我国城乡居民收入分配差距研究

本文利用我国1987-2009年的相关统计数据,以全国和东部、中部、西部地区为出发点,将区域教育发展、城市化水平、产业结构、经济开放度和政府经济行为等多个影响城乡居民收入分配差距的因素同时纳入到面板数据模型之中,实证研究了我国城乡居民收入分配差距与其影响因素之间是否存在Kuznets"倒U"关系。研究结果发现:在全国范围内,教育产出、城市化水平与城乡居民收入差距之间存在显著的"倒U"现象;东部地区的经济开放度与城乡居民收入差距之间存在显著的"倒U"现象;教育投入、政府经济行为、产业结构与城乡居民收入差距之间不存在"倒U"现象。针对以上研究结论,我们提出了一系列解决我国城乡居民收入分配差距的政策和建议,为政府制定相关政策提供有益的参考。     

威廉姆森经济组织理论述评

2009年威廉姆森因其在企业边界方面的分析而获得诺贝尔经济学奖。文章梳理了他在经济组织方面的理论,先阐述其分析的基础,包括对个人行为的假定、分析的基本单位及契约作用的渠道,再进行离散经济结构替代方案的分析。通过刻画不同经济组织的特质,找出与不同交易类型匹配的组织形式,从而决定经济组织的边界。文章认为,威廉姆森的理论有其独创性与实践意义,但是分析过程中没有始终贯彻有限理性的假定,也不能解决横向一体化及多元化经营的现象,其分析思路也是单向的,不能完全确定经济组织的边界。     

Parent–child co-residence and bequest motives in China

In this paper, I discuss the actual conditions and the determinants of co-residence between older parents and their children in China, especially the impact of bequest motives on parent–child co-residence, using micro data from the “Survey of Living Preferences and Satisfaction,” conducted at Osaka University. More specifically, I use three subsamples of older respondents (those who live in urban areas, those who live in rural areas, and the pooled sample of both) to analyze the impact of bequest motives and other factors on the probability of parent–child co-residence. The results are as follows: bequest motives are strong in China, with more than 60% of respondents having a bequest motive, and the parent–child co-residence rate is also high (about 60%). Turning to the determinants of parent–child co-residence, children of urban parents are more likely to live with their older parents if their parents have a bequest motive, own their own homes, and live in an area where housing prices are high, a result which is consistent with both the selfish life-cycle and altruism models. Children are more likely to live with their older parents if their parents have a bequest motive in both the rural and combined samples, which implies that children are selfishly motivated and that the selfish life-cycle model applies in China.     

生态足迹分析模型假设条件的缺陷

生态足迹可以定量地反映一个国家或地区的可持续发展程度,因其直观、简便和容易被人理解而在国内得到了广泛应用。学者们结合自己的研究过程指出了该模型的某些内在缺陷,但迄今尚未见有人对模型的基础———假设条件的缺陷进行分析。通过研究,得出了模型假设条件存在的缺陷及其后果:①土地“空间互斥性”假设完全忽略了各类土地功能的多样性和一定程度的功能替代性,导致生态足迹供给计算结果偏低的系统误差;②基于全球平均产量为1 的基础上计算出的生物资源消费生态足迹完全忽视了生物生产过程中人类对环境的巨大破坏和掠夺,抹杀了科技进步对承载更多人口的支撑作用,掩盖了某种消费商品的世界平均产量下降导致的全球生态足迹供给的实际下降,并造成类似“货币幻觉”的“生态足迹幻觉”。     

Convergence in pollution terms of trade

To construct pollution terms of trade (PTT) on the basis of CO₂ emissions, we implement the world input–output tables for 40 countries by 35 industries to account for intermediate trade. We examine whether the PTTs have converged among the 40 countries between 1995 and 2009. The empirical evidence supports PTT convergence; PTT growth is negatively related to its initial level and this empirical result is robust to various control variables.     

The risk of the sovereign debt default: the Eurozone crisis 2008–2013

We investigate the relationship of the market pricing of sovereign risk to default, through credit default swap (CDS) spreads for 16 Eurozone countries during 2008q1–2013q3. We take into account, through appropriate non-linear generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations the endogeneity problem. We focus on ‘fiscal space’ (DEBT or FISCAL), and the downgrade announcements (DOWN). We find DEBT (FISCAL) to have significant (insignificant) effects on the CDS concave function, as well as, DOWN in a linear one. It has also been confirmed significant pricing discrimination between South and West Euro Area Periphery (SWEAP) and the core Eurozone, highlighting asymmetries discovered either by the respective size of estimated DEBT coefficients or by the significant effects of DOWN that have only on CDS of SWEAP countries. The current account balance or the inflation rate, as well as, relevant interaction terms seem not to affect the spreads of the EMU. These findings, together with the estimated structural change on CDS pattern in early 2011, coinciding with significant either the DOWN in the pre-crisis period (2008–2010) or the DEBT in the post-crisis one (2011–2013) on the CDS, seem to be consistent with self-fulfilling crises literature and the inherent vulnerability of EMU, on other words, the ‘fragility hypothesis of the Eurozone’.     

Capability satisficing in high frequency trading

This paper explains the capability theory of how HFT firms make allocation decisions under uncertainty, and shows how capability maximization is precisely consistent with utility theory. The issue, however, is how these firms actually make allocation decisions in practice. Using the Gioia methodology, this paper presents evidence from interviews with HFT professionals and specialist media that suggest that these firms are capability satisficers. Capability theory is also consistent with bounded rationality and the adaptive markets hypothesis, and defines the point at which these firms reach a satisfactory solution. Thus, capability reconciles mainstream theory and the more realistic, behavioral theories based on observation of industry practice. The methodology developed can be applied to any firm that makes algorithmic decisions under uncertainty.     

Job insecurity,career opportunities,discrimination and turnover intention in post-apartheid South Africa: examples of informative hypothesis testing

The objective of this paper was to investigate differences in male employee experiences in the light of employment equity law and a strong affirmative action drive within present-day South African organizations. This research is important as it can substantiate or invalidate perspectives and beliefs surrounding employment equity issues. A cross-sectional design was used which consisted of a stratified random sample from five corporate organizations (N = 1000). Latent variable modeling with Bayesian estimation was implemented. This paper also demonstrated the use of informative hypothesis testing and subsequent Bayes factors to directly compare the informative hypotheses, in order to show how much more likely one hypothesis is to be the correct hypothesis, compared to the other(s). The results revealed that non-designated (white male) employees experience more job insecurity than their designated (black male) counterparts, but this does not necessarily associate with more turnover intention. It was also found that when designated employees experience less career opportunities, they show more turnover intention. Furthermore, it was shown that designated employees perceive more discrimination, but that this does not associate with more turnover intention. The limitations and future research opportunities are discussed.     

Chinese Lunar New Year effect in Asian stock markets, 1999–2012

This study investigates the Chinese Lunar New Year (CLNY) holiday effect in major Asian stock markets. These are China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan. For robustness test, India is also examined in this paper. Daily stock index returns for each market are analysed for the period of 01/09/1999 to 28/03/2012. Using an ARMA(1,1)-GARCH (1,1) model, we find that there is a significantly positive pre-CLNY holiday effect for all cases. The findings are robust for most cases with the exception of China. It is found that high pre-CLNY returns for China are rewards for high risk, whereas for the other markets, high returns are caused by unknown factors, other than the conditional risk.