Declining Discount Rates: The Long and the Short of it

The last few years have witnessed important advances in our understanding of time preference and social discounting. In particular, several rationales for the use of time-varying social discount rates have emerged. These rationales range from the ad hoc to the formal, with some founded solely in economic theory while others reflect principles of intergenerational equity. While these advances are to be applauded, the practitioner is left with a confusing array of rationales and the sense that almost any discount rate can be justified. This paper draws together these different strands and provides a critical review of past and present contributions to this literature. In addition to this we highlight some of the problems with employing DDRs in the decision-making process, the most pressing of which may be time inconsistency. We clarify their practical implications, and potential pitfalls, of the more credible rationales and argue that some approaches popular in environmental economics literature are ill-conceived. Finally, we illustrate the impact of different approaches by examining global warming and nuclear power investment. This includes an application and extension of Newell and Pizer [‘Discounting the benefits of climate change mitigation : how much do uncertain rates increase valuations?’ Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 46 (2003) 52] to UK interest rate data.     

Risk and Capital Structure in the Regulated Firm

This paper studies the role of capital structure in a regulated firm. We show that it affects the prices set by the regulator, the expected price being lower the higher the proportion of debt finance. However, when debt is increased beyond a certain level, the benefit of lower expected prices is offset by their increased variability. We also study the socially preferred capital structure. This is such that consumers carry some risk, in the form of higher prices in adverse economic conditions.     

Pricing access in network competition

We compare various access pricing rules in the two-way access model. We show that the Generalized Efficient Component Pricing Rule (TECPR) leads to a lower equilibrium price than does the Efficient Component Pricing Rule, (ECPR) marginal cost pricing, (MCP) and any non-negative fixed access charges.      

Double Dividend with Involuntary Unemployment: Efficiency and Intergenerational Equity

This paper analyzes the double dividend and distributional issues within an overlapping generations model framework with involuntary unemployment. We characterize the necessary conditions needed to obtain a double dividend, when the revenue of the environmental tax is recycled by a variation of the labor tax rate. We show that an employment dividend may occur without any efficiency dividend and that the young generation is not always harmed by the fiscal reform, even without any intergenerational transfers. Therefore, three dividends (environmental, efficiency and intergenerational equity) can occur simultaneously.     

上市公司如何在非理性世界中确定股权回报率

确定股权回报率是进行长期投资决策的关键步骤,但在现实非理性世界中难以直接运用传统财务理论所推荐的资本资产定价模型来确定股权回报率。针对FAR与NEER方法,本文首先探讨这两类方法的理论依据并揭示其本质内涵,然后说明:在非理性世界中,如果上市公司管理者追求公司价值最大化目标,那么就应该基于公司项目的基本风险来确定股权回报率;相反地,如果管理者追求近期股价最大化,那么就应该基于市场投资者的预期来确定股权回报率。     

GAME THEORETIC MODELS OF MIXED OLIGOPOLY

Abstract. In this paper we review various models that have been proposed for the study of mixed oligopoly, that is markets in which private and public firm compete on equal basis using only market instruments.     

关于期权薪酬会计计量方法的思考

股票期权薪酬计量方法的选用一直以来都存在争议,采用不同的计量方法会直接影响到股票期权会计信息的真实性和透明度。本文通过对分别运用内在价值法、最小价值法和公允价值法中的B-S模型和二叉树模型对期权薪酬价值的计算分析,来说明何种计量方法能最有效地实现期权薪酬核算的目的。     

基于公平与效率均衡的城乡和谐

已有的对城乡和谐发展问题的研究大多将注意力集中在城乡和谐发展的途径方面,却忽视了对城乡和谐衡量标准的研究.本文从公平与效率统一(均衡)的视角来解析城乡和谐的标准以及城乡和谐演进的机制,并构建了一个基于公平与效率均衡的城乡和谐发展模型.该模型揭示,城乡和谐是公平与效率均衡的函数,市场机制与政府制度的相互配合共同促进城乡和谐发展.     

基于期权定价理论的所有者与债权人代理问题分析

所有者和债权人之间的代理关系是现代公司治理的重要要素,如何理解和处理二者之间的关系成为社会关注的核心。本文从期权角度对所有者与债权人之间的代理关系进行新的理解,并分别介绍了无风险套期保值、B-S期权定价理论模型的具体运用以及保护债权人利益的具体措施。     

用期权定价模型评估企业并购的价值

针对传统企业并购价值评估模型的局限性,本文从期权的角度阐述了企业并购的期权特性,指出企业并购实质上相当于取得了一个看涨期权;并以连续支付红利的美式期权定价理论为基础,建立了企业并购价值评估的期权定价模型。最后,通过实例论述了如何应用该模型来评估企业并购价值,对实践中企业并购价值的合理确定具有重要的指导意义。