Scale and scope economies in Korean accounting firms around Sarbanes-Oxley regulations

This paper examines how scale and scope economies in accounting firms changed after Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) regulations. Korea enacted SOX-type legislation to improve financial reporting quality in 2005. Our sample comprises 301 firm-year observations from 2002 to 2008. The sample period is divided into the pre-SOX (2002–2004) and post-SOX (2006–2008) periods. We estimate a multi-product translog cost function to determine whether significant changes occur in scale and scope economies during the pre- and post-SOX periods. Empirical results suggest that overall and product-specific economies of scale prevailed in accounting firms during the full sample, pre- and post-SOX periods. Accounting firms were less able to exploit scale economies in the post-SOX period. The marginal costs of producing Audit and Accounting (A&A) increased, whereas those producing Tax Services (TAX) declined. Cost complementarities existed only in jointly providing TAX and Business Advisory Services (BAS) during the pre-SOX years. In contrast, scope economies occurred in the joint production of A&A and TAX or TAX and BAS during the post-SOX period. Our analysis can be applied to the accounting industry in other countries that have adopted SOX-type regulations.     

Scope economies from rural and urban microfinance services

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) operate in both rural and urban credit markets and provide financial services to the poor not served by commercial banks. MFIs must keep operating costs low to better serve their clients. We evaluate whether MFIs can lower their costs by exploiting economies of diversification from serving both rural and urban markets rather than specializing in only one. We apply a novel method to estimate scope economies that minimizes the well-known “excessive extrapolation” and accommodates MFIs' heterogeneity. Analyzing panel data on MFIs from 105 countries over 2008–2018, we find that about half of loan-only MFIs benefited from diversification and enjoyed scope economies of 16.6% while over two thirds of savings-and-loan MFIs experienced scope diseconomies of 11.7% suggesting advantages from specialization. Over time, the declining magnitudes and the prevalence of scope (dis)economies in both groups suggest that loan-only MFIs have been able to serve costlier marginal clients while savings-and-loan MFIs have been learning and decreasing their scope diseconomies. Stakeholders encouraging the transformation of MFIs into regulated savings-and-loan institutions that serve both rural and urban markets should be aware of the presence of scope diseconomies for that business type and offer adequate support.     

After Shleifer,who needs Mises?

The demise of socialism in Eastern Europe and the transition to a market economy in China and India marked the end of traditional comparative economics as a field. The debate between capitalism and socialism was settled. The economic calculation argument of Ludwig von Mises seemed no longer relevant. In its place, the new comparative economics (NCE) arose. The NCE focuses on the institutional differences that affect the protection of contract and property rights. The research program of Andrei Shleifer has provided numerous insights into how markets operate. This paper examines the Shleifer-inspired program in comparative economics in light of the economic calculation argument Mises made. Although the recent developments in comparative economics have extended and complemented the contributions of Mises, it has not displaced them. An account of the economic calculation problem is still missing in the new comparative economics.     

集体土地他项权利征收补偿制度研究

研究目的:实现集体土地他项权利征收补偿的法律制度化。研究方法:文献研究法,规范—实证分析法。研究结果:目前,中国集体土地他项权利征收补偿制度是残缺不全的,未能正确反映集体土地他项权利征收补偿中的权利与义务关系的一致性。集体土地他项权利不仅具有对世性的物权效力,而且具有独立的经济价值,在世界许多国家或者地区法中,不动产他项权利都被普遍地纳入了征收补偿的权利范畴。研究结论:有必要在有关规范性文件的制定与修改中,从登记条件要求、实体性制度和程序性制度三方面,建立健全集体土地他项权利征收补偿的法律制度。     

“一带一路”倡议与企业国际化程度——基于制造业上市公司的证据北大核心

本文将“一带一路”倡议视为一项准自然实验,基于2007~2020年A股制造业上市公司数据,运用双重差分模型探究“一带一路”倡议对企业国际化程度的影响。研究发现,“一带一路”倡议能够显著提升企业国际化程度。作用机制研究发现,“一带一路”倡议可以通过缓解融资约束和提升研发强度提升企业国际化程度。异质性检验发现,“一带一路”倡议能够提升大规模企业和中小规模企业国际化程度,且对中小规模企业国际化程度的提升效应更加明显;相对于内向型城市节点,“一带一路”倡议显著提升了外向型节点城市企业国际化程度。进一步地,“一带一路”倡议能够显著促进企业国际化范围的扩张。