Through Trial and Error to Collusion*

In this article we study a very simple trial and error learning process in the context of a Cournot oligopoly. Without any knowledge of the payoff functions players increase, respectively decrease, their quantity as long as this leads to higher profits. We show that despite the absence of any coordination or punishing device this process converges to the joint‐profit‐maximizing outcome.     

事件营销在邮政经营中的应用探讨

在日趋激烈的市场竞争中,巧妙地借助甚至制造一些能吸引媒体和社会公众注意的“新闻事件”,以提高企业知名度,促进产品或服务销售,往往能收到意想不到的效果。这种营销方式被称为“事件营销”。邮政作为社会公用性企业,其服务对象遍布社会各阶层,与公众生活联系密切,而且邮政服     

The FRC AND Accounting Standard‐Setting: Should I Still Call Australia Home?

This paper analyses the decision of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to replace Australian accounting standards with international accounting standards on 1 January, 2005. Two main topics are considered: the appropriateness of the FRC's directive, and the case against the proposed adoption date. We argue that the FRC has not conducted sufficient consultation with affected parties and that the hasty implementation will impose costs that could have been avoided with the exercise of more caution.     

Price Commitment versus Flexibility: the Role of Exchange Rate Uncertainty and its Implications for Exchange Rate Passthrough

The paper investigates the incentives to commit price or retain price flexibility in a model in which exporting firms face different degrees of exchange rate uncertainty. The result shows that introducing exchange rate uncertainty can lead to the endogenous emergence of a unique leader–follower equilibrium; which firm emerges as price leader depends on the substitutability of products, the magnitude of exchange rate uncertainty, and the cost structure. This study may provide one explanation as to why some exporters set price before the realization of the nominal exchange rates (“sticky price”). The results imply exchange rate variability affects exchange rate passthrough.     

审计风险模型探讨

在对审计风险的理解基本一致的前提下,通常认为存在着一个审计风险模型。教科书中的审计模型通常是这样的:审计风险=固有风险×控制风险×检查风险(或译“觉察风险”)。对于这个审计风险模型,曾经有过的争论集中于检查风险。作为学术争论的结果和表现形式,美国审计准则说明第39号《审计抽样》曾将检查风险分解为分析性检查风险和详细测试风险,英国审计实务委员会1987年推荐的审计风险模型则在检查风险后加上了“抽样风险”。尽管存在争议,但这一基本模型已经被美国的职业团体和学术界所认可。我国《独立审计具体准则第9号——内部控制与审计…     

Executives’ Orientations as Indicators of Crisis Management Policies and Practices*

ABSTRACT The paper examines effects of executives’ orientations on crisis management awareness and practices, drawing on the simplicity and paradox management theories. It is suggested that a focus on single‐sided management constitutes an antecedent of crisis proneness. Employing a set of key corporate domains and based on a holistic organizational approach, the study aims at assessing the extent to which companies are crisis prone or prepared. In a sample of 82 Istaeli business and not‐for‐profit organizations it was found that human resource management, strategy, structure, and unlearning factors significantly predicted crisis preparedness. These results suggest that unlearning, despite a mere allusion to this correlate in the simplicity and paradox management theories, correlates better with crisis preparedness. By contrast, traditional strategy‐related and structural effects were marginally related to crisis management policies. Implications and suggestions for further research are proposed.     

生态环境的恶化与乡村社会控制--以清代徽州的棚民活动为中心

从明后期开始进入徽州地区的外地棚民，利用当地丰富的自然资源，进行各种经济活动。在当时的社会条件制约下，此类经济活动耗费了大量的资源，破坏了徽州农村的生态环境，损害了地方和国家的利益。针对这一问题，清代徽州乡村社会各种民间力量和官方联合展开了一场声势浩大的驱禁棚民运动，取得了预期效果。     

Taxation, growth, and the spirit of capitalism

This paper uses a general two-sector model of endogenous growth to examine how the spirit of capitalism affects the relation between public finance and growth. The spirit of capitalism is defined as acquisitive personal objectives. We find that if the spirit of capitalism is present, an increase in the share of government spending in output reduces the long-run growth rate. The negative relationship between fiscal spending and growth is consistent with empirical evidence.     

CREDIT CYCLES REDUX*

Theoretical studies have shown that under unorthodox assumptions on preferences and production technologies, collateral constraints can act as a powerful amplification and propagation mechanism of exogenous shocks. We investigate whether or not this result holds under more standard assumptions. We find that collateral constraints typically generate small output amplification. Large amplification is obtained as a “knife‐edge” type of result.