Carbon Taxes and Joint Implementation. An Applied General Equilibrium Analysis for Germany and India

Germany has committed itself toreducing its carbon emissions by 25 percent in2005 as compared to 1990 emission levels. Toachieve this goal, the government has recentlylaunched an environmental tax reform whichentails a continuous increase in energy taxesin conjunction with a revenue-neutral cut innon-wage labor costs. This policy is supposedto yield a double dividend, reducing both, theproblem of global warming and high unemploymentrates. In addition to domestic actions,international treaties on climate protectionallow for the supplementary use of flexibleinstruments to exploit cheaper emissionreduction possibilities elsewhere. One concreteoption for Germany would be to enter jointimplementation (JI) with developing countriessuch as India where Germany pays emissionreduction abroad rather than meeting itsreduction target solely by domestic action. Inthis paper, we investigate whether anenvironmental tax reform cum JI providesemployment and overall efficiency gains ascompared to an environmental tax reformstand-alone. We address this question in theframework of a large-scale general equilibriummodel for Germany and India where Germany mayundertake JI with the Indian electricitysector. Our main finding is that JI offsetslargely the adverse effects of carbon emissionconstraints on the German economy. JIsignificantly lowers the level of carbon taxesand thus reduces the total costs of abatementas well as negative effects on labor demand. Inaddition, JI triggers direct investment demandfor energy efficient power plants produced inGermany. This provides positive employmenteffects and additional income for Germany. ForIndia, joint implementation equips itselectricity industry with scarce capital goodsleading to a more efficient power productionwith lower electricity prices for the economyand substantial welfare gains.     

Economic liberalization and welfare in a model with an informal sector

The paper reexamines the conventional results relating to inflow of foreign capital, removal of protectionism and structural reform programmes, in a small open economy in terms of a two-sector general equilibrium model with an informal sector. The paper shows that in the presence of labour market distortion and a protectionist policy, inflow of foreign capital may be desirable irrespective of the pattern of trade of the economy due to its favourable impact on welfare. But the welfare implications of tariff reductions and/or structural adjustment programmes, such as deregulating the formal sector labour market, depend crucially on the economy's trade pattern. The paper provides an answer to the question as to whether in a developing economy labour market reform and tariff reform should go hand-in-hand or whether one should precede the other for welfare improvement.
JEL classification: F10, F13, F21, O17.     

我国财产税制度存在的缺陷及其改革构想

财产税不仅是一种历史悠久的税收形态，而且是当今各国税制体系的重要组成部分，具有其他税种难以替代的作用。我国现行财产税制度在改革开放后虽然有所发展，但仍存在着税种缺失、税制老化等诸多问题，亟待改革。     

农村税费改革中存在的问题及对策

农村税费改革后,农民的负担减轻了,但税费改革中新出现的一些问题严重影响了税费改革的进程和效果。我国农村税费改革存在着城乡之间、城区与非城区农民之间负担不均衡、农村义务教育投入严重不足、村级经费短缺等亟待解决的问题。为此,应采取加大农村政府机构改革的步伐和力度、加大对农村义务教育的投入、加大中央和省级两级财政转移支付力度等措施,进一步完善农村税费改革。     

我国高等教育成本分担方式探析

高等教育质量对一国经济的发展起着重要的作用。从经济学角度来看，高等教育属于准公共产品，所以其成本费用应由国家和个人等受益方共同承担，即要对高等教育享受者收取一定的费用，这就需要科学界定高校实际运行成本，合理确定成本分担标准，完善教育资助体系。     

我国经济体制改革的回顾与展望

我国经济体制改革已有28个年头,取得了四大成就:一是市场经济引进多元化竞争;二是经济高速增长;三是人民生活水平普遍提高;四是中国的国际影响力和竞争力在提升.我国在深化改革中面临诸多的体制性障碍和结构性矛盾,可归纳为四大滞后:一是政府职能转变滞后;二是产权制度改革滞后;三是配套改革滞后;四是经济增长方式的改革滞后.我们要清楚地认识当前的形势,解放思想,坚定信心,做深化改革的促进派.     

Pensions reforms,workforce ageing and firm-provided welfare

This paper investigates the impact of an exogenous increase in the legal retirement age on the firms’ propensity to provide welfare services voluntarily to their employees. To this purpose we exploit a unique information derived from the Rilevazione su Imprese e Lavoro (RIL), a survey conducted in 2015 on a large and representative sample of Italian firms. Applying different regression models we show that firms which were forced to give up previously planned hirings because of the Law 201/2011 (the so-called ‘Fornero pension reform’), increased the probability of providing welfare services at workplace. By referring to the sociological, human resource management and economic literature we then argue that a sudden increase in the legal retirement age may motivate the employers to establish welfare schemes as a way to cope with an ageing workforce. Our findings also hold when propensity score matching methods are used in order to control for sample selection issues.     

中国企业人力资本产权变革三次浪潮评析

人力资本股权化是现代企业产权制度变革的基本逻辑和大趋势.如何在实际操作层面解决"两权分离"悖论,不仅是现代公司制度运作和发展的主题,也是中国企业人力资本产权制度变革的逻辑起点、核心问题和主要矛盾.1992年以来,中国企业人力资本产权变革经历了三次浪潮.目前,对于中国企业来说,实现人力资本股权化、稚行股权激励计划,已经不是什么"理论"问题而是如何实际"行动"的问题.基于人力资本产权制度变革积极推行股权激励计划,是未来中国企业必然而明智的战略选择.     

论马克思主义政治经济学理论创新——兼论政治经济学学科的发展方向

本文拟在三个既定前提条件下论证三个命题.三个既定前提条件是:1.中国新民主主义革命胜利、新中国和社会主义制度的建立,是马克思主义与中国实际结合的产物;2.1978年开始的改革开放和现代化建设,是在中国化的马克思主义指导下进行的;3.今后中国的改革发展还要以马克思主义为指导.要论证的三个命题是:1.马克思主义政治经济学必须创新;2.马克思主义政治经济学能够创新;3.马克思主义政治经济学创新的基本方向是:坚持实践第一,坚持把马克思主义基本原理与中国实际相结合,坚持吸收人类创造的一切文明成果.     

股权分置改革前后上市公司绩效变化的研究

选取了177家股改公司,通过对股改前后绩效的分析发现:每股净资产在股改前后不存在显著差异;每股收益、资产利润率、净资产收益率均表现为股改后第一季度指标值显著高于股改前的指标值、股改后第二和三季度的指标值显著低于股改前的指标值、股改后第四季度的指标值与股改前的指标值没有显著差异,并对该结论进行了简单分析。