Policy competition,imitation and coordination under uncertainty

The paper analyzes under what circumstances policymakers experiment with policies with uncertain outcomes, when they prefer to imitate policies initiated in other countries, and when they prefer to coordinate policies internationally. Policymakers have private costs of active policies and compete internationally in a yardstick competition which gives rise to a potential distortion between what citizens want and what policymakers do. I find that policymakers’ policies as well as regime choice deviate from what citizens want but that an increase in uncertainty about policy outcomes decreases this distortion.     

产学研融合程度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的影响

构建产学研深度融合的技术创新体系，是我国为应对当前复杂多变的国际环境、满足新时代高质量发展要求的重要战略。基于产学研融合内涵，构建微观层面企业产学研融合程度综合评价模型，实证检验产学研融合程度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的影响以及环境不确定性的调节作用。结果表明，我国科技型中小企业产学研融合广度、深度和频度总体均呈波动上升趋势，正逐步迈向深度融合阶段；产学研融合广度和深度对科技型中小企业创新绩效具有正向影响，产学研融合频度对科技型中小企业创新绩效具有负向影响；环境不确定性会增强产学研融合广度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的正向影响，削弱产学研融合深度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的正向影响，增强产学研融合频度对科技型中小企业创新绩效的负向影响。结论可拓展产学研合作相关研究，发展产学研融合理论，为解决我国科技型中小企业产学研融合效率偏低、机制不佳等问题提供实践指导。     

Impact of uncertainty and exchange rate shocks: Theory and global empirics

This paper offers two points on the impact of uncertainty and exchange rate shocks. (1) A conceptual model where behavioural frictions – rational inattentiveness and bounded expectations – interact with uncertainty, generating aggregate fluctuations. Central banks can target these behavioural frictions to stabilise output and prices. (2) Empirical findings from a panel of advanced and emerging economies. Output and inflation slow in response to uncertainty shocks. Government bond yields moderate and exchange rates depreciate, suggesting within-country and between-country flight-to-safety respectively. Exchange rate appreciation shocks generate similar responses. The Malaysia-specific analysis finds divergent responses in employment and output, likely reflecting compositional effects in more productive tradable and less productive non-tradable sectors.     

A socio-economic optimization model for blood supply chain network design during the COVID-19 pandemic: An interactive possibilistic programming approach for a real case study

In uncertain circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic, designing an efficient Blood Supply Chain Network (BSCN) is crucial. This study tries to optimally configure a multi-echelon BSCN under uncertainty of demand, capacity, and blood disposal rates. The supply chain comprises blood donors, collection facilities, blood banks, regional hospitals, and consumption points. A novel bi-objective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is suggested to formulate the problem which aims to minimize network costs and maximize job opportunities while considering the adverse effects of the pandemic. Interactive possibilistic programming is then utilized to optimally treat the problem with respect to the special conditions of the pandemic. In contrast to previous studies, we incorporated socio-economic factors and COVID-19 impact into the BSCN design. To validate the developed methodology, a real case study of a Blood Supply Chain (BSC) is analyzed, along with sensitivity analyses of the main parameters. According to the obtained results, the suggested approach can simultaneously handle the bi-objectiveness and uncertainty of the model while finding the optimal number of facilities to satisfy the uncertain demand, blood flow between supply chain echelons, network cost, and the number of jobs created.     

资本市场开放与企业避税

以“沪港通”开通为研究背景，基于 2008-2018 年 A 股上市公司为研究样本，采用双重差分模型，探讨了资本市场对外开放对企业避税行为的影响作用。研究结果发现，“沪港通”开通有助于降低企业激进的避税程度，该结论在采用 PSM、更换样本区间以及改变变量测量方法等检验后依然稳健。进一步研究发现，“沪港通”开通对企业避税的降低作用在代理成本较高、公司治理水平较低以及融资约束程度较大的样本组中更为明显。本文的研究表明资本市场开放对上市企业避税决策具有重要作用，一定程度上丰富了资本市场对外开放经济后果的研究，也从企业避税这一角度提供了“沪港通”机制发挥公司治理效应的证据，为后续资本市场对外开放政策继续深入提供了理论指导和经验借鉴。     

Tax morale: Framing and fairness

Tax morale has been a focus of academics and policy makers for some time. The measurement of individuals’ tax morale is subjective, and various proxies have been employed in qualitative and quantitative research. The framing of these measures has been considered in some research with respect to equivalency or goal framing, but the underlying implication of emphasis framing in commonly used proxies has yet to be considered. Further, although fairness and financial literacy have been considered determinants of tax morale, no one has yet considered whether financial and tax literacy (FTL) has a moderating effect on fairness and tax morale.This research addresses these gaps in the literature. The findings suggest that questions and scenarios posed by academics and policy makers should consider positive, negative, and emphasis framing, as well as the moderating effect of the respondents’ FTL to measure individuals’ tax morale effectively. The findings also suggest that raising levels of FTL could have a double dividend: not only will improved FTL have a positive impact on tax morale, but it might be magnified through the impact of fairness. These findings hold only when morale is determined by negatively framed scenarios. In particular, the perceived fairness of the tax system enhances tax morale when FTL is high, whereas the perception of fairness has no effect on tax morale for respondents with lower levels of FTL.     

An exploration on policy uncertainty as a driver of R&D activity

We explore the relationship between uncertainty in economic policy and R&D activity for the sample of 576 firms from seven countries in the world. We base our analysis on an index of newspaper-based economic policy uncertainty (EPU) following the approach of Baker et al.’s (2016). We observe a significantly negative link between EPU and R&D intensity. Interestingly, the negative effect of policy uncertainty has less effect on the R&D activities of firms with growth opportunities. Finally, firms in politically sensitive industries respond stronger to EPU as far as R&D intensity is taken into account.     

Do chairmen with China's Great Famine experience in early-life affect firm tax avoidance activities?

This article investigates whether and how chairmen with China's Great Famine experience affect firm tax avoidance activities. We find that the chairmen who experienced China's Great Famine in early-life engage in fewer tax avoidance activities than other chairmen. This effect is stronger for firms in regions with a weak gambling culture and provinces with higher political uncertainty, nonstate-owned firms, and chairmen with higher education. We show that a lower-level risk appetite among chairmen is the primary mechanism driving lower tax avoidance in their firms. Our article provides new insights into the differences in tax avoidance between firms based on whether managers experienced the Great Famine.     

Does economics and management education make managers more cautious? Evidence from R&D of Chinese listed firms

This paper uses the innovation data of Chinese listed firms for 2015–2019 to investigate whether and how executives with economics and management educations influence firm innovation. We find that executives with economics and management educations are characterized by conservatism and risk avoidance and their firms undertake less innovative activity than other firms. This conclusion remains robust after excluding potential reverse causality. Further analysis finds that executives with an educational background in economics and management adopt a more conservative attitude toward risk when they have a low shareholding ratio or face high performance pressure. Moreover, a mechanism analysis shows that executives with an educational background economics and management are more radical and less conservative in their fields of expertise, i.e., are not blindly conservative. Finally, we determine that non-financial knowledge compensate for some of the inhibitory effects that economic and management educational backgrounds have on innovation.