Sensitivity analysis of efficiency rankings to distributional assumptions: applications to Japanese water utilities

This article examines the robustness of efficiency score rankings across four distributional assumptions for trans-log stochastic production-frontier models, using data from 1221 Japanese water utilities (for 2004 and 2005). One-sided error terms considered include the half-normal, truncated normal, exponential and gamma distributions. Results are compared for homoscedastic and doubly heteroscedastic models, where we also introduce a doubly heteroscedastic variable mean model, and examine the sensitivity of the nested models to a stronger heteroscedasticity correction for the one-sided error component. The results support three conclusions regarding the sensitivity of efficiency rankings to distributional assumptions. When four standard distributional assumptions are applied to a homoscedastic stochastic frontier model, the efficiency rankings are quite consistent. When those assumptions are applied to a doubly heteroscedastic stochastic frontier model, the efficiency rankings are consistent when proper and sufficient arguments for the variance functions are included in the model. When a more general model, like a variable mean model is estimated, efficiency rankings are quite sensitive to heteroscedasticity correction schemes.     

制度变迁理论视域下日本企业劳资关系的演化规律及启示

社会文化因素在影响与制约劳资关系系统的运行中起着至关重要的作用, 尤其是具有高度稳定性和传承性的文化传统能够从深层次上指挥或引导制度变迁的发生及其走向,从而构建出不同类型的企业劳资关系。本文基于新制度经济学的制度变迁路径依赖理论,对日本“利益一致型”企业劳资关系演化中的文化路径依赖现象进行研究,认为“和”观念、集团意识、等级思想、“家”原理等文化传统深刻影响了企业伦理观、人性假设、企业文化类型、劳资博弈格局和劳资关系模式,是日本企业劳资关系演化中形成路径依赖现象的驱动性因素。在日本企业劳资关系的重建过程中,这种路径依赖规律会依然发挥作用,引导劳资模式向“利益协调型”演化。     

韩国存款保险制度发展的经验及启示

韩国存款保险制度既融汇了美国等国家先进的制度理念,又积累了危机的实践经验,已经处于世界先进水平。本文通过对韩国存款保险制度建立的背景、发展历程和设计特征进行研究和探讨,为我国存款保险制度的建立提供参考。     

社会融资总量与金融宏观调控新目标

社会融资总量是一定时期内实体经济从金融体系获得的全部资金总额,是反映金融业对实体经济资金支持的总量指标。目前,中国人民银行已经启动了对社会融资总量的统计监测工作,并致力于将其作为货币政策新的中介目标。社会融资总量包括信贷融资、证券融资、保险融资、其他融资等多种形式。加强对社会融资总量的统计、监测和调控,能够全面反映整个社会的流动性状况,有利于推进宏观审慎管理。     

我国独资企业法律制度缺陷与完善设想

我国于1999年通过《个人独资企业法》，该法颁布后并未出现人们期待的个人独资企业迅猛发展的现象。虽然有诸多原因，但个人独资企业法律制度自身规定的不完善应是主要原因。因此完善该制度就成了一种现实的选择。     

Institutions and economic growth in Portugal: a quantitative exploration

This paper presents a broad diagnostic of the level of institutional development in Portugal in the legal, corporate governance and financial systems. A comparative assessment suggests that Portuguese institutions are less developed than their European Union and East Asian counterparts, more developed than Greek institutions and on a level similar to that of Spanish institutions. We use data for a wide cross-section of countries since 1960 and correlate indicators of institutional development with the long-term average growth rate, identifying issues where reform is likely to significantly affect economic growth. We construct three new indices that measure the potential of institutional reform - the impact of reform on growth, the required reform effort and the efficiency of reform index - by taking into consideration the institutional distance between Portugal and the European Union. These indices measure, respectively, which reforms have the most payoff in terms of growth, which are less costly to undertake and which deliver the most growth per required effort. Our results strongly suggest that in a large number of issues, institutional reform may translate into substantially higher rates of economic growth. Of the ten most promising reforms, six are in the legal area, irrespective of which of the indices is considered. Whereas legal reform is promising at the aggregate and the microeconomic levels, in the financial sector aggregate indicators offer the wider scope for productive reform, while in the corporate governance area it is indices at the micro level that hold the most promise. These results support the view that a comprehensive reform effort is likely to deliver higher rates of growth in Portugal, allowing faster real convergence with the rest of the European Union.Received: January 2003, Accepted: February 2004, JEL Classification: O0, O5, K00, K4, G2, G3This paper is based on Firms, Financial Markets and the Law: Institutions and Economic Growth in Portugal, prepared for the conference Desenvolvimento Económico Português no Espaço Europeu: Determinantes e Políticas, organized by the Banco de Portugal. Financial support by the Banco de Portugal, NOVA FORUM and FUNDAÇÃO Para a Ciência e tecnologia and Polti through feder are gratefully acknowledged. Comments from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, two anonymous referees and the editor are sincerely appreciated. The usual disclaimer applies.     

创新能力、空间依赖与长三角城市群增长核心演化

城市群经济系统发展过程中,核心城市的增长极化与扩散作用是推动城市群协同发展的关键机制。创新能力、要素集聚与扩散形成的区际空间外部性使得城市群增长核心不断演化,并形成系统协同发展的内在动力。长三角城市群核心城市的极化效应呈现出下降趋势,对其主要影响因素的实证分析结果表明：创新分工过程中创新要素集聚与创新溢出、空间依赖都对城市极化效应具有显著影响。因此,政策导向应从强化城市间创新分工、充分利用创新过程的空间外部性、推进城市群协同发展的制度创新等方面着手。     

流动人口社会救助问题研究

数量众多的流动人口享受不到应有的基本社会保障状况在构建和谐社会的大背景下显得尤为触目惊心.建立流动人口社会救助管理制度具有深远的现实意义.现行流动人口社会救助管理制度是对历史的进步,但存在一定的局限性,应该进一步改革与完善流动人口社会救助管理制度.     

技术创新系统分析

加强技术创新,发展高科技,实现产业化是我国实现跨世纪发展的战略目标。技术创新是一个企业、一个国家保持持续增长的关键,它包括产品创新、工艺创新和服务创新。管理创新（包括制度创新和组织创新）对技术创新起支撑作用;市场创新推动和促进技术创新;观念、教育、知识创新是技术创新的基础和源泉。创新系统相互作用,为技术创新提供了良好的外部环境。     

Knowledge embeddedness and the transfer mechanisms in multinational corporations

This paper reports a qualitative study conducted at four Japanese subsidiaries in China and Vietnam about their process of international knowledge transfer. Building on the literatures concerning the diverse types and characteristics of knowledge in multinational corporations (MNCs), we explore the broad mechanisms adopted and locally generated by the host country subsidiaries for transferring the foreign knowledge and putting the locally embedded knowledge into practical use at the local settings. The findings indicated (1) the limitations of applying a standardized and universal set of knowledge transfer mechanisms without considering local idiosyncrasies and (2) the contributions of local agents and institutions throughout the process of local knowledge adaptation and development.