Flypaper Effect and Sluggishness: Evidence from Regional Health Expenditure in Italy

In Italy, public expenditure reduction is achieved through a revision of social security and health care programs. In particular, public health expenditure control has been implemented through a reform that imposes more stringent budget rules to local governments and a considerable reduction in grants-in-aid from the central government. This paper investigates empirically whether the response to this decrease in categorical lump-sum grants from the central to local governments results in an asymmetric response to intergovernmental grants. Hard budget and soft budget constraint hypotheses are estimated by using a sample of cross-sectional and time observations covering the 20 Italian regions over the period 1989–1993. The main finding is the existence of a standard and a super flypaper effect in both models. The introduction of the soft-budget constraint hypothesis results in a stronger effect of grants and a lower response of own resources which shows that local governments prefer to incur some deficit instead of reducing health care expenditure.     

Innovation and Product Development Strategies in the Italian Motorcycle Industry

The motorcycle industry in Italy offers fertile ground for anyone interested in developing a better understanding of the role innovation plays in enhancing a firm's competitive position. This industry includes both domestic and Japanese firms, with companies ranging from high-volume manufacturers to specialty or niche producers. Firms trying to gain a competitive edge in this crowded field must contend with not only advances in product and process technology, but also the whims of fashion. In a survey of top-level marketing and product development managers from eight leading firms in the Italian motorcycle industry, Moreno Muffatto and Roberto Panizzolo explore the innovation models these firms employ to enhance their competitive position. Their study has the following objectives: categorizing the various competitors in terms of their product and market strategies and their product development and innovation strategies; highlighting differences between the methods of Italian and Japanese firms competing in this market; analyzing the relationships between firms, as well as the roles suppliers play in the various innovation strategies; and identifying the various organizational models employed by the firms in this industry. Different product and market strategies are identified on the basis of three variables: total production volume, the number of different products offered, and the number of different engine capacities offered. Using these variables, the companies in the study are categorized as volume producers, specialists, or niche specialists. The firms are further differentiated on the basis of the relative emphasis each places on product technology and design, product innovation, product variety, and time-based competition. In the firms studied, partnerships play a key role in new product development. Nearly every firm participates in joint projects, most often involving development of either an entire vehicle or an engine. Other partnerships involve firms in countries that offer emerging markets for the motorcycle industry. Organizational structures and strategies employed by the volume producers in this study include: the large product leader, who oversees concept definition and product planning; the project leaders group, which coordinates all phases of development, including activities assigned to external groups; the project managers matrix, a matrix organizational structure with a strong product orientation; and the business unit program manager, who oversees all projects within an independent business unit.     

纺织品CAD设计系统的研究分析

纺织品CAD设计系统已经得到了应用并取得了突破性进展。它的研究开发已经为大多数人所认同,但是还存在一些问题。本文分析了纺织品CAD设计系统绘制工具中存在的问题、菜单栏中一些命令的欠缺和软件中的其他不足,并提出了今后研发的目标和建议。     

Agency hazards and alliance portfolios

Prior research over several decades has catalogued many positive motives underlying firms' decisions to engage in joint ventures and other forms of alliances. In this empirical analysis, we investigate whether agency problems brought about by the separation of ownership and control also stimulate the development of firms' joint venture portfolios. By focusing on joint ventures, as opposed to diversification in general or acquisitions, we address the recent debate on agency theory's domain. Results from a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms' alliance portfolios offer supporting evidence, and comparable findings are obtained for international and domestic joint ventures. Agency hazards are also found to bring about extensions of firms' nonequity alliance portfolios in both the international and domestic settings. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

浅谈西藏社会主义新农村建设

目前,西藏正在进行着社会主义新农村建设的伟大实践。西藏社会主义新农村建设具有划时代的重要意义。但由于历史和社会的种种因素影响,西藏社会主义新农村建设中面临很多困难和问题,文章针对这些问题进行了西藏社会主义新农村建设的着力点分析。     

The impact of monetary policy on asset prices

Estimating the response of asset prices to changes in monetary policy is complicated by the endogeneity of policy decisions and the fact that both interest rates and asset prices react to numerous other variables. This paper develops a new estimator that is based on the heteroskedasticity that exists in high-frequency data. We show that the response of asset prices to changes in monetary policy can be identified based on the increase in the variance of policy shocks that occurs on days of FOMC meetings and of the Chairman's semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Congress. The identification approach employed requires a much weaker set of assumptions than needed under the “event-study” approach that is typically used in this context. The results indicate that an increase in short-term interest rates results in a decline in stock prices and in an upward shift in the yield curve that becomes smaller at longer maturities. The findings also suggest that the event-study estimates contain biases that make the estimated effects on stock prices appear too small and those on Treasury yields too large.     

关于注册会计师行业协会框架体系的构想

现行《注册会计师法》第四条规定:“注册会计师协会是由注册会计师组成的社会团体。中国注册会计师协会是注册会计师的全国组织,省、自治区、直辖市注册会计师协会是注册会计师的地方组织。”但《注册会计师法》并没有对注册会计师协会的属性进行准确的界定,没有对注册会计师协会全国组织和地方组织的关系作出规定,因此该法实施十年来现行的注册会计师行业协会的框架体系已显露出种种问题。本文拟就如何建立我国科学的注册会计师行业协会框架体系提出一些个人的观点,以起到抛砖引玉的作用。法律必须明确注册会计师协会的法律属性注册会计师…     

从泛美卫星公司税案看国际税收协定的解释

我国与80多个国家和地区有税收协定关系,多数涉外所得的征税都会涉及税收协定的解释和适用。泛美卫星公司案是典型的税收协定解释案件,法院判决触及了协定解释的许多重要理论问题,包括协定和国内税法关系、OECD范本及注释的作用等。这表明法院已经开始成为税收协定解释活动的参与者。但判决同时也反应出我国法院在国际税法专业知识上有所欠缺,为增强法院处理税务案件的能力,应重视专家证言的采用。     

天然气管道工程技术发展水平及推广应用

介绍了国内外天然气管道工碍技术发展水平，针对我国天然气管网建设的实际，提出了天然气管网系统分析、数字化管道、自动焊、全自动超声波检测、干空气管道干燥、新管道智能检测等6项值得推广应用的新技术。     

利用管道模拟软件提升技术管理水平

通过分析管道模拟软件的特点、功能和应用,并结合目前天然气长输管道运营模式中存在的问题,阐述了引入天然气管道模拟软件对于提升技术管理水平的重要性和必要性.