Is competition beneficial? The case of exchange traded funds

New ETF creation has surged in recent years, giving investors the option to choose from a wide range of similar ETFs within each group of competitors. We identify groups of ETFs that can be considered direct competitors and examine the impact of competition on their market quality. Results show improved market quality measures when competition increases. A change equivalent to going from a monopoly to a highly competitive market results in a 29% decrease in bid–ask spreads, a 72% decrease in illiquidity, and a 52% increase in turnover. However, we find that competition has a differential impact on ETFs according to their market depth. Market quality improves with competition for large or well-performing ETFs, while it worsens for small or under-performing ETFs. A case study on ETFs banned by the SEC in March 2010 further highlights our results in the artificially controlled competitive environment of the moratorium.     

法人治理下事业单位的投资与补偿机制研究

改革开放30年来,我国事业单位的体制改革取得了相当的成就,不同性质的事业单位由于它公益性质和与市场结合程度的不同,各级政府逐渐采取了不同的财政政策,但笔者认为我国目前的事业单位普遍存在组织法人地位不足问题,本文从我国的国情出发,对法人治理下事业单位的投资与补偿机制作进一步大胆的探索。     

Evaluating the effectiveness of inter-regional trade and storage in Malawi’s private sector maize markets

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the private sector maize marketing system in Malawi using threshold autoregression models. Two dimensions of maize market performance are evaluated: (1) inter-regional trade and spatial price transmission; and (2) storage and seasonal price relationships. In both cases, threshold autoregression models which account for nonlinearities predicted by economic theory are applied. Results indicate that spatial price transmission and seasonal price patterns in private sector maize markets in Malawi are generally consistent with long-run competitive inter-regional trade and storage behavior, and that in most cases shocks to long-run equilibrium are arbitraged away quickly. This suggests the private sector in Malawi is generally doing a good job of transporting maize from surplus to deficit regions and smoothing maize consumption between harvests.     

规范发展直接金融

我国现在社会融资90%以上的比例集中于银行,单一的融资形式是造成金融效率低下、增大银行业风险的重要原因,必须大力规范、发展直接金融.资本市场应股权融资、债权融资共同发展,规范、发展证券供应者与需求者,完善立法和加强监管.应该建立一个以工商企业短期直接融资为主体的货币市场.     

Intertemporal Emission Trading with a Dominant Agent: How does a Restriction on Borrowing Affect Efficiency?

In this paper we analyze how restricting intertemporal trading by prohibiting borrowing of emissions permits affects the ability of a dominant agent to exploit its market power. We show that the monopolist could take advantage of the constraint on borrowing by not distributing the sale of permits cost-effectively across periods. Furthermore, we show that a constant present-value price over time does not imply a cost- effective distribution of abatement (permit sales) across periods.     

要给证券市场正确定位

中国股票市场不是自下而上自发产生的,而是由政府自上而下建立起来的,政府是股票主要供应者,又是股票市场监管者,这决定了中国股票市场的初始阶段必然是政策市;由于对股票市场定位偏差和制度性缺陷,中国股票市场过度投机,无优化资源配置功能;现在解决中国股市历史遗留问题的条件已经成熟;不能把政府失效产生的问题都推给市场解决,解决中国股市的问题要靠政策与市场的合力,现在关键在政策力度.     

要素配置扭曲与农业全要素生产率

要素市场扭曲会导致农户个体对资本、劳动等生产要素配置扭曲,最终降低农业的总量全要素生产率(TFP)。本文运用2003-2007年全国农村固定跟踪观察农户数据,实证分析了中国东、中、西部以及东北地区农户家庭生产的要素配置扭曲程度及其与总量TFP的关系,发现不同地区农户要素配置的扭曲存在显著的差异:从扭曲水平和发散程度来看,东部和西部地区的资源配置扭曲较为严重,中部、东北地区的配置效率较高。即使不考虑技术因素,如果有效消除资本和劳动配置的扭曲,农户的农业TFP有望再增长20%以上,其中东部和西部地区的改进空间超过30%。要素配置的扭曲程度主要取决于农村非农就业机会、金融市场和土地规模。促进社会转型是提高农业生产率的主要途径。     

加快调整国有经济布局的路径选择

国有经济布局和结构的调整进程仍然相对滞后,全社会资源配置效率还处于较低水平。思想认识上的偏差以及产 权市场不完善等制度缺陷阻碍了国有经济退出的步伐。应形成统一的思想路径、行为路径和制度路径,以加快中国国有经济 布局调整。     

保险市场行为变异原因探析

保险市场行为的变异一直是保险市场关注的热门话题,然而人们更多地关注变异的表现形式,而对变异的原因很少提及。从制度经济学的角度分析,保险市场行为变异是由内部及外部因素共同造成的。外部原因主要是保险市场的信息不对称、保险市场的负外部性及保险行业的特殊性;内部原因主要包括保险经营目标的差异性、保险公司组织行为的变异、保险公司的治理结构因素及销售渠道因素。