Support for new mothers and fertility in the United Kingdom: Not all support is equal in the decision to have a second child

Low fertility across Europe highlights the need to understand reproductive decisions in high-income countries better. Availability of support may be one factor influencing reproductive decisions, though within high-income countries availability varies between environments, including socio-economic environments. We test whether receiving higher levels of support, from different sources (informal and formal) and of different types (practical and emotional), is positively correlated with second births in the United Kingdom (UK) Millennium Cohort Study, and whether these relationships differ by socio-economic position (SEP). Our hypothesis is only partially supported: receiving emotional support correlates with higher likelihood of second birth, but the opposite is true for practical support. Availability of different types of support varies across SEP, but relationships between support and fertility are similar, with one exception: kin-provided childcare increases the likelihood of birth only among lower-SEP women. Our results highlight that not all support is equal in the decision to have a second child.     

The “ugly” face of social investment? The politics of childcare in Central and Eastern Europe

In this article, we aim to understand the development dynamics of a specific area of social investment (SI), that is, childcare policies, in the context of postcommunist politics and the recent right-wing turn that took place in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. This article identifies varieties of channels for promoting SI. First, in taking the perspective of the “mixed economy of welfare,” we argue that attempts made to introduce elements of SI to the childcare policies involved various leading roles available for either the private sector or state/public domain. Second, it is important to distinguish between implicit/unintended and explicit/intended projects both in relation to cases in which SI strategy is applied via marketization/privatization and when it involves a government-led project. Third, we take into account the politics of SI implementation that might involve applying certain principles central to policy concepts (such as “investment”) in justifying policy instruments incompatible with original ideas. Although arguments about SI have been extensively used by Eastern European leaders, their goal has been to justify welfare reforms that were implicitly or explicitly directed towards the middle class while excluding the “nondeserving” often based on ethnic identity. We characterize Poland as a case of “implicit marketization,” the Czech Republic as a case of “explicit privatization,” and the Hungarian version of SI as a case of “explicit public dualization.” In this, we show that in some cases, the implementation of SI approaches by right-wing populist parties might rear its “ugly” head.     

Bubbles and Crashes

We present a model in which an asset bubble can persist despite the presence of rational arbitrageurs. The resilience of the bubble stems from the inability of arbitrageurs to temporarily coordinate their selling strategies. This synchronization problem together with the individual incentive to time the market results in the persistence of bubbles over a substantial period. Since the derived trading equilibrium is unique, our model rationalizes the existence of bubbles in a strong sense. The model also provides a natural setting in which news events, by enabling synchronization, can have a disproportionate impact relative to their intrinsic informational content.     

借鉴外国有益经验加快我国投资体制改革

完善投资体制是适应社会主义市场经济发展的必然要求。建国以来我国的投资体制伴随着经济体制改革地进行而不断发展,虽取得成效,但制约投资体制改革的体制障碍尚没有完全消除,一些地方政府仍较多地依靠行政力量干预投资,投资管理体系、相应法制不健全,中介机构滞后等。针对这些问题,有必要借鉴外国有益经验对投资体制改革方面问题作更进一步的思考。     

不确定需求下考虑大数据投资决策的供应链鲁棒优化及协调模型

针对由数据公司、制造商和零售商组成的三级供应链系统,在仅知需求均值和方差信息下,建立了集中和分散两种决策情况下的供应链鲁棒优化模型。集中决策下,全体供应链成员共同决定产品零售价和产品生产数量;分散决策下,数据公司作为主方,决定需求信息零售价,制造商和零售商作为从方,分别决定产品批发价和产品订货数量。针对两种决策下的供应链鲁棒优化模型,给出了相应的最优决策,分析了大数据投资成本、消费者异质性需求满足程度等系统参数对供应链决策的影响。进一步,设计了能实现三级供应链完美协调的利润共享契约。最后,通过数值算例验证了所建模型和契约协调的有效性。研究表明,在集中和分散决策下,大数据投资成本只有在满足一定条件下,投资大数据才有利于供应链成员及系统利润的改善。特别地,与无协调时的情况相比,虽然协调机制下相关系统参数对供应链成员决策及利润绩效的作用机制存在差异,但文中提出的利润共享契约在一定条件下能够显著改进供应链成员利润且实现供应链完美协调。     

西部大开发中引入BOT投资方式的社会环境探析

20世纪90年代未以来,BOT投融资方式参与西部基础设施建设在西部逐渐兴起,几乎西部十二个省区均有BOT项目引入,一定程度缓解了政府主渠道投资不足的压力,为西部大开发做出了积极的贡献。然而,由于西部投资社会环境总体较差,投资者在西部投资后的盈利可能和经济安全相对缺乏保障,故西部目前的BOT项目仍然面临多重问题的困扰。为此,有必要大力改善西部BOT投资社会环境,使BOT项目能更好地为西部大开发服务。     

基金投资理念营销之管见

基金的投资理念营销,对于培育个人投资者对基金的忠诚度和培育、开发基金市场是至关重要的。做好投资理念营销,倡导理性、科学、务实的“价值投资”观,是证券市场走向正确、健康、可持续发展的现实选择。     

我国教育投资合理外部比例研究综述

适当提高教育投资占整个国民经济的比例,几乎所有教育经济研究工作者都同意.对于确定教育投资合理比例的必要性,也是大家所认可的.对影响教育投资合理比例的因素,大家的看法也基本一致.但什么是教育投资占国民经济的适当的比例,人们见解不一.从社会制度、政治制度的角度来研究教育投资的合理比例等问题还需要我们进一步探讨.     

影响中国投资乘数效率发挥的因素分析

财政政策实施集中体现了政策是在政府操纵下的一种公共行为,能够直接和间接地改变人们的利益结构,引起社会利益结构的变迁和行为的转变,并影响其他经济主体行为的政策选择。而投资乘数的存在,是宏观财政政策选择的重要依据,也是财政政策发挥程度的一种检验。对影响中国投资乘数效率发挥的因素研究有利于提高我国财政政策效率。     

论财政农业投资的稳定增长与科学决策机制

我国财政农业投资现状难以保证农业可持续发展目标的实现 ,主要表现在财政农业投资水平较低和结构不合理、财政农业投资与WTO要求接轨尚需时日、现有激励约束制度安排难以规范地方政府的农业投资行为和对其他投资主体诱导不足等。解决这些难题的关键是建立财政农业投资的稳定增长与科学决策机制 ,采取建立、健全政府财政农业投资的相关法律、法规体系 ,运用中央政府财政农业投资改变地方政府财政农业投资的激励与约束结构和净收益核算等措施。