Changes in the incomes of age groups, 1984-89.

In terms of changes in the incomes of age groups, the 1984-89 period was very different from the periods that immediately preceded it. This summary focuses on changes for aged family units. During the 1984-89 period, the rate of growth of real median income of aged units was substantially lower than in other subperiods since 1967, the first year for which comparable detailed estimates are available. During the 1984-89 period, the ratio of aged to nonaged median incomes fell for 4 consecutive years, after generally rising since about 1970. The relative medians of almost all detailed aged age groups fell at least slightly from 1984 to 1989, after a period of substantial rises. The increases in income for aged units during 1984-89 were higher for high-income units than for low-income units, producing an increase in inequality. The percentage of aged persons who were poor fell slightly from 1984 to 1989, but that percentage remained above the rates for other adult age groups. A relatively high percentage of aged persons had income that was less than 50 percent above the poverty threshold. The increase in the real mean total income of aged units from 1984 to 1989 was the net result of substantial increases in earnings and pension income and a substantial decrease in property income. In contrast, the much larger increase in real mean total income for aged units from 1979 to 1984 was characterized by a large increase in property income, substantial increases in Social Security benefits and pension income, and a small decrease in earnings.     

The Asian financial crisis and financial reforms in China

Abstract

Although China has avoided the direct attack of the Asian financial crisis, it has suffered secondary consequences leading to an economic slowdown. More importantly, the plight of its neighboring countries has driven home the urgency of financial reforms as China shares many of the problems at the root of the crisis in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Korea. This article reviews the reform measures adopted by the Chinese government since the crisis. It analyzes the political dynamics of financial reforms in terms of state preferences and state capacities. In retrospect, the Asian financial crisis may well be seen as a turning point in reforming China's financial system.     

浅谈高校固定资产管理

高校固定资产是国有资产的组成部分，目前高校固定资产在管理中存在管理意识薄弱、管理制度不完善、管理职责不清、以及固定资产利用率低等问题，各高校要以创新管理体制为动力，构造高校固定资产管理预算模式：首先要更新观念，增强管理意识；其次要要建立科学合理的固定资产预算制度；三是要组织好多头和责任主体地位的问题，实现资源的整合；四是要借助计算机网络优势，实现资产的动态管理。最终实现资源配置与利用的最大化。     

Assets and neighborhoods: The role of individual assets in neighborhood revitalization

Abstract

Asset‐building strategies—including individual development accounts, homeownership programs, and microenterprise development—became increasingly popular in the 1990s. Although research has demonstrated how assets produce individual benefits, less is known about the extent to which these benefits induce positive place‐based effects. We develop a model of the relationship between individual asset‐building strategies and neighborhood revitalization in order to inform future empirical work and help ensure that asset accumulation and neighborhood revitalization are mutually reinforcing. Our model emphasizes the conditions and programmatic factors that may encourage and discourage the transfer of benefits from individuals to neighborhoods.

Examples from case studies of four community‐based organizations suggest that the likelihood of neighborhood spillovers may be increased if policies and practices aim to “manage” the returns from the individual asset, retain asset holders, provide reinvestment conduits, track local purchasing power, and create additional opportunities for collective action.     

The impact of economic assets on party choice in Australia

While there is general agreement that economic voting matters, there is less agreement on how to measure it. This paper examines the most recent conceptualization of economic voting: the ownership of economic assets or “patrimonial” voting. Using the 2016 Australian Election Study survey, we show that property ownership and, especially, share ownership were significant influences on party choice. By contrast, ownership of an investment property or a personal superannuation fund had no significant effect on the vote. We explain this finding through the specific policies that the parties advanced in the 2016 campaign. While Labor parted ways from the Coalition by proposing radical changes to the tax treatment of investment properties but with no retrospectivity, the parties had similar positions on the tax treatment of superannuation. The findings emphasize how party policies can shape the electoral significance of asset ownership.     

Income and assets of Social Security beneficiaries by type of benefit

The SIPP data have provided a first look at the relative economic status of various types of Social Security beneficiaries. They have shown that the different types of Social Security beneficiaries face very different economic circumstances. Retired workers and wife beneficiaries have the highest family incomes adjusted for family size. Aged widows and minor children have the lowest family incomes, with high proportions of poor or near poor. And disabled workers are in between, but also have high proportions of poor or near poor. Retired-worker and wife beneficiary households also have considerably more asset holdings than disabled-worker or widow beneficiary households. Beneficiaries with high family incomes are very likely to live with relatives and to rely heavily on the relatives' income. The high-income families tend to have non-means-tested sources of family income other than Social Security amounting to substantial proportions of their total income and to have high asset holdings. Conversely, beneficiaries with low family incomes are very likely to live alone or with nonrelatives, to rely heavily on Social Security and means-tested benefits, and to have low asset holdings. A majority of ever-poor beneficiaries (with the exception of widow beneficiaries) are poor in only some months of a year. This situation is not consistent with the stereotype of beneficiaries living on fixed incomes. But the change in poverty status is often due to a change in the income of other family members rather than of the beneficiary. And in some cases, a change in poverty status occurs with little or no change in income as the cost of living rises.     

Federal dynamics in times of economic and financial crisis

The global economic and financial crisis is a challenge for all governments, but particularly for federal states because divided and/or shared territorial powers make federations susceptible to coordination problems in fiscal policy making. This article explores the effects of the ongoing crisis on federal relations. Three kinds of problems that may become the cause of federal tensions and conflicts are evoked: opportunism of subgovernments, centralisation and erosion of solidarity among members of the federation. Our analysis of fiscal policies and federal conflicts of 11 federations between 2007 and the present reveals three kinds of coordination problems: shirking in the use of federal government grants, rent‐seeking in equalisation payments, and over‐borrowing and over‐spending. Our results show that shirking remained limited to few cases and occurred only in the first part of the crisis. However, rent‐seeking and over‐borrowing and over‐spending led to a reduction of solidarity among subgovernments and to increased regulation of the fiscal discretion of the members of the federation. Subsequently, tensions in federal relations increased – although only in one case did this challenged the federal order.     

文化软实力的内在构成及价值研究

文化软实力是推动社会发展和提升综合国力的精神支撑及内在驱动力，目前我国已将文化软实力的发展问题提升到国家的发展战略层面，着实可见其重要性，在着重分析文化软实力的概念、内在构成及其功能价值的同时，力图对文化软实力的基础理论工作加以补充，为日后研究我国文化软实力发展存在的问题、提升路径及解决措施等问题做基础。     

略论我国国民收入分配的价值原则

发展一直是我国社会主义建设事业的主题，改革开放以来，我国确实也取得了经济等各方面的长足发展。同时，不可避免存在一些需要改进的方面，本文基于社会主义建设成果的和谐共享，从价值原则的角度对完善我国国民收入分配机制提出三点建议：第一，劳动价值原则；第二，以人为本原则；第三，和谐可持续原则。愿我们的社会主义祖国发展得更好，更和谐。     

Suicidal intentions and suicides in Mexico, 1977-1984

The author examines and compares levels and trends in suicide in Mexico, using official data for 1977 and 1984. Consideration is given to characteristics of those who attempt or commit suicide, including geographic differences, method preferred, age, marital status, and reasons for wanting to die.     

Analyzing the progress and prospects of financial inclusion in India

Taking data from Financial Access Survey, Global Findex and Reserve Bank of India bulletin, this paper tries to analyze the progress occurred and the future prospect of financial inclusion in India. Our analysis depicts that India has witnessed a quick progress in financial inclusion. Though there is long way to go to achieve the dream of universal financial inclusion, there is no doubt that tremendous progress has been achieved in the recent time. Specifically, after the implementation Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in August 2014, much improvement has happened in opening of bank deposit accounts. Similarly, the post‐dimerization period has seen a rapid growth of digital finance in India. Despite high growth of digital transaction, digital payment among the women, rural people, elderly people, and less educated people is much less than other groups of people. The provision of good digital infrastructure to the remote area, opening of more financial literacy centers and extension of credit to the marginalized people can help to fulfill the true essence of financial inclusion in India.     

Realigning forces in the United States elections of 1984

Major shifts in party identification, presidential and congressional vote occurred in the United States between 1956 and 1984. National survey evidence demonstrates that a marked transformation in the social bases of partisan choice also took place during this period. Four alternative theories are offered as plausible explanations for these trends. The best fitting explanation involves judgments about the past performance of the parties and candidates. The analysis suggests that the outcome of the 1984 election was not simply a reflection of Reagan's personal popularity. The election was heavily influenced by changes in the social bases of party support, thus raising broader implications for the party system.     

Experience of a financial reforms project in Bangladesh

This article reviews the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh aimed at reforming the public sector financial management system as part of overall public administration reforms through a technical assistance project jointly sponsored by the government and the Department for International Development, Government of the UK. It has evolved through initial setbacks into a highly successful project delivering tangible outputs over the last three years, with prospects for future extension until reforms are internalized and become self‐sustaining. Attempts have been made in this article to analyse and evaluate the underlying reasons for the problems in the first year of implementation as well as the factors that contributed to the recovery of the image of the project and its continuing successes in successive phases. The article highlights the lessons learned from the project in its bad as well as good times and suggests that this experience can be of great value to those undergoing the same type of reform experiment. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economies of contagion: financial crisis and pandemic

Abstract

The outbreak of an influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in 2009 coincided with a severe global financial downturn (2007–8). This paper examines the use of ‘contagion’ as a model for assessing the dynamics of both episodes: the spread of infection and the diffusion of shock through an intrafinancial system. The argument is put that a discourse of globally ‘emerging’ and ‘re-emerging’ infection helped to shape a theory of financial contagion, which developed, particularly from 1997, in relation to financial crises in ‘emerging markets’ in Southeast Asia. Conversely, concerns about the economic impact of a global pandemic have been influential in shaping public health responses to communicable diseases from the early 1990s. The paper argues that tracing the conceptual entanglement of financial and biological ‘contagions’ is important for understanding the interconnected global environment within which risk is increasingly being evaluated. The paper also considers the consequences of this analogizing for how financial crises are understood and, ultimately, how responses to them are formulated.     

The electoral consequences of the financial and economic crisis in Europe

The electoral consequences of the Great Recession are analysed in this article by combining insights from economic voting theories and the literature on party system change. Taking cues from these two theoretical perspectives, the impact of the Great Recession on the stability and change of Western, Central and Eastern European party systems is assessed. The article starts from the premise that, in order to fully assess the impact of the contemporary crisis, classic economic voting hypotheses focused on incumbent parties need to be combined with accounts of long‐term party system change provided by realignment and dealignment theories. The empirical analysis draws on an original dataset of election results and economic and political indicators in 30 European democracies. The results indicate that during the Great Recession economic strain was associated with sizable losses for incumbent parties and an increasing destabilisation of Western European party systems, while its impact was significantly weaker in Central and Eastern European countries, where political rather than economic failures appeared to be more relevant. In line with the realignment perspective, the results also reveal that in Western Europe populist radical right, radical left and non‐mainstream parties benefited the most from the economic hardship, while support for mainstream parties decreased further.     

Response and responsibility: China in East Asian financial cooperation

Abstract

China's behaviour in East Asian financial cooperation has overall changed from passively responding to external pressures to taking proactive initiatives, which are highlighted by Chinese elites as evidence of a sense of responsibility. China has taken varied positions towards proposals for Asian financial regionalism, from ‘silent’ objection, to lukewarm or superficial support, to enthusiastic participation and substantial contribution, and this variance has not always taken place in a chronological order. Despite much speculation over the trajectory of China's role in East Asian regionalism, there has not been a study focused on China's policymaking towards East Asian financial cooperation. Therefore, this paper fills the gap by analysing the factors and policymaking processes that have led to those varied positions. It argues that China, recognising the momentum in the region to enhance cooperation, has replaced the blunt dismissals of proposals, particularly those from Japan, with a more subtle approach that is aimed at ensuring China's influence and promoting the image of a responsible great power; that the extent to which it can contribute to this process is mainly constrained by its economic conditions, particularly the financial institutions.     

Economic crises and augmenting financial bureaucratic power in South Korea

Despite negative public opinion, the role of the Korean government has expanded, while overcoming two rounds of global financial crises. The phenomenon of the re-swelling state is mainly attributed to the strengthening of the central bureaucracy, in particular the financial bureaucracy, rather than the whole central government or the state. The argument of the strengthening of the ‘state’ or the ‘government’ after economic crises might be subject to the error of generalization. Through the two rounds of economic crises, the financial bureaucracy succeeded in acquiring the authority of market supervision and industrial support. In consequence, the bureaucracy's institutional supremacy within the government grew less challenged. The central bureaucracy was no longer the loyal servant to the President. It has reinforced its institutional strength and autonomy vis-a-vis the President, the National Assembly, the Central Bank and civil society, under the pretext of building up the rational and autonomous market and democratic politics.     

教育公平视角下地方政府财政性教育支出演进与财力缺口测算研究

通过地方政府2000年-2014年财政性教育支出数据的分析发现:地方政府承担了80%以上的责任;从财政性教育支出总额来看,与各省份经济发展水平密切相关,经济越发达,财政性教育支出越多,反之亦然,地区差距非常明显;从支出力度看,15年来财政性教育支出比例仅仅增长8.9%,变化缓慢,且存在策略性行为,东部地区支出力度相对中西部地区要大;从生均财政性教育支出,无论是小学、中学还是大学,东部的发达地区北京、上海等都排在前面,西部地区比较靠后,如贵州、广西、安徽等省份;从区域来看,东部地区财政性教育支出最多,达到45.6%,接近一半,其次为西部地区的25.9%,第三为中部地区的19.9%,15年变化不大,东北地区8.6%,且略有下降;从财政性教育支出缺口来看,东部地区普遍缺口较大,东北地区也是如此;而中部地区的缺口有一定程度的减少,西部地区基本上没有缺口,甚至略有结余;从财力保障看,2020年西部地区多数省份没有难度,中东部地区相对压力较大。我们的建议是:建立财政性教育支出标准的动态增长机制,加大对中西部地区的教育转移支付,增加中央政府教育支出责任,整合国家财力资源,扩大基本公共教育资金来源。     

关于我国财务会计目标的再思考

财务会计目标是财务会计理论体系的基础,即期望会计达到的目的或境界.近年来我国经济社会发生了较大变化,我国会计目标理论应该适应这一发展形势的需要.通过梳理关于财务会计目标的一般理论,考察我国当前财务会计目标设定的客观环境,提出了"以受托责任为主,兼顾决策有用"的财务会计目标思路.