Trade liberalization and wage inequality: Evidence from Korea

This paper investigates the heterogeneous income distribution effects of trade liberalization using Korean survey data from years of 2000–2015. Following the Stolper-Samuelson theorem most of previous research studying the effects of trade liberalization on wage differences focus on workers’ characteristics (e.g., skilled or unskilled) while heterogeneity within the same worker group has not been yet substantially investigated. To fill this gap, this paper provides empirical evidence of wage inequality across firms within the same group of workers caused by trade liberalization, potentially implied in the new-new trade models with firm heterogeneity. Employing a difference-in-differences (DID) specification, we find that the wages of unskilled workers in Korea have increased since its FTAs with more advanced countries, such as members of EU and the US, came into effect, while the effects on the wages of skilled workers are negative but not statistically significant. We also show that wage effects are heterogeneous across firms within unskilled and skilled worker groups, while the positive effects are statistically significant and largest for unskilled workers in medium-large sized firms. These findings are in line with both traditional and new-new trade models.     

Building A Sustainable Shelf: The Role of Firm Sustainability Reputation

The reputation of firms for being environmentally friendly and socially responsible is a key purchase driver for sustainable products. However, the commitment of firms to sustainability varies – some firms are founded on strong environmental and social principles; other more traditional firms are built on strong product/brand focus and are not known for sustainability. In response to market trends, many traditional firms are introducing sustainable products to their portfolios. We argue that the firm’s sustainability reputation (FSR) will influence consumer purchase with respect to equally sustainable products from different firms. Two choice studies demonstrate that FSR favors sustainable product choice when the consumer decides between equally sustainable products. However, FSR affects the choice only for sustainable products and not regular products and does so only for consumers that construe sustainability at a high (abstract) level. Retailers should pay attention to the role that FSR plays in consumer response when they select sustainable products to sell.     

异质机构持股、政府补贴与企业技术创新

机构投资者与政府补贴等优惠政策作为企业经营的重要资本来源和制度保障，势必对企业技术创新产生重要影响。以我国沪深两市战略性新兴上市企业2010-2015年面板数据为研究样本，对异质机构持股、政府补贴与企业技术创新的关系进行实证分析。结果发现：机构持股对企业技术创新没有显著影响，政府补贴可以促进机构持股对企业技术创新尤其是实质性技术创新产生显著正向影响；基金持股对企业技术创新存在显著负向影响，券商持股与QFII持股对企业技术创新分别存在不显著和显著正向影响；政府补贴能够降低基金持股对企业技术创新的负向影响，有效促进基金持股对企业技术创新的正向影响，并通过调节作用促进券商持股和QFII持股对企业技术创新产生更加显著的正向效应；政府补贴对基金持股与企业非实质性技术创新关系的正向调节作用更加显著，对券商持股和QFII持股与企业实质性技术创新关系的正向调节作用更加显著。     

Ownership discrimination and private firms financing in China

This study examines the financing/funding of private firms in China. Our results show that private firms are significantly less funded through formal financing channels such as bank loans than state-owned firms, and hence have to resort to alternative financing such as trade credit. Consistent with the theoretical expectation and literature, there is a substitution effect between trade credit and bank loans for private firms, but this effect is much weaker compared to that of state-owned firms. Moreover, while the univariate comparisons indicate that private firms obtain more notes payable than state-owned firms, the multivariate regression analyses show that the relation between bank loan and notes payable is positive and indifferent between private and state-owned firms.     

Corporate governance and firm performance in Russia: an empirical study

Using the agency and institutional perspectives, this study advances several hypotheses about the board structure–firm performance relationship within Russia. We tested these hypotheses using survey data. Despite a relatively small sample size, predictions from both theoretical perspectives were supported. Specifically, we found a negative relationship between “informal” CEO duality and firm performance. This finding is noteworthy given the 1996 Russian Federal law which prohibits the CEO from also serving as board chair. Also, we found that the more vigorously the firm pursues a retrenchment strategy, the more negative the relationship between proportion of inside directors and firm performance. Overall, these findings suggest that effective corporate governance may be essential to firm performance in Russia.     

贸易差额的衡量:基于所有权还是所在地

本文在借鉴西方主要国家和有关国际机构在为建立基于所有权的国际贸易统计框架所做方法研究和探索实践的基础上,尝试确立完整的基于所有权的双边贸易差额统计框架,并且把这一原则与现行的跨境贸易差额进行了比较。一方面指出现行的跨境贸易差额高估我国贸易利得的主要原因,是外资企业净出口被计为中国的出口,而实际上它是外国资本在国际化生产中获得的贸易利得;另一方面为将来如何调整统计口径、得到反映现实的统计结果,提供可供参考的方向。     

深化对马克思企业理论的研究

深化对马克思企业理论的研究既有助于澄清一些人认为“马克思没有企业理论”的误解,也有助于纠正企业理论研究中“言必称西方”的倾向,还可以为我国的企业改革实践提供指导。研究的途径有“回到马克思”、“依据变化了的实际分析马克思企业理论的‘合理内核’与时代局限”、“批判性地借鉴西方经济学的企业理论”等。     

责任感、信任感与职工持股

中国企业中实行的职工持股制度，目的是为了解决长期以来企业中存在的“人人皆主人，无人会负责”的职工缺乏主人翁意识的状况。职工在工作中的责任感和信任感的存在，对企业的活动及其效益皆具有非常重要的意义。职工持股制度的着眼点是把激励建立在可感知的利益和“期望的利益”之上，这对于增强企业职工的主人翁意识与强化企业与职工之间的信任关系大有益处，它使职工对企业的参与有了可靠的物质基础和切入点。     

Who are better monitors? Comparing styles of supervisory and independent directors

This paper compares the unobservable style effect between independent directors and supervisory directors on firm performance. Utilizing the unique Chinese board system with both independent and supervisory directors and a large panel data of 2,240 public firms from 2003 to 2017, this paper finds that both supervisory and independent style is crucial in determining variations of firm performance. The effects of both independent and supervisory director style are less significant when the “type II” agency problem is more severe in a firm. Moreover, outside independent director style is more effective when information costs are low or when firms need more outside resources, while inside supervisor director style is more effective when there are no major internal changes. Finally, the results also suggest that increasing qualified supervisor representations are beneficial to firms.     

竞争、产权、公司治理三大理论的相对重要性及交互关系

对于国有企业与民营企业间的绩效差异,文献一般从三个理论角度进行研究:竞争、产权与公司治理。但是我们认为其中的各种观点都只强调了某一个方面而忽略了其他方面。本文采用世界银行对中国5大城市7个行业的700多家公司在1996—2001年运营情况的调查数据,分别从单因素效应、多因素效应以及它们之间的相互作用三个方面,对以上三个理论的相对重要性进行了实证研究。研究发现:(1)当分别对各单个因素进行考察时,各因素都对样本公司绩效有积极影响。然而当对这些因素进行综合考察时,我们发现产权结构与公司治理作用相对重要,而竞争效应则不甚显著;(2)在产权与公司治理,以及产权与竞争之间,存在着某种程度的替代性;(3)非国有企业在某些治理机制方面比国有企业显示出特定的优势,但另一方面市场竞争对于国有企业绩效影响大于对非国有企业的影响。研究表明,现有的理论观点都有其片面性,对企业绩效的全面的研究需要将三个理论体系结合起来进行综合考察。我们的研究将对中国正在推行的民营化浪潮,以及改善公司治理和完善市场竞争,都具有重要的政策指导意义。