Inequality foundations of concentration measures: An application to the Hannah-Kay indices

The aim of this paper is to provide a connection between concentration and inequality. In particular, we show that the general entropy inequality indices are, among inequality measures, those consistent with the whole set of Hannah-Kay concentration indices. We isolate the inequality component underlying concentration measures, obtaining an explicit additive decomposition of the change in concentration into the change in its two components, i.e., inequality and the number of firms. This relationship proves to be valid for the whole set of Hannah-Kay concentration indices, and embodies as particular cases some others previously found in the literature. We are particularly grateful to Emilio Cerdá for helpful comments on the mathematical formulation of the paper. The second author also acknowledges support through the European Commission Project #ERBCHRXCT980248.     

Estimating the Probability of Informed Trading

Using a new empirical model, I estimate the probability of trades being generated by privately informed traders. Inference is drawn on a trade‐by‐trade basis using data samples from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The modeling setup facilitates in‐depth analysis of the estimated probability of informed trading at the intraday level and for stocks with different levels of trading activity. The most important empirical results are: (a) the intradaily pattern of the inferred probability of informed trading is highly correlated with the intradaily pattern of observed quoted spreads, (b) differences in the magnitude of quoted spreads across volume categories are not exclusively related to differences in the level of informed trading, and (c) private information is incorporated faster in the quotes for high‐volume stocks than in the quotes for low‐volume stocks.     

Are Venture Capitalists a Catalyst for Innovation?

In this paper we test two hypotheses concerning the presence of innovation in venture capital investments and the growth of innovative venture backed firms. To examine these hypotheses we considered sample of 37 Italian venture backed firms that went public on the Italian Stock Exchange between 1995 and 2004 and by a statistical matching procedure we picked 37 twin firms among the non‐venture backed IPOs for the same period. Our evidence shows that innovation is an important factor during the selection phase but once the investment is made, the company does not promote continued innovation and concentrates all efforts to improve other economic and managerial aspects.     

Some Evidence on the Adjustment of Producer Prices*

We document producer price adjustment using a low‐inflation micro price dataset. On average 24% of prices adjust each month, with an average increase/decrease of 6%. Producer prices adjust more frequently than consumer prices, but their size of adjustment is typically smaller. Sectoral heterogeneity in the frequency of price adjustment is strongly related to heterogeneity in the cost structure. Fluctuations in aggregate producer price inflation occur to a large extent through variation in the relative share of upward and downward price adjustment.     

大连普兰店北部乡镇与日本同纬度地区资源开发的比较分析

文章基于文献研究以及大连市普兰店北部乡镇的农业发展现状，依照科学发展观的原理，分析了同纬度地区日本的农业资源开发模式，就我国目前的自然条件、农业生产状况、开发经营模式、开发利用效益、农业发展组织模式、化肥施用水平等方面与日本进行比较，为北部乡镇的资源开发和经济发展提供有益的启示。     

RULE CHANGES AND UNCERTAINTY IN DISCRIMINATORY AND UNIFORM PRICE AUCTIONS

The auction literature indicates that uncertainty about the value of auctioned goods increases underpricing in discriminatory price auctions. Such uncertainty has a smaller effect on uniform price auctions because the pricing rule aggregates bidders' information. We find that uncertainty resulting from inexperience with an auction mechanism has similar effects. Using initial public offering (IPO) data from Japan and Israel, we find that average underpricing increases temporarily in Japan's discriminatory price auctions after changes in the auction rules, which suggests that bidders reduce their bids in response to uncertainty. Underpricing in Israel's uniform price auctions is not affected by rule changes.     

从“大萧条”看中美两国应对当前金融危机之策

本文站在历史的角度，审视与检讨中关两国政府在应对当前由次贷风暴引发的金融危机中的得与失。历史是一面镜子，发生在20世纪30年代的世界性大萧条与今日美国金融危机在很多方面具有相似之处。以史为鉴，在百年一遇的危机面前，各国政府应携手并进，同舟共济，避免陷入更深的困境。当前的局势为中国充分展示负责任大国的形象提供了契机。     

Research notes and communications corporate restructuring and strategic change: The effect on diversification strategy and R & D intensity

In the 1980s a number of large corporations restructured their diversified businesses through divestitures. It is hypothesized that restructuring activity focused on firms at intermediate levels of diversification (e.g., related-linked) which have a mixture of related and unrelated business units. Results confirm this hypothesis which explains that such mixed corporate strategies create organizational and control inefficiencies in managing both related and unrelated types of business units. Restructured firms were also found to move towards two types of different internal capital markets (related and unrelated). Most restructuring firms moved toward lower levels of diversification (e.g., related-constrained), although some moved toward higher levels of diversification (e.g., unrelated business). Also, this study finds restructuring firms that changed their corporate strategy by reducing diversified scope increased their R&D intensity. Firms that restructured and increased their diversified scope decreased R&D intensity. This result suggested a partial substitution between diversification and R&D activity.     

The Income Splitting Method: Is it Good for Both Marriage Partners?

Abstract. This paper analyzes how deviating from individual taxation affects married couples. The focus is on time allocation, on investment in family‐specific human capital and on distribution of income within the family. Two insights are discussed in detail. First, the distribution of tax‐reduction gains due to the income splitting system depends on whether the family has been started or not. After marriage, joint taxation increases redistribution among family members. Second, although joint taxation reduces the tax burden of the family, it might harm the marriage partner that is more productive in household production provided that potential marriage partners foresee the effects of joint filing on the time allocation within the family.     

对中国形成世界制造中心进程的冷思考

改革开放以来，我国迅速成为制造业大国，但还远远不是制造业的世界中心。只有认清我国制造业存在的预期利润低、结构不合理、产业链的低端定位、边际效应递减、研究与开发费用不足以及教育结构对制造业的瓶颈效应等问题，并对症下药，才能将我国的制造业真正做大做强。