Does past unemployment experience explain the transition happiness gap?

The profound economic and political changes of the 1990s had detrimental social effects in many domains of life in post-socialist countries, including diminishing life expectancy and growing unhappiness. Despite economic improvements in the second decade of transition, research has documented that happiness lagged behind. We test whether past unemployment experience can explain this ”transition happiness gap in the context of Ukraine”, a country with a painful delayed transition from planned to market economy. We analyze unique longitudinal data for the period 2003–2012. Current unemployment substantially reduces subjective wellbeing, and the effect is roughly 50% larger for men than for women. The effect of past unemployment is significant, but small in magnitude compared to the effect of current unemployment. However, it does correspond to around 8% of the “transition happiness gap” found by Guriev and Melnikov (2017), suggesting that past unemployment experience can be considered as a partial explanation.     

War and well-being in transition: Evidence from two natural experiments

This paper assesses the effect of the Russo–Georgian conflict of 2008 and the Ukrainian–Russian conflict of 2014 on the well-being of minorities in Russia. Using the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS), we find that the well-being of Georgians in Russia suffered negatively from the 2008 Russo–Georgian conflict. We show that the conflict has no direct effect on the labor market outcomes of Georgians, and therefore, we attribute the negative effect of conflict on well-being to more indirect channels such as fear, altruism, or sympathy. In comparison, we find no general effect of the Ukrainian–Russian conflict of 2014 on the Ukrainian nationals’ happiness. However, the life satisfaction of Ukrainians who reside in the southern regions of Russia in close proximity to Ukraine is negatively affected. We also show that the negative effect of conflict is short-lived with no long-term legacy. Additionally, we analyze the spillover effects of conflict on other minorities in Russia. We find that while the well-being of non-slavic and migrant minorities who have recently moved to Russia is negatively affected, there is no effect on local minorities who have been living in Russia for at least ten years.     

可持续转型理论研究综述及展望

国外近20年才兴起的可持续转型（ST）理论, 为破解当前新兴技术产业化发展成功率和贡献度不高、扶持效果不大的困境提供了系统有效的分析模型和方法工具,已成为当前技术创新管理和可持续发展管理研究的一个热点领域,目前国内对ST理论的研究全貌和前沿跟踪仍显不足。辨析了国外ST理论的研究缘起和内涵特征,运用知识图谱方法描绘了ST研究的知识基础、发展脉络及热点趋势。在此基础上,分析了运用ST研究新兴技术产业化的优势,最后指出了未来研究方向。     

基于产业结构视角的温州“资本危机”的成因及对策

长期以来,温州的产业结构中存在着突出的矛盾和问题,突出表现为低端制造业比重过大,高科技产业和重化工业基础薄弱;产业结构中具有比较优势的产业较少,劳动密集型企业生存困难;更为严重的是,温州企业规模普遍较小,产业结构分散,产业链不合理。唯有产业升级转型才是温州中小企业摆脱当前困境、再创辉煌的根本途径。     

乡镇财政制度变迁研究

通过对乡镇财政制度安排演变过程的回顾,运用制度经济学理论剖析了乡镇财政制度变迁的路径、属性与传导机制,认为乡镇财政制度的变迁是由中央政府主导的强制性制度变迁,表现为制度不均衡-强制性变迁-新的制度不均衡-强制性变迁过程.提高中央政府的制度供给效率,首先要增强要供给的制度本身的科学性与合理性,其次要考虑在制度变迁过程中,推进原有制度集合中的各个制度同步变迁.     

CPI bias and real living standards in Russia during the transition

The economies of the former Soviet Bloc experienced large declines in output during the decade of transition which began with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Yet there are many reasons to believe that measured output and official deflators provide a poor proxy for the change in real living standards in transition economies. This paper uses the Engel curve methodology developed by Hamilton [Hamilton, B. 2001. “Using Engel's Law to Estimate CPI Bias” American Economic Review 91(3): 619–630] to examine changes in real living standards in Russia during the transition period and to provide an estimate of how much the official Russian CPI has overstated consumer inflation. We also examine changes in consumer durables, home production, and subjective well-being to further evaluate changes in living standards. Our findings indicate that CPI bias has caused a substantial understatement of the growth performance of the Russian economy during the transition. Even just allowing household final consumption to be deflated with bias, we find that the level of real per capita GDP in 2001 may be understated by up to 30% compared with using a bias-corrected deflator. Our analysis of consumer durables, home production, and subjective well-being supports the conclusion that the decline in living standards has been substantially less than what is inferred by looking at official statistics on real output.     

农民工住房政策与经济增长

中国城市住房市场中存在明显的分割,"城中村"等居住环境恶劣的"非正式"住房容纳了大量农民工。通过构建一个农民工住房与经济增长的理论模型,本文发现,针对农民工的单纯住房数量的供给在低端产业占主导时对经济增长的推动作用明显,但在高技能产业比重逐渐增加时其效果逐渐衰减。相反地,改善农民工居住环境的政策能够使住房供给对经济增长的推动力具有可持续性。同时,这类改良政策能够减少潜在的社会冲突所导致的社会资源非生产性损耗,使得分给城市原有居民的"蛋糕"份额也会变大,因此有希望成为一个可以自发实现的内生政策变迁过程,既有利于促进经济增长,又有利于实现城乡融合和社会和谐。     

FDI spillovers and firm productivity during crisis: Empirical evidence from transition economies

Most studies on foreign direct investment (FDI) are nested within periods of economic prosperity. Our study investigates the impact of FDI spillovers on productivity during the global financial crisis (2006–2014) and the accompanying credit shortage. A dynamic panel analysis of firm-level data from two neighbouring but distinct transition economies, Croatia and Slovenia, reveals that the impact of the crisis may go as far as halting the process of learning through spillovers if firms have difficulties in accessing external funds. The implications of the study may prove particularly beneficial to policy makers grappling with the economic crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic.     

我国网络借贷行业深度转型发展的若干思考

当前我国网络借贷服务市场出清速度正不断加快。以“小额”、“分散”和“期限 短”为特征,以服务普惠金融为起点的网络借贷行业,在多因素共振下正面临深度转型。从实 践层面看,我国网络借贷行业面临的“信息中介”定位不清、大数据信用风险管理落地难以及 对投资者不设门槛等三大问题,不仅增加投资者自身面临的信用风险,也对行业稳健发展造成 巨大冲击。建议优化网络借贷平台功能定位、建立和完善网络借贷平台退出机制、设定投资者 准入门槛、推广互联网大数据共享机制建设,同时进一步提升网络借贷行业发展环境。