论山东省东西部地区经济差异变动及发展对策

本文借鉴区域经济发展理论，通过分析山东省东西部地区经济差异的变动特征与趋势，提出实现山东省东西部地区经济协调发展的对策、措施。     

Trade liberalization and institutional reforms1

The accession of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to the European Union (EU) is expected to lead to the new member countries becoming more like the older members, including in terms of trade. In this paper, we focus on two factors promoting CEE–EU trade integration: trade liberalization and institutional reforms. Measures of trade liberalization undertaken by both parties during the 1990s were very substantial, but did not always produce the expected upsurge of regional trade flows. Much less progress has been made in improving the functioning of CEE institutions (e.g., progress in the privatization process or in reducing corruption). Countries where most important changes at the institutional level occurred were also those that most increased their trade with the EU. Comparing the impact of these two factors, we find that improving institutions in CEE countries can generate as much trade as the removal of all tariff and non‐tariff barriers. The paper also addresses the issue of the presence of reversed causality between trade and institutions, and the pro‐trade effect of institutional similarity.     

The future of the mobile phone business

One of the fastest growing technologies of our times is that of mobile phones. In this article we use the assumption that the diffusion of mobile technology, as measured by the number of active mobile accounts, follows the well known S-curve of natural growth in competition systems. The accuracy of the logistic fit is tested against actual data for the whole world, Europe, China and the GSM system. Using the produced models predictions concerning the future of mobile business are deliberated.According to these models active mobile accounts around the globe are expected to grow from 1.7 billion in 2004 to approximately 2 billion in 2008, reaching a peak penetration of 29.2%. Growth barriers, apart from the age of the potential user, are also low income and extreme poverty. Europe, early adopter of mobile technology and leader in active mobile accounts against all other regions in the world, has apparently reached a peak with almost every European, apart from the very young or very old, using a mobile phone. The mobile market in China is anticipated to exceed 500 million active accounts and may increase even further depending on the economic and social reform that is currently under way in that part of the world. GSM will most likely remain the leading mobile technology in the future as it is today.The growth process for the world, Europe, and the GSM system is almost completed and during this stage instabilities may occur before the potential emergence of a new wave of growth.     

湘东北都市带城镇体系的结构特征与优化思路

城镇体系是指在一定区域范围内以中心城市为核心，由一组规模不同，特点各异而又相互关联的城镇组成的空间系统。本文通过对城镇规模级别、城镇规模等级、城镇职能、城镇空间分布等分析揭示了湘东北都市带城镇体系的结构特征，在此基础上，进一步探讨了湘东北都市带城镇体系结构优化的思路与对策。     

Advertising,concentration and profitability in Greek food manufacturing industries

The conventional framework for cross-sectional studies of industrial organisation focuses on the hypothesised relations among structure, conduct and performance (SCP). This paper investigates these relationships for the food and beverage manufacturing industries in a European country, i.e., Greece. 3SLS method is used to estimate the parameters of the profitability, concentration and advertising model for a sample of 38 four-digit industries in 1994. The main results, which are in line with the relevant empirical work, show that profitability is determined by advertising, which, in turn, is affected by both profitability and concentration, while the latter is determined by economies of scale.     

Corporate Raiders,Performance and Governance in Europe

I analyse 136 block purchases made by corporate raiders in Europe between 1990 and 2001. Contrary to the hypothesis that these investors expropriate the target companies, there is a positive market reaction to the first public announcement of these purchases. In the long‐run, raiders earn an abnormal profit when they sell their stakes. When they still held their positions at the end of the sample period, abnormal returns were insignificant. Raiders' activities do not improve operating performance. The findings are consistent with superior stock picking ability among these investors, but do not support the hypothesis that raiders are governance champions.     

Determinants and consequences of soft budget constraintsAn empirical analysis using enterprise‐level data in transition countries1

This paper presents empirical work grounded in the soft budget constraint (SBC) literature. A loan is soft when a bank cannot commit the enterprise to hold to a fixed initial budget and/or the timing of repayment. Using data collected by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) (Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), 2002) in 26 transition economies, we analyze the determinants of managers’ expectations of having a soft loan. In particular, we find that managers’ expectations are lower when the initial financing requires collateral, and higher for larger firms and when firms had recently experienced financial distress. We also provide evidence that managers’ expectations influence their price responsiveness.     

Exploring The Gender Effect On Europeans’ Retirement Savings

This paper investigates whether European women have the same probability of saving for retirement as European men and if driving factors for this saving behavior differ by gender. The evidence is based on a sample of 6,036 individuals from eight European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). The results show that European women are less likely to save for retirement than men, although the determinants of this decision are similar for both genders. Moreover, the results suggest that country-level institutional factors play a more important role on the individual's retirement attitudes than gender differences.     

东盟对外贸易发展的影响因素及潜力--基于引力模型的实证研究

文章基于东盟视角,运用2000—2011年东盟主要贸易伙伴的面板数据进行分析,构建贸易引力模型对双边进出口贸易流量的影响因素进行分析,估算出东盟主要贸易伙伴的贸易潜力。结果表明,贸易双方的国内生产总值对双边进出口贸易流量有正向影响,贸易双方的人口和之间的距离对双边进出口贸易流量有负向影响。通过估算贸易潜力得出东盟最具贸易潜力的三个国家分别是俄罗斯、澳大利亚和日本,中国与东盟处于潜力开拓型关系,与俄澳日三国相比尚有差距,建议未来的研究内容可以集中分析某一特定产业或某一特定产品的贸易效应,从而改善我国出口结构,提升我国的贸易竞争力。