Reserves and cash flows under stochastic retirement

Uncertain time of retirement and uncertain structure of retirement benefits are risk factors for life insurance companies. Nevertheless, classical life insurance models assume these are deterministic. In this paper, we include the risk from stochastic time of retirement and stochastic benefit structure in a classical finite-state Markov model for a life insurance contract. We include discontinuities in the distribution of the retirement time. First, we derive formulas for appropriate scaling of the benefits according to the time of retirement and discuss the link between the scaling and the guarantees provided. Stochastic retirement creates a need to rethink the construction of disability products for high ages and ways to handle this are discussed. We show how to calculate market reserves and how to use modified transition probabilities to calculate expected cash flows without significantly more complexity than in the traditional model. At last, we demonstrate the impact of stochastic retirement on market reserves and expected cash flow in numerical examples.     

An economic evaluation of market development programmes for US dairy products

‘This study measured the effectiveness of US dairy export promotion programmes on increasing foreign demand and enhancing producers’ revenues. An import demand equation based on panel data was used to test whether export promotion has a positive and significant impact on US dairy exports. The effects of various promotion scenarios on the dairy market were then simulated, and benefit–cost ratios (BCRs) for these programmes were estimated. There were three key findings. First, the combined effort of public and private dairy export promotion expenditures had a positive and statistically significant impact on demand for US dairy products in the world market. The findings indicated that export promotion stimulated total dairy exports by 4.14 billion pounds, on average, per year, which represented 55.8% of total exports. Second, US dairy export promotion has been highly profitable for the nation’s dairy farmers. The calculated BCRs, based on assumed elasticity of supply, ranged from a low of 8.54 for the most elastic assumption to a high of 30.12. Third, from an optimality standpoint, dairy farmers are underinvesting in export promotion. The marginal BCRs ranged from a low of 3.79 to a high of 15.22, which means that, at the margin, increasing export promotion expenditures would be profitable for dairy farmers.     

药品平行进口的影响及政策取向分析

专利药品平行进口对药品专利权人及消费者利益产生不同的影响。根据药品平行进口产生的原因及我国的国情,我国应坚持区别对待的适度平行进口政策。     

中国农村反贫困指标评价新体系的构造

从中国国情出发,中国农村反贫困效益应由生态效益指标、经济效益指标、社会效益指标组成。在遵循综合性、可行性和易操作性的原则下,在借鉴现行中国农村反贫困效益指标的基础上,增加生态、生活福利等指标,才能成为较完整的中国农村反贫困效益指标体系。     

The optimal asset allocation of the main types of pension funds: a unified framework

The existing literature deals with the optimal investment strategy of defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) pension plans. This article’s objective is to compare the optimal policies of different types of pension plans. This is done by first defining an original framework, which is based on the distinction between the nature of the guarantee—which can be internal or external—offered by or to a pension fund. This framework allows to establish links between optimization programs of DC, DB and targeted money purchase schemes. The case of an internal guarantee appears as a standard portfolio insurer’s problem. The second kind of guarantee, not analyzed in the literature yet with regard to the resulting optimal policy, is characterized by the existence of an option in the final wealth definition. Four funds are present in the internal guarantee optimal allocation: the speculative component, the preference independent guarantee- and contribution-hedge terms and the preference dependent state variable-hedge fund. The external guarantee program, solved with an original method using the principles of standard options theory, yields an optimal policy incorporating the delta of the option embodied in the final wealth definition. The conclusion is that the resulting optimal portfolio policy becomes riskier.

香港联系汇率制度的现实启示及未来挑战

本文针对香港联系汇率制度的形成历史以及原因,总结出香港的联系汇率制度形成的偶然性申的必然性,分析香港联系汇率割度的优势和弊端,以及此项制度对于香港金融市场的重大意义。针对日新月异的国际资本市场,香港也面临着挑战,香港也必须与时俱进,加强和人民币之间的联系,进而形成合理的汇率机制。本文最后勾画了香港汇率制度未来的发展前景。     

论“互惠性”假设对“经济人”假设的非理性冲击——基于委托代理模型的分析

互惠性偏好是行为经济理论中的一个重要研究领域,对传统的理性＂经济人＂假设提出了现实性的挑战。借助于激励理论中的委托--代理模型,通过互惠性假设下与＂经济人＂假设下的博弈均衡解的对比分析可知,新古典体系中的最优契约均衡存在着帕累托改进的可能。互惠性行为下的经济收益可以大于自利性行为下的经济收益,经济个体可以通过经济行为的调整与分配机制的变更来获取更大的利益,并促进组织利益、群体利益与社会利益的扩张。研究表明,长期在经济理论中居于主导地位＂经济人＂假设在现代经济社会中的实践性日渐衰退,包括＂互惠性＂假设在内的非理性假设存在着较高的现实意义。互惠性理论的提出不仅动摇了传统经济理论的基础,也促进了管理理论与管理行为的变革。互惠性理论从一个侧面为行为经济学提供了坚实的理论基础,巩固了行为经济学在现代经济理论中的卓越性地位。     

保障国家粮食安全的对策建议

农田水利是粮食生产的命脉,是保障粮食安全不可或缺的重要前提.保障我国粮食安全,必须首先重视农田水利发展中的根本性问题,明确农田水利设施的公益性,创新农田水利公共制度安排.其次,要在引入市场化供给机制的同时,加强政府配套制度支撑,完善投入稳定增长机制,加大中央对土地出让收益的统筹力度,增加水利建设中长期贷款,并给予适当财政贴息,鼓励水利企业上市融资,建立“一事一议”激励约束机制,打破市场失灵与政府失灵双重困境.再次,要加强提高水资源利用效率的技术支撑,推广农业节水灌溉技术,提高用水效率和效益,实现水利跨越式发展.     

浅析利益因素对当代中国经济体制改革的作用

利益是人们永恒的追求。随着当代中国经济体制改革进程的不断深入,利益因素日益显现出其巨大作用,这既包含着由于个体追求更多的利益而更加促进经济体制改革走向深入的积极作用,也包含着由于追求利益所形成的既得利益集团为了维护自身的既得利益而阻挠改革继续前行的消极作用。国家应从正反两方面研究分析影响当代中国经济体制改革的利益因素,引导人们用正确的方式获取利益,加快构建良好的利益补偿机制,推动改革的不断深化,化解阻碍改革进程的障碍,以维护最广大人民群众的利益不受侵害。     

那旺水库除险加固设计

那旺水库投入运行至今已50多年,水库设施已严重老化。那旺水库加固实施后将排除众多安全隐患,提高工程安全度,为北江乡农业生产和人民生命财产提供可靠保障,充分发挥水库的综合利用效益及较好的社会效益,为防洪保护区的社会、经济、环境的可持续发展创造有利条件.