Domestic or global imbalances? Rising income risk and the fall in the US current account

When default leads to exclusion from financial markets, the implied loss of consumption smoothing opportunities is more costly when income volatility is high. A rise in income risk thus makes default less attractive, allowing creditors to relax borrowing limits. I show how, in an open economy, this endogenous financial deepening may reduce aggregate foreign assets in response to a rise in individual income risk, against the precautionary savings intuition. Conditions for this depend on whether default constrains complete or uncontingent contracts. The post-1980 rise in US household income risk strongly reduces foreign assets when domestic markets are complete or world interest rates low.     

The savings multiplier

A theory of macroeconomic development based on the novel concept of savings multiplier is developed. Capital accumulation changes relative prices, amplifying incentives to save as the economy grows. The savings multiplier hinges on two mechanisms. First, accumulation raises wages and leads to redistribution from the consuming old to the saving young. Second, higher wages raise the price of old-age care and, in anticipation of this, the young save more. Our theory captures important aspects of China׳s development and suggests new channels through which the one child policy and the dismantling of social benefits have fueled China׳s savings rates.     

Risk-based decision analysis in support of precautionary policies

A decision-analytic model for avoiding a risky activity is presented. The model considers the benefit and cost of avoiding the activity, the probability that the activity is unsafe, and scientific tests or studies that could be conducted to revise the probability that the activity is unsafe. For a single decision maker, thresholds are identified for his or her current subjective probability that the activity is unsafe. These thresholds indicate whether the preferred course of action is avoiding the activity without further study, engaging in the activity without further study, or conducting a test or research programme to obtain additional information and following the result. When these thresholds are low, precautionary action is more likely to be warranted. When there are multiple stakeholders, differences in their perceptions of the benefit and cost of avoidance and differences in their perceptions of the accuracy of the additional information provided by the test or research programme combine to create differences in their decision thresholds. Thus, the model allows for the rational expression of differences among parties in a way that highlights disagreements and possible paths to conflict resolution. The model is illustrated with an application to phytosanitary standards in international trade and examined in terms of recent empirical research on lay perceptions of risks, benefits, and trust. Further research is suggested to improve the elicitation of model components, as a way of fostering the legitimate application of risk-based decision analysis in precautionary policy making.     

居民货币需求的“结构性流动陷阱”及其对我国物价变动影响之研究

由于当前经济改革中的一些结构性问题使我国居民存在对货币需求的"结构性流动陷阱"."结构性流动陷阱"是我国近年来城乡居民储蓄存款高速增长的根本原因,也是对我国自1997年以来物价变动产生重要影响的一个基本因素.文章首先对当前转型期我国存在的居民货币需求"结构性流动陷阱"形成原因进行分析,其次,依据这个观点对我国近年来出现的通货膨胀和通货紧缩的基本原因和特点进行深入的分析和系统的研究,并就我国未来短期内物价走势进行分析和预测.     

吉林省储蓄国债投资者研究

随着我国经济持续增长和利率市场化不断推进,个人投资者资产管理方式及渠道日益丰富,而储蓄国债因品种单一、购买渠道狭窄、流动性不强等因素,与其他投资品种相比失去了往日"金边国债"魅力,储蓄国债发行和管理工作面临着挑战。本文从问卷调查入手,深入分析了吉林省储蓄国债投资者的结构特征、行为特点和投资偏好,并就优化期限结构、丰富国债品种、完善发行兑付渠道、强化宣传以及拓展农村市场五个方面提出意见建议,供参考。     

城乡居民消费行为比较研究

笔者以预防性储蓄理论为突破口,将城乡居民消费行为放在同一个理论框架中进行对比研究。结果发现,与城镇居民相比,农村居民的消费更为谨慎,对利率的变动相对不敏感,受不确定性因素影响较大;但消费惯性和制度变迁因素对城镇居民和农村居民消费的影响都不显著。     

对城中村改造推动银行储蓄存款增长的意义的思考——以陕西省西安市为例

城中村改造关于改造资金的来源问题研究者们已经进行了大量的研究,目前比较可行的办法就是信托融资模式,接着就是城中村改造后农民拿到大量的赔偿款后的理财问题确实是很多银行关注的重点。本文从对西安市城中村改造的一些政策进行了分析,从而引出农民将得到巨额的赔偿,提出了西安市各大银行应该积极吸纳改造城中村农民的存款,这对推动银行储蓄存款的增长有着很大的意义。     

中国人口老龄化与居民储蓄之间关系的实证分析——基于1979年—2007年的数据

文章使用1979年—2007年中国居民人均储蓄、人均GDP、人口老少比和实际利率的数据,利用向量自回归模型（VAR）,分析了人口老龄化对居民人均储蓄的影响效应,分析结果显示,在中国处于人口老龄化的初期阶段,中国居民的高储蓄是应对人口老龄化的理性选择。随着人口老龄化趋势的快速发展,中国将快速进入中度老龄化阶段,伴随着劳动力数量和比例的下降,居民人均储蓄将会呈现下降趋势。     

我国城镇职工基本医疗保险个人账户公平性研究

本文采用保险精算模型研究城镇职工基本医疗保险个人账户的不公平性,结果显示:个人账户确实造成了门诊医疗服务分配的不公平,工资收入在社会平均工资90%以下的人群不能很好地享受门诊医疗服务,而且收入越高,个人账户结余额越高。最后,本文提出了相应的政策调整方案以缩小人群之间的不公平程度。     

Education and the empowerment of women in household decision‐making in Spain

It was analysed whether investment in the education of both women and men serves to empower wives resulting in more balanced household decisions being taken on matters related to consumption and financial management. They considered that household decision‐making could be made by mainly the wife, mainly the husband or the couple acting jointly. They then applied multinomial probit models to the Spanish Living Conditions Survey of 2010. Results show that, when controlling for demographic, family and labour market characteristics, the level of education of both the husband and wife has a positive effect in terms of a more egalitarian decision‐making process in relation to three areas of expenditure: daily shopping, expensive purchases of consumer durables and significant expenditure on children. However, only women's education has a positive effect on borrowing money and no effect of education is observed with regard to the use of savings. Results are less conclusive for households where decisions are taken primarily by the wife or husband, since men's education increases the role of husbands in the household making‐decision process whereas no effect of wives' education is observed.