商业在唐宋变革中的作用

现代以来,宋代因其在中国经济发展史上所具有的关键性和突破性而受到重视。此外,唐宋时期的经济变化还呈现出明显的地区差异。交通运输的主要方式——水路系统进一步扩大,为各地农村及城市经济的扩展提供了基础,区域劳动分工得以建立,从而极大地提高了贸易量和贸易额。这一时期的商人设计出新的商业惯例、制度安排和合伙方式来拓展其贸易活动。另一个商业上的突破则是长江流域市场的扩大。政府所制定的有关市场组织与程序的规则开始松动,商业状况逐渐依赖于更高水平的私人交易与商业交换,交易场所的形成更趋自由,商业贸易进一步渗入农村地区。     

Does time inconsistency differ between gain and loss? An intra-personal comparison using a non-parametric elicitation method

Several studies on time preference have found time inconsistency in both gain and loss preferences. However, the relationship between the two within the same person remains unclear; that is, does an individual who demonstrates time inconsistency for gain outcomes do so for losses as well? This paper reports on individuals’ time inconsistency for gains and losses in a laboratory setting. To obtain a precise comparison of individuals’ time inconsistency for gains and losses, we used Rohde’s “DI (decreasing impatience)-index” (Manag Sci 65(4):1700–1716, 2018) and measured the level of time inconsistency, rather than merely identifying whether TI was present. This index represents how strongly a person exhibits present bias, and easily extends to the comparison between gain and loss preferences within the same person. Further, it allows the experiment to test for so-called future bias, which has been a focus area in recent time inconsistency literature. It is elicited through a non-parametric method, which avoids any specification errors in the analysis. Our findings are as follows: first, we found future bias in preferences for not only gains but also losses, and we confirmed that this tendency is consistent with previous findings on preferences for gains. Second, a positive correlation between time inconsistency for gains and losses was found at the individual level. Indeed, we could not find a significant difference between the two in most cases.