The End of Lifetime Employment in Japan?: Evidence from National Surveys and Field Research

Using both quantitative data from national surveys and qualitative data from our recent field research, this paper provides evidence on the recent transformation of Japan's celebrated practice of lifetime employment (or implicit long-term employment contracts for the regular workforce). Overall, contrary to the popular rhetoric of the end of lifetime employment, evidence points to the enduring nature of this practice in Japan. Specifically, we find little evidence for any major decline in the job retention rates of Japanese employees from the period prior to the burst of the bubble economy in the late 1980s to the post-bubble period. In general, our field research corroborates the main finding from the job retention rates by describing vividly that large firms in Japan have been trying to accomplish their restructuring and downsizing targets by relying heavily on transfers of their employees to their subsidiaries and related firms and hiring cuts, thus avoiding layoffs. Last, the burden of downsizing appears to fall disproportionately on young workers and middle-age workers with shorter tenure. J. Japan. Int. Econ., December 2001, 15(4), pp. 489–514. Department of Economics, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York 13346; Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School, New York; and TCER. © 2001 Elsevier Science (USA).Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: J63, J64, J41, O53.     

2010年1季度国际金融市场运行综述

一季度，受美国经济复苏的步伐较为稳固及希腊主权债务问题令投资者的避险需求上升等因素影响，美元对其他主要货币走强。美元、英镑短期利率上升，欧元、日元短期利率下降。美国中长期国债收益率呈“W”型走势，英国和德国中长期国债收益率下降，而日本中长期国债收益率上升。主要股指探底回升。     

个人中长期投资理财研究与分析

文章从基础层面对中长期理财规划进行了探讨,对其理论基础和原则进行了充分的阐述,在此基础上,提出了中长期理财规划的一些基本技能。     

Bidder Gains and Losses of Firms Involved in Many Acquisitions

Abstract:  We examine shareholders' wealth effects (both in the short- and the long-run) of UK frequent bidders acquiring public, private, and/or subsidiary targets with alternative methods of payment between 1987 and 2004. We find that, in the short-run, bidders break even when acquiring public targets and gain significantly when buying private and subsidiary targets. This result is robust after controlling for relative size, bidder's book-to-market ratio, target origin, and industry diversification. Our long-run evidence, however, reveals that acquirers experience, significant wealth losses regardless of the target type acquired, indicating that markets may initially overreact to the acquisition announcement. As a result, we argue that contrary to Fuller et al. (2002) who suggest that acquiring private and subsidiary firms creates value for bidding firms, a reliable conclusion on bidders' shareholders wealth effects cannot be based solely on a short-run event study.     

Dynamic yardstick mechanisms

This paper shows that the inability of principals to commit to long-term contracts is irrelevant when dealing with several agents whose private information is correlated. This sharply contrasts with the dynamics of contracting without such correlation. The paper also explores what limitations on yardstick mechanisms can justify the use of long-term contracts. We found that the inability of a principal to commit not to renegotiate long-term contracts is without consequence even if there is a bound on transfers that an agent can be asked to pay. In contrast, short-term contracting fails to implement the commitment solution with constraints on transfers. Second, absent current yardstick, the possibility of using correlated mechanisms in the future allows the principal to implement the first-best with a renegotiation-proof long-term contract whereas this cannot be achieved with short-term contracting.     

2011年上半年国际金融市场运行综述

2011年上半年,美元总体走弱;美元短期利率下降,欧元、英镑短期利率上升,日元短期利率基本走平;主要国家中长期国债收益率先升后降;欧美主要股指振荡走高。     

我国证券投资基金业绩持续性研究

基于2006~2009年的周度数据,本文首先使用修正的R/S方法实证分析开放式投资基金业绩的长期持续性;其次使用Spearman自相关系数方法计算了样本基金的短期持续性;并提出我国证券投资基金可能存在持续性时间阈的概念,利用样本数据对假设进行实证检验,计算出各只基金业绩持续性的时间阈,并分析了持续性时间阈对投资者的重要意义。     

新型农村社会养老保险制度可持续发展探析

新型农村社会养老保险从2009年末开始在全国范围内进行试点,现已取得了可喜的成绩,但新农保制度在实施过程中存在的基金筹集困难、养老保险替代率过低及政策宣传不力等问题不容忽视,必须从新农保制度的可持续发展着眼,从社会养老保险的城乡统筹出发,建立新农保制度的长效机制。     

构建稳价安民长效机制的思考

稳价安民长效机制是指围绕稳价格、保民生,运用经济、法律和必要行政手段对价格总水平波动进行直接或间接干预的制度体系及其运作方式。构建稳价安民长效机制是经济健康发展的必然选择、抑制通货膨胀的客观需要、深化价格改革的重要条件、保民生促和谐的现实要求、克服市场失灵的有效措施。构建稳价安民长效机制应做好发展生产,增加供给;规范流通,减少环节;建立储备,调节市场;加强监测,引导预期;依法监管,维护秩序;实施救助,保障民生等工作。     

2012年8月国际金融市场运行综述

2012年8月,美元指数走低;主要货币短期利率小幅下降;主要发达国家中长期国债收益率先升后降;主要股指总体振荡走高。