ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND POLICIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

This article explains how economic analysis can be applied to understand environmental problems and to suggest appropriate policies to deal with these problems. Economic analysis is performed using static and dynamic models, and one‐person and several‐person game theoretical models. Policy recommendations include the control of industrial pollution in China and the regulation of world CO₂ emission through the application of a resolution by the United Nations.     

给投资留更多安全边际

霎眼一年,笔者不想浪费时间去回顾大市走势,因为市场是没有记忆的。而"历史"的价值,亦早在各式投资书本上、金融课堂被"启发"。最值得投资者反思的,其实是阁下自己的投资习惯。毕竟是赚钱还是亏本,瞒得过别人也骗不了自己,不断了解及反省自己,才可让投资更顺利。     

如果香港多几个赌王

社会方面如果不是连精英膜拜的《经济学人》都在讲何家争产,本人实在不想再谈这个话题。现今香港的男性,要娶一妻已经不易。不过,若一个男人有足够财力,而且"聘用条件"比大部分男人都要好,那么,从理论上说,所有的好女人都应该"受聘于"那个男人。燊哥身为赌     

Motivating Truthful Subordinate Reporting: An Experimental Investigation in a Two-Subordinate Context*

Abstract. This experimental study tests the predicted effects of three performance-contingent pay schemes on subordinate misrepresentations: profit sharing, a single-subordinate truth-inducing scheme, and the Groves scheme. A contribution not found in prior experimental research is the introduction of the distinction between direct and indirect misrepresentations. The results show that, as predicted, the three schemes have different abilities to deter the two types of misrepresentations. The fewest direct and indirect misrepresentations occur under the Groves scheme and the most under the linear profit-sharing scheme. There is no significant difference between the single-subordinate truth-inducing scheme and the Groves scheme in the incidence of direct misrepresentations, but indirect misrepresentations are significantly more frequent under the former. Résumé. La présente étude expérimentale vise à tester certaines hypothèses relatives aux résultats de l'application de trois structures salariales liées au rendement sur les déclarations trompeuses des subordonnés: la participation linéaire aux bénéfices, une structure salariale individuelle favorisant la franchise et la structure Groves. Cette étude se démarque des etudes expérimentales antérieures en ce qu'elle introduit une distinction entre l'information trompeuse directe et indirecte. Les résultats révèlent que, conformément aux hypothèses, les trois structures salariales présentent des capacités différentes de décourager les deux formes de déclarations trompeuses. La structure Groves est celle qui occasionne le plus petit nombre de déclarations trompeuses directes et indirectes, tandis que la participation linéaire aux bénéfices est celle qui en occasionne le plus. Il n'existe pas de différence significative entre la structure salariale individuelle favorisant la franchise et la structure Groves en ce qui a trait à l'occurrence des déclarations trompeuses directes, mais les déclarations trompeuses indirectes sont beaucoup plus fréquentes dans le cas de la structure salariale individuelle.     

山寨版英雄

鄙人自小没有"偶像",长大后更有点刻意反偶像崇拜,只喜欢看偶像们"凡人的一面",例如李小龙是个好色之徒,有些佛门方丈其实很"入世",奥巴马好像"政治陈浩南"……最近,乍见市面上突然涌现大量"钦定英雄",才顿悟原来身处这么个时势不济、饭碗难保的时代,港人特别需要"英     

An Experimental Market's Investigation of Discretionary Financial Disclosure

The extent to which market forces can induce full financial disclosure by managers has long been an issue of interest to regulators. Investigating this phenomenon with naturally occurring data produces a major obstacle: since managers' private information sets are unknown, it is necessary to make assumptions about them in order to interpret the nature (e.g., favourable or unfavourable, income increasing or income decreasing) of the information that is disclosed. The validity of the inferences relies critically on the validity of these assumptions. The present study uses a laboratory experiment to test three hypotheses derived from prior analytical and empirical research: (H1) When disclosure costs are zero, managers voluntarily disclose all (good and bad) news; (H2) When disclosure costs are positive. managers only disclose news which exceeds some threshold: and (H3) The mandatory disclosure of non-proprietary information induces an increase in the disclosure of correlated. proprietary information. One hundred and fifty-six subjects participated in markets with one firm manager and three investors. Over thirteen independent periods, the managers decided whether to truthfully disclose the liquidation value of the asset under their stewardship, and the investors submitted competing bids for the asset. With costless disclosure. investors price-protected themselves when managers withheld information, but the price penalty that they imposed was insufficient to induce full disclosure. With positive disclosure cost, investors reduced the price penalty that they imposed for non-disclosure, and managers disclosed proportionally fewer of the less extreme good news. Finally, mandatory disclosure of information had no significant impact on the voluntary disclosure of correlated proprietary information. Discussion centres on our failure to support the (equilibrium) prediction from analytical research that full disclosure should obtain when disclosures are costless. Several limitations of the study are examined. and it remains an open question whether additional trials (periods) in the present study might have provided full disclosure.     

Reciprocity in Corporate Tax Compliance—Evidence from Ozone Pollution

In a tax—public goods reciprocity framework between citizens and the state, managers view taxes as a payment to the government in exchange for public goods, and hence they adjust their willingness to pay taxes as public good quality changes. We show that corporate tax planning intensity increases with ground-level ozone pollution. Revisions in ozone pollution regulations cause counties that failed the revised and more stringent standards to reduce ozone pollution. Consequently, firms headquartered in these counties reduced corporate tax planning intensity relative to firms in other counties. The ozone-tax link varies in the predicted directions with public attention to pollution, potential welfare loss due to ozone, managers’ stakeholder orientation, taxpayers’ polluting status, political preferences, and civic norms. We also find consistent results for Superfund cleanups of hazardous waste sites. Our research sheds light on reciprocity as a potential mechanism influencing corporate tax compliance.     

职场,美丽是一种优势

无法明白王妃妹妹的屁股究竟有什么好看,以致英国人要在facebook成立"Pippa Middleton Ass Appreciation Society("帕米德顿臀部欣赏会)。在香港,至少能看见百万个这样的屁股,有啥稀罕?但人们总是喜欢比较——当人们谈论的不是一个普通屁股,而是英国王妃妹妹的屁股,整件事马上变得高档起来。     

中西合璧的老人支持体系——香港所追求的全面照顾模式

以老人照顾体系发展的四个阶段,回顾香港过去五十年来从家庭维系传统孝亲价值,政府角色对照顾责任的厘清,传统家庭对机构照料的忌讳,到近年来从"在社区照顾"发展至"就地养老"的概念;从人口结构的变化、社会经济发展的变迁以及政府角色与责任的不同作了探讨剖析.说明"全面照顾模式"如何结合上述价值与社会体系背景,将政府与民间的各层面力量融入成为全方位、多面向与多选项的照顾体系,说明了对于政策制定者、服务提供者以及社区工作者这又意味着什么样的挑战.