The Case of the Missing Pollution Haven Hypothesis

One particularly vexing puzzle for economists and policymakers over the past several decades concerns the empirical significance of the theoretically predicted pollution haven hypothesis. While neoclassical theory and conventional wisdom both surmise that local economies will suffer deleterious effects from stricter environmental regulations, empirical studies have largely failed to validate such claims. This study utilizes the method of matching to show that the impact of stricter regulation is heterogeneous spatially, varying systematically based on location-specific attributes. Previous studies that assume a homogenous response may therefore inadvertently mask the overall impact of more stringent regulations by pooling unaffected and affected regions.JEL Classification: Q25, Q28, H00, L51, R1The authors wish to thank to Michael Crew, Anthony Heyes, an anonymous referee, Werner Antweiler, Randy Becker, Wayne Gray, Shelby Gerking, Michael Greenstone, Vern Henderson, and Arik Levinson. Participants at various university seminars and conferences also lent useful insights to this line of research.     

西方现代股利政策理论的演进与评价

股利政策是个谜。四十多年来,西方财务学者分别从不同的角度、运用不同的方法对股利政策进行了大量的理论和实证研究。本文对此进行了较为系统和全面的回顾与评述。早期股利理论研究主要集中在股利政策与股票价格是否有关的研究上,其观点主要有在手之鸟理论和股利无关论。20世纪八十年代后,股利之争主要集中在股利为什么会引起股票价格变化,其观点有追随者效应、信号理论、代理学说和行为学派等。虽然这些学派的观点在不同程度上还存在一些缺点,但它们改变了传统理论的思维方式和分析方法,极大地扩展了财务学的研究视野,从而使股利政策研究在“量”和“质”上均产生了很大的飞跃。     

老龄化社会和谐与保险行业创新

在建设和谐社会的过程中，必须面对我国人口老龄化的现实，从这层意义上说，建设我国和谐社会，也就是建设一个老龄化的和谐社会。因此，必须加快保险行业制度创新与产品创新步伐，主动适应社会发展要求，以保险业自身的创新及和谐进步来保障老龄化社会和谐建设。     

基于信息化社会会计假设的反思

随着网络技术的发展与应用,对财务会计提出了挑战,有学者认为,传统的财务会计假设已不再适用。本文认为,信息化只是在一定程度上影响了会计假设,并没有改变会计假设的实质,会计假设在会计理论和会计实务中的地位并未发生实质性的动摇。采用实时报告系统,能够有效解决信息化对会计分期假设和持续经营假设的影响。     

中国寿险需求影响因素的检验

本文运用面板数据分析方法．从宏观角度实证分析了1997～2003年中国内地30个省（市）寿险需求的影响因素，探讨了经济发展、教育水平、居民储蓄存款、人均可支配收入、竞争程度因素对寿险保费收入的影响。实证检验发现，以上因素对一个地区的寿险需求均有显著的正向影响。我国各地区寿险市场的发展是“经济推动型”，寿险市场发展不平衡的根本原因在于经济发展不平衡。     

对西方主流宏观经济学均衡假定的反思——从凯恩斯主义的投资恒等于储蓄说起

自从凯恩斯的《通论》出版以来,宏观经济学就逐渐成为一个比较系统而相对独立的学科,后人将凯恩斯的短期经济增长模型进一步长期化为外生和内生经济增长理论.纵观主流宏观经济学的理论构建,几乎都有一个共同的假设:市场能够自动实现均衡,但是,正是这个假设将西方主流宏观经济学引入了歧途.对于原凯恩斯主义、新古典综合派、新凯恩斯主义、哈罗德-多马的古典经济增长理论和索洛的新古典增长理论、新古典宏观经济学派而言,它都是一个难以回避的硬伤.     

在商法与消费者法之间寻求平衡的保险法--美国《责任保险法重述》评述与启示

《责任保险法重述》可以说是美国保险法近年来发展的总结。《重述》以被保险人与保险人之间的权利义务关系为中心展开,以亲保险人规则(Pro Insurer Rule)与亲被保险人规则(Pro Insured Rule)之间的冲突博弈为主线,在保险合同解释、不实陈述、抗辩义务、强制执行与救济等方面对规则进行了澄清。伴随着金融消费者权益保护运动的兴起,我国保险法未来发展是更偏向于消费者权益保护法还是商法,长期以来存在争议。由于美国对我国保险法的规则制定和保险业务实践均有不同程度的影响,因此,以《重述》作为我们观察的制度样本,不仅可以从规则内容上为我国保险法改革提供借鉴;而且还提供了以"美国"作为方法论,探讨《重述》经历项目性质变更,在后金融危机时代保护保险消费者利益与维护保险人商业经营之间所作的努力与妥协,为我们回答"商法"与"消费者法"之争提供参考。     

Growth, crisis and change in the insurance industry: a retrospect

The insurance industry currently finds itself in a revolutionary situation characterized, in part, by the impact of new direct marketing techniques, facilitated by new technologies; by corporate restructuring and the creation of international mega-corporations; and by the accelerating globalization of the industry. This article surveys recent research on insurance history with the aim of placing these developments in their long-run context. Three areas are examined for evidence of continuities and discontinuities with the past: namely, the impact of technology, the interaction between markets and organizational change, and the globalization of insurance and its relationship to economic growth.     

我国保险公司税收制度的完善

我国保险公司税制存在诸多弊端 ,如 :中外资保险公司所得税待遇不同 ,营业税负担过重等 ,阻碍了保险业的发展。笔者建议在考虑政策目标 ,税收原则 ,最终纳税人等相关因素的前提下 ,改革现行保险公司税制。如 :统一中外资保险公司所得税税率 ,降低营业税率并实行差别税率等。     

Capital, corporate income taxes, and catastrophe insurance

We provide estimates of the equity capital needed and the resulting tax costs incurred when supplying catastrophe insurance/reinsurance using a partial equilibrium model that incorporates a specific loss distribution for US catastrophe losses. After consideration of insurer investment in tax-exempt securities, tax loss carry-back/forward provisions, and personal taxes, our results imply that the tax costs of equity finance alone have a substantial effect on the cost of supplying catastrophe reinsurance. These results help explain a variety of industry developments that reduce tax costs. Also, when coupled with non-tax costs of capital, these results help explain the limited scope of catastrophe insurance/reinsurance.