Excess perks in SOEs: evidence from China

In investigating the relationship between economic directors (EDs) and excess perks in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China, we find a U-shaped relationship between the share of EDs on boards and excess perks, especially in SOEs controlled by local governments and with greater managerial power—as well as in regions with poor legal systems. The share of EDs on boards may have three benefits with respect to reducing the use of excess perks in SOEs: (1) replacing excess perks with monetary wages more aligned with the value of managers; (2) reducing the increase in excessive perks caused by the availability of free cash flow; and (3) reducing the use of excess employees to drive excess perks.     

Impulse response function analysis of the impacts of land value-added tax policy on government performance

In this study, an epsilon-based network data envelopment analysis is employed to construct assessment mechanisms for government performance. Moreover, performance indicators of two dimensions of tax collection efficiency and financial effectiveness are measured. We propose a vector autoregression model in which all economic variables are regarded as dependent variables to address the disadvantages of traditional regression model. The conclusions are as follows: (a) measures of tax collection efficiency deteriorated, whereas those of financial effectiveness improved. (b) In an impulse response analysis of the model, an increase in government-published land values produced significantly increased tax collection efficiency.     

Protection for maturing industries: Evidence from Canadian trade patterns and trade policy, 1870–1913

As industries mature, experience is accumulated, productivity increases, trade performance improves on domestic and international markets and learning potential dissipates. Using theory‐consistent empirical specifications, I find a strong, robust negative relationship linking tariff rates to trade performance for manufactured products that matured during the first decade after Canada prioritized protectionist policy objectives in 1879. This relationship also holds at a more aggregate industry level, where I can use other measures of maturity, control for import penetration, use historically contemporaneous trade elasticity estimates, link trade performance to trade restrictiveness and effective rates of protection and where I can instrument for import penetration and trade performance using a two‐stage IV–GMM estimation approach. The results suggest that after 1890 the Canadian government carefully cut tariffs on products produced by maturing Canadian producers and this retreat from protectionism significantly lowered the static deadweight losses resulting from Canadian trade policy during the post‐1890 period.     

Development and the Environment in Asia

Economic growth and environmental damage are associated, but the relationship is neither linear nor even monotonic. This is clearly seen in the diverse experiences of tropical Asian economies over recent decades. The nature of the growth–environment link depends on the changing composition of production and on growth-related changes in techniques and environmental policies; the enforcement of property rights over natural resources and over air and water quality is another important element. Moreover, environmental and economic policies interact: in effect, every economic policy that affects resource allocation is a de facto environmental measure. One important implication is that the environmental consequences of major policy shifts, such as the 'globalisation' of many tropical Asian economies since about 1980, have been profound. The analytical literature on growth and the environment in Asia tends to agree that environmental damage is costly to regional economies, and has begun to identify and quantify some of the many causal linkages now recognised between economic development and the valuation and use of environmental and natural resource assets.     

政策要闻

原油、成品油进出口配额 将由商务部对外贸易司统管 国务院机构改革以后,我国原油、成品油、化肥等能源产品的进出口配额、进出口权等将全部划归新成立的商务部对外贸易司统一管理。国务院办公厅已发出通知,明确了商务部的14项主要职责,其中第四条为:“研究制定进口商品管理办法和进出口配额计划,确定配额、发放许可证;拟订和执行进出口商品配额招标政策。”     

A theoretical analysis of institutional investors' trading costs in auction and dealer markets

This paper compares trading costs for institutional investors subject to liquidity shocks, in auction and dealer markets. The batch auction restricts the institutions' ability to exploit informational advantages because of competition between institutions when they simultaneously submit orders. This competition lowers aggregate trading costs. In the dealership market, competition between traders is absent but private information is revealed by observing the flow of successive orders and so reduces aggregate trading costs. We analyse the relative effects on trading costs of competition and information revelation in the two systems and derive a parameter inequality which determines which system has lower costs.     

The Law and Economics of Marriage Contracts

Growth in property ownership has raised the stakes in the distribution of financial assets on divorce. Given high risks of marital failure, this has stimulated the demand for private ordering through enforceable marriage contracts. This paper surveys the existing law and economics literature and legal practice to consider the state of knowledge on the economic theory, scope and limits of written nuptial agreements.     

关于企业质量管理发展阶段的探讨

1 引言　　 从传统的质量控制（QC）、全面质量控制（TQC）、全面质量管理（TQM）到ISO 9000认证,许多企业的质量管理已达到较高水平,但质量水平应该达到何种程度,却缺少明确目标;企业之间的质量水平如何客观地加以比较,也缺少统一的标准.当前,在进行ISO 9000质量认证的同时,国内外许多企业都非常重视企业质量管理水平的自我评估和第三方等级评定.     

刍议馆长的非权力影响力

馆长对图书馆的事业发展至关重要.探讨了图书馆馆长治理图书馆的非权力影响力,即指依靠馆长自身的素养,即德、才、仁、情等因素,使馆长更具向心力、凝聚力,从而推动图书馆工作的有效地运作,促进图书馆事业的蓬勃发展.