Reining in auditors: On the dynamics of power surrounding an “innovation” in the regulatory space

In the aftermath of Enron and the collapse of Arthur Andersen, new “independent” institutions were created to oversee financial auditing. Based on a modified version of Lukes’ multidimensional model of power, we first investigate how the creation of the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) has affected the dynamics of power among the main players enlisted in Canada’s regulation of public accounting. Our findings strengthen the view that a “form of allegiance” was, at the time of data collection, developing between CPAB and the largest Canadian accounting firms. Through a second analytical movement, we extend the boundaries of our argument, showing that patterns of resistance against the logic of arm’s length regulation operate in a variety of audit regulatory sites. Our conclusion points, in particular, to the spatial gap - and incidentally the limitations - of any attempt to control and supervise a globalized industry from a national or regional perspective.     

Existence of equilibria in economies with externalities and non-convexities in an infinite-dimensional commodity space

We prove an equilibrium existence theorem for economies with externalities, general types of non-convexities in the production sector, and infinitely many commodities. The consumption sets, the preferences of the consumers, and the production possibilities are represented by set-valued mappings to take into account the external effects. The firms set their prices according to general pricing rules which are supposed to have bounded losses and may depend upon the actions of the other economic agents. The commodity space is L_∞(M,M,μ), the space of all μ-essentially bounded M-measurable functions on M.As for our existence result, we consider the framework of Bewley (1972). However, there are four major problems in using this technique. To overcome two of these difficulties, we impose strong lower hemi-continuity assumptions upon the economies. The remaining problems are removed when the finite economies are large enough.Our model encompasses previous works on the existence of general equilibria when there are externalities and non-convexities but the commodity space is finite dimensional and those on general equilibria in non-convex economies with infinitely many commodities when no external effect is taken into account.     

Why did a majority of French voters reject the European Constitution?

This article assesses the reasons that led a majority of French voters to reject the 29 October 2004 Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe. Their reasons are less connected with the Treaty itself than with a fear of loss of national sovereignty, immigration, and relocation of firms to European countries where the workforce is cheaper.     

How road improvement reduces poverty: the case of Laos

A general equilibrium modeling approach is used to study the effect that rural road improvement has on poverty incidence in Laos. Household survey data are used to distinguish three categories of rural villages according to their road access: (i) no vehicular access; (ii) dry season only access; and (iii) all weather access. A general equilibrium model of the Lao economy is then used to simulate, first, the effect of upgrading category (i) to category (ii) roads, and second, category (ii) to category (iii) roads. The former has a larger poverty‐reducing effect but is also more costly.     

出口退税、贸易盈余和外汇储备的一般均衡分析与中国的实证

本文构建了一个简单的大国开放经济一般均衡模型,从理论上探讨了外汇储备从贸易盈余时的短期均衡到贸易平衡时的长期均衡的动态变化过程,并在此基础上量化分析了降低出口退税率对长期均衡时的外汇储备的影响。研究表明,降低出口退税率在短期内对减少贸易盈余和控制外汇储备增量有一定的帮助,但长期来看则与出口产品的价格弹性密切相关,只有降低那些价格弹性较大的产品的出口退税率,才能够有效地减少长期均衡时的外汇储备,否则可能产生适得其反的效果。中国数据的实证研究支持了理论模型的结论。由于中国的出口产品总体缺乏价格弹性,因此,近年来实行的一系列出口退税政策改革在长期内使国家外汇储备出现了一定程度的增加。本文最后提出了相关的政策建议。     

一般均衡理论的价值基础

现代西方主流经济学中的一般均衡理论缺乏应有的价值基础。近年来试图建立马克思主义的一般均衡理论的努力也一直未能成功。然而,根据马克思的劳动价值论可以证明,在假定社会总产品的价格总量等于价值总量、平均利润总量等于剩余价值总量的条件下,必然有且仅有一个恰好等于相应价值向量的一般均衡价格向量。这意味着,一般均衡理论完全可以建立在劳动价值论的基础之上。本文首先根据马克思关于两大部类社会总产品构成的理论,建立包括技术关系在内的价值体系和相应的价格体系,其次说明在价格体系中存在有无穷多的一般均衡价格向量,最后从无穷多的一般均衡价格向量中确定一个"标准"的价格向量,并证明这个标准价格向量必然等于相应的价值向量。     

论会计师事务所特殊普通合伙制度的完善

特殊普通合伙制度是一种新型的合伙制度,其责任形态上的二元性,既契合了会计师事务所"人合重于资合"的本质特征,又符合事务所控制风险和扩大规模的双重需求。会计师事务所特殊普通合伙制度的功能实现首要在于落实合伙人的资格安排和事务所内部的决策权配置,其次有赖于相关配套制度的建设及完善,具体包括:合伙人个人的财产申报制度、债权人利益保护的替代赔偿机制、注册会计师执业责任鉴定机制、风险与收益匹配的审计收费机制等。     

湖南水污染税的税制设计及征收效应的一般均衡分析

湖南省"两型社会"的深化建设、首批环境税的开征试点、湘江污染的重点治理等事件将湖南省水污染税改革推向了历史的舞台。借鉴国外水污染税开征经验,文章系统地设计了湖南省水污染税征收的基本框架,运用可计算一般均衡(CGE)模型模拟征收水污染税对宏观经济、产业结构、污染物减排等产生的影响。结果表明:开征水污染税宏观经济受损的长期影响要大于短期;对绝大部分行业都带来了不同程度的负面影响,其中短期合成材料制造业产出下降最大,而长期毛纺织和染整精加工业受损最大;然而征收水污染税减少重金属等污染物排放,氨氮、化学需氧量下降尤为显著。     

基于空间计量的房地产价格影响因素分析

现有文献大都认为各个地区的房地产价格是相互独立的,而事实上,空间依赖的存在会使得回归结果是有偏的。本文首先利用全局空间自相关指标(Moran’s I统计量)和局部空间自相关指标(LISA指标)检验我国房价的空间自相关,结果显示我国房价存在空间自相关。然后利用1999-2009年的省际面板数据,运用广义空间面板数据模型分析全国范围以及东、中、西部分区域房价,结果表明,在考虑了房价的空间相关性后,我国各区域房价的影响因素已不尽相同,东部地区房价基本完全由空间因素决定,西部地区房价由供给和需求等因素决定,而全国范围及中部地区房价受两者的共同影响,利率和汇率的变化对我国房价无显著影响。