Platform selection by software developers: Theory and evidence

This paper analyzes platform selection (affiliation) by game developers in the Japanese home video game industry. We develop an elementary model of affiliation by software developers and propose the hypothesis that wider availability of game titles for a platform positively inclines game developers to affiliate with that platform when releasing new game titles. Then, using data for Japan, we estimate a multinomial logit model that includes both the attributes of game developers and the characteristics of platforms, and find evidence supporting this hypothesis. Overall, the findings suggest that game developers expect the indirect network effect to apply, and the prospect of future growth matters to them when deciding with which platform to affiliate.     

How much can we trust China’s investment statistics?

Abstract

Building upon recent research into the underestimation of China’s official final consumption expenditure, this paper investigates the quality of China’s investment data. We strictly follow the official method to estimate the annual gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) expenditure from 2004 to 2012, and the resulting figures are significantly different from the official statistics. This implies that the ‘total investment in fixed assets’ data, which are the primary source for the estimation of GFCF, grossly exaggerate actual investments, and that the official GFCF figures are not, strictly speaking, independently estimated, as they are purported to be. We deduce that the official gross capital formation figure is more or less a residual item obtained by subtracting final consumption and net exports from the official GDP figure that is calculated based on the production-cum-income approach. As a result, the underestimation of China’s consumption expenditure automatically translates into overestimation of investment expenditure. We conclude that China’s official consumption and investment statistics cannot be trusted as the basis for policy discussions and academic research.     

Wealth effects and agency costs

We analyze how the agent's initial wealth affects the principal's expected profits in the standard principal–agent model with moral hazard.We show that if the principal prefers a poorer agent for all specifications of action sets, probability distributions, and disutility of effort, then the agent's utility of income must exhibit a coefficient of absolute prudence less than three times the coefficient of absolute risk aversion for all levels of income, thus strengthening the sufficiency result of Thiele and Wambach (1999). Also, we prove that there is no condition on the agent's utility of income alone that will make the principal prefer richer agents. Moreover, we show that, for an interesting class of problems, the principal prefers a relatively poorer agent if agent's wealth is sufficiently large. Finally, we discuss how alternative ways of modeling the agent's outside option affects the principal's preferences for agent's wealth.     

Assessing impact of regulatory risk on shareholders’ wealth

Research indicates that regulatory risk increases required return on investment by investors and causes underinvestment in industries with high sunk costs. The effects of regulatory changes may be measured by estimating the abnormal returns associated with the event. The results may suggest to regulators what should be encouraged or avoided. This article utilizes a fixed effects regression to examine abnormal returns from changes in Philippine nationalization regulations. The results are consistent with extant literature. Supreme Court decisions, which increased uncertainty and regulatory risk, produced negative abnormal returns. The initial release of draft implementing rules did not produce statistically significant effects, but a succeeding draft favouring liberalization, produced positive abnormal returns.     

Tracking Can Be More Equitable Than Mixing

Parents and policy‐makers often wonder whether and how the choice of a tracked or mixed educational system affects the equality of opportunity. I answer this question by analyzing the influence of peers on future educational results. I define an equal opportunity policy as one that maximizes the average lifetime income of the worst‐off type of individuals in society (i.e., students from disadvantaged backgrounds). I find that tracking maximizes average lifetime income if the opportunity cost of college attendance is sufficiently high.     

Party Discipline and Environmental Policy: The Role of “Smoke‐filled Back Rooms”*

We adopt the view that greater party discipline induces legislators to commit to promised policies after being elected. We then develop the hypothesis that the effect of party discipline on the stringency of environmental policy is conditional on the degree of government corruption. Our empirical work suggests that greater party discipline results in more stringent environmental policies when the level of corruption is relatively low, but in weaker policies when the level of corruption is comparatively high.     

高铁开通与城市创新研究综述

高铁网络的建设大大提高了中国铁路运输的效率,缩短了不同城市之间的时空距离,使居民在不同城市工作和消费成为可能。同时高铁服务通过加速人口和要素在区域间的流动,对城市之间的空间联系和城市社会经济的发展产生了重要的影响。高铁在影响经济格局的同时也深刻影响了区域的创新格局,现通过梳理相关文献,整理归纳了高铁开通对城市创新的影响及其作用机制,并对现有的实证研究方法进行总结。在此基础上提出目前存在的问题,为后续的研究指明方向。     

融资理论的实践效应及其验证——基于中国上市公司的数据分析

融资理论是企业制订融资政策的理论基础.不同的融资理论及管理思想将会导致企业采用不同的资金管理策略与政策.因此,融资理论及其实践效应又是预测企业资金管理政策的重要参数.本文以中国上市公司为基础,重点探讨优序融资理论和权衡融资理论在中国企业管理实践中的应用情况.研究表明,这两种理论在中国企业管理实践中都得到了不同程度的应用,但是比较而言,优序融资理论的受支持程度要高于权衡理论的受支持程度.     

增值税转型对企业固定资产投资影响的实证研究

增值税已经成为我国财政收入来源的第一大税种,2004年我国选择率先在东北地区进行增值税转型试点。增值税转型是否增加了企业的固定资产投资,是否促进了东北地区的经济发展以及转型是否达到了预期的目的?本文在收集大量试点单位资料的基础上,借助数学模型,对增值税转型对企业固定资产的投资影响这一现实问题进行了实证分析。