The New Growth Theory and Coasean economics: Institutions to capture externalities

The New Growth Theory and Coasean Economics: Institutions to Capture Externalities. — This paper presents the main theoretical arguments which lead many adherents of the New Growth Theory to the conclusion that externalities in research and development are important for economic growth and warrant government subsidies. In contrast, the authors point to private institutions like associations, company structures and industry clusters which can capture such externalities. An international comparison of private R&;D investment and special features of institutions in Switzerland and Japan are in line with this hypothesis. Thus, the argument for R&;D subsidies made by the New Growth Theory is considerably reduced.     

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED,TAXES DRIVE THE JANUARY EFFECT

The multitude of explanations for the January effect leaves the reader confused about its primary cause(s): is it tax‐loss selling, window dressing, information, bid‐ask bounce, or a combination of these causes? The confusion arises, in part, because evidence has generally been presented in support of a particular hypothesis though the same evidence may be consistent with another hypothesis. Furthermore, prior work does not adequately control for the bid‐ask bounce. In this article we try to disentangle different explanations of the January effect and identify its primary cause. We find that tax‐related selling is the most important cause, overshadowing other explanations.     

Syndicated Loan Announcements and Borrower Value

Announcements of syndication loans increase borrowers' shareholder wealth if they are revolving credit agreements but not if they are term loans. Share price responses to revolving credit announcements are positive and significant, whereas the wealth effect for term loans is negative and significant. The results show that announcements from both the financial press and commercial information providers can affect borrower share price reaction. Overall, single syndication announcements appear to be more newsworthy than multiple announcements reported in the financial press, and we find evidence of information leakage, post‐announcement drift, or both.     

Do Mothers Matter? A Comparison of Models of the Influence of Mothers' and Fathers' Educational and Occupational Status on Children's Educational Attainment

The first objective of this article is to clarify which model best captures the structure and trend of the influence of social origin on children's education. The second objective is to analyse how general conclusions on historical trends in educational reproduction change if we add mother's status background to the model. Six contrasting hypotheses are derived fromthe body of literature dealing with models on families' socioeconomic status. All hypotheses are translated into empirical models and their explained variance is compared. A pooled data set is used that contains data from the Netherlands, West Germany, and the USA. The Modified Dominance Model, that distinguishes the influence of the highest from thelowest status parent, has the best model fit. Regarding the second objective we see that adding the mother's influence to that of the father's does not change general conclusions on trends in educational reproduction. Over time the influence of both parents decreases continuously. However, the influence of the mother's education and occupational status on children's educational attainment is substantive.     

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。     

欧盟的东扩与标准化进程

作为欧洲单一市场保障的重要因素，标准化在欧盟东扩中发挥着重要作用。为帮助候选国达到入盟标准并采用欧盟的立法框架，欧盟、欧洲标准化委员会及欧盟各国均采取了一些措施。在各方的共同努力下，欧盟标准的一体化工作取得了明显进展。     

东北亚区域经济合作与中小企业

随着区域经济一体化的迅速发展，中小企业在东北亚区域经济合作中正发挥着日益重要的作用。