我国城市化进程中城市贫困问题的实证研究——基于成都市的调查

城市贫困给我国城市化带来了新的挑战,已经成为和谐社会建设中必须正视和亟待解决的重大问题.本文通过在成都的实证调查,探索我国快速城市化过程中导致城市贫困的贫困者个人、政府和社会三方面责任缺位的现状,并结合相关理论分析,提出二元经济制度、人力资源投入、政治参与缺乏和政府行为缺失与越位是城市贫困存在的深层次原因;提出既要有“还权”的输血式扶贫,也要有“赋能”的造血式扶贫措施;建议充分借鉴国际经验,实现社会初始公平、提高社会流动性.     

Generic market models

Currently, there are two market models for valuation and risk management of interest rate derivatives: the LIBOR and swap market models. We introduce arbitrage-free constant maturity swap (CMS) market models and generic market models featuring forward rates that span periods other than the classical LIBOR and swap periods. We develop generic expressions for the drift terms occurring in the stochastic differential equation driving the forward rates under a single pricing measure. The generic market model is particularly apt for pricing of, e.g., Bermudan CMS swaptions and fixed-maturity Bermudan swaptions.     

论我国多层次资本市场体系的构建

我国资本市场是以沪深主板市场为主的单一资本市场 ,这种单一的资本市场体系制约了市场功能的有效发挥。在现阶段 ,规范主板市场 ,推出创业板市场 ,发展场外交易市场 ,建立多层次的资本市场体系具有重要意义。     

Clinical outcomes and economic impact of transcatheter mitral leaflet repair in heart failure patients

Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a common valvular heart disorder requiring intervention once it becomes severe. Transcatheter mitral repair with the MitraClip device is a safe and effective therapy for selected patients denied surgery. The authors sought to evaluate the clinical outcomes and economic impact of this therapy compared to medical management in heart-failure patients with symptomatic mitral regurgitation.

Methods and results: The study was comprised of two phases; an observational study of patients with heart failure and mitral regurgitation treated with either medical therapy or the MitraClip, and an economic model. Results of the observational study were used to estimate parameters for the decision model, which estimated costs, and benefits in a hypothetical cohort of patients with heart failure and moderate-to-severe mitral regurgitation treated with either standard medical therapy or MitraClip. The cohort of patients treated with the MitraClip was propensity matched to a population of heart failure patients, and their outcomes compared. At a mean follow-up of 22 months, all-cause mortality was 21% in the MitraClip cohort and 42% in the medical management cohort (p?=?.007). The decision model demonstrated that MitraClip increased life expectancy from 1.87–3.60 years and quality-adjusted life years (QALY) from 1.13–2.76 years. The incremental cost was $52,500 Canadian dollars, corresponding to an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $32,300.00 per QALY gained. Results were sensitive to the survival benefit.

Conclusion: In heart failure patients with symptomatic moderate–severe mitral regurgitation, therapy with the MitraClip is associated with superior survival and is cost-effective compared to medical therapy.     

The essentiality of money in environments with centralized trade

Lagos and Wright (2005) introduced an influential model of monetary exchange in which trade alternates between centralized and decentralized markets and money is essential. A limitation of their model and of the literature that follows is that they do not provide a microfoundation for the process of exchange in the centralized market. In this paper, we show that how one models exchange in the centralized market matters for the essentiality of money by describing the centralized market as a strategic market game and studying conditions under which money is essential.     

Time preferences and commitment devices: evidence from ROSCAs and funeral groups in Benin

Drawing on first-hand data collected from a household survey in urban Benin, we examine membership in two types of informal groups that display the characteristics of a commitment device: Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) and funeral groups. We investigate whether agents displaying time preferences with a present bias are more likely to commit themselves through participation in such groups. Our results provide evidence indicating that women who display such preferences are more likely to join funeral groups, but not ROSCAs, and to save more through them. These results hold for women but not for men. We also ensure that our results cannot be explained by intra-household conflict issues.     

Markets and relationships in a learning economy

It is generally agreed that within long-term relationships agents learn the characteristics of their market partners better than through spot transactions. In contrast, little is known on how relationship-based and transaction-based markets compare when agents learn about the aggregate economy from market exchanges. In this paper, we study the market structure that arises in an economy where agents learn the aggregate productivity from market exchanges. The model allows to relate the market structure to macroeconomic fundamentals such as the persistence and volatility of the aggregate productivity and the cross-sectional volatility of productivity.     

论我国多层次资本市场体系的构建

一、多层次资本市场体系的界定 资本配置作为资本市场功能的集中体现,是通过资本在供给方和需求方之间的合理流动实现的,资本供给和资本需求的均衡程度越高,资本市场才能更有效地发挥其功能.     

Customer preferences for customized household furniture

In the context of market globalization, furniture manufacturers attempt to differentiate their products to attain competitive advantages. Mass customization is one strategy enabling such differentiation. This study measured, through a choice-based conjoint analysis, the value that US American consumers assign to the availability of customization when buying furniture. Roughly 50% of consumers’ product choice is driven by price, 20% by product customization, 20% by delivery time, and 10% by the time needed to customize the product. Thus, while there is a customer segment driven by price, there also is a segment, consisting mainly of females, that values product customization.