Developing a microfinance model to break the cycle of poverty

Multigenerational poverty is common in developing countries. Illiteracy, poor health, and unemployment compound a person’s ability to break the cycle of poverty. In this article, we break down the process of designing, testing, and implementing a microfinance model to help end multigenerational poverty in an impoverished refugee village in Uganda. We describe key decisions in developing the model and assess its effectiveness as an instrument in achieving this service objective. We believe our grassroots primary research can benefit many NGOs that might be contemplating lending programs in developing nations, as well as other collegiate institutions interested in implementing sustainable programs that allow students the opportunity to work on global issues in developing nations.     

正式制度、非正式制度质量与比较优势

本文借鉴Levchenko (2007)的做法构建了一个包含制度质量的一般均衡框架,基于制度的两种不同的分化形态——正式与非正式制度,阐述了制度性比较优势的形成机制以及两种制度在其中所扮演的角色。在这个仅包含两个互相贸易地区的模型中,如果正式和非正式制度的质量简单地正相关,则制度质量较高的地区将获得制度依赖型产品的出口优势。然而,比较优势的归属会以正式与非正式制度的交互方式为转移,当且仅当制度占优的地区正式制度质量足够好,或制度占劣的地区正式制度质量足够差时,此前的结论才能继续成立。在经验分析中,基于Nunn (2007)回归模型的拓展形式,本文利用中国30个省级行政区28个制造业细分行业的相关数据,分析了制度质量与产品出口比较优势的关系。研究发现正式制度质量的提升将显著促进契约密集型产品的出口。尽管非正式制度的这一效应并不明显,但二者的联合作用仍得到了强有力的统计支持。     

Blockchain entrepreneurship opportunity in the practices of the unbanked

Two billion people in developing economies have limited or no access to formal financial services, creating cause for substantial research interest in financial inclusion as a complex multidimensional phenomenon. Digital finance technologies, including blockchain, have empowered a type of crescive entrepreneurship that seeks opportunities in relation to financially excluded individuals. This article hypothesizes that nonmonetary causal factors and informal financial practices play a major role in habits of the financially excluded, which would favor blockchain’s disintermediation features over the incumbent approach. After applying fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to determine the conditions related to financial practice and motivations that explain the absence of a formal bank account, I prescribe five sensitivities that blockchain entrepreneurs need to consider when targeting this segment. The value of this article’s approach extends well beyond traditional unisystemic views for financial inclusion, as blockchain-based entrepreneurial opportunities emerge to reveal alternative forms of disintermediated financial services, which we exemplify in startups modeling informal practices. Blockchain entrepreneurship can generate semi-formal financial services that bring financial aspirations closer to people. My perspective is relevant to blockchain entrepreneurs who aim to understand the practices of the unbanked as source information for the development of innovative solutions.     

Analysis of Informal Communication Networks – A Case Study

The structure and dynamics of informal communication networks are of central importance for the functionality of enterprise workflows and for performance and innovation of knowledge-centric organizations. While most executives are aware of this fact, there is a general lack of (semi-) automated, IT-supported methods and instruments to make informal communication networks measurable. Although logging of electronic communications has made considerable progress over the past few years, it is still extremely difficult to map personal interaction; manual approaches in particular are extremely error-prone. The article shows how informal communication networks can be investigated by IT-based methods. At the same time, the authors will be presenting an instrument (“Social Badges”) that collects personal communications automatically and more precisely than legacy approaches allow. The practical applicability of the approach is evaluated through a case study. This article is also available in German in print and via : Fischbach K, Gloor PA, Schoder D (2008) Analyse informeller Kommunikationsnetzwerke am Beispiel einer Fallstudie. WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK. doi: . Accepted after three revisions by Prof. Dr. Buhl.     

儒家传统与企业创新:文化的力量

在创新型国家建设进程中,传统文化到底具有怎样的时代价值和功能？这是一个值得研究的重要问题。本文从非正式制度视角考察了儒家传统文化对当代企业创新行为的影响效应及机理。结果表明,儒家文化对企业创新具有明显的“促进效应”,即企业受到儒家文化的影响程度越强,其专利产出水平显著越高。进一步检验揭示,儒家文化主要通过缓解企业代理冲突、提高人力资本投资水平和降低专利侵权风险等三条渠道影响企业创新。我们还发现,非正式制度的儒家文化和正式制度的法律环境在促进企业创新方面存在相互替代功能。特别是儒家文化的全员辐射效应有利于激发全体员工创新热情,进而提升技术创新成果的实际转化效率,增强专利技术对企业经营绩效的边际贡献。本文从微观企业层面揭示了儒家思想促进创新的内在逻辑,纠正了部分学者对儒家文化价值的消极认知偏见,同时丰富了“文化与企业决策”国际前沿文献,贡献了东方文化情境的经验证据。     

Informal institutions and managers’ earnings management choices: Evidence from IFRS-adopting countries

In this study, we investigate the role of informal institutions (religiosity and culture) in determining managers’ choices of earnings management methods (accruals vs. real activities), after controlling for formal institutions (investor protection, enforcement quality and equity market development). Using an ethical perspective, we find that managers tend to choose an earnings management strategy that meets the prevailing social (informal) norms of the environment where the firm is headquartered. Specifically, our analysis shows that firms domiciled in countries with strong religious adherence and high-power-distance cultures prefer to manage their earnings ‘upwards’ through real activities rather than accruals. Overall, our results suggest that informal institutions determine managers’ earnings management choices at least as strongly as formal institutions do. It would therefore be misleading to analyze managers’ choices in managing earnings solely from the formal rules perspective without considering the role of informal constraints or vice versa.     

Social capital and access to informal finance – evidence from Chinese private firms

This study investigates how firms’ social capital affects their access to informal finance. We argue that social capital helps reduce information asymmetry, increase trust between related parties and enforce lending contracts, so it has positive effects on firms’ access to informal finance. Using novel survey data of Chinese private firms, we find that firms with more social capital have more access to informal finance with lower costs. Further tests show that the effect of social capital is more significant when firms are located in regions with less developed market and lower community’s social capital and during the 2008 financial crisis.     

中国省级预算中的非正式制度:一个交易费用理论框架

运用交易费用经济学 ,本文研究了中国省级预算中非正式制度出现的原因及其主要形式。本文的主要观点是 :中国省级预算中存在的非正式制度是省级政治中的政治家发展出来解决他们制定和实施预算合同时所面临的交易费用问题的。主要的非正式制度包括三种横向非正式制度 ,即预算产权、部分等级制和完全等级制 ,以及围绕着这三种横向非正式制度而形成的“以关系为基础”的纵向非正式制度。     

正规金融与非正规金融:机制、效率与实证挑战

正规金融与非正规金融的定位和关系,不仅是重要的学术问题,也是影响间接金融体系改革方向的关键。本文从机制视角建立学理框架,从信息和履约两个基础维度,讨论正规金融与非正规金融的相对效率及决定因素,并通过系统梳理相关文献,指出现有实证研究的成果与挑战;进而结合中国特征,讨论如何提高正规金融与非正规金融的效率,最后提出未来研究方向。本文认为,正规金融与非正规金融因信息和履约机制不同而各有其独立存在价值,其相对效率取决于不同经济发展阶段的社会网络基础和征信、法律体系,现有实证文献对两者作用的分歧主要源于分类、样本局限和内生性处理。本文从机制视角进行分析,体现了正规金融和非正规金融的金融属性,为探索相关领域学术研究和政策制定提供启示。     

基于经济学视角的温州金融综合改革探析

温州是市场经济和民间金融的典型和代表,但民间资本与金融服务处于"金融压抑"的状态。温州金融综合改革试验区的设立对解决温州民间金融桎梏提供了新机遇。本文从经济学的视角,分析温州民营企业"两难"问题症结和改革难点,揭示温州金融综合改革的重点方向和意义指向。