经济手段VS环境正义:欧盟的视角

本刊第六期，第八期连续刊发“以市场为基础的环保改革是否加剧了环境非正义？”一文，从美国的视角，介绍了以市场为基础的环境经济手段在环境管理过程中可能引发的环境非正义，并提出了应对之策。     

以市场为基础的环保改革是否加剧了环境非正义?

尽管传统的命令控制型环境法规并未明文要求政府避免实施会对少数种族和低收入社区造成不当影响的行为,但是那些法规显然也并非鼓励污染的不当分配.相反,诸多以市场机制为基础的环保措施却明显鼓励污染者将污染转移到低收入社区,常常不可避免地加剧环境权益分配不公问题.     

Products and Productivity*

When firms make decisions about which product to manufacture at a more disaggregated level than observed in the data, measured firm productivity reflects both characteristics of the firm and attributes of the products that are non‐randomly chosen by the firm. This paper develops a model of industry equilibrium in which firms endogenously sort across products and characterizes the resulting bias in measured firm and aggregate productivity. Calibrating the model's parameters, we show that endogenous product selection can have quantitatively important effects on measured firm and aggregate productivity and their response to changes in parameter values.     

On "q"

The introduction of Tobin's q-ratio in the literature has prompted noteworthy advances in economic model-building and empirical analysis. A major shortcoming has been the lack of a convincing measure of marginal q. Herein an alternative approach for measuring marginal q is presented, one based on an event study of capital expenditure announcements. The measures of marginal q are shown to yield reasonable and consistent estimates. The marginal q variables perform well against the hypothesized relationships developed from q theory. A key result is that classifying firms according to their average q measures as a proxy for marginal q is likely to lead to misclassification problems.     

Making pro formas perform

Regulators are trying to clear up the muddle created by earnings-report adjustments called "pro formas" that companies issue. Constraining such reporting, as the regulators seem bent on doing, isn't the solution. Firms should increase alternative reporting--and fully account for their accounting.     

The impact of corporate attribites on the extent of mandatory disclosure and reporting by listed companies in Zimbabwe

This article reports the results of an empirical investigation of the degree of influence of eight corporate attributes on the extent of mandatory disclosure and reporting of 49 listed companies in Zimbabwe. Using a disclosure index which consisted of 214 mandated information items, the extent of mandatory disclosure be each sample company was quantified, and was used with other data specific to each sample company to test the relational hypotheses. Although several alternative specifications of multivariate regression models were developed and estimated, only the results of a robust regression analysis which indicated that company size, ownership structure, company age, multinational corporation affiliation, and profitability have statiscally significant positive effect on mandatory disclosure and reporting practices of the sample companies were reported. The quality of external audit, industry-type and liquidity were statistically insignificant.     

Developing Confidence Intervals for Office Market Forecasts

This study focuses on the precision of models that forecast office construction and absorption. The article is novel because for the first time it applies Feldsteins (1971) technique for developing forecast standard errors in the presence of stochastic exogenous variables. The purpose of the article is not to find behavioral relationships but rather to evaluate forecasts. We find that in the case of many office markets, standard errors of long-term forecasts for absorption and completions are quite large, and therefore the forecasts themselves should not be used as a reliable basis for underwriting.     

A Synthesis of Equity Valuation Techniques and the Terminal Value Calculation for the Dividend Discount Model

This paper lays out alternative equity valuation models that involve forecasting for finite periods and shows how they are related to each other. It contrasts dividend discounting models, discounted cash flow models, and residual income models based on accrual accounting. It shows that some models that are apparently different yield the same valuation. It gives the general form of the terminal value calculation in these models and shows how this calculation serves to correct errors in the model. It also shows that all models can be interpreted as providing a particular specification of the terminal value for the dividend discount model. In so doing it shows how one calculates the terminal value for the dividend discount formula. The calculation involves weighting forecasted stocks and flows of value with weights determined by a parameter that can be discovered from pro forma analysis.     

The Limitations of Bankruptcy Prediction Models: Some Cautions for the Researcher

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate potential problems associated with the use of bankruptcy prediction models in current research. The tests in this study demonstrate the problems that may arise when bankruptcy prediction models are inappropriately applied. This analysis evaluated the Zmijewski (1984) and Ohlson (1980) models using time periods, industries, and financial distress situations other than those used to originally develop the models. The findings indicated that both models were sensitive to time periods. That is, the accuracy of the models declined when applied to time periods different from those used to develop the models. The findings also suggest that the accuracy of each model continues to decline moving from the 1988–1991 to the 1992–1999 sample period. Additionally, Ohlson's (Zmijewski's) model was (was not) sensitive to industry classifications. The findings of this study also suggest that the Ohlson and Zmijewski models are not sensitive to financial distress situations other than those used to develop the models. Thus, the models appear to be more generally useful for predicting financial distress, not just bankruptcy.In sum, the results of this study suggest that researchers should use bankruptcy prediction models cautiously. Applying the models to time periods and industries other than those used to develop the models may result in a significant decline in the models' accuracies. Additionally, some bankruptcy prediction models may be more appropriate for evaluating various forms of financial distress as opposed to just bankruptcy. To avoid erroneous applications of bankruptcy prediction models in the future, it is necessary for researchers not only to understand the uses of prediction models, but also to understand the limitations of the models.