Rural Poverty in China: Problem and Policy

This paper describes the economic conditions of rural China regarding poverty. By dividing the problem of rural poverty into three components it explains why rural poverty is China’s No. 1 economic problem in spite of the significant improvement in the living standard of the rural population. After discussing the solution proposed by the Chinese government it raises two policy questions, one concerning a proposal to eliminate the operational functions of township governments in the streamlining of the local government structure and the second on the possibility of controlling the abuse of power by local party officials that infringes on the rights of the farmers. A comparison with the conditions in India is provided.

Rational Expectations is Not Necessarily Valid for Econometric

Marcoeconomics

China's Economic Policy in the Context of the Asian Finanacial Crisis

This paper is based closely on the author's Y. C. Jao lecture presented to the Hong Kong Economic Association in November 1998.Macroeconomics

Shanghai Stock Prices as Determined by the Present Value Model

Derived from the present-value model of stock prices, our model implies that the log stock price is a linear function of expected log dividends and the expected rate of growth of dividends where expectations are formed adaptively. The model explains very well the prices of 47 stocks traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange observed at the beginning of 1996, 1997, and 1998. The estimated parameters are remarkably similar to those reported for stocks traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.Finance