Regulation and crises: A concave story

The paper develops a theoretical model showing a concave impact of regulation on the probability of a crisis, which is then tested by applying a non-linear Probit model, OLS estimates, and IV regressions to annual data from 138 countries over the period 1996–2017. The key result is that the probability of a financial crisis fits an inverted U-shaped curve. The latter rises as regulation tightens from low to medium levels and descends as regulatory strictness goes from medium to high levels. Countries located in the middle level of regulatory stringency are exposed to more financial instability than either low-regulation or high-regulation countries. The latter two groups of countries are caught in a “liberalization trap” and a “regulation trap,” respectively. Institutional quality interacts significantly with the regulatory environment, implying trade-offs between regulatory stringency and institutional quality.     

A signaling model of environmental overcompliance

We present a theory of unilateral regulatory overcompliance as a signaling device. Firms that have a competitive advantage in the use of a cleaner but more costly technology overcomply in order to signal to an imperfectly informed, benevolent government that compliance costs are low, thereby triggering tougher regulation. We identify the conditions under which such an overcompliance signaling equilibrium arises, showing that there may be over-overcompliance in that firms may overcomply even when tougher regulation is not socially desirable. We also discuss the differential implications of the signaling theory as compared to other theories of unilateral regulatory overcompliance.     

Allocative efficiency measurement revisited—Do we really need input prices?

The traditional approach to measuring allocative efficiency exploits input prices, which are rarely known at the firm level. This paper proves allocative efficiency can be measured as a profit-oriented distance to the frontier in a profit-technical efficiency space. This new approach does not require information on input prices. To validate the new approach, we perform a Monte-Carlo experiment providing evidence that the estimates of allocative efficiency employing the new and the traditional approach are highly correlated. Finally, as an illustration, we apply the new approach to a sample of about 900 enterprises from the chemical manufacturing industry in Germany.     

FDI对国际贸易的影响：来自中国的证据

本文利用2003~2006年的面板数据检验了我国外向与内向FDI存量与进出口贸易之间的关系。通过实证分析发现:我国的外向FDI与进出口均存在互补关系,因此外向FDI具有贸易创造效应,其中又以出口创造效应为甚,从而使我国的外向FDI具有"净出口"效应;而内向FDI与进出口的关系都不显著。     

中国私营企业的生产率表现和投资效率

本文利用第一次全国经济普查数据系统地研究中国私营企业的生产率表现和投资效率问题。样本分析表明,东部地区材料和机械设备制造业的私营企业在劳动生产率和资本生产率上都明显领先于其他地区,然而这种优势主要集中表现在规模较大的企业上。生产函数的估计结果显示各地区大部分行业的资本弹性稳定地处于0.2—0.3之间。对生产率方差的分解表明,地区和行业内部近90%的生产率差异来自TFP的差异,劳均资本的差异只占贡献来源的13%左右。虽然行业间生产率差异的主要来源还是TFP,但地区间的生产率差异则主要来源于劳均资本的差异。资本边际产出在地区间和行业间的不均衡分布意味着部门间存在资本配置的非效率。我们通过模拟实验发现,省际间资本重置给私营制造业带来的潜在产出增长效果比行业间的资本重置更加明显,这意味着私营制造业资本的地区间流动障碍比行业间障碍更为严重。     

计量经济学应用研究的总体回归模型设定

本文从计量经济学应用研究中总体回归模型设定的任务和目标出发,通过对总体模型设定的研究目的导向、经济学理论导向、数据关系导向的分析与评价,提出总体模型设定的唯一性、一般性、现实性和统计检验必要性原则;最后,提出总体回归模型设定的"经济主体动力学关系导向"原则和框架。     

The existence of R&D spillovers: A cost function estimation with random coefficients

This is a study of the effects of R&D spillovers on the cost and production structures of Finnish manufacturing firms. Confidential data on firms is used to estimate a translog cost function system with random coefficients. Although the results suggest that intra-industry spillovers are present in Finnish manufacturing, the findings regarding inter-industry spillovers are inconclusive. The variable cost reduction associated with spillovers is positive, but relatively low. Spillovers reduce the demand for labor but increase the demand for materials. Spillovers also reduce the willingness to pay for capital inputs.     

Beyond Regulation: Towards a Cultural Political Economy of Complexity and Emergence

Drawing on and contributing to materialist state theory, the regulation approach and institutional economics for more than three decades, Bob Jessop can certainly be considered one of the foremost Marxist political economists of our time. Recently, he has taken on board the cultural turn in social analysis by developing a highly original cultural political economy of the knowledge-based economy. As a contribution to the further development of a cultural political economy that is sensitive to the cultural dimensions of social life while retaining an emphasis on capital accumulation and state regulation, this article directs attention to the limits of Jessop's approach and suggests possible amendments to the theory. In particular, the article highlights the need to move beyond a concern with regulation towards a cultural political economy of complexity and emergence.     

Performance evaluation of China's high-tech innovation process: Analysis based on the innovation value chain

The Chinese high-tech industry has developed greatly since the beginning of China's “National High-tech R&D (863) Program” and “China Torch Program”. This paper introduces a conceptual model extended from the innovation value chain model to simultaneously estimate the R&D and commercialization efficiencies for the high-tech industries of 29 provincial-level regions in China. To match reality, a network DEA incorporating both shared inputs and additional intermediate inputs is constructed to open the “black box” view of decision making units used in single-stage DEA. This study is the first attempt to link the R&D and commercialization with a solid theoretical foundation and feasible mathematical methods. The empirical findings show that most of the 29 regions have low efficiency in the commercialization sub-process compared to the R&D sub-process, although there are regional differences in China's high-tech industry. Pearson correlation shows that the R&D sub-process is not closely correlated to the commercialization sub-process in terms of efficiency. Our analysis can provide information for the formulation of policies to achieve high innovation efficiency.