适配农村城镇化进程的最优金融结构理论研究．

一个实体经济体的最适配金融结构，内生决定于该实体经济的禀赋特性。从经济结构内涵而论，劳动力就业结构的转换、农村要素禀赋的提升以及产业结构的调整，构成农村城镇化的重要禀赋特性，小企业和新创办企业是农村城镇化中经济结构调整的主要动力。从金融交易特征观察，农村城镇化聚集了众多小企业成长所引致的异质性融资需求，与之相关的金融契约，有别于现行的二元金融系统，其资金需求规模小，企业家风险突出，这决定了适配农村城镇化的金融制度，不可能在现有二元金融系统中单独依靠对某种金融机构的改造而确立。为加速农村城镇化进程，有必要建构“区域性”的“政策导引的商业金融系统”，其核心价值在于对小额信贷的风险甄别功能。     

协同治理:社会救助制度低效运行的治理路径

社会救助领域的核心是救助效率问题。由于缺乏有效的信号甄别机制,同时政府挤出了非营利组织的参与空间,导致社会救助压力沉重、效率低下。救助效率低下不仅会导致救助资源的非均衡配置,同样也会影响救助公平目标的实现。为此,需要发挥市场在资源配置中的主体地位,界定各参与主体的权利责任边界,完善参与主体内部治理结构,建立政府机制、市场机制、社会机制协同合作的治理模式,降低社会救助中的交易成本,实现救助资源的均衡配置。     

Policies to Reduce Rent Seeking in Controlled Markets

Abstract

We analyze the effects of various policies to reduce rent seeking in the controlled market in which buyers have heterogeneous valuation regarding the coveted good. The good is allocated according to the buyer-specific signal (‘test score’), which is determined by the quantity of wasteful ‘rent seeking’ exerted by the buyer. We consider three common forms of market control: minimum qualification score, quota, and price ceiling. The potential buyers with higher valuations are more likely to receive the good in equilibrium, while they exert more rent-seeking efforts. Marginally relaxing market control does not necessarily decrease the aggregated amount of rent-seeking activities, and the effectiveness of policy measures usually depends on the current degree of competitiveness in the market.     

Financing education using optimal redistributive taxation

In this article, the joint use of an income tax and public provision of education as instruments to achieve the government’s distributional objectives is considered. Individuals differ in innate labour productivity and in aptitude to acquire skills through education. Actual labour productivity depends on both innate skill and the amount of education received. Using a generalized version of the Mirrlees tax problem that incorporates these features, qualitative properties of an optimal tax schedule are investigated.     

2001年度诺贝尔经济学奖获得者斯蒂格里茨的学术贡献

本文重点介绍了斯蒂格里茨教授对于经济学的发展所作出的杰出贡献。他是信息经济学的创始人之一，从不对称信息的角度论证了保险市场的逆向选择、道德风险问题及金融市场的信贷配给问题，给予效率工资理论以新的解释，并提出较少信息的一方可以通过“信息甄别”获取对方的信息。他也是新凯恩斯主义经济学的代表人物，试衅以微观经济学的原理说明宏观经济现象，为政府干预理论寻找依据，为新凯恩斯主义经济学取得主流地位作出巨大贡献。斯蒂格里获对中国的渐进性改革给予充分肯定，并提出过许多有益的建议。     

How changes in market conditions affect screening activity,credit risk,and the lending behaviour of banks

The global financial crisis dramatically transformed the market conditions in the banking industry. We construct a theoretical model of spatial competition that considers the differential information between lenders and loan applicants to explore how changes in the market structure affect the lending behaviour of banks and their incentives to invest in screening and how this, in turn, affects the level of credit risk in the economy. Our findings reveal that enhanced competition reduces lending cost thus encouraging the entry of new customers in credit markets. Also, that the transportation cost that loan applicants are required to pay to reach the bank of their interest shrinks with respect to the degree of competition. We further lend support to the view that stiffer competition has an increasing impact on the level of credit risk. Notably, we find that competition strengthens the incentives of banks to engage in screening activity and that screening serves as a protection mechanism that can provide banks with a shield against bad loans. Overall, when market conditions are substantially distorted, this has a dilutive impact on the incentives mechanism of banks to screen their applicants. We provide empirical evidence which is consistent with the conceptual underpinnings of our theoretical model and the obtained findings.     

Creation of an Islamic stock index in West Africa

Islamic finance, which has become inescapable has entered into financial markets by offering solutions consistent with the precepts of the Shariah. The objective of this paper is to propose the creation of an Islamic stock index in West Africa. The choice of market values ​​requires extra financial and financial screening system. The results show that 10% of the securities in Nigeria Stock Exchange , the Regional Stock Exchange (Brvm) and the Ghana Stock Exchange (Gse) were selected to form the Islamic index " Ecowas Shariah index.     

Identifying cost-effective screening algorithms for active hepatitis C virus infections in a high prevalence setting

Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of different screening patterns for active chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections utilizing the hepatitis C core antigen test compared to standard care in the context of a general screening program in a high-prevalence country.

Methods: This study developed a decision analytic model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of four screening algorithms for the detection of active HCV infections among asymptomatic individuals with an unknown HCV status in a context of high (>5%) HCV prevalence. Three algorithms started with a serological test for antibodies (AB) followed by a nucleic acid test for HCV-RNA (RNA), the HCVAg (AG) assay, or both. An additional single marker screening strategy with AG was added to the analysis. By the example of the Republic of Georgia, strategies were compared in terms of total costs for screening and diagnosis of an active infection from a health system perspective.

Results: Replacing RNA with AG for confirmation of positive AB identified fewer active infections (–110 per 100,000 screened subjects) at significantly reduced total costs (–$2.74 per screened) and costs per diagnosed infection (–$44). Adding a subsequent RNA confirmatory test on AG negative results captured at least the same rate compared to the standard (AB followed by RNA) at still reduced costs (–$1.16 per subject screened, –$22 per case detected). Utilizing AG as the frontline test revealed the highest detection rate (97.9%) at the highest costs (+$3.80 per subject, +$323 per case detected vs standard).

Conclusion: A combined pattern of HCV AB screening followed by sequential confirmation with AG and RNA on AG negatives would provide equal or better diagnostic performance at lower cost over a broad range of scenarios. Potential long-term consequences of screening strategies to patients and society have to be considered, since the latency period for HCV to develop into severe liver disease is long.     

电子商务中产品质量不确定性及其解决方案

本文借助阿科洛夫的逆向选择理论,分析了电子商务发展中遇到的由于信息不对称而导致的产品质量不确定性问题,并提出了解决问题的几种方案。     

The French first employment contract: efficient screening device or Kleenex contract?

The controversial novelty in the French Labor Law reform, withdrawn in April 2006, was a contract form under which employers could dismiss young workers on probation without justification. Proponents argued that the reform would improve screening and boost employment whereas opponents dubbed it the “Kleenex contract.” We show that the new contract can produce an incentive to dismiss even suitable workers but that this harmful effect could be mitigated by instituting public ratings of firms according to their propensity to dismiss young workers. Informed workers could then respond to job offers according to firms’ layoff records, which in turn would restore promotion incentives and efficient screening.