New financial elites,or financial dualism in historical perspective? An extended reply to Folkman,Froud, Johal and Williams

This paper challenges the recent suggestion that a new financial elite has evolved which is able to capture substantial profit shares for itself. Specifically, it questions the assumption that new groups of financial intermediaries have increased in significance primarily because there is evidence that various types of financial speculators have played a similarly extensive role at several junctures of economic development. The paper then develops the alternative hypothesis that, rather than being a recent development, the rise of these financial intermediaries is a cyclical phenomenon which is linked to specific regimes of capital accumulation. The hypothesis is underpinned by historical data from the US National Income and Product Accounts for the period from 1930 to 2000, which suggest that the activities of `mainstream' financial intermediaries have been accompanied by the frequently countercyclical activities of a `speculative' sector of security and commodity brokers. Based on the combination of this qualitative and quantitative evidence, the paper concludes that the rise of a speculative financial sector is a potentially recurrent phenomenon which is linked to periods of economic restructuring and turmoil.     

Establishment and embedding of innovation brokers at different innovation system levels: Insights from the Dutch agricultural sector

In the systems perspective on innovation, co-operation between several different types of actors is seen as key to successful innovation. Due to the existence of several gaps that hinder such effective co-operation, the scientific and policy literature persistently points at the need for intermediary organizations to fulfill bridging and brokerage roles. This paper aims to provide an overview of the insights from the literature on such ‘innovation brokers’, and to contribute to the literature by distilling lines of enquiry and providing insights on one of the lines identified. Taking as an empirical basis experiences with different types of innovation brokers that have emerged in the Dutch agricultural sector, it identifies a number of tensions with regard to the establishment and embedding of such organizations. The paper indicates that, despite being perceived to have a catalyzing effect on innovation, innovation brokers have difficulty in becoming embedded as their clients and/or financiers find it difficult to grasp the nature and value of their activities.     

金融中介体利率风险暴露理论研究综述

一方面,由于金融中介体具有规制约束的特点使其对利率变化更为敏感;另一方面,其长期中介的功能也使其更易出现利率风险暴露.金融中介体利率理论的早期研究表明,只要杠杆调整的久期缺口为负(或为正)且预期能够实现,金融中介体就能够通过对利率变化的估测进行投机.近年来,关于金融中介体利率风险理论研究主要围绕金融中介体的利率风险、事件研究与利率波动性、利率风险的定价等问题展开.目前,收益-权益之谜的定价含义、金融中介体规模和其收益敏感性之间的相关性和基础性的经验研究理论仍是有待于进一步研究的课题.     

国有企业并购中的利益目标冲突

在我国国有企业并购过程中，各利益相关者的利益目标存在着差异和冲突，表现为有企业与政府之间的目标冲突、代理人与被代理人之间的目标冲突、买方和卖方之间的价值判断冲突，各利益方带着不同的目的与动机参与企业并购。为使国有企业并购顺利完成并取得长期稳定发展的效果，一个重要的前提是要促进并购各方在利益目标上的互补和融合。当然，在国有企业并购中，企业价格的达成最终还取决于政府对各方面利益的综合权衡。     

中外保险中介市场比较分析及政策建议

近几年来，我国保险专业中介机构快速发展，保险中介法律法规体系基本建立，保险中介机构在服务、产品、经营创新方面取得初步成效，业务规模增长较快。但与国外相比，我国保险专业中介在市场占有率、专业化水平、与保险公司战略合作、经营模式、竞争模式等方面有较大差距。必须深化体制改革，推进保险公司社会化、专业化经营，拓展保险中介发展空间；加强专业品质，注重诚信建设，提高中介机构的核心竞争力；实施人才战略，推进对外开放，加速保险专业中介与国际接轨，推进保险中介对外开放；改善监管，加强自律，促进中介机构健康和谐发展，加强中介行业自律。     

What's Special About Banks?

I delineate six aspects of how banks have been “special” (although not unique) and then consider whether and to what extent these attributes are still relevant. These include efficiently produced products, importance for the development and growth of economies, international scope, role in economic instability and the conduct of monetary policy, early regulation by governments, and source of data for academic researchers and institutions. Despite changes in the environment and in the ways in which financial services are provided, banks still are special. However, their specialness for public policy concerns is now limited to frauds and deposit insurance. I suggest ways in which these concerns can be dealt with efficiently.     

契约、交易费用与金融中介的产生

关于金融中介的产生,传统经济学认为它首先是作为货币的储蓄场所,然后随着商品经济的发展,借贷关系的出现和信用制度的完善,而逐渐发展成为具有完善信用制度的借贷支付机构.本文试从新制度经济学的角度,利用契约和交易费用等概念来重新阐释金融中介的产生.     

政府对中间商售假行为的约束机制研究

假冒伪劣商品是市场经济的必然产物,当市场机制失灵时,政府进行合理的监管就成为一种必然。从商品流通的角度来看,商品流通的主要承担者———中间商的行为选择对有效治理假冒伪劣商品有非常重要的作用。政府要制定出对中间商售假行为的约束机制,才能看出政府对中间商售假行为实现有效约束的惩罚效用强度和查获概率的取值范围,从而得出政府实施有效约束的最小费用值。     

农村金融有效性政策基础分析

农村金融改革的关键是建立有效的金融中介机构,提高资金融通效率,而不是政府全面干预农村金融市场,农村金融市场的缺陷使得政府的干预大多归于失败。农村金融改革必须注意政府的角色和作用,政府的金融干预政策应当注重从长期完善农村金融市场,促进市场环境的建设,以便市场参与者能根据价格和利润信号,有效分配资源。     

Corporate Restructuring and Leveraged Buyouts in the Asia Pacific 1980–2010

Leveraged buyout markets in the Asia Pacific have grown substantially since the 1980s and now play an important role in the market for corporate control. This paper undertakes an international comparative analysis of the emergence and growth of leveraged buyout firms in the Asia Pacific and their role in corporate restructuring, with a focus on Australia, Japan and South Korea. Three distinct periods in the development of these markets are identified. The paper highlights the importance of state involvement and changes in domestic economic policy around financial crises, where governments created new rules to facilitate buyouts as an organisational restructuring solution to distressed companies.