There's something about saving …

The paper considers how people should plan their saving, given certain assumptions about inheritance and changes in household circumstances. The results are produced by a model that takes into account tax and state benefits as well as various private savings vehicles. It concludes that, for many households, saving for retirement through a ‘pension’ might not be optimum and that the best strategy is to vary the incidence and allocation of saving in response to changes in household circumstances.     

假转让技术真转让国有资产

国有资产流失长期以来一直是困扰国企改革和发展、政府进行国有资产管理的重大问题。近年来,国有资产的流失更是呈加剧之势头,一些人打着“改制”、“转制”的幌子,大肆鲸吞国有资产! 本期刊登的两个案例,都是关于此类现象的。这些国有资产流失的形式,大都被披上了合法的外衣。第一个案例,当事者通过“合同”的形式,猫鼠同窝,合同双方恶意串通,将国有资产无偿“转让”;第二个案例中,当事者串通中介,虚假评估,以实现廉价“收购”国有资产及避税的企图。涉及金额之巨大,手法之巧妙,触目惊心。 毫无疑问,这样的交易背后往往隐藏着惊人的腐败,隐藏着贪污、受贿、行贿、玩忽职守等严重的违法犯罪。审计人是国有资产的卫士,顺着此类“交易”的蛛丝马迹,层层剥茧,从而抓住了作奸犯科者的狐狸尾巴,把侵吞国有资产案件大白于天下。     

Satisfaction drivers for Internet service technology among stock brokerage customers in Thailand

Many financial services firms are offering the Internet as a self-service technology (SST), for online stock trading, in an effort to increase effciency and give customers greater access. It is important to understand how this technology will influence customer satisfaction. This paper reports results of exploratory research to identify sources of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the service encounter in Thai stockbrokerage firms. Results show that customers and service providers determine sources of customer dis/satisfaction differently, depending on whether the service encounter is technology-based or interpersonal. Different customer profiles give rise to segmentation in response to the use of Internet technology in this industry.     

Fixed Exchange Rates and Disinflation in Emerging Markets: How Large Is the Effect?

We examine developing countries which have institutional quality ratings for the effects of exchange rate rigidity on inflation. The level of institutional development exerts no effect on the impact of currency regimes. However, the interaction of institutional quality and exchange rates has, in the most plausible specifications, a negative impact on inflation. This suggests that fixed exchange rates exert at most a contingent effect on inflation, and indicates that countries in Eastern Europe and Latin America contemplating currency pegs would be better off improving institutional quality prior to adopting the euro or dollar and expecting a large subsequent disinflationary effect. JEL no.  F31, O11