私产·市债·工潮——民国时期收回天津比租界的历史考察

天津比租界是南京国民政府时期唯一一个完全通过谈判收回的租界。该租界设立后,比利时政府并未着意建设,而是将其经营权让与私人公司。1927年比方在中比修约谈判过程中承诺交还该租界,随后的交还谈判却由于比方在'私产'问题上做文章及北京政府的垮台而中辍。南京国民政府与比利时签订平等新约后,中比重开谈判,双方在比租界专管公司资产性质、租界市政债务等方面僵持不下,其间比商天津电车电灯公司工潮的爆发打断了谈判进程。而后,比方在英国的影响下提出以向中方出售地亩的方式偿还市债的方案,最终南京国民政府妥协让步,双方订约。中国收回比租界的交涉过程既反映出比租界特殊的治理模式所引发的连带问题,亦凸显收回租界谈判中诸如私产性质、市债处置及列强在修约问题上互为援引等共性问题。

China’s Local Government Debts and Bond Market:Clarification and Policy Choice~

The surge in China＇s local government debt has made various sectors of society pay closer attention to the situation. First of all, four types of debt relations must be clarified： the relationship between asset and non-asset debt, the difference between long- term and short-term debt, the difference between debt in the form of bonds and debt in the form of bank loans, and the difference between debt listed in government budgets and other government debt. The development of long-term bonds is a fairly good choice for China to upgrade its consumption structure, accelerate urbanization, transform its economic development patterns, and meanwhile, to alleviate the mismatch between the financial powers of local governments and their administrative responsibilities.

Local Government Debt Management Solutions

Two rounds of leveraging-up have led to a high debt ratio in the Chinese economy, triggered liquidity mismatch and increased systemic financial risks. The key causes of local government liabilities are soft budget constraints and non-market-based factor allocation. Currently, the risks of local government liabilities are generally controllable. This paper concludes that the long-term solution to managing local government liabilities is to enhance budget constraint and institutional assurance and proposes countermeasures in the reform of urban construction investment and ftnancing mechanisms.

Introduction to The Stock Exchange

People buy stocks ,most through one of the securities exchanges or marketplaces for stocks and bonds. These market places are commonly called stock exchanges. The stock exchange marketplaces provide a meeting place for both the buyer and seller. This paper will introduce some of the important terminology and functions of security trading.

Is It Profitable to Invest According to the VIX Fear Index？

This study demonstrates how the volatility index （VIX） can help predict the returns for sequential trading days. Using a logit function and previous VIX information, we present an initial attempt to estimate the probability of a positive market return. The estimation procedure is applied to recent data on the S＆P500 and to the 10-year U.S. Treasury Bonds yields. Our findings indicate that such a relationship does exist and is significant, especially for the bond market. We also ran an investment simulation using different VIX scores and found that from 2004 to June 2009, VIX=18 was the score that yielded the highest.

Debt Rating Initiations： Natural Evolution or Opportunistic Behavior？

The authors examine a firm＇s decision to begin issuing debt in public bond markets and find that it is a function of both life cycle influences and opportunistic timing. Defining life cycle factors to encompass both a firm＇s age in years and its underlying characteristics, the authors confirm that bond market participation is generally restricted to large, mature firms. Summary statistics show that finns obtain their initial bond ratings on average 9.5 years after their equity initial public offering （IPO） and 11.8 years after initiating dividend payments. Growth rates, capital expenditures, and cash flow volatility all decline as the firm accesses public debt markets, consistent with entry into the mature phase of its life cycle. With respect to opportunistic timing, it is asked whether entry into public bond markets follows strong performance （or precedes weak performance） at both the firm and market levels. At the firm level, the authors find that the debt IPO occurs following periods of strong operating performance and high excess stock returns. At the market level, entry coincides with favorable interest rates and default spreads. The benefits of careful timing result in firms receiving initial bond ratings that are stronger than what would be predicted; however, there is no evidence of abnormal numbers of downgrades for these firms in subsequent years.

Concerning the Capitalization Restriction of Training Cost According to IAS 38

In today＇s knowledge-based economy, the role played by human capital in the determination of the market value of a firm is recognized. To be able to persist in the open competition, entities are forced to invest increasingly in the professional training of their employees. Inconsistent with this rising importance is the prohibition to capitalize professional training cost according to international accounting standards （IAS） 38.69 （b）. Highly qualified employees ensure competitive advantages and thus lead to an increase in shareholder value. Regarding the financial statement as a primary source of information, it does not seem reasonable to leave such a valuable resource completely unnoticed in the balance sheet. Consequently, a truthful representation of a firm＇s asset should take training costs into account. This article pleads for a limitation of this general legal prohibition and analyzes under which premises those expenditures for training can comply with the common criteria of capitalization according to IAS 38.

The Impact of Debt Financing on Corporate R ＆ D Investment Behavior in China ——Based on the Empirical Evidence of Listed Companies from 2004 to 2011

Base on panel data of manufacturing and high-tech industry companies which discoursed R ＆ D expenditure in financial statements from 2004 to 2011, this paper studies the relationship between debt financing and corporate R ＆ D expenditure under different grow opportunities by using the robust fixed effects that Daniel Hoechle proposed m 2007. The results show that there is not a ＂increasing first, decreasing later＂ non-linear relationship but a ＂double negative＂ relationship between debt level and corporate R ＆ D expenditure. And the ＂double negative＂ relationship has a different mechanism in different growth companies.

Audit Quality, Timely Disclosure, and the Cost of Debt： Tunisian Evidence

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of auditor type and eamings reporting lag on the cost of debt for the Tunisian setting. Our sample consists of 32 Tunisian companies for the period of 2003-2012. Audit quality is measured by auditor size （Big 4 versus non-Big 4） and timely disclosure is proxied by earnings reporting lag. Results show that auditor type is negatively associated with the cost of debt. By contrast, the association between earnings announcement lag and the cost of debt is positive and significant. When testing for the moderating effects of industry and listing status, we document that these associations are more pronounced for industrial companies and listed firms. Finally, the period of investigation slightly moderates the examined associations, since financial institutions become more sensitive to the tardy communication of information and less concerned with auditor type following some economic and political troubles in Tunisia between 2010 and 2012. Our findings have policy implications for managers in the Tunisian setting and other developing economies similar to Tunisia given the crucial role played by debt as an important source of external finance for companies.

The IAS/IFRS application on the intangible assets of non-listed companies

With the introduction of IFRS （International Financial Reporting Standards） most of the intangibles are expensed on the income statement and hence they ＂disappear＂ from the balance sheet, while investments in tangible assets are capitalized. Based on a sample of 128 firms, made up of 99 SMEs （Small and Medium Enterprises） and 29 large firms, and through a simulation of IAS （International Accounting Standards） transition, the authors＇ study finds that IAS 38 reduces the amount of intangible assets recognized on the balance sheet of SMEs, while large firms do not appear to experience such large reductions in their intangible assets. The differential effect of IAS 38 on SMEs and large firms can be explained by the different growth strategies of these firm types. SMEs largely depend on internal paths of growth and intangibles assets that typically arise from internal growth strategies are eliminated from the balance sheet under IAS 38. Larger firms are less exposed to such reductions in their intangibles assets, because they mostly follow external paths of growth and the treatment of those intangible assets that typically arise from external growth strategies requires the impairment test.

Debt financing and firm performance ： a perspective of overindebtedness

The asset-liability ratio of most listed companies in China is more than 50% and that of some unlisted companies is even higher. Debt financing has actually become an important source of funds for the companies. Faced with the description of over-indebtedness, the author put forward the method to make the definition of over-indebtedness creatively and carried out empirical research on the impact the over- indebtedness having on firm performance as well as optimal asset-liability ratio from the perspective of over-indebtedness and at the same time gave some relevant suggestions, which makes this study have an important practical significance.

The Market Reaction to the Pronouncements Related to International Accounting Standards （IAS） 19R

This paper examines whether and how investors reacted to the pronouncements related to International Accounting Standards （IAS） 19R. Using a sample of 401 European firms reporting pension and retirement expense during the period of 2006-2011, this paper finds negative abnormal returns around the pension project initiation by the International Accounting Standards Board （IASB）. More importantly, the abnormal returns are more negative for firms with higher financial leverage and lower ratios of net periodic pension cost to net income, but less negative for firms in countries with weak creditor rights （CR） and infrequent use of the corridor approach under IAS 19. Additionally, the effects of financial leverage and the ratio of net periodic pension cost to net income on the abnormal returns are more pronounced for smaller firms. Overall, the results are consistent with the view that recognition of previously disclosed off-balance-sheet pension liabilities as required by IAS 19R increases debt contracting costs, and highlight the importance of considering firm size and CR in international tests of debt contracting theory.

ASSET-LIABILITY MANAGEMENT UNDER BENCHMARK AND MEAN-VARIANCE CRITERIA IN A JUMP DIFFUSION MARKET

This paper investigates continuous-time asset-liability management under benchmark and mean-variance criteria in a jump diffusion market. Specifically, the authors consider one risk-free asset, one risky asset and one liability, where the risky asset＇s price is governed by an exponential Levy process, the liability evolves according to a Levy process, and there exists a correlation between the risky asset and the liability. Two models are established. One is the benchmark model and the other is the mean-variance model. The benchmark model is solved by employing the stochastic dynamic programming and its results are extended to the mean-variance model by adopting the duality theory. Closed-form solutions of the two models are derived.

The Effect of Corporate Governance on Debt Financing Cost of Listed Companies

In recent years, bank credit business is booming with the increasing borrowing retention o~ China＇s listed companies, and debt financing has become the major approach among listed companies＇ financing strategies. As a series of institutional arrangements about rights, responsibilities and benefits between different shareholders, corporate governance mechanism has a significant influence on the cost of debt financing. This paper employs variable coefficient panel data model to investigate the relationship of the listed company＇s debt financing costs and corporate governance mechanism in terms of structural characteristics and time series characteristics. The results show that optimizing the structure of both Board of Directors and Board of Supervisors, establishing a reasonable management incentive system and reducing the concentration of ownership properly can directly contribute to a lower company＇s debt financing costs. Meanwhile, property rights have an interactive influence on corporate governance from four aspects, which indirectly effect in company＇s debt financing costs.

Pricing Credit Spread Option with Longstaff-Schwartz and GARCH Models in Chinese Bond Market

This paper investigates the mean-reversion and volatile of credit spread time series by using regression and time series analysis in Chinese bond market. Then the Longstaff-Schwartz model and GARCH model are applied to price credit spread put option. The authors compare the features of these two models by employing daily bond prices of government bonds and corporate bonds for the period 2010–2012 in Chinese bond market. The proposed results show that the higher the credit ratings of the corporate bonds are, the lower the prices of the credit spread options are.

Private equity＇s PRC Potential

he private equity （PE） bubble could be about to burst. During the market boom of the past few years, most bonds for funding leveraged buyouts （LBOs） were issued at low interest rates and few covenants. Since the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage cri- sis, global markets have tightened considerably. I believe that the US io-year treasury bond yield will normalize back to 6% and the risk premi- um on bonds will also normalize. The interest rate on bonds for funding LBOs could increase by 4-5 percentage points from the bottom. Such an increase in funding costs would make most LBOs impossible.