Impact of the Sloping Land Conversion Program on rural household income: An integrated estimation

The objective of this study is to identify the pathways of the potential impacts of the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) on household income and quantify these impacts along the identified pathways. We fulfill this objective by developing an integrated analytic framework and using data collected from Wuqi county of Shaanxi for the period 2004–2010. This integrated analytic framework enables us to formulate a structural equation model for testing hypotheses regarding the direct and indirect impacts of the SLCP. It is found that the direct effect of the SLCP on household income is positive but very small and insignificant, suggesting that retiring cropland has, at least, not reduced income from farming. Moreover, the SLCP has had a much higher and even increasing indirect impact on household income through promoting labor transfer and relaxing liquidity constraints. Overall, the SLCP's total impact on household income ranged from 3% in 2004 to 9% in 2010 excluding the insignificant direct impact. The research and policy implications of our work are discussed.     

Land owners’ perception of land consolidation and their satisfaction with the results – Slovenian experiences

Land consolidation has been an important instrument of rural development for over a century throughout Europe. Nowadays, land consolidation can be an integral part of both rural and urban development projects, but the focus of our study is on land consolidation in rural areas. In addition to the efforts aimed at making agriculture and forestry more competitive through a comprehensive reallocation process, improvement of road and drainage networks, landscaping, environmental management, conservation projects, and other functions may be implemented in land consolidation. There are differences in the objectives and procedures of land consolidation among the countries. Beside the formal institutional framework of land consolidation, informal institutions can have a substantial influence on the implementation of land consolidation. In the article, the past experiences in the field of land consolidation in Slovenia are presented, which are still reflected in the limited acceptability of this instrument among land owners. Furthermore, the current institutional (legal) framework is analyzed in detail. The main objective of the research was to investigate the opinion of land consolidation participants about land consolidation. Based on the field survey conducted on a sample of private land owners involved in selected land consolidation projects we tried to define the advantages and disadvantages of the current practice. The main finding is that the active participation of land owners contributes to their comprehension of the aims and to their satisfaction with the results of the land consolidation. It has been shown that the active participation of land owners in the land consolidation is the basis for developing good practices; moreover, it affects the land owners’ perception of land consolidation. The transfer of knowledge and representation of good practices among actors are still needed, in particular because of bad experiences in the past (i.e. enforced and environmentally unfriendly projects) and the traditional emotional attachment to land among land owners. In parallel, there is a great need to provide an optimization of the land consolidation process in Slovenia.     

土地增值管理问题研究进展

基于对国内外相关领域重要研究成果的概括．对土地增值的含义、土地增值收益的形成机制、土地增值收益的分配与测算、土地增值管理工具等问题进行了总结分析。土地自然增值是社会经济进步的结果,是研究关注的重点,土地增值在不同利益主体间的分配则是研究的难点。我国土地增值管理中的突出问题表现为土地产权界定不清晰。土地增值收益流失、回归途径缺乏;征地补偿标准过低、农民权益受损;土地租、税、费体系不合理。未来应加强对土地增值收益分配和管理的实证分析、分类研究;必须加强基于土地公有制基础上的土地产权理论、土地租税理论和土地增值收益管理理论创新研究。     

农民收入结构变化对农民种粮积极性的影响——基于粮食主产区与主销区的对比分析

本文基于1993—2017年中国粮食主产区和主销区的面板数据,在比较两个区域农民收入及其结构变化的基础上,使用面板矫正标准误(PCSE)和面板向量自回归(PVAR)模型实证研究并比较主产区和主销区农民收入结构变化对农民种粮积极性的短期和长期影响。结果表明:无论从短期还是从长期来看,对于主产区而言,工资性收入和政策变量对粮播比有显著的负向影响,家庭经营性收入、转移性收入对其有显著正向影响,而财产性收入对其影响不显著。对于主销区而言,家庭经营性收入、转移性收入和财产性收入对粮播比的影响方向与主产区相同,但是工资性收入对其影响与主产区不同,有显著正向影响,政策变量的影响不显著。在长期,工资性收入对主产区和主销区粮播比的影响程度逐渐增加,经营性收入与财产性收入对主产区的影响更大,而转移性收入对主销区的影响更大。因此,在粮食播种面积连续3年下降的背景下,需要进一步优化农业补贴政策,转变粮食生产方式,鼓励主销区增加粮食播种面积,建立多层次农业保险体系。     

Broadband speed and unemployment rates: Data and measurement issues

We examine the effects of broadband speed on county unemployment rates in the U.S. state of Tennessee. We merge the older National Broadband Map dataset and the newer FCC dataset in lengthening our broadband access data over the period 2011–2015. Extending the dataset improves the precision of the estimates. Our panel regressions control for potential selection bias and reverse causality and show that broadband speed matters: unemployment rates are about 0.26 percentage points lower in counties with high speeds compared to counties with low speeds. Ultra-high speed broadband also appears to reduce unemployment rates; however, we are unable to distinguish between the effects of high and ultra-high speed broadband. We document beneficial effects of the early adoption of high speed broadband on unemployment rates. Better quality broadband appears to have a disproportionately greater effect in rural areas.     

农村基础设施投资效应研究——基于辽宁省的实证分析

运用双对数C-D生产函数模型来实证检验各类基础设施投资与农业经济、非农经济和农民收入之间的内在关系。分析结果表明,不同基础设施投资对辽宁农业生产、非农业生产、农民收入水平的产出弹性均具有显著的影响,并且,教育基础设施的作用最为突出。因此,辽宁省要继续优化农村基础设施投资结构,为农村经济持续发展创造条件。     

企业资金紧张的原因及对策

企业资金紧张的原因及对策田山河目前，资金紧张是企业普遍存在的一个严峻问题，债务越滚越大，严重影响和制约了企业正常的生产经营活动。如何适应市场经济，强化资金管理，摆脱资金困境，加速资金周转，提高经济效益是摆在企业面前的一个十分重要的课题。一、资金短缺为...     

On the conceptual foundations of financial reporting

Standard setters advocate a balance sheet approach to financial reporting, which views assets and liabilities as primary, and income as just the derivative change in net assets. This paper argues that income is conceptually and practically better described as ‘adjusted net cash flows,’ where the adjustments are the accounting accruals. One proof of that is seen in the existence of whole accounting systems like tax accounting and national income accounting, which emphasize the determination of income but have no balance sheets. The paper also argues that an income-based approach to financial reporting is by nature better suited to reflect the success of advancing cash to earn more cash, which defines what for-profit entities do. There are two main features of the income-based approach. One is attention on the cash flows as the natural foundation for financial reporting because they are precisely determined, and provide a clear link to firm valuation. The other is attention on the accounting accruals, which serve to adjust the raw cash flows to better show the current success of investing cash to ultimately earn more cash. Specifically, the paper argues for revenue recognition which is close to current practice, and for expense recognition which is aligned with the matching principle.     

The effect of tax avoidance crackdown on corporate innovation

To constrain the use of intangible assets in tax-motivated state income shifting, many U.S. state governments adopted addback statutes. Addback statutes reduce the tax benefits that firms can gain from creating intangible assets such as patents. Using a sample of U.S. public firms, we examine the effect of addback statutes on corporate innovation behavior. First, the adoption of addback statutes leads to a 4.77 percentage point decrease in the number of patents and a 5.12 percentage point decrease in the number of patent citations. Second, the “disappearing patents” resulting from addback statutes have significant economic value. Third, after a state adopts an addback statute, a firm with material subsidiaries in that state assigns fewer patents to subsidiaries in zero-tax states, whereas the number of patents assigned to the other states does not change. Overall, our findings suggest that addback statutes impede corporate innovation.     

Abolishing the Tax‐Free Threshold in Australia: Simulating Alternative Reforms*

This paper examines the role of the tax‐free income tax threshold in a complex tax and transfer system consisting of a range of taxes and benefits, each with its own taper rates and thresholds. Considering a tax and benefit system with benefit taper rates whereby some benefits are received by income groups other than those at the bottom of the distribution, it is suggested that a tax‐free threshold is not a necessary requirement to achieve redistribution. Four alternative policy changes, each involving the elimination of the tax‐free threshold in Australia and designed to achieve approximate revenue neutrality, were examined using the Melbourne Institute Tax and Transfer Simulator. A range of implications were examined, including labour supply responses to tax changes and the effects of policy changes on inequality and social welfare. The results demonstrate that it is possible to eliminate the tax‐free threshold under approximate overall revenue and distribution neutrality, but that it is impossible to improve labour supply incentives at the same time. In order to achieve improved incentives, either revenue or distribution neutrality has to be sacrificed.