WTO financial services commitments: Determinants and impact on financial stability

The paper investigates the factors that have influenced WTO members to take on their chosen level of liberalization commitments in the framework of liberalization of trade in financial services and the impact of such commitments on financial sector stability. The most important factors are economic growth, current account, trends in banking sector development, policy restrictiveness, and peer-group effects. The econometric evidence suggests that more liberal commitments may be associated with greater vulnerability to currency and banking crises—most likely a short-term effect, which should be mitigated with time through increased market efficiency and better resource allocation.     

基于Klein资本开放模型的实证研究及其对中国的启示

对于资本项目开放这一热点问题,Klein(2003)所建立的模型为研究指明了方向,该模型强调了资本开放对经济增长的影响受本国国情因素的制约。本文在原模型思想的基础上,采用面板数据分析方法研究了资本开放的动态过程,并以和中国国情相似的拉美和亚洲一些发展中国家为样本,使结果对我国的资本项目开放更有意义。最后针对我国目前的国情,结合实证分析结果,给出对我国资本项目开放的一点建议。     

中国——东盟贸易自由化中的税收竞争与协调

中国和东盟国家同是发展中国家,为吸引外资发展本国经济,长期以来都采取了税收优惠等税收竞争手段。目前,中国——东盟自由贸易区正在构建,并已进入了“早期收获”阶段。本文主要围绕中国——东盟贸易自由化进程中各方利益的博弈和国际税收竞争与协调这两大因素,就自由贸易区建成前后的两个阶段,分析中国和东盟国家在吸引外资方面的税收竞争的影响,并认为在贸易自由化启动后,中国和东盟国家应走竞争与协调相结合之路。     

Deposit interest rates, asset risk and bank failure in Croatia

Financial deregulation, while beneficial in the long-term, seems to be linked to instability. Intense competition for deposits appears to be an ingredient in instability. We examine the aftermath of deregulation in Croatia, which included rapid growth of both deposits and deposit interest rates, followed by numerous bank failures.

Using panel regression techniques, we find evidence of “market-stealing” via high deposit interest rates. We connect high deposit interest rates to bank failure using logit models. High deposit interest rates were a reliable signal of risk-taking. When supervisory capabilities and powers are weak, deposit interest rate regulation may be worth considering.     

Privatization and foreign competition

This paper determines the equilibrium market structure in an international oligopoly, where a state enterprise is sold at an auction. The paper suggests that high greenfield costs and high trade costs do not necessarily induce foreign acquisitions in privatizations, despite the fact that foreign firms would gain considerably from acquiring in such situations. The reason is that domestic firms can then prevent foreign firms from becoming strong local competitors and thus, their willingness to pay for the state assets is high.     

Macroeconomic Volatility, Trade and Financial Liberalization in Africa

This paper examines the effects of financial and trade liberalization on growth volatility of real output and consumption in Africa. Our results suggest trade liberalization is associated with greater output and consumption growth volatility while financial liberalization increases the efficacy of consumption smoothing and stabilizes income and consumption growth. In addition, we find financial market depth and institutional quality operate jointly with trade and financial openness to reduce volatility in output and consumption growth. There is also evidence that good institutions which foster low inflation levels and volatility promote consumption and output growth stability.     

Trade liberalization and wage inequality: Evidence from Korea

This paper investigates the heterogeneous income distribution effects of trade liberalization using Korean survey data from years of 2000–2015. Following the Stolper-Samuelson theorem most of previous research studying the effects of trade liberalization on wage differences focus on workers’ characteristics (e.g., skilled or unskilled) while heterogeneity within the same worker group has not been yet substantially investigated. To fill this gap, this paper provides empirical evidence of wage inequality across firms within the same group of workers caused by trade liberalization, potentially implied in the new-new trade models with firm heterogeneity. Employing a difference-in-differences (DID) specification, we find that the wages of unskilled workers in Korea have increased since its FTAs with more advanced countries, such as members of EU and the US, came into effect, while the effects on the wages of skilled workers are negative but not statistically significant. We also show that wage effects are heterogeneous across firms within unskilled and skilled worker groups, while the positive effects are statistically significant and largest for unskilled workers in medium-large sized firms. These findings are in line with both traditional and new-new trade models.     

利率市场化体系下完善住房公积金利率政策建议

在介绍现行公积金利率政策的基础上,分析其存在的问题,并提出相应的政策建议：完善公积金利率定价机制,完善公积金利率管理体系。     

《资本账户开放内涵及定义的探讨》

由于资本账户交易的复杂性,关于资本账户开放,国际上没有严格统一的权威定义,对相关概念进行辨析后可以发现,常见的资本账户开放定义有一定的欠缺。资本账户开放可定义为"持续地避免对资本跨货币区边境的交易进行各种直接和间接的限制"。     

贸易自由化对我国地区收入不平等的影响:来自中国的经验证据

文章基于协整的VAR模型从实证的角度研究了我国地区收入不平等与贸易自由化之间的长期均衡和短期动态关系。研究发现：（1）地区收入不平等、贸易自由化与经济增长之间存在长期均衡关系,贸易自由化和经济增长对于关注参数而言是弱外生变量;（2）贸易自由化在长期内减缓了我国地区收入不平等程度,但在短期内却导致了我国地区收入不平等程度的上升;（3）经济增长长期内趋于提高了我国地区收入不平等程度,但短期的影响方向不确定;（4）地区收入不平等是一个随机游走过程,不是一个含有结构突变的趋势平稳过程。