The Feldstein–Horioka puzzle in Latin American and Caribbean countries: a panel cointegration analysis

In this paper, the recently developed panel unit root and the Pedroni cointegration tests are applied to empirically examine the validity of the Feldstein–Horioka puzzle (F–H puzzle) for a heterogeneous panel of 14 Latin American and five Caribbean countries over the period, 1960–2002. The findings indicate that in these countries, the long-run solvency condition is maintained. Finally, employing the Pedroni panel group FM-OLS estimator (2000, 2001), it is found that the statistically significant estimated savings-retention coefficient for the panel is relatively small indicating that the F–H Puzzle is not valid and thus implying the prevalence of a moderate degree of capital mobility.

Entrenched management,capital structure changes and firm value

The relationship between managerial share ownership and the firm’s change in leverage around a security issuance is examined. We find that entrenched managers are not more likely to issue equity, however they do affect lower leverage by choosing debt issuances which are smaller and equity issuances that are larger than those chosen by managers that are not entrenched. The magnitude of the decline in leverage that occurs from before the issuance to after the issuance is positively related to managerial share ownership. In addition, this relationship is confined to only the “entrenchment” range of managerial share ownership. The market reacts negatively to an issuance announcement when managerial share ownership is high.

A quintessential immigrant niche? The non-case of immigrants in the Dutch construction industry

Students of immigrant entrepreneurship show a distinct preference for ethnic concentrations. They focus on small entrepreneurship in sectors with large concentrations of immigrant businesses or on ethnic commercial precincts. This preference stems from practical and theoretical considerations. It seems that the study of such concentrations, or niches, is essential to the theoretical understanding of the structural determinants of small entrepreneurship and the processes of economic incorporation of immigrants. This paper challenges this orthodoxy. It argues that it is important to assess the factors and processes that positively and negatively affect the formation of niches. This argument is corroborated by an analysis of the construction industry in the Netherlands. According to Waldinger (1995: 577), ‘construction represents the quintessential ethnic niche’, but immigrants in the Netherlands did not carve out a niche. This exceptional situation can be attributed to a sector-specific configuration of social, economic and institutional processes.     

The Influence of Grassroots Political Turmoil on Capital Flight from Developing Countries

Abstract

This study hypothesizes that capital flight from developing countries into the United States is related to political disturbances in these countries. The empirical examination of more than two decades of capital flight and political turmoil data for selected developing countries seems to support the hypothesis. Implications for planners are discussed.     

投资信息缺失下资本存量K估计的两种新方法

用永续盘存法测算资本存量依赖于投资信息的可得性,一旦投资信息缺失,永续盘存法便不可以直接用来测算资本存量,即使勉强使用该方法测算资本存量,其结果的准确性和可信度便可能大幅度降低。本文尝试提出了两种全新的测算资本存量的方法,即等资本-产量比法和哈罗德-多马模型法,弥补了永续盘存法的不足和扩展了其适用范围。本文并以海洋经济为例分别使用两种方法测算其资本存量K,并对测量结果进行了对比,分析了两种测量方法的适用性。     

劳动力转移对资本回报率影响的机制分析与实证研究

在新一届政府提出大力发展城镇化的背景下,我国资本回报率是否可以支撑城镇化将带来的大量固定资本投资？本文构造了一个两部门模型,并结合中国的省际数据和多重代理变量方法从理论机制和实证研究两方面证明了：由于劳动力从农村部门向现代部门转移,资本回报率有可能出现随资本存量增加而先递增后递减的趋势。即如果城镇化可以拉动劳动力的持续转移,那么固定资本投资在一段时期内将有较高的资本回报率作为支持。研究结果还表明,制造业规模、存贷比指标、非国有企业所占的比重以及产品市场的发育程度也会对资本回报率的产生一定的影响。     

Temporary stabilization with capital controls

This paper studies both positive and normative aspects of quantity-based capital controls in a small open economy undergoing a temporary inflation stabilization plan. In the model, capital controls are implemented by choosing two policy variables: a ceiling on the private sector debt and a terminal date for removing controls; the date on which controls trigger and hence its duration are endogenously determined. Equilibrium dynamics are characterized for all feasible range of debt ceilings and durations. Temporary controls that end with the collapse of the stabilization plan are shown to mitigate consumption boom-bust cycles and dominate allocations under perfect capital mobility, thus providing a “second-best” rationale for employing them. For controls that are prolonged beyond the collapse of the stabilization plan, equilibria exist even when the debt ceiling is above the debt that accumulates under perfect capital mobility. Here, if the ceiling is sufficiently low, controls mitigate consumption cycles. Conversely, a sufficiently high ceiling amplifies consumption cycles. For prolonged controls, there is a critical value of debt ceiling below (above) which the welfare is higher (lower) relative to the perfect capital mobility case. Finally, for a given debt ceiling, prolonged controls rank lower in welfare than those that end with the stabilization plan. We would like to thank two anonymous referees and the editor whose suggestions have helped us improve the paper substantially. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Individual heterogeneity in the returns to schooling: instrumental variables quantile regression using twins data

Considerable effort has been exercised in estimating mean returns to education while carefully considering biases arising from unmeasured ability and measurement error. Recent work has investigated whether there are variations from the “mean” return to education across the population with mixed results. We use an instrumental variables estimator for quantile regression on a sample of twins to estimate an entire family of returns to education at different quantiles of the conditional distribution of wages while addressing simultaneity and measurement error biases. We test whether there is individual heterogeneity in returns to education and find that: more able individuals obtain more schooling perhaps due to lower marginal costs and/or higher marginal benefits of schooling and that higher ability individuals (those further to the right in the conditional distribution of wages) have higher returns to schooling consistent with a non-trivial interaction between schooling and unobserved abilities in the generation of earnings. The estimated returns are never lower than 9 percent and can be as high as 13 percent at the top of the conditional distribution of wages but they vary significantly only along the lower to middle quantiles. Our findings may have meaningful implications for the design of educational policies.     

企业价值转移和资本结构:一项实证分析

本文选取2001年沪深A股677家上市公司的市场和财务数据,首先检验两个指标是否具有显著相关性:市值规模比和长期负债比率。并按价值转移理论,利用市值规模比把677家上市公司划分为三组:价值流入期、价值稳定期和价值流出期。实证研究处于不同价值转移阶段企业资本结构的特点。     

企业财务治理结构优化的对策分析

本文从理论和实践上提出了优化企业财务治理结构的对策:强调财权的有效配置,建立企业财务决策权、财务执行权和财务监督权“三位一体”的财务治理结构;引入博弈论的观点,分析了监督与激励机制对减少逆向选择和降低道德风险,完善企业财务治理结构的重要意义;进一步论证了如何通过完善我国资本市场的评价功能,来保持财务治理结构的有效性。