Risk and the miller equilibrium: Capital structure choice with risk-averse investors

Merton Miller's (1977) tax model of equilibrium capital structure choice results in capital structure irrelevance and the existence of tax clienteles, assuming the restrictive case of risk-neutrality. Relaxation of the assumption of risk-neutrality in Miller's tax framework, allowing utility-maximizing risk-averse investors, indicates that capital structure irrelevance continues to hold under reasonable assumptions about utility. Evaluation of resulting tax clienteles shows that marginal tax rates do not restrict investors from investing in equities but do affect the tax status of purchased bonds.     

Political scrutiny and earnings management in the oil refining industry

The fortunes of the oil refining industry have historically been tied to the political process. In periods of high gasoline prices public outcry increases pressure on the political process to increase regulation, taxation, and other costs on the industry. This study explores the relationship of gasoline prices and oil firm earning with accounting earnings management of oil firms. Findings indicate that firms make accounting changes and discretionary accruals to decrease (increase) earnings in periods when gasoline prices and oil firm earnings are rising (falling).     

聚焦中国市场 把握时代潮流——“第二届成品油分销国际会议”综述

在金融危机影响持续扩大，国际原油市场剧烈动荡，成品油分销盈利空间日趋狭小的背景T2009年6月11—12日，《国际石油经济》月刊编辑部与上海士研商务咨询有限公司（Global Leaders Institute）再度联手，在北京举力、了“第二届成品油分销国际会议”。本届会议立足全球成品油分销业的发展现状，聚焦中国成品油分销市场的宏观政策、流通秩序和市场格局，     

The Returns to Academic and Vocational Qualifications in Britain

This paper uses data from the 1991 sweep of the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and the 1998 Labour Force Survey (LFS) to provide a comprehensive analysis of the labour market returns to academic and vocational qualifications. The results show that the wage premia from academic qualifications are typically higher than from vocational qualifications. However, this gap is reduced somewhat, when we control for the amount of time taken to acquire different qualifications. This is particularly important for vocational courses, which generally take shorter time periods to complete. In the paper we also investigate how returns vary by gender, subsequent qualifications, and the natural ability of individuals. Finally, by comparing the NCDS results with those from the LFS, we estimate the bias that can result from not controlling for factors such as ability, family background and measurement error. The results reveal that the estimated returns in the NCDS equations controlling for ability, family background and measurement error are similar to the simple OLS estimates obtained with the LFS, which do not control for these factors. This suggests that the biases generally offset one another.     

关于乡镇企业产权制度改革的思考

本以乡镇企业产权构成现状及进一步发展受到的制约为出发点，对乡镇企业产权改革的必要性进行了详尽的剖析，对比分析了乡镇企业产权改革常用的几种手段，指出在当前情况下股份合作制改造是乡镇企业产权改革的最优策略之一。在此基础上给出乡镇企业产权制度改革的对策和建议。     

新春贺辞

市民们,朋友们:爆竹声中辞旧岁。在奥运年的新春佳节即将到来之际,我代表新一届政府向全市人民致以新春的祝贺!向所有关心、支持青岛发展的海内外朋友们,致以诚挚的问候!回首走过的2007,我们充满自豪:这一年,在中共青岛市委的正确领导下,全市人民认真学习贯彻党的十七大精神,全面落实省、市党代会的目标任务,同心同德,拚搏进取,努力开创科学发展的新境     

始于欢乐终于智慧——《小学生智力训练500例》推介

近些年来,最火爆的书就是儿童读物和中小学生辅导读物。走进书店,林林总总的各种少儿出版物令人目不暇接。望子成龙,望女成     

Heterogeneity and Share Contracting in Medical Group Practices

This paper offers an empirical analysis of the relationship between income sharing rules and physician heterogeneity in medical group practices.The economies to group formation associated with risk–sharing, mutual monitoring,and internal referral are served by sharing at least a portion of group income equally. Sharing group income equally is problematic, however, when group members differ in their contribution to group income. Member contributions to group income may differ because of differences in ability, effort, or the price of services across specialty fields. The analysis below is addressed to the question of how income sharing rules in physician groups are affected by variation in member contributions. The analysis finds evidence that heterogeneity in member contributions to group income limits the use of equal income sharing rules in multispecialty groups relative to single specialty groups, and large groups relative to small groups. Nevertheless, 65% of all groups in the survey share at least a pn of group income equally, which broadly suggests that the joint surplus enhancement from risk sharing, mutual monitoring, and internal referral are sufficient to overcome the incentive problems of such rules