震后重建可能加快中国投资速度

【英国路透社5月22日】汶川地震数万亡魂带来的哀痛尚未散去，中国政府已经草拟出灾后重建的首批蓝图。 重建规模将非常巨大，可能会给已经非常快速的投资步伐再踩上一脚油门。但归根结底，重建对中国经济影响较小，对全球经济影响更是微不足道。     

普京的俄罗斯：中国的未来？

想知道中国的未来，看看俄罗斯就行。不出大家所料，普京挑选的继承人梅德韦杰夫轻松赢得总统大选，并将邀请普京出任俄国总理。     

亚洲的公司治理挑战

20世纪90年代后期横扫亚洲大部分国家的金融危机,使得受其影响的多数国家把改善公司治理当作了头等大事(稍后印度也加入到这个潮流当中)。现在这些国家基本上都要求上市公司必须拥有独立董事及审计委员会。关于良好的公司     

AIDS is your business

If your company operates in a developing country, AIDS is your business. While Africa has received the most attention, AIDS is also spreading swiftly in other parts of the world. Russia and Ukraine had the fastest-growing epidemics last year, and many experts believe China and India will suffer the next tidal wave of infection. Why should executives be concerned about AIDS? Because it is destroying the twin rationales of globalization strategy-cheap labor and fast-growing markets--in countries where people are heavily affected by the epidemic. Fortunately, investments in programs that prevent infection and provide treatment for employees who have HIV/AIDS are profitable for many businesses--that is, they lead to savings that outweigh the programs' costs. Due to the long latency period between HIV infection and the onset of AIDS symptoms, a company is not likely to see any of the costs of HIV/AIDS until five to ten years after an employee is infected. But executives can calculate the present value of epidemic-related costs by using the discount rate to weigh each cost according to its expected timing. That allows companies to think about expenses on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs as investments rather than merely as costs. The authors found that the annual cost of AIDS to six corporations in South Africa and Botswana ranged from 0.4% to 5.9% of the wage bill. All six companies would have earned positive returns on their investments if they had provided employees with free treatment for HIV/AIDS in the form of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), according to the mathematical model the authors used. The annual reduction in the AIDS "tax" would have been as much as 40.4%. The authors' conclusion? Fighting AIDS not only helps those infected; it also makes good business sense.     

启发式解难:运筹学发展的下一个制高点

一人们并不会感到惊讶的是:科学的发展及其在人类事务中的应用,经常需要多学科专业的结合。运筹学和管理科学是年轻的学科,它们还处在发展各自训练程序的初期;他们的先驱来自几乎所有的智力学科,有数学家、物理学家、生物学家、统计学家、经济学家和政治学家。     

我们还需要销售明星吗？

聪明的销售管理人员知道：他们不能再完全依靠有限的几个销售代表来实现持续性的销售增长了。[编者按]     

The effect of immigrants on natives' incomes through the use of capital

"This paper deals with questions about the effects of immigrants on three types of capital: the private capital immigrants work with, the public (government) capital that immigrant workers use, and the public capital used for services by immigrants." The geographic focus is on the United States. The authors conclude that although the average cost to natives in 1975 dollars to provide services for immigrants is 4,172 dollars, this amount "is considerably smaller than the benefits of immigrants to natives through their relatively low use of welfare services and their relatively high contribution of taxes." Comments by Jacob Mincer (pp. 95-7) are included.     

国有单位工资结构及其就业规模变化的收入分配效应:1988—2007

本文使用1988年、1995年、2002年、2007年CHIP城镇入户调查数据考察国有单位工资结构及其就业规模变化的收入分配效应。为此,本文采用了分位数回归方法、以多重分位数回归为基础的Machado&Mata(2005)反事实分解方法及作者扩展了的方法。各结果表明:国有企业就业份额大幅度下降导致中国城镇工资收入差距显著下降;然而国有企业减员增效改革完成以后,国有企业工资高于非国有企业的幅度及其不合理部分大幅度上升,其结果是城镇工资收入差距扩大。     

The new science of sales force productivity

For years, sales managers at many companies have relied on top performers and sheer numbers of sales reps to stay competitive. But while they may have squeaked by on this wing-and-a-prayer technique, their sales teams haven't thrived the way they once did. Today's most successful sales leaders are taking a more scientific approach. Savvy managers are reshaping their tactics in response to changing markets. They are reaching out to new customers in innovative ways. And they are increasing productivity by helping the reps they already have make the most of their skills and resources. Leaders who take a scientific approach to sales force effectiveness have learned to use four levers to boost their reps' productivity in a predictable and manageable way. First, they systematically target their firms' offerings, matching the right products with the right customers. Second, they optimize the automation, tools, and procedures at their disposal, providing reps with the support they need to boost sales.Third, they analyze and manage their reps' performance, measuring both internal processes and results to determine where their teams' strengths and weaknesses are. Fourth, they pay close attention to sales force deployment--how well sales, support, marketing, and delivery resources are matched to customers. These four levers can help sales leaders increase productivity across the board, the authors say, though they have the greatest impact on lower-ranked performers. The overall effect of increasing the average sales per employee can be exponential; it means a company won't have to rely on just a few talented individuals to stay competitive. This is especially important because finding and keeping star salespeople is more difficult than ever. What's more, managers who optimize the sales forces they already have can see returns they never thought possible.     

经济增长与农村反贫困

本文利用中国家庭收入项目(CHIP)调查数据,估计了1988-2002年期间的中国农村绝对贫困、收入差距的变化趋势及收入增长和收入分配变化对农村贫困的影响.根据CHIP调查数据所绘制的贫困发生曲线表明,不论把绝对贫困线确定在哪里,在该时期内中国农村贫困都在显著下降.贫困指数分解和面板数据回归结果均显示收入增长是导致贫困下降的主要原因.