Economic Research Journal (Monthly) Vol.43 No.5 May, 2008 |
• Foreign Shocks and Chinas Inflation |
Abstrat:Our paper firstly fully examines the stylized facts of the translation of global liquidity, transmission of international commodity price, the contractionary effects of RMB appreciation, and the factor price distortion enhanced by the external shocks, and then uses the extension of Phillips Curve and VAR model to test the impacts of external shocks on domestic inflation. The regression results indicate that: in the short run, world food price is the main reason for domestic inflation; the influence of world oil price on inflation will take effect in the median-to-long run; the RMB appreciation is contractionary through a relatively long time; world interest rate has certain impact on domestic price; and the translation of global liquidity has no significant effects on domestic price due mainly to the successful sterilization. In sum, GDP is still the root cause of inflation and the external shocks are just part of the reasons. Therefore, keeping the moderate rather than excessively fast growth rate, adjusting the distorted fact price in order to control the investment demand, increasing the flexibility of exchange rate regime for the independent monetary policy as the first line of defense against external shocks would be the fundamentals to curb inflation. |
…………………………Research Group(4) |
• Environmental Regulation and Total Factor Productivity Growth:An Empirical Study of the APEC Economies |
Abstrat:This paper applies Malmquist-Luenberger index method to measure TFP growth and its components in a sample of 17 APEC economies over the period 1980 to 2004 while accounting for CO_2 emissions. Firstly, we estimate and compare three type productivity indices according to three scenarios,from no constraints on CO_2 emissions, to no increase over current levels, to a partial reduction. Secondly, we empirically examine the causes of productivity changes while accounting for environmental regulation. The major conclusions are as follows: With accounting for environmental regulations, TFP growth for 17 APEC economies on average is slightly higher than that without regulations, and technical progress is the main source. Out of 17 economies, seven different economies shifted the frontier at least once. GDP per capita, industrialization, technical inefficiency, capital labor ratio, energy use per capita and the openness have a significant, negative effect on the productivity index with environmental regulations. |
…………………………Wang Bing,Wu Yanrui and Yan Pengfei(19) |
• Firm Concentration,Technology Promotion and Economic Performance:An Empirical Study on the Cluster Effects in China |
Abstrat:Based on micro-firm data of development zones in Jiangsu Province along the Yangtze River, the effects of local factors special to development zones and of technology promotion on firms performance are tested, from which we try to illustrate the nature and dynamics of industrial clusters built on development zones. The results show that the primary reasons firms locate into development zones are not clustering benefits in general meaning brought by interactions among firms locally concentrated, but are the attraction of "policy rents" brought by government behaviors. Once located in the zone, the firm is doom to interact with local government as well as industry-related factors not necessarily concentrating in location, and the clustering effects may emerge. Thus, the key to keep development zones competition sustainable, when industry transfer and policy adjustment fade away "policy rents", is to cultivate clustering effects. |
…………………………Zheng Jianghuai,Gao Yanyan and Hu Xiaowen(33) |
• Education,Human Capital and Regional Economic Differentials |
Abstrat:By applying the dynamic panel data method advocated by Arellano and Bond and the standard fixed effect method, this paper focuses on the effects of education on regional economic differentials in the growth regression framework. The empirical results show that the educational improvement of labor-force does have a significantly positive effect on the economic growth, and to a certain extent there exists schooling externalities. However, compared with physical capital, yet the differences in education are not the major cause of regional economic differentials. Additionally, our growth regressions also indicate a strong conditional convergence in levels of per capita income across Chinas provinces. Several explanations of the results are then presented. |
…………………………Yao Xianguo and Zhang Haifeng(47) |
• Competition among Jurisdictions,Strategical Fiscal Policies,and Regional Characteristics of FDIs Growth Achievements |
Abstrat:Based on the view of finance, this text makes a positive analysis on competitive strategies among jurisdictions,its transforming characteristics along the time, and its effects on FDIs growth achievements. It concludes: The choice of fiscal policies among jurisdictions takes on obvious strategies because of externality of competition, moreover, competition of tax price is always the main characteristic of jurisdiction competition in China. But along with the time, the competition strategies are expanding from the pure tax price to the expenditure domain. Because of the differences of economic development level, that jurisdictions choice competition objects becomes more rational, the extent that fiscal expenditure depends on the non-tax revenue rises by different extents, the structure of fiscal expenditure is distorted by different extents. Dependence on the non-tax revenue and distortion of expenditure structure not only suppress the capacity that jurisdictions absorb in FDIs spillover effects, and also have a negative influence on FDIs growth achievements, which is higher in eastern area than in the mid-west area. |
…………………………Li Yongyou and Shen Kunrong(58) |
• Fiscal Transfers and Expansion of Fiscal Dependents in Chinas Fiscal Recentralization |
Abstrat:Based on the theoretical literature of fiscal decentralization, we discuss the evolution of inter-governmental fiscal arrangements and analyze the impacts of increasing central transfers on local growth of fiscal dependents in the past decade. Using a county-level panel data set from 1994-2003, we identify the causality from the growth fiscal transfers to the expansion of fiscal dependents empirically through an instrumental variable approach. It is argued that under Chinas current governance regime, provisioning of either general purpose transfer or earmarked transfer would lead to serious problems. The policy implication is that a governance system that grants local governments higher fiscal power while at the same time hold them more accountable to local constituency is necessary for China to control government expansion and provide effective public services. |
…………………………Yuan Fei,Tao Ran,Xu Zhigang and Liu Mingxing(70) |
• The Effects of Fiscal and Monetary Policy on Private Investment—An Application of Directed Acyclic Graphs |
Abstrat:Based on the more recently developed technique of directed acyclic graphs DAG, this paper studies the effects of fiscal and monetary policy on private investment, and then investigates the relative effectiveness of policy tools and their dynamic relationships. The results indicate the credit channel plays a more important role in transmitting monetary policy, however, there is great limitation in the credit channel because of the block in the transmission from money supply to credit. We also found that fiscal policy to be more important and exogenous than monetary policy. Recursive forecast error variance decompositions indicate the conclusions are robust. Applying the new DAG technique not only extends our understandings about the contemporaneous causal relationships between the policy tools and the real economic activity but also overcomes the limitation of conventional methods such as Granger causal tests, then it improves the reliability and rationality of the empirical framework and also provides the important references for future macroeconomic policies to be chosen and arranged. |
…………………………Yang Zihui(81) |
• Chinese Oil and Gas Depletion Costs and Macroeconomic Impacts of Resource Tax |
Abstrat:Because of the scarcity of nonrenewable energy resources, their current exploitations have impacts on both future generations welfare and sustainable economic development. Applying the user cost approach developed by El Serafy, we estimated the depletion costs of the Chinese oil and gas resources. The results indicate that while China in the recent years accelerated utilization of oil and gas resources, the user costs from their exploitation have been greatly increasing. Imposing resource tax to reflect scarcity in resource prices will correct the current undervaluation of energy resources and distortion of energy prices. The quantitative analysis of CGE model indicates that a resource tax under 20% on oil and gas will not have large negative impact on macro-economy. The results also show that resource tax could take into account the impact of energy resource depletion on future generations welfare and will have great significance for sustainable development. |
…………………………Lin Boqiang and He Xiaoping(94) |
• Technology Spillover Effects by Undertaking International Software Outsourcing in China |
Abstrat:This article focuses on the technology spillover effects by undertaking international software outsourcing projects in China. The author argues China can improve the innovation capability of local enterprises through technology spillover effects brought by undertaking international software outsourcing projects. The article argues that technology spillovers are largely through the demonstration effects of multinationals. This article suggests the Chinese government keep up the opening-up policy for Chinas software industry, introduce and create conditions for multinationals to set up high-level software R&D centers in China and to spur their exchanges and cooperation with local universities, institutes and software enterprises. And the Chinese government should also render support to local software enterprises in undertaking international software outsourcing projects so they can get into contact, introduce and absorb advanced software technologies to boost their innovative capability in software. |
…………………………Liu Shaojian(105) |
• Limited Corruption in Sealed-Bid Auctions |
Abstrat:This paper investigates the effect caused by the auctioneers limited corruption in first price sealed-bid auction mechanism, where only the briber and bidder knows the existence of this corruption and all other bidders do not. In second price sealed-bid auction, the corruption behavior does not affect the bidders behavior and the outcome, since bidding the true valuation constitutes the weak dominant strategy. With regard to the first price sealed-bid auction, changes are distinct due to the limited corruption. In equilibrium, the highest bid of the briber will be more aggressive than the bid of any other bidder, which leads to decrease in other bidders winning probabilities and increase in the bribers winning probability, and the other bids of the briber will be less aggressive than the bid of any other bidder. The bribers expected payoff rises where her expected payment might be less than the counterpart of the corresponding standard first price auction. Specifically, the bribers bidding strategy differs from normal intuition if the briber has the right to submit more "legitimate" bids. The expected revenue apparently decreases, which hurts the owner of the auctioned object. |
…………………………Tian Guoqiang and Liu Chuihui(116) |
• A New Approach for General Equilibrium with Discontinuous Excess Demand Function |
Abstrat:Traditional ways to prove the existence of general equilibrium have to entail a common condition that the excess demand function must be continuous. This paper presents a new approach to change it. The technique used in this paper is that we tackle general equilibrium problem, which in fact is a static nonlinear programming problem, with dynamic programming. By this technique, it is strictly proven that general equilibrium with discontinuous excess demand function still exists. |
…………………………Xie Zhiping(128) |
• The "Rich Neighborhood Effect"Versus the Balassa-Samuelson Effect:An Income-Based Theory of Real Exchange Rates |
Abstrat:As a standard explanation for national price levels, the Balassa-Samuelson BS effect presupposes a homogeneous domestic labor force and inter-sectoral labor mobility. We propose a contrasting theory of the "rich neighborhood effect," which predicts high nontradables prices in rich countries with domestic labor force heterogeneity. The intuition is that if a country has a group of "rich residents" e.g. highly productive tradable sector workers, or owners of globally traded resources whose combined hard currency income is large enough relative to its total population, non-tradables prices will be driven high by their demand. Moreover, for two kinds of tests commonly used in the literature, the above two effects are observationally equivalent, calling into question the soundness of many important empirical studies on the BS effect. The rich neighborhood effect also contrasts with the Linder effect. |
…………………………Tang Xiang(138) |
• The Mechanisms of Rural Credit Market in Modern China—A Research Based on Raw Documents |
Abstrat:Using data collected from raw documents, this paper researches the effect of transaction costs, information, customs, contract enforcement and other factors on the rural credit market of modern China, based on its specific institutions. Its shown that the hypothesis of competitive market with transaction costs can explain the characters of modern credit well. Especially for the explanation of usury and customary rate, it fits material better than traditional theory. Meanwhile, credit rationing based on interpersonal relationships shouldnt be ignored, which exposes the imperfect contract enforcement of traditional markets. |
…………………………Peng Kaixiang,Chen Zhiwu and Yuan Weipeng(147) |
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