The effectiveness of government spending on education and health care in developing and transition economies

Recent studies show that corruption is associated with higher military spending [Eur. J. Polit. Econ. 17 (2001) 794] and lower government spending on education and health care [J. Publ. Econ. 69 (1998) 263]. This suggests that policies aimed at reducing corruption may lead to changes in the composition of government outlays toward more productive spending. However, little empirical evidence has been presented to support the claim that public spending improves education and health indicators in developing and transition countries. This paper uses cross-sectional data for 50 such countries to show that increased public expenditure on education and health care is associated with improvements in both access to and attainment in schools, and reduces mortality rates for infants and children. The education regressions are robust to different specifications, but the relationship between health care spending and mortality rates is weaker.     

Skill-Specific rather than General Education: A Reason for US–Europe Growth Differences?

In this paper, we develop a model of technology adoption and economic growth in which households optimally obtain either a concept-based, general education or a skill-specific, vocational education. General education is costly to obtain, but enables workers to operate new production technologies. Firms weigh the cost of adopting and operating new technologies against increased profits and optimally choose the level of adoption. We show that an economy whose policies favor vocational education will grow slower in equilibrium than one that favors general education. More importantly, the gap between their growth rates will increase with the growth rate of available technology. By characterizing the optimal Ramsey education policy we also demonstrate that the optimal subsidy for general education increases with the growth rate of available technology. Our theory suggests that European education policies that favored specialized, vocational education might have worked well, both in terms of growth rates and welfare, during the 1960s and 1970s when available technologies changed slowly. However, in the information age of the 1980s and 1990s when new technologies emerged at a more rapid pace, they might have contributed to an increased growth gap relative to the United States.     

政府国库资金、货币供给与货币政策有效性

政府财政行为对货币政策效应的影响是宏观经济学的一个热点问题,文章从政府资产角度出发,运用1994～2005年中国国库资金季度数据,采用协整分析方法对政府国库资金、货币供给和货币政策有效性问题,作实证检验。研究表明:(1)国库资金增减导致基础货币收缩和扩张,短期内国库资金变动会使货币供应量发生显著的反向波动,国库资金是货币供应量的Granger因,国库资金对货币供应量波动有较高的解释力,央行的货币供给由于国库资金而产生被动性。(2)国库资金与货币政策有效性之间存在密切关系,货币当局将国库资金变量纳入货币政策中介目标监控体系,有助于提高货币政策的有效性,国库资金成为财政政策与货币政策新的结合点。     

Developing holistic leaders: Four domains for leadership development and practice

Leadership development and practice have traditionally been quite narrow, with a decided focus on the analytical realm of leadership. However, the contemporary climate of corporate scandal and resultant loss of societal confidence, coupled with the evolving demands, needs, and expectations of employees, point to the potential need for a more holistic approach to leadership. Thus, this article proposes how management education and leadership development programs can develop holistic leaders that are adept at operating in the analytical, conceptual, emotional, and spiritual domains of leadership practice. An integrated model for holistic leadership development and practice that addresses all four of these domains is proposed, and grounded in both established and emerging leadership development theory. Additionally, a leadership development classification scheme is proposed based on classroom, job, and organizational contexts.     

大学生心理健康教育刍议

提高大学生的心理健康水平,是大学生健康成长的需要,是时代发展和社会全面进步对培养高素质人才的必然要求。本文提出了大学生心理健康的衡量标准,分析了影响大学生心理健康的因素,在此基础上,探讨了做好大学生心理健康教育工作的方法。     

On the cost-benefit of the regionalisation of the National Health Service

In this paper we analyse in formal terms the desirability of the regionalisation of a National Health Service. The policy consists of a devolution process, i.e. the increase in the health services provision to be decided by a region and financed by an increase in its revenues. The change is a marginal one, as it regards the part of supply of the health services exceeding a minimum standard, which for purposes of equity is maintained uniform in the national territory. As the central government is responsible for this component of the provision of health care (a federal “mandate”), the level of the said component is chosen by this authority and financed by federal taxation. Moreover, the government also applies an equalisation scheme based on the difference between a standard level of tax revenues and the revenues which the region is deemed able to raise for this purpose. Within the theoretical context of welfare improving reforms with distortionary taxation, we derive two conditions which focus on the regional, as well as the social, convenience of regionalisation. Received: May 5, 1999 / Accepted: January 21, 2000     

大股东资金占用与外部审计的公司治理职能

我国特殊的股权结构决定了我国上市公司的主要代理问题是大股东与中小股东之间的代理冲突。大股东往往通过各种方式如资金占用等来对上市公司进行掠夺。在西方成熟的资本市场上，审计作为一种独立的外部监督机制能够在一定程度上抑制代理冲突。那么在我国新兴的市场中，审计能否起到有效的监督作用从而抑制大股东的“利益输送行为”呢？本文从需求和供给两个方面进行了研究。实证结果发现，从需求方面来说，大股东资金占用越严重的公司越没有动机聘请高质量的审计师；从供给方面来说，审计师在出具审计报告时会考虑大股东的资金占用，大股东资金占用越严重，越有可能被出具非标准的审计意见报告。实证结果表明我国目前还不存在高质量的审计需求，但审计师能对大股乐的资金占用作出反应，从而在一定程度上抑制大股东的行为。     

The Political Economy of Rental Housing in Spain: The Dialectics of Exploitation(s) and Regulations

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses how the exploitation of tenants in Spain is boosting income for banks, hedge funds and pension funds. It does so by tracing the origins of the money invested in a Tres Cantos housing project in Madrid. The paper makes the following claims: First, the exploitation taking place in households -referred in this paper as secondary- is increasingly related to worker exploitation, and thus this particular type of exploitation is increasingly relevant to the dynamics of capital accumulation. Second, the key role of secondary exploitation of tenants in the revenue-making strategies of pension funds, hedge funds and banks is augmented and mediated by a myriad of regulations being implemented at the national and supranational scales. Theoretically, the paper contests the Marxian claim that household exploitation is ‘secondary’ to the exploitation taking place in the production process.     

Technological change, human capital update and growth policies

This paper presents a model of growth driven simultaneously by innovation and human capital accumulation. Two different long-run equilibria are possible, according to whether or not workers skills are completely updated over time as knowledge expands. Skill gaps could arise as a consequence of poor education infrastructures, even in the efficient solution; in such circumstances, we find that whilst education policies are able to encourage growth, R&D policies are not. Otherwise, subsidizing education becomes ineffective for enhancing growth, although it could be necessary to avoid possible skill gaps originated by the R&D growth-enhancing policy.JEL Classification: O41, O33The authors wish to thank the financial support received for the project SEC 2001-2469 (Ministry of Science and Technology, Spain, and FEDER), as well as the comments of the co-editor and the referees.     

元认知策略与高职英语自主学习能力的培养

从元认知理论出发,笔者探讨了元认知与英语自主学习的内在联系,旨在为高职英语教学改革,学生英语自主学习能力的培养提供切实可行的教学策略.