Estimation of the public benefits of urban water supply improvements in Ethiopia: a choice experiment

Improving existing drinking water supply services in developing countries depends crucially on available financial resources. Cost recovery rates of these services are typically low, while demand for more reliable services is high and rapidly growing. Most stated preference-based demand studies in the developing world apply the contingent valuation method and focus on rural areas. This study examines household Willingness to Pay (WTP) for improved water supply services in a choice experiment in an urban area in Ethiopia, a country with the lowest water supply coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa. The design of the choice experiment allows estimation of the value of both drinking water supply reliability and safety. The estimated economic values can be used in policy appraisals of improved supply investment decisions. Despite significant income constraints, households are willing to pay up to 80% extra for improved levels of water supply over and above their current water bill. Women and households living in the poorest part of the city with the lowest service levels value the improvement of water quality most. As expected, also averting behaviour and expenditures play an important role.     

Assessing the impact of domestic outsourcing and offshoring on productivity at the firm level

The purpose of this article is to investigate the effects of domestic and foreign sourcing on firm-level productivity. We develop a simple framework that permits the introduction of both domestic outsourcing and offshoring in a conventional production function. We find that the decision to outsource has a positive impact on the level of productivity as it permits the relocation of parts of the production process to external suppliers. Furthermore, there is a positive impact on output resulting from domestic outsourcing and offshoring like any other input.     

发展北京市现代服务业与扩大内需的思路及对策

党的十八大报告明确提出要“加快建立扩大消费需求长效机制”.北京市现代服务业的发展要牢牢把握扩大内需这一战略基点,加快建立扩大消费需求长效机制.为此,探讨现代服务业在北京市扩大内需和经济发展中的重要作用,分析北京市现代服务业发展的瓶颈,指出北京市现代服务业可持续发展的途径以及发展重点.     

Role of government in trade and investment boom: lessons from East Asia

This paper extends the empirical analysis on Rodrik’s (1995a) domestic investment‐led export growth model for East Asia to nine East Asian countries for a longer time period, 1960 through 2004, and tests whether openness Granger‐caused investment or vice versa. Our results suggest that there can be no single conclusion about the role of investment in East Asia. Causality has also changed for some countries in different time periods. We question the exogeneity of the investment boom in East Asia, a key assumption made by Rodrik. Government’s incentives encouraged investment in export industries through different channels.     

The 1994 currency crisis in Turkey

This paper analyzes the 1994 crisis in Turkey. The period preceding the crisis witnessed a continuous deterioration of macroeconomic fundamentals. However, domestic debt financing of public deficits prevented reserve losses and an increase in inflation rate. It is argued that despite weak fundamentals of the period preceding the crisis, in the absence of policy “mistakes” that played a role of a series of shocks in the second half of 1993, the financial crisis could have been avoided.     

The Effects of Real Exchange Rate on Trade Balance and Domestic Output: A Case of Malaysia

The main objective of this study is to determine the effects of real exchange rate changes on the real Malaysian trade balance and the domestic output during the pegged exchange rate regime, 1977:1–1998:2, using quarterly data. The cointegration results suggest that a real ringgit exchange rate depreciation improves the Malaysian balance of trade in the long run. The impulse response analysis suggests that the effects of a depreciation of ringgit on the trade balance and domestic output are quite similar. A devaluation will initially improve the trade balance and domestic output, after which the trade balance starts to deteriorate and then the recession sets in, but subsequently both the trade balance and domestic output improve.     

Is business saving really none of our business?

This paper revisits the role of business saving in the economy by critically scrutinizing the existing macroeoconomic and corporate finance literatures. We assemble and exploit a broad international, unbalanced panel of 47 countries over 1995–2013 on saving and investment by institutional sector to shed new light on the relevance of business saving for private saving and investment around the world. We show that businesses contribute on average more than 50% of national saving around the world. Using this unique dataset, we find evidence of partial piercing of the corporate veil: a $1 increase in business saving gives rise to a decrease of approximately $0.40 in household saving–thereby raising private saving by as much as $0.60. We also find that a $1 increase in business saving increases private investment by as much as $0.20 in countries where limited financing is a binding constraint on firms’ investment. The evidence suggests that business saving and external financing are complementary sources of financing for investment.     

网络视频的社会化分享对国产电影票房影响的实证研究

以2014年国产影片为研究对象,利用从主流视频网站获得的数据,对网络视频的社会化分享对国产电影票房的影响进行了回归分析。结果显示:社会化分享是影响国产影片票房收入的重要因素之一;消费者将影片网络预告片分享到微博、QQ好友、微信和Qzone等站外社会化媒体的次数越多,线下国产影片的票房收入越高,而站内分享行为对影片票房收入的影响明显弱于站外社会化分享行为。     

汇率传递、宏观经济冲击对我国物价水平影响的实证分析

从实证的角度研究中国的汇率传递及宏观经济冲击和货币政策冲击相关因素对物价水平的影响.结合中国实际情况,在原有研究的基础上改进了一个包括所有这些相关变量的VAR模型.通过脉冲响应函数和方差分解的方法,我们发现,供给和需求冲击是物价水平波动的最主要原因,汇率和货币政策冲击在物价波动过程的作用并不明显,这与已有的研究结果有很大的不同,这表明仅仅依靠货币政策并不能降低当前的高物价水平.     

外资银行进入我国对国内银行业的影响

外资银行进入我国后,其先进的管理理念、成熟的管理技术和产品,使国内银行业机遇与挑战并存。国内银行业在加强内部治理提高核心竞争力的同时,要注重营造良好的竞争环境,形成有序竞争规则,防止恶性竞争。