Efficiency measurement of the English football Premier League with a random frontier model

Using the random stochastic frontier model, this paper examines the technical efficiency of the English football Premier League from 1998/99 to 2003/04. The model disentangles homogenous and heterogeneous variables in the cost function, which leads us to advise the implementation of common policies as well as policies by clusters.     

Environmental Education and Poverty Reduction in Africa

The African environment poses formidable problems for sustainable socioeconomic development. Among these are unpredictable and increasing incidence of droughts, aridity, and desertification; decline in agricultural and natural resources productivity; water shortages for plants, animals, and humans; vector- and water-borne diseases; HIV/AIDS pandemic; unemployment; poverty; and crime. The paper highlights the socioeconomic development impediments within the continent that elevate poverty level. It analyses the extent and variation in poverty in Africa and identifies Environmental Education (EE) as one of the means of solving poverty problem in the continent through mass mobilization, enlightenment programs and introduction of EE at all levels of learning (formal and non-formal educational programs).     

The competitive implications of the deployment of unique resources

The ‘resource‐based’ view focuses on unique resources as the fundamental sources of competitive advantage and superior profits. We use a game‐theoretic model to analyze the impact of the deployment of unique resources on product market competition, and the impact of unique resources and sustainable competitive advantages on profits when the competitive implications of resource deployment are taken into account. We find that some of the core propositions of the resource‐based view do not necessarily hold when the impact of resource deployment on product market competition is explicitly considered. Specifically, the accumulation and deployment of unique resources does not necessarily increase the firm's profit and the difference between its profit and competitors' profits. Furthermore, achieving a sustainable competitive advantage does not necessarily lead to higher profits. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国农村医疗保障制度:一项基于异质性个体决策行为的理论研究

This paper is aimed to provide some responses to the following three hotly debated issues regarding China’s new rural cooperative medical system (NCMS), which was launched at the beginning of 2003. Firstly, how many people would join the system voluntarily? Secondly, can the system be self-balanced? And thirdly, would the lump-sum tax benefit the rich more than the poor? We build a decision model with heterogeneous agents and we compute the implications of NCMS and find under certain conditions, the balanced-system can be sustained and the rate of participation could be higher than 90%. Moreover, it is the unhealthy poor that benefit more from NCMS.     

加拿大公共住房PPPs模式实践与启示

PPPs模式被世界上许多国家应用于公共住房建设领域,为增加公共住房供给提供了一条新的途径。选择加拿大三个PPPs模式的公共住房建设案例,从供给对象、参与主体、资金来源、运营与管理等方面进行比较,归纳加拿大住房PPPs模式的特征,指出加拿大住房PPPs模式对我国的启示。     

国外农村土地证券化研究现状、前景及启示

研究目的:为中国农村土地证券化的深入研究和试点落实提供经验借鉴和现实参考。研究方法:基于文献综述法,从研究现状和发展前景两方面分析德国、美国和日本等市场经济发达国家农村土地证券化的产生背景、运行机制和保障措施。研究结果:摆脱小农经济、增强农业规模经济和资金保障是国外农村土地证券化的产生诱因;农村信用合作组织是土地证券统一运作的基础,同时很大程度上有利于农村土地的规模经营;农村土地证券化的发展离不开政府扶持,政府应采取多种方式给予农村土地证券化资金支持;相关法律法规的建立和健全是农村土地证券化运行合理性和规范性的保障。研究结论:中国有必要通过农村土地证券化试点,从现实层面验证其可行性和推广性。     

人民币汇率关注度初步研究

随着互联网的普及．网络搜索统计功能为我们研究汇率关注度提供了一个快捷、有效的渠道。文章基于百度和谷歌近期关于“人民币汇率”的搜索统计结果,对人民币汇率关注度进行历史、区域、人群属性等多纬度的比较,以期全面了解市场对人民币汇率的关注情况。文章指出,该统计方法能方便了解实体经济对汇率关注的真实反映,有助于探索汇率升贬值预期,选择汇率政策出台时机,合理推动人民币离岸市场发展和对人民币挂牌货币的选择。     

央行汇市干预的效果与经验

外汇市场干预是大多数国家央行管理汇率的主要手段。2008年全球金融危机以及其后的欧美债务危机,使得金融市场动荡加剧,外汇市场因避险资金的流动也日益不平静,央行的汇市干预在目标、方式、效果、影响等方面部呈现出一些新的特点,文章对此进行回顾和总结,并从将外汇干预作为宏观调控的组成部分、变被动干预为主动干预以及扩展干预模式等方面,就进一步完善央行汇市干预方式提出政策建议。     

消费函数的收入阶层假说

本文基于经典消费函数的两个基本变量,融合收入分配理论,构建消费函数的收入阶层假说。这一假说为政府制定扩大居民消费的政策措施提供了理论依据。