies that claim that QM is benefiting them, the concept is also increasingly being criticized for not bringing about the promised results, and in the following review, studies that have highlighted this disparity in opinions will be reviewed. Increasingly, doubts have been raised as to whether partial quality management - and not TQM - is being practised in organizations. This paper will also examine the difficulties companies may be faced with in their attempts to embrace TQM.