Do investors misprice components of net periodic pension cost?

We examine whether and how investors misprice the components of net periodic pension cost under SFAS No. 87 and 158. We find that investors appear to have difficulty in understanding the transitory feature of other net periodic pension cost (PPOPCC) and thus overestimate its persistence, which in turn leads to the mispricing of PPOPCC in the pre‐158 period. We also find that SFAS No. 158 appears to reduce the mispricing of PPOPCC, suggesting a positive effect of SFAS No. 158 on investors' valuation of pension items in the income statement. Additional analysis suggests that investors also overestimate the persistence of, and thus misprice, pension‐related cash flows and accruals in the pre‐158 period and that SFAS No. 158 reduces the mispricing of pension‐related cash flows and accruals.     

养老保险体制改革的动态时间一致性研究

本文构建了一个动态时间一致性模型,并利用中国数据对养老保险体系的动态时间一致性做了经验检验和动态预测。研究发现,按照帕累托效率标准对养老保险体系的参数或结构进行调整只是手段,而提高动态时间一致性才是目的。一项养老改革只有在能够同时增进社会福利和个人投资收益率时,才符合动态时间一致性原则;经验检验表明,1978～2012年间,现收现付制向基金制转轨是不符合动态时间一致性原则的;而1994年之后,将统筹比率控制在06～075之间,则有利于提高养老保险体系的动态时间一致性。预测结果表明,中国政府在2014～2037年和2038～2044年间应将统筹比率分别控制在06～09和025～06之间。     

美国高等教育财政政策分析及其启示

美国高校的资金来源具有多元化之特点,为克服财务困难,高校在资金来源方面具有广泛的选择性。其高等教育能成功地转化为一种大众化教育,原因之一就是在政府加大对高等教育资金投入的同时,高校能有效地从其它途径筹措所需资金。本文分析了美国高校资金筹措的多元化特点及其所存     

中日科研资助体系对比研究及启示

自2015年来深化科技体制改革进入关键期,再造国家科研资助体系提上日程。从竞争性与非竞争性的二元结构资助体系、产学合作政策两个维度,对比分析中日两国的科研资助体系发现,当前我国还存在非竞争性科研经费比例偏低、竞争性资助计划覆盖领域和人群不够充分、对产学研合作的政策引导尚存不足等问题。因此,还需进一步优化科研资助体系,使其在二元结构、覆盖面等方面更加合理,并强化对产学研合作的政策规范和引导。     

风险分散与中国混合型基本养老保险制度改革研究

本文从参保人养老投资风险分散角度研究混合型基本养老保险制度设计。通过构建一个两期消费模型,综合考虑参保人所面临的人口结构、工资增长率、养老基金投资等风险因素,本文研究了混合型基本养老保险制度中现收现付制与基金积累制的最优比例,并利用中国数据进行了测算与敏感性分析。研究发现:引入小规模个人账户基金积累制可以分散人口老龄化给现收现付制所带来的风险,中国实行混合型基本养老保险制度有其合理性;但如果要维持40%～45%的养老金替代率水平,中国基本养老保险制度的财务可持续性会面临较大挑战。     

THE SEARCH FOR A PROPORTIONATE CARE LAW BY FORMULA FUNDING IN THE ENGLISH NHS

Although the National Health Service was created to achieve equity of access to health care in 1948, over twenty years later an 'inverse care law' was seen to operate. The 1976  Report of the Resource Allocation Working Party  laid the principles of formula funding to achieve an equitable distribution of resources, to move, over time, towards the operation of a proportionate care law. These principles have been applied ever since in England. This paper describes the context, governance and subsequent development of formulas and three persistent problems: accounting for populations, their needs and variations in the unavoidable costs of providers. The paper concludes by outlining continuing problems from the past and new challenges of formula funding in England to reduce 'avoidable' inequalities in health.     

Smoothing Mechanisms in Defined Benefit Pension Accounting Standards: A Simulation Study*

The accounting for defined benefit (DB) pension plans is complex and varies significantly across jurisdictions despite recent international convergence efforts. Pension costs are significant, and many worry that unfavorable accounting treatment could lead companies to terminate DB plans, a result that would have important social implications. A key difference in accounting standards relates to whether and how the effects of fluctuations in market and demographic variables on reported pension cost are “smoothed". Critics argue that smoothing mechanisms lead to incomprehensible accounting information and induce managers to make dysfunctional decisions. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these mechanisms may vary. We use simulated data to test the volatility, representational faithfulness, and predictive ability of pension accounting numbers under Canadian, British, and international standards (IFRS). We find that smoothed pension expense is less volatile, more predictive of future expense, and more closely associated with contemporaneous funding than is “unsmoothed” pension expense. The corridor method and market‐related value approaches allowed under Canadian GAAP have virtually no smoothing effect incremental to the amortization of actuarial gains and losses. The pension accrual or deferred asset is highly correlated with the pension plan deficit/surplus. Our findings complement existing, primarily archival, pension accounting research and could provide guidance to standard‐setters.     

浅谈企业员工的企业年金

企业年金是企业及其职工在依法参加基本养老保险的基础上,自愿建立的补充养老保险制度,作为一种员工长期激励的手段,可以提高企业的凝聚力。本文通过对企业年金的需求分析,发现企业年金在我国有着巨大的现实需求和发展前景,并针对目前企业年金实践当中存在的问题,提出了几点意见。     

Setting Efficient Incentives for Agricultural Research: Lessons from Principal-Agent Theory

A conceptual analysis of important issues in the organization and management of academic research is presented. Principal-agent theory is applied to derive optimal compensation schemes for scientists when they differ in ability, risk aversion, cost of effort, and reservation utility, and to show the optimal trade-off between institutional risk and scientists' abilities. Implications for an efficient organization of research are derived, including how scientists' incentives should be structured to elicit optimal research efforts and direction, whether research direction should be centralized or decentralized, and whether the organization of research should be through external competitive grants or program and institutional funding.     

通过完善横向课题的相关政策 增加学院科研经费总量

横向课题在科技项目中的地位日渐重要,合理的横向课题政策能够有效地提高学院科研经费总量。因此完善横向课题的相关政策,加强对横向课题的重视程度,是提高学院科研经费总量的有效途径之一。