Intergovernmental transfers and fiscal behavior insurance versus aggregate discipline

This paper evaluates the trade-off between the advantages of risk sharing and the perils of common pool problems in federal fiscal arrangements. Under the assumption of asymmetric information we evaluate two alternative regimes of intergovernmental transfers. In one regime, the central government pre-commits to a certain level of transfers that compensate vertical fiscal imbalances and provide some limited ex-ante insurance. In the other regime, it accommodates ex-post the fiscal needs of the different provinces. In this second case, full-insurance results, but the economy is subject to a tragedy of the fiscal commons, with excessive subnational spending, insufficient local taxation, and reduced production of federal public goods. We find the range of parameters for which one or the other institutional regime will be preferable. The result is a fiscal-federalism version of the usual trade-off between rules and discretion.     

A new coincident index of business cycles based on monthly and quarterly series

Popular monthly coincident indices of business cycles, e.g. the composite index and the Stock–Watson coincident index, have two shortcomings. First, they ignore information contained in quarterly indicators such as real GDP. Second, they lack economic interpretation; hence the heights of peaks and the depths of troughs depend on the choice of an index. This paper extends the Stock–Watson coincident index by applying maximum likelihood factor analysis to a mixed‐frequency series of quarterly real GDP and monthly coincident business cycle indicators. The resulting index is related to latent monthly real GDP. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

信贷技术、银行业竞争与中小企业融资

不同的银行信贷技术对中小企业具有不同的影响,银行业的逐渐开放,竞争的日益激烈,银行间并购逐年增加,银行业竞争结构的变化严重影响着中小企业融资。随着中国经济与世界经济接轨程度的加大,《新巴塞尔协议》的逐步推行,将不同程度影响银行业竞争结构及中小企业的信贷供给。因此,在制定相关政策时,要充分考虑金融政策的传导机制,不仅考虑其对金融体系及金融中介竞争结构的影响,而且还要考虑到对中小企业融资的间接影响。     

中国上市公司非公允关联交易的根源及治理对策建议

中国上市公司关联交易频繁发生且交易金额巨大，非公允关联交易普遍存在，问题公司常常通过非公允关联交易解决其存在的问题。随着监管力度的加强，关联交易和非公允关联交易会有所减少，但短期内无法根除长年沉积的痼疾，尤其是在关联交易多样化和非公允关联交易隐形化的情况下更是如此。因此，深刻剖析非公允关联交易存在的根源及其找出治理对策是急需解决的重大课题。     

Social capital effects on the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities

Social capital refers to social networks and the norms of reciprocity, cooperation and trust associated with them. It can be studied at different levels of analysis. As previous literature suggests, social capital has aspects at both the individual and collective levels. However, theory development and empirical research have focused on separate, sometimes diverging levels. In an attempt to address this, this research examines the simultaneous influence of individual and regional social capital on the discovery and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities using individual-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor linked with regional-level data on social capital. The results show that individuals from regions with higher social capital are more likely to discover and to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. Moreover, individuals having networks with other entrepreneurs are also more likely to identify a business opportunity and to become an entrepreneur. Also, we found that social capital at individual level had a greater effect than social capital at regional level in the two stages of the entrepreneurial process.     

El desempeño económico financiero y responsabilidad social corporativa Petrobrás versus Repsol

Alterations in the institutional environment, as a result of the markets integration process and the consequent alterations in stakeholders’ conduct are one of the important vectors of changes in companies’ behavior. In that context, in addition to their yields those companies happen to worry about their attitudes in relation to social and environmental factors. Thus, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen as one more strategy to maintain or increase their income and to harness the enterprise development. The main purpose of this study is the verification of the existing relation between Social Responsibility and the economic and financial performance of two companies in the business of Petroleum, Gas and Bio-combustibles. The investigation was based on a comparison of social-environmental practices developed by Petrobras S/A (Brazil) and Repsol S/A (Spain). For the purpose of verification of the relation between social-environmental performance and the economic-financial one, a linear regression analysis was carried out.     

SCADA系统的发展及应用

对SCADA(Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition)统的定义、功能及发展的历史进行介绍.再以某场站为例,详细地介绍了SCADA系统配置、功能在实际生产中的应用.     

“零库存”管理思路浅谈

当前长距离输送管道施工市场竞争日趋激烈,国际市场上众多石油石化巨头同台竞技,实力与管理优势明显者占据着高端利润市场,弱势者即使争得到工程,也常常是环境恶劣,施工难度大,利润微薄.国内市场的竞争也很激烈,多家油田工建单位异军突起,奋力竞争工程份额,他们依托着丰厚的油田收入,为开拓新市场而不惜缩减利润.这对于以长距离输送管道施工为主业的企业而言,无异于雪上加霜.面对残酷的行业现状,只有进一步控制成本,压缩工期,持续提升企业经营效益,才是生存之道.     

日本灾后财政和债务前景展望

日本是发达经济体中财政赤字和政府债务负担最严重的国家。接二连三的欧洲主权债务危机和美国主权债务问题使市场不得不对日本是否将是下一个债务危机发生国产生隐忧。在2008年全球金融危机爆发前,日本的债务结构和低利率环境还可以使其维系高额的财政赤字和债务负担。然而2008年之后,在全球经济疲软和日本经济萎靡不振的背景下,日本处在了主权债务风险一直上升的阶段。更令日本祸不单行的是"3.11"大地震、海啸和核泄露事件,这一连串灾难更令日本在财政赤字和举债问题上如履薄冰。如果日本政府还不尽快实施有效的债务管理政策和可信的财政整顿计划,短期日本经济会难于运转,中长期日本将爆发主权债务危机。