Conclusion:
Financial integration among countries that differ in domestic financial development produces a significant increase in net credit for the most financially developed country. In this paper, we examined the connection between this phenomenon the effects of shocks to bank equities on asset prices, and the cross-country contagion of financial turbulence. We proposed a setup in which financial constraints induced by limited enforcement affect the financial positions of savers, producers and financial intermediaries. The model also captures the mark-to-market rules for financial intermediaries that have been at play in the recent crisis.
点评:说这么多废话干嘛,在摘要说了一遍,文章开头再说一遍,结尾再说。就算要说,在结尾处应说得更直白些,譬如什么是“limited enforcement",我猜可能是说金融不发达国家的资本充足率监管不够严格,因而银行可以任意扩张信贷(譬如现在各大银行纷纷增发),所以金融发达国家拼命向外国借钱。这是我猜的。到文中搜搜看了知道猜错了,原来这个”limited enforcement“说得是合同比一定能执行(即有赖账行为?)作者应不应该说得清楚一些呢?作者回答可能是否定的:这些文章是发表在期刊上的,对文献很熟悉的人对limited enforcement 这个概念很清楚,不需要特别解释。对文献不熟悉的人一般没有必要读这篇文章吗?如果这样的话,开头开始不要那么煽情的为好。直接了当地说:兄弟啊,今天哥上厕所时刚脱下 裤子,就有了个绝好的idea,写下来供兄弟们研究研究...."
Cross country differences in enforcement create the conditions for financial integration to generate a surge in debt in the most financially developed country. Thus, the model captures the fact that the United States have experienced a large increase in leverage during the last two decades, largely financed by foreign lending.
这个”cross-country differences in enforcement"是什么意思呢?难道说美国公司向中国银行借钱比向美国银行借更容易赖账?好像不是,那又是什么呢?作者藏着掖着,我也没兴趣去探求究竟了。如果真的有什么好的见解,作者应该辟颠辟电地大写特写,这样云山雾罩的说明可能背后的东西要么很简单不值一提,要么很荒唐与事实不符。
Moreover, the model predicts that relatively small shocks to the equity of one country's financial intermediaries produce large responses in equilibrium asset prices world wide. Thus, the model can explain large asset price declines and global contagion in asset prices.
同样地,这里也没有解释一个国家银行资本出现问题是如何影响资产价格,背后的机制如何?只看“均衡”(equilibrium)资产价格没有什么意义,因为现实中资产价格变动可能是从一个均衡向另一个均衡变动的过程。这样的变动才更有意义,单单看均衡价格反而没有什么意义。
Replacing the accounting principle of mark-to-market for bank capital valuation based on historical prices reduces the magnitude of the asset price declines induced by shocks to the balance sheet of banks. Hence, our model lends support to the view that the mark-to-market principle should be replaced with a more flexible rule or at least discountinued in times of financial turbulence.
这个结论下得过于勇敢。模型中式假设理性经济人吗?如果是的话,理性经济人应该不受会计准则的影响,不是吗?不太清楚具体作者是如何模型的,不过感觉并没有认真地考虑市价与历史成本计量这个问题。
Of course, the same outcome can also be reached by keeping the mark-to-market principle but relaxing the constraint on capital requirement. This conclusion should be taken with caution since our model abstracts from frictions that are often used to defend mark to market accounting, such as moral hazard problems on the part of bank managers.
下划线的说法表明作者没有仔细考虑市价计量于资本充足率等问题。资本充足率(capital requirement)是说能放宽就放宽的吗?传统8%的资本充足率是根据资产的市价还是成本价来确定的?这里很多问题都值得探讨。这篇文章中的模型并不足以处理这个问题,可作者却很勇敢,因为mark-to-market也是一个热点啊。
总结:说该文是脱 裤子放辟是有些冤枉,裤子是脱了,可没有放辟。文章的题目很大:“金融一体化、金融危机和传染”,文章提出的问题也很诱人,可最终文章却没有对其所提出的问题给出实质的答案。结论出只是报告了一下做了哪些模型,这些模型的结果“解释”一些经济现象。这“解释”二字要加引号的,更确切地说,这些模型的结果与这些经济现象不矛盾。其实文中模型并非根据经济现实而建立的,而是作者根据惯用的工具做出来的,所以作者压根就没有想解释金融危机,所有那些背景只是起到装饰作用以更容易发表。这就是我为什么说该文是脱了 裤子却没有放辟。