The ladder of investment in Europe,in retrospect and prospect

The ladder of investment was adopted by many European (and other) regulators in the era of copper networks as a means of implementing unbundling in a way which progressively promotes competitive providers׳ infrastructure investment in fixed networks. The paper reviews the evidence of its application and effects, in comparison with the most likely alternative, argues that it probably conferred benefits. In the more recent era of transition to fibre in Europe, regulatory priorities have shifted towards promoting roll-out. Two broad approaches are identified; one continues the focus on a programme of infrastructure competition in taking fibre to the home; another, relying on fibre to the cabinet, reverses it with bitstream used as the access product. It is soon to evaluate the two approaches.     

境外上市与企业投资效率

截至2021年11月,我国单独境外上市企业占到境外上市企业总数的88.32%,但单独境外上市的研究明显与该数据不匹配,研究数量缺乏。为扩充该方面研究,本文以2012~2020年单独在美国和中国香港上市的中资企业为研究对象,对境外上市与投资效率关系进行检验。实证结果发现,单独境外上市与境内上市企业相比投资效率更低,区分企业上市地点后发现,规模大、信息透明度低、存在代理成本的赴港上市企业比境内上市企业投资效率低,规模小、代理成本高、信息透明度低的赴美上市企业比境内上市企业投资效率低。通过机制分析发现,信息透明度、境外上市和非效率投资三者存在"遮掩效应",境外上市企业未能受到有效的信息约束。     

The involvement of utilities in the development of broadband infrastructure: A comparison of EU case studies

Energy companies and other utility providers have been often involved in the provision of telecommunications services. Nevertheless, their contribution to broadband development has varied significantly over time. In the late 1990s, both local and national utilities in the European Union (EU) engaged in the provision of broadband networks, but only few of them managed to establish themselves as major broadband providers. More recently, new projects involving national utilities have been announced in several EU countries, opening new scenarios for utilities’ contribution to Next Generation Access (NGA) development. This paper identifies and explores the factors affecting the entry and the success of utilities in the EU broadband market, through the comparison of four case studies from four EU countries (Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UK). The evolution of utility involvement in the EU broadband markets is assessed against the interaction of market, technology and policy factors, focusing on the impact of policy and regulatory measures. As a result, this paper provides fruitful insights into the relevance and effectiveness of public interventions in broadband markets. Across the four case studies, public support and public ownership emerged as the main drivers for the involvement of utilities in EU broadband markets, with regulatory measures and economies of scope exerting a limited and decreasing influence. However, the contribution of utilities has varied significantly across the cases studied, reflecting the different approaches taken at national and local level to support broadband development, in spite of the common regulatory framework.     

Do development projects crowd-out private sector activities? Evidence from contract farming participation in Northern Ghana

Contract farming (CF) is attractive as a possible private sector-led strategy for improving market coordination and smallholder farmers’ welfare. At the same time, governmental and non-governmental development projects aimed at improving farmers’ welfare continue to be organized. It is not uncommon for CF activities and development projects to take place in the same communities. Yet so far there is no evidence on how development projects affect CF activities. We examine factors affecting entry in and exit from different maize CF schemes in Northern Ghana, and focus specifically on the role of development projects. We find that the presence of agricultural development projects in the community is associated with lower scheme entry, but this not the case for non-agricultural projects. CF exit is more strongly associated with maize projects, but not significantly with non-maize or non-agricultural projects. Thus, our findings do not support concerns of a general moral hazard problem arising from the presence of any development project, but indicate possible negative associations of more closely related agricultural or maize projects with maize CF participation.     

The impact of earnings expectations on corporate downsizing

Research Summary: We propose that due to financial market pressures, managers are forward‐looking in their search and decision processes and focus on meeting performance targets set by the financial community. Using panel data on S&P 100 companies, we find that pressure felt by management to meet the analyst consensus earnings estimate influences the extent of corporate downsizing. Moreover, our results show that high levels of institutional investor stock ownership and CEO power attenuate managers’ sensitivity to financial market pressures, while high levels of analyst coverage increase their sensitivity. Managerial Summary: In this study we examine how financial market pressures influence managers’ downsizing decisions. We argue that investment analysts’ earnings estimates represent important performance targets to which managers aspire. If firms fail to meet analysts’ expectations, the stock price will suffer. This study shows that managers utilize corporate downsizing to address the potential shortfall between a firm's future performance and the analyst consensus earnings estimate. In addition, we find that managers’ concerns over meeting analysts’ earnings estimates are influenced by various contextual factors such as institutional investor stock ownership, CEO power, and high levels of analyst coverage.     

我国主权财富基金的投资方向选择问题——基于国家利益原则的战略视角

我国主权财富基金的成立引起了全世界的关注,而事实上的投资实践并不成功。有关主权财富基金的投资一般仅仅被理解为化解巨额外汇储备风险,在世界范围内(特别是美国等发达国家)寻求具有稳妥收益的债券投资,而实际上美元贬值及国际金融危机等金融波动却造成巨额亏损。主权财富基金投资方向选择越来越成为重要的战略问题。本文从现阶段我国的国家利益原则出发,提出主权财富基金的投资方向主要是对外直接投资。通过对外直接投资为我国工业化发展提供稳定的基础资源(特别是能源)和技术供应,为国内企业走出去提供资金支持,从而获得国内产业升级和结构优化,实现国民经济的可持续发展和福利最大化。本文对直接投资的可行性进行了动态博弈分析,提出了主权财富基金参与对外直接投资的可行性由东道国对其收益与风险的衡量决定的观点。     

不同资本结构与所有权安排下的投资效率测度——来自我国A股市场的经验证据

本文研究了中国上市公司不同资本结构和所有权安排对投资收益和投资效率的影响,并就我国企业过度投资现象进行了测算和说明。实证结果发现,上市公司财务杠杆水平显著影响着公司投资效率和投资收益,但在影响方式上却因所有权安排的差异而有所不同。财务杠杆水平的提高对地方国有企业和非国有企业的投资收益影响不大,但显著降低了这两类企业的投资效率;中央国有企业财务杠杆水平的提高能够显著降低投资收益,但对投资效率的影响并不敏感。研究还发现,低杠杆水平的非国有企业和地方国有企业几乎不存在过度投资情况,高杠杆组该类企业过度投资却很严重;而对于中央国有企业来说,无论财务杠杆水平如何,投资效率均十分低下,过度投资普遍存在。     

保险公司债券投资信用级别限制对债券市场流动性的影响

2005年12月,保监会发布《保险机构投资者债券投资管理暂行办法》,对符合保险公司购买条件的债券信用级别作出严格限制。保险公司的债券投资对象仅限于指定的信用级别债券上,不同信用级别的债券可能因为保险公司能否参与投资导致市场流动性水平出现较大的差别。本文通过分析52只发行额度为10亿元的短期融资券市场流动性水平,认为保险公司的参与对提高债券流动性水平有一定的正面影响。     

西部地区民间投资发展滞后的研究

改革开放以来,西部地区经济发展一直落后于东部沿海发达省份,原因之一是西部民间投资不足。为了解释西部地区民间投资发展不足的现象,本文从新制度经济学的视角进行分析,初步量化制度因素,选取2000-2007年西部10个省市构造面板数据,对西部民间投资自西部大开发以来的发展进行了实证分析,并总结了西部民间投资滞后的制度原因,提出了相应的对策建议。     

Socially responsible investment fund performance: the impact of screening intensity

Perhaps the most common criticism of socially responsible investment funds is that imposing non‐financial screens restricts investment opportunities, reduces diversification efficiencies and thereby adversely impacts performance. In this study we investigate this proposition and test whether the number of screens employed has a linear or curvilinear relation with return. Moreover, we analyse the link between screening intensity and risk. Screening intensity has no effect on unadjusted (raw) returns or idiosyncratic risk. However, we find a significant reduction in α of 70 basis points per screen using the Carhart performance model. Increased screening results in lower systematic risk – in line with managers choosing lower β stocks to minimize overall risk.