Foreign Investments as the Main Determinant Growth Factor in Asian Countries and Regions

The paper considers the main drivers of Asian growth and connects them with three groups of analyses tracks. Foreign direct investments, as the elective factor incorporating the main trends and perspectives, both at economic and financial level and in the social and political framework. Second, the regional approach, resulting more and more as the key, crucial factor in developing openness and international competitiveness, at the appropriate scale of convergence and integration in the worldwide system, has been presented in its EU connections and in the Asian peculiarities. Finally, as a third area of analysis, the new theories of growth and the capabilities already achieved to measure phenomena that were still not affordable only twenty years ago. The final results of the foresight model for evaluating long-term growth and the associated applied elaborations by the Deutsche Bank Research have almost figured out the proximity to an alternative theoretical scientific and modelling ``corpus' for the existing growth studies, specifically considering the Asian and emerging countries' recent jump into a high rates trend development, with the focus on China and India. For all these three analyses, the paper underlines the relevance for Asia to consider the experiences and successful steps of the European ``efficient laboratory', in a process of real integration towards the union of economies, societies, currencies, and security policies that has been investigated from different points of view, with the aim to focus the possible partnership and the future cooperation.     

试析兵团生产性服务业发展的影响因素

发展生产性服务业,推动兵团新型工业化健康快速发展和服务业结构优化升级具有重要的战略意义。该文根据2005—2011年间兵团主要生产性服务业发展实际数据,分析了影响兵团生产性服务业发展的相关因素。分析结果表明:物质资本投入和专业化水平呈现正向影响,经济发展水平、工业化水平和研发投入对兵团生产性服务业的发展有一定的负向影响。该文提出应大力提高经济发展水平,促进生产性服务业与制造业互动融合,重视科技研发活动和企业改革创新,提高工业化发展水平,才能进一步促进兵团生产性服务业的发展。     

The Changing Face of Distribution Channels: Partial Forward Integration and Strategic Investments

Recent years have seen a drastic transformation in the organization of wholesale and retail markets. Where once clear distinctions between wholesale suppliers and retail competitors existed, now an era of blurring boundaries has emerged. This transformation has been marked by the introduction of online channels for suppliers to provide products directly to consumers while, at the same time, traditional retailers too persist. Thus, retailers are both wholesale customers and retail competitors of many manufacturers. The consequences of the rapid emergence of instances of such partial forward integration by suppliers are not yet fully known. To this end, we study how partial forward integration can affect competing firms' strategic investments. We find that integration shifts the environment from being one in which firms invest to undercut retail rivals to one in which firms invest more in boosting demand, even that of their competitors. A case in point is the tendency for a manufacturer to invest broadly in brand promotion (benefiting both itself and its retail competitor), rather than heavy promotion of its own sales channel. The shift in the nature of strategic investments arising from partial forward integration implies that such integration can benefit firms and consumers alike, even the firm which finds itself reliant on a competitor for supplies.     

Chile: has social security privatisation fostered economic development?

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the impact of the privatisation of social security on Chile's economy and society. The paper also includes a brief discussion of Chile's current economic problems, and suggestions for integrating the social security system into the future development of the country. Its central argument is that social security should be able to provide adequate benefits not only to a privileged group of people, but to the entire society. In the case of Chile, the privatised system has created new sources of inequities, reduced the population coverage, and it has had a limited impact on economic development.     

我国海外投资保险制度研究

为保护我国海外投资者在东道国的投资利益,在我国建立海外投资保险制度具有现实必要性。要构建我国海外投资保险制度的基本框架,应对我国海外投资保险制度的性质、海外投资保险法律关系的主体、合格投资以及代位求偿权的行使等问题进行较为深入的探讨。     

制造商对供方缺陷改善投资的双源采购决策研究

研究在供需均随机的情况下,面对供应原料存在质量差异的两个供应商,制造商考虑对供方进行缺陷改善投资的双源采购决策问题． 构建了制造商将高质量( 缺陷率低) 供应商作为缺陷改善低质量( 缺陷率高) 供应商的标杆,以求两供应商质量一致的双源采购决策模型． 获得了制造商在先改善投资后订货与同时改善投资和订货两种策略下最优订货量,供应商最优生产量与他们的最优利润． 分析了改善投资成功率对制造商订货量与利润的影响． 研究发现:当改善投资成功率小于1 时,先改善投资再订货时制造商利润比同时改善投资和订货时高; 而改善投资成功率为1 时,两种订货策略没有差异．     

Mothers' Time,the Parenting Package,and Links to Healthy Child Development

Studies show that mothers' time in particular activities with children is positively associated with child well‐being, but results are mixed regarding associations between child outcomes and the sheer amount of time that mothers spend with children. Using data from three waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement (N = 2,622), the authors assess whether gains from mothers' total time with children vary by the quality of mothers' other investments in children or the “parenting package.” Mother–child shared time was associated with children's broad reading scores and adolescents' externalizing behavior, but mothers' other parenting investments did not moderate these associations. Results were robust to alternative measures of mothers' time and to the incorporation of earlier assessments of child academic and behavior problems. Parenting investments may be indicative of the quality of children's home environments, but do not magnify gains from mother–child shared time.     

Replacement Decisions for Potentially Hazardous Substances

As public awareness of environmental hazards increases, a growing concern for corporations is the potential negative environmental impact of their products and the chemicals these products contain. In this study, we analyze the optimal decisions of a firm when a substance within its product is identified as potentially hazardous. Although the substance is not currently regulated, regulation may occur in the future. Therefore, the firm must devise a strategy for the development and implementation of a replacement substance. In an environment where replacement costs can be millions of dollars, regulation is uncertain, and both consumer and non‐governmental organization pressures exist, a carefully developed plan that balances costs and risks is critical for a firm. Our results demonstrate that as long as a threat of regulation exists, a firm should always dedicate resources toward developing a replacement substance. However, it is not always optimal for a firm to implement a developed replacement. Regarding competitive dynamics, we find that competition between firms can offset a low chance of a shift in consumer perception about a substance and compel firms to replace; however, competition can lead to inefficient outcomes in which firms incur avoidable costs to implement ahead of potential regulation.     

How To Prepare the EU Integration: Banking System, Monetary Policy, and Exchange Rate in Macedonia

The significant progress in the reform of the financial sector, including the amendments to the banking law and the reinforcement of the deposit insurance scheme, has been reflected in increased confidence in the Macedonia banking sector. Monetary policy and exchange rates represent a crucial aspect for the countries of Southeast Europe which would like to position themselves on the threshold of negotiations on their accession to the European Union. In the case of Macedonia, which has already formally applied for EU membership, a very cautious approach has to be taken in order to facilitate the stability of the economic system as a whole. Such a policy will make an important contribution to the stabilization of the whole West Balkan area and in particular to the quadrangle of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. The preparation of a favourable ground for EU membership negotiations leads first and foremost through a strict monetary and exchange rate policy, which the National Bank is pursuing firmly. Macedonia is now facing optimal conditions for creating the prerequisites for a faster negotiation with less rigorous internal repercussions of the pre-adhesion period. One should not forget the indirect impact of the shadow economy in the general context of efficiency of the instruments of economic and monetary policy. Finally, there is the question to be answered on the interrelation existing between transmission mechanisms linking productivity to the real exchange rate in Macedonia. At first glance, the stylized facts – low labor productivity growth and a trend of real depreciation – could even suggest that a Balassa–Samuelson effect is in play. But the depreciation of the real exchange rate could reflect mainly the behaviour of prices in the tradable sector and a prolonged transition associated with slow technological growth and the low quality of the country's tradable-goods basket.     

特许经营的所有权理论

从所有权的角度看,特许经营在本质上是经销店经营者购买经销店的所有权,包括剩余控制权和剩余收益权,其目的是激励经销店经营者在经销店专用资产上进行无形投资。这一所有权视角有助于我们更深刻地理解关于特许经营的各种假说,如监督成本假说、成本控制假说、搜寻成本假说、适应性优势假说、管理激励假说、人力资本约束假说和无形资产分布假说等。