Reforming Social Security in a Transition Economy: The Case of Lithuania

This paper points out a number of problems associated with the existing pension system in Lithuania. Reforms are proposed, including (i) a substantial increase in the basic pension benefit rate, financed on a pay-as-you-go basis, provided universally, and regulated according to wage/price indexation; (ii) a significant cut in the tax contribution rate to the public pension system matched by a rise in the VAT; (iii) a rise in the retirement age to 65 for both men and women; and (iv) a gradual conversion to a private, funded, mandatory pension system to replace the earnings-related part of the current pension system.     

Nowcasting China’s GDP Using a Bayesian Approach

Real time nowcasting is an assessment of current-quarter GDP from timely released economic and financial series before the GDP figure is disseminated. Providing a reliable current quarter nowcast in real time based on the most recently released economic and financial monthly data is crucial for central banks to make policy decisions and longer-term forecasting exercises. In this study, we use dynamic factor models to bridge monthly information with quarterly GDP and achieve reduction in the dimensionality of the monthly data. We develop a Bayesian approach to provide a way to deal with the unbalanced features of the dataset and to estimate latent common factors. We demonstrate the validity of our approach through simulation studies, and explore the applicability of our approach through an empirical study in nowcasting the China’s GDP using 117 monthly data series of several categories in the Chinese market. The simulation studies and empirical study indicate that our Bayesian approach may be a viable option for nowcasting the China’s GDP.     

Scaling the volatility of GDP growth rates

The distribution of shocks to GDP growth rates is found to be exponential rather than normal. Their standard deviation scales with GDP^β where β=−0.15±0.03. These macroeconomic results place restrictions on the microeconomic structure of interactions between agents.     

Objective methods for graphical structural learning

Graphical models are used for expressing conditional independence relationships among variables by the means of graphs, whose structure is typically unknown and must be inferred by the data at hand. We propose a theoretically sound Objective Bayes procedure for graphical model selection. Our method is based on the Expected-Posterior Prior and on the Power-Expected-Posterior Prior. We use as input of the proposed methodology a default improper prior and suggest computationally efficient approximations of Bayes factors and posterior odds. In a variety of simulated scenarios with varying number of nodes and sample sizes, we show that our method is highly competitive with, or better than, current benchmarks. We also discuss an application to protein-signaling data, which wieldy confirms existing results in the scientific literature.     

Efficient choice set designs for estimating availability cross-effects models

Batsell and Polking proposed a discrete choice model which incorporates the availability (presence or absence) of competing brands into the utility of each brand under study. The information on relative impacts of adding or deleting brands is of strategic interest, and models that do not incorporate such effects may be misleading. The designs suggested by Batsell and Polking have 2^m–m–1 choice sets. Even with as few as 10=m brands, this requires over 1000 choice sets. In this paper we provide a catalog of designs for estimating cross effects models in as few as 2m–1 choice sets. This will make cross effects modelling practical in a wide range of academic and commercial settings.     

Prospects and problems in modeling group decisions

This paper summarizes some of the major issues related to group decision modeling. We briefly review the existing work on group choice models in marketing and consumer research. We draw some generalizations about which models work well when and use those generalizations to provide guidelines for future research.     

晴天送伞,雨天收伞——对金融摩擦、信贷周期和企业融资难问题的分析

微观层面上,商业银行有着“晴天送伞,雨天收伞”的行为特征;而在宏观层面上,银行信贷也存在明显的顺周期性特征。本文构建了一个带有金融摩擦的新凯恩斯主义DSGE模型,把对宏观经济现象的分析建立在坚实的微观基础之上,从而将上述两者纳入到一个统一的分析框架之内。此外,本文还运用我国的实际经济数据对模型中的结构参数进行贝叶斯估计,并对模型中的主要经济变量和外生冲击做了脉冲响应函数分析。研究发现：微观层面上,商业银行的信贷紧缩和扩张行为是其在金融市场存在信息不对称问题下的理性决策;宏观层面上,银行信贷的顺周期性是由于存在金融摩擦所导致的;在如今经济增速下行阶段,风险冲击增强了银行的惜贷慎贷情绪,加剧了企业融资难问题。最后,本文根据模型模拟为如何缓解企业融资难问题提出了一些实际的可操作的政策建议。     

A New Approach to Random Utility Modeling using the Dirichlet Multinomial Distribution

In this paper we introduce a new econometricapproach to analyzing recreational site choicedata, the Dirichlet multinomial model. Thismodel, which nests the standard conditionalmultinomial logit model, can accommodateover-dispersed data and may provide moreefficient estimators of coefficients andconsequent welfare measures than the standardconditional logit model, which is so widelyused in the Random Utility Model approach torecreation demand. We illustrate thisDirichlet approach using a data set of rockclimbers in Scotland, and study the impacts onper-trip consumers surplus of alternativemanagement strategies for popular rock climbingsites. Results show that the Dirichletmultinomial approach produces coefficient andwelfare estimates having smaller samplingvariability in this case. We also compareclassical welfare measures with their posteriorequivalents, which allow for welfare changes tobe dis-aggregated.     

Export Composition and Manufacturing Employment in the US during the Economic Downturn of 1991-92

This paper examines the effect that export composition had upon manufacturing employment in the US during the 1991 recession. Although it takes, on average, approximately $66 000 in exports to create one job, the exact gains in terms of total employment depend upon the labour-intensity of the products being exported. Foreign sales by the chemical and textile industries result in a far greater increase in employment than exports by the petroleum refining or steel industries. This analysis estimates the employment effects of manufacturing exports over the 1989-95 period, utilizing an input-output model to capture both direct and indirect effects. The results demonstrate that export composition has, at times, both strengthened and reduced demand for labour. Consequently, if job-creation is a national goal, it may be in the interests of the US to promote exports from sectors that are labour-using.     

延长退休年龄能降低个人账户养老金的财政补助吗？

本文运用精算模型发现,当女性退休年龄延长至60岁,2039年及以前个人账户养老金的财政补助较现行政策下降0.3%至9.83%,但2040年及以后上升0.44%至4.67%;当男女退休年龄延长至65岁和60岁,2037年及以前财政补助较现行政策有所降低,但2038年及以后不断提高;当男女退休年龄均延长至65岁,2040年及以前财政补助较现行政策有所减少,但2041年及以后不断增加;即使改变任一参数设置,类似情况仍会出现。所以,延长退休年龄只能减少25至28年个人账户养老金的财政补助,之后政府负担逐年加重。