State dependence,serial correlation and heterogeneity in the union membership dynamics

In order to distinguish the true and spurious state dependence from the complicated dynamics of union membership, the simulation estimators incorporating the lagged dependent variables, unobserved individual heterogeneity and correlations among the errors are implemented in this article to study union membership dynamics. It is found that the true state dependence of union membership under multivariate t assumption is much higher than the standard dynamic panel probit estimators which are under multivariate normal assumptions. On the other hand, the spurious state dependence (the variance of the unobserved individual heterogeneity) is estimated to be higher when using the standard dynamic panel probit estimators than under multivariate t assumption. Moreover, blacks and married men are found to have higher union membership true state dependence than whites and unmarried men.     

Do insurance activities enhance the performance of financial services holding companies?

Stiroh and Rumble (2006) and Yeager et al. (2007) have argued that extension of banks into nonbanking activities produces no diversification benefits for financial services holding companies (FSHCs) eligible to consolidate banking and insurance products. We investigate the effect of aggregate nonbank activities, as well as two main areas of insurance business, namely agency and underwriting enterprise, on the risk-adjusted performance of FSHCs. Our sample includes a quarterly panel data of FSHCs over the period 2003–2011. We find that the effect of FSHCs’ entry into agency insurance activities on their risk-adjusted returns is dependent on their size; it is positive for FSHCs in the top quartile of our sample (assets greater than $4.495 billions), but negative for smaller and mid-size FSHCs. The effect of underwriting insurance activities on risk-adjusted returns is generally negative or statistically insignificant, except for some of the largest-size firms.     

Revisiting Purchasing Power Parity in OECD

This study revisits Purchasing Power Parity theory (PPP) in the 34 OECD countries during January 1994–August 2013. We use a new panel stationary test with both sharp breaks and smooth shifts, a novel approach to panel unit-root testing, proposed by Bahmani–Oskooee et al. (2014). The results indicate that the PPP holds in half of the 34 OECD countries. These results indicate the importance of proper modelling of both sharp breaks and smooth shifts in real effective exchange rate series of OECD countries.     

Resolving the innovation puzzle of latecomers: the case of Taiwan

In the currently rapidly changing business world, innovation has not only become the key to survival and success, but also the defining challenge of organisations. For latecomer firms, however, because of their inherent resource constraints, innovation has become a far more complex undertaking, similar to a multidimensional puzzle. Although there have been an increasing number of practitioner-based surveys, a discrepancy still remains between academia and industry concerning the role and importance of R&D in innovation. Therefore, this study carried out an industry–university–institution survey of Taiwan, based on a multidimensional framework of the innovation puzzle: human, R&D, flow and connection. The results reveal several interesting clues and provide a better understanding of the innovation puzzle for latecomers, and more importantly, resolves the puzzle that could help latecomers identify where new opportunities lie and what weaknesses they must strengthen.     

The asymmetric information and price manipulation in stock market

The interaction between asymmetrically informed traders has been mostly investigated in theoretical frameworks. Not only there are relatively few empirical studies but, if any, the mostly focus on cross-sectional analysis and use very short samples. In this study, we blend theoretic with empirical, and propose a new signalling system of turning points in the economy to examine the extent of volatility of these markets relative to their tranquil periods. The signalling system proposed here is based on the Markov-switching model. Differing from the existing literatures, the study employs three phases and time-varying transition probability, and captures the states of volatility. After examining the causality between high volatility and foreign portfolio investment (FPI) by using moving average and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity, the portfolio's profitability of FPI and individual investors in different periods are compared. Finally, the investigation of FPI's leading effect is studied.     

高海拔山地环境下云南风电场开发项目技术经济分析

从低碳经济的角度出发,对云南高海拔山地环境下的风电开发项目的开发现状、节能减排效益、成本-效益、财务可行性等方面进行分析,并通过实证研究,得出大坡顶风电场项目低碳经济效益、投资可行性及项目的偿债能力、盈利能力、生存能力等指标,以期对云南高海拔山地环境下风电项目开发提供决策参考。     

旅游生态足迹动态变化探讨——以湖南娄底市为例

旅游生态足迹可定量反映旅游业对生态环境的影响程度和旅游可持续发展的状态。根据"生态足迹"的理论基础,以湖南娄底市为例,选取旅游生态足迹、旅游生态承载力、旅游生态安全、万元旅游GDP足迹等指标的动态变化进行分析,以对湖南娄底市旅游可持续发展进行评价。实证结果表明:娄底市旅游产业快速发展,给旅游生态环境带来了巨大的压力,娄底市旅游生态的供给与需求矛盾开始日益突出。保护旅游生态环境,提高资源利用率,合理控制旅游生态足迹的需求,是娄底旅游可持续发展的必然选择。     

中国会计理论研究特征透析——基于《会计研究》创刊30年刊文的分析

研究并把握我国会计理论研究的特征,对提高我国会计理论研究水平具有重大意义.通过对<会计研究>创刊30年来刊文的分析,并与Accounting Review近5年刊文的比较发现,我国会计理论研究的研究主体过度聚集于高校及其研究机构,研究主体需要进一步分散化.研究合作氛围趋势向好,合作的对象范围还有待进一步扩大.研究方法逐渐多元化,实证研究方法还有待进一步加强.     

炫耀性消费倾向的传统文化价值观诠释

笔者在界定炫耀性消费内涵的基础上,从儒、道、佛家文化价值观出发,实证诠释了消费者炫耀性消费的文化价值观因素.儒家"行为与地位相符"价值观强烈地支配着人们的炫耀性消费倾向,但维护"家庭声誉"观念仅对服装消费倾向有正向影响;佛家的"奢侈无用"说对炫耀性消费有显著抑制效应,"相信缘分"观念则对其有促进作用.此外,消费者"每月可支配金额"同炫耀性消费倾向正相关,教育程度同奢华旅游倾向正相关,年龄同手机消费倾向负相关.     

粮食直接补贴:问题考察与政策优化

本文从保障粮食安全、公平收入分配和农业生产要素的非自由流动性等多个视角,分析了粮食直接补贴的理论与政策背景,考察了我国粮食直接补贴政策中的问题和缺失,并就直接补贴政策的优化设计问题提出了建议,其中包括着力规范补贴的范围和依据、适当提高补贴标准、构建合理的直接补贴资金筹集机制与分配机制以及加强对直接补贴资金的监管等.