Fiscal performance and elections in the context of a transition economy

It is widely accepted that, in democratic societies, incumbent governments may use various means, such as discretionary spending, to increase their chances of re-election. In the context of potential budget constraints (e.g., large debt), the incumbent might consider alternative means. Tax collection performance could be one such means that is prone to incumbents’ electoral manipulation, particularly in transition countries with a weak institutional framework. Investigating Albania, we show that fiscal performance, measured by monthly tax revenues, is poor before elections, especially in elections that result in political change. Before all elections, we observe a reduction in tax collection ranging from 3.2 percentage points in the twelve months before elections to 4.0 percentage points in the six months before elections. This implies a drop of more than half in fiscal performance compared with its long-term “natural” or average rate. Moreover, the deterioration in performance is considerably larger, by two- to threefold, before “change elections” (i.e. elections that result in a change of the governing party). After these elections, fiscal performance improves. The key to reducing deterioration in fiscal performance associated with elections is to establish rules and institutional oversight (independent or bipartisan) that reduce the discretion of tax authorities.     

The performance of politicians: The effect of gender quotas

This paper investigates whether the gender of elected politicians affects political outcomes at the municipal level. Relying on Italian administrative data from 1991 to 2009, we are able to instrument the gender of elected politicians using an institutional exogenous change: a gender quota in the candidacy list enforced only in a subsample of municipalities and for a short period of time. While the gender of politicians does not affect the general ‘quality of life’, proxied by the internal migration rate, it does increase significantly both the efficacy of policies targeting women and households, proxied by the fertility rate, and the efficiency of the municipal administration, proxied by the actual size of the administrative bodies. These results, which are robust to several specifications and checks, suggest that affirmative action enhancing gender equality in political representation may be beneficial not only in terms of social justice but also from a political outcome perspective.     

Regional economic growth disparities: A political economy perspective

Regional differences in economic growth have been observed within many countries. Our story emphasises three region-specific factors driving growth—capital, labour and political factors. Conditional on differences in production factor (i.e., labour and capital) variations across democratic states, what role do differences in underlying “political factors” across regions play in accounting for regional growth disparities? We build a political economy model of endogenous growth where regions have the same political institutions, but experience different (and estimable) distributions over voter political biases (i.e., our “political factors”). In our model, political factors affect regional productivity as a consequence of politico-economic equilibrium. We discipline our regional growth accounting exercises by calibrating/estimating each model to American state-level economic and political-survey data. We show that the capital factor is the predominant driving force behind growth in American states. Nevertheless, regional variations in distributions of voter's political biases also account a great deal for regional growth disparities. We also evaluate how much politics would have distorted agents' welfare and regional growth, were regional economies given the opportunity to live under an efficient social planner's allocation system; and, if agents were to live under the same democratic system but where all voters have equal voting influence.     

社会合法性重要还是政治合法性重要——基于高管对创业板企业IPO抑价的影响

本文从信息不对称的角度实证分析了高管的社会合法性与政治合法性对创业企业IPO抑价的影响。通过构建高管合法性的操作化指标进行回归分析,研究表明,在创业板中,高管政治合法性与企业IPO抑价水平之间存在显著的负相关关系,而高管社会合法性与企业IPO抑价水平之间的关系并不显著,从而说明:在政府管制比较严重的中国,对于在创业板上市的企业,高管的政治合法性更能够作为传递创业企业价值的可靠性号,有效减低IPO抑价水平。     

关于经济、金融及其关系的一些思考

文章通过对古今中外的文献比较研究,发现经济一词,均包含着要讲德性,讲善待他人,讲“已所不欲,勿施于人”。所不同的是,西方的经济始于家庭管理,即从微观开始,到近代才发展到宏观,到治理天下,其路径由“齐家”到“治国”;中方的经济始于治理天下,即从宏观开始,到近代才发展到微观,到以人为本,其路径由“治国”到“齐家”。而作为经济中最为活跃的金融,其组成内容货币、信用、金融机构,在不同的条件下所起的作用、所显现的价值和所受到的境遇也是不同的。最后,就如何处理好经济和金融之间的关系,提出了一些看法和建议。     

The interactions of institutions on foreign market entry mode

This paper examines the interaction effects of institutional differences in the cognitive, normative, and regulatory domains on cross‐border acquisition and alliance formation. Using a sample of 673 cross‐border acquisitions and alliances conducted by multinational corporations (MNCs) from the manufacturing sector of six emerging economies (EEs) over the period 1995–2008, we find significant mimicking (cognitive domain) of local firms' choice of ownership modes by EE firms. We also find that regulatory distance (regulatory domain) moderates the mimicking of both foreign and local firms while normative distance does not have any moderating effect. These findings contribute to our understanding of how EE MNCs mimic ownership modes in foreign market entry and how the interaction of this mimetic tendency with other institutional pillars affects these decisions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

My Strengths Count!

This article builds on the argument that research on the link between HRM and performance benefits from investigating how HR practices are envisioned by managers (in terms of underlying philosophies), and how they are perceived by employees (in terms of psychological climates). Our study focuses on the effects of a strengths‐based HR philosophy assuming that employee performance can be maximized through leveraging individual strengths. This philosophy relates to a strengths‐based psychological climate, that is, employee perceptions of the opportunities they get to identify, develop, and use their strengths. We hypothesized that a strengths‐based psychological climate positively influences employees’ positive affect, which in turn enhances their in‐role and extra‐role performance. In our study, 442 respondents working in 39 departments of eight Dutch and Belgian organizations gave ratings on the strength‐based psychological climate of their organization, and indicated their level of work‐related positive affect, in‐role performance, and extra‐role performance. Results of multilevel hierarchical regression analyses supported our hypotheses by indicating that strengths‐based psychological climate was positively linked to in‐role and extra‐role performance, and that this link was mediated by positive affect. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

政治关联与会计信息质量——基于我国民营上市公司的实证研究

采用2007~2011年持续经营的民营上市公司为样本,对不同政治关联方式与会计信息质量的关系进行实证研究,结果表明,不同政治关联方式对会计信息质量的影响程度不一致:政府官员类政治关联的负影响最大,代表委员类则是正相关关系,其他背景类则影响不大;在后金融危机时代,政治关联对会计信息质量的这种负面影响更为显著。     

政治联系、债务融资与企业研发投入——来自中国上市公司的经验证据

以2009~2012年连续四年披露研发投入的中国上市公司为样本,实证检验政治联系、债务融资对企业研发投入行为的影响。结果表明,企业的研发投入面临债务融资约束,债务融资比例(银行借款)与研发投入强度之间呈现负相关关系,长期借款对研发投入强度的债务制约作用比短期借款更大,政治联系对企业的研发投入产生了"挤占"效应,抑制了RD投资,虽然给企业带来了一定的长期债务资源,但并未能如预期产生显著的"资源效应",扭转企业债务融资困境。