FDI facilitated by agglomeration economies: evidence from manufacturing and services joint ventures in China

The open door policy of China’s economic reform since the 1980s has attracted heavy foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into China and especially to Guangdong (particularly the Pearl River Delta region, PRD) and induced significant economic growth during the past two decades. While there exist various classical theories of FDI in attempting to identify the determinants of FDI inflow and to explain the behavior of FDI flows, limited attention has been given from the perspective of agglomeration effects generated by a core-periphery (CP) relation.This paper intends to study the impacts of agglomerations on FDI inflows in the context of Krugman’s CP relation (1991) by investigating (1) the formation of a CP relation via gravity model analysis; (2) whether different types of industry FDI flows will respond differently in the CP-system, given agglomeration effects; and (3) whether FDI origin and firm scale matter in affecting FDI flows.A database consisting of a population frame of 37,742 firm-level manufacturing and services joint ventures investing in Guangdong in 1998 was used. Empirical results show that the agglomerations of the CP relation have affected FDI flow patterns. While both manufacturing and services FDI and sources of investment responded differently to the impacts, smaller firms were found more responsive to the CP-agglomeration settings regardless of FDI by industry type and by source. The significance and implications of the CP-system to further facilitate FDI in the region are discussed.     

The curse of natural resources in the transition economies*

The curse of natural resources is a well‐documented phenomenon for developing countries. Economies that are richly endowed with natural resources tend to grow slowly. Among the transition economies of the former ‘Eastern Bloc’, a similar pattern can be observed. This paper shows that a large part of the variation in growth rates among the transition economies can be attributed to the curse of natural resources. After controlling for numerous other factors, there is still a strong negative correlation between natural resource abundance and economic growth. Among the transition economies the prime reasons for the curse of natural resources were corruption and a neglect of basic education. In order to overcome the curse of natural resources and move to a sustainable path of development, the resource abundant transition countries should fight corruption and ensure that their resource revenues are invested in human capital or the preservation of natural capital.     

Squatting as a transition problem in South Africa

This paper applies principles of transition to land tenure and squatting in South Africa. Political transition in South Africa reassigned political property rights, which produced contestable, and rent‐seeking incentives for squatting as a means to privatize land and redistribute wealth. Government failure to establish and protect private property rights in a squatter camp resulted in common‐pool problems that resisted private and public resolution with consequent rent dissipation and social loss. In response to this retreat from duty, informal agents emerged to claim their own share of the prize. Without enforceable rules of capture, the growth of squatter camps in South Africa will continue. JEL classification: D7, H8, K1, K4, R1, R4.     

How Issue Size, Risk, and Complexity are Influencing External Financing Costs: German IPOs Analyzed from an Economies of Scale Perspective

This paper is focused on the cost of raising capital in Germany. A cross-sectional analysis of flotation cost data for 117 IPOs over the years 1993–1998 is presented. We find average flotation costs to be 7.77 percent of gross proceeds, while underwriting fees average 5.01 percent. Our results extend the literature in two important directions. First, contrary to the conventional economies of scale view we find marginal spreads to be rather constant in gross proceeds and to be higher for more risky and more complex offerings. Fixed costs amount to 5 to 9 percent of underwriting fees. Second, by applying a principal component analysis we find issue size, an issuer risk factor, and an offering method complexity factor to have an economicaly meaningful impact on underwriting fees.     

证券投资基金“老鼠仓”问题研究

所谓"老鼠仓"是指庄家在用公有资金拉升股价之前,先用自己个人的资金在低位建仓,待用公有资金拉升到高位后个人仓位率先卖出获利.它实质上是利用内幕信息进行违规的利益输送问题,是一种损害证券投资基金持有人利益的不道德行为.主要针对"老鼠仓"形成的原因进行了分析,并提出构建"老鼠仓"防火墙的对策措施.     

China''''s Cooperative Exploration of Oil and Gas and Its Taxation System

China' s foreign-oriented oil taxation system has, from the beginning, been based upon the positive experiences of other oil-producing countries and has incorporated common international practices. The system has been perfected over decades. It of fers more incentives than other oil-producing countries in the following four aspects: (1) Income tax has a "wide tax base and low tax rate"; (2) VAT levies a low tax rate on ma-     

事务所规模与年报会计政策“类准则”披露——基于文本分析的经验证据

通过计算上市公司年报会计政策披露的“类准则”程度,讨论会计师事务所规模是否为影响上市公司会计政策披露行为的重要因素。研究发现：（1）由规模较大的会计师事务所审计的上市公司,年报会计政策披露的“类准则”程度较低,会提供更多公司会计政策的个性化信息。（2）在上市公司风险增强和会计准则重大变化的两大类场景中,事务所规模与年报会计政策披露“类准则”程度之间的关系都得到增强,说明事务所的风险压力和事务所能力是重要的机制路径。（3）由同一事务所审计的上市公司会计政策披露的“类准则”程度更一致,具有同所效应。（4）基于会计师事务所变更的检验发现,若变更后的事务所规模更大,则会计政策披露的“类准则”程度会降低;若变更后的事务所规模更小,则会计政策披露的“类准则”程度会提高。     

近10年日本宏观经济的理论分析与展望

近10年日本经济停滞不前，一方面对外经济状况不佳：日元对美元汇率技术下跌。且不断加剧；出口增长放缓，贸易顺差连续下滑，另一方面国内宏观经济状况严峻；失业率不断上升，内需不振；通货紧缩逐步加深；工业增长持续低迷，工业生产与效益下降，究其原因，用内外均衡模型理论分析得出，日本经济没有达到均衡的0点，内外均衡遭到了破坏，而展望今后的日本经济和日元走势，基于日本财政状况的恶化及货币政策的失效，估计还不会导致资本的大量外流。也不会对资本流动产生重要的影响，而结构改革也将可能引致日元升值。     

因子分析法在县域经济发展水平评价中的应用

县域经济是国民经济的重要组成部分。为了全面、客观、系统、科学地评价和分析县域经济发展水平,一般要采用多指标综合评价法,这种传统方法具有主观随意性与工作复杂性的缺点。采用因子分析法对县域经济发展水平进行评价,可以有效地克服传统多指标综合评价方法中的不足与缺陷。     

我国地方政府绩效管理的行政生态学分析

我国地方政府开展的政府绩效管理实践存在着理论范式的形式完美主义、评估体系的＂官本主义＂、实践过程的简单主义的问题。运用行政生态学理论来分析,可以发现我国政府绩效管理处于独特的内外生态系统中,只有深入认识和揭示内外生态系统内涵及其关系,才能有效推动地方政府绩效管理改革。