Compulsory Superannuation and Labour Market Responses

Compulsory contributions to superannuation have significant second round effects on labour market outcomes. The effects of employer, employee and government contributions are compared and contrasted for markets with different degrees of wage flexibility. With a flexible wage, the market wage adjusts to offset most of the initial effects of the superannuation levies. However, compulsion means that many employees perceive the present value of the future retirement income to be less than the levy. The levies as a form of tax on labour lead to lower overall remuneration for employees and lower employment     

Spatial planning of offshore wind farms: A windfall to marine environmental protection?

Wind farms are often planned offshore where wind conditions are favourable and the visual impact is less important. Wind farms have both positive and negative effects on the marine environment. Negative effects include bird collisions, underwater sounds and electromagnetic fields, whilst positive effects constitute functioning as artificial reef and acting as no-take zones for fish, with possible spill-over effects.This paper presents a spatially explicit framework to analyze effects of wind farms on the marine environment and aims to evaluate how wind farms can contribute to protection of the marine environment through strategic and economically viable location choices.The functioning and the applicability of the model are demonstrated in a numerical example for the Dutch exclusive economic zone. We find that the careful spatial planning of wind farms is a key factor for profitability and environmental protection, and that, if carefully planned, the environment can benefit from offshore wind farms.     

Taxes,risk taking,and financial stability

After the global financial crisis, the use of taxes to enhance financial stability received new attention. This paper analyzes the corrective role of taxes in banking and compares two instruments, namely, an allowance for corporate equity (ACE), which mitigates the debt bias in corporate taxation, and a Pigovian tax on bank debt (bank levy). We emphasize financial stability gains driven by lower bank asset risk and develop a principal-agent model, in which risk taking depends on the bank's capital structure and, by extension, on the tax treatment of debt and equity. We find that (i) the ACE unambiguously reduces risk taking, (ii) bank levies reduce risk taking if they are independent of bank performance but may be counterproductive otherwise, and (iii) taxes are especially effective if regulatory capital requirements are constrained to low levels.     

Abatement of agricultural pollution and economic incentives: The case of intensive livestock farming in France

Amongst possible economic incentives to encourage reduced nitrate contamination of water, this paper emphasizes a nitrogen tax as a possible solution. This finding is based on models estimated from panel data for 100 intensive livestock farms. For each farm a threshold is established (nitrogen units which can be spread per hectare without damage) above which there is an excess of nitrogen. The 100 farms can consequently be classified into two subsamples. The demand for nitrogen is derived for each sub-sample using the dual approach. Both categories are pooled together and a tobit model is estimated. This is used to derive total nitogen demand if all farms were under the threshold. A mineral nitrogen tax would lead to a reduced nitrate concentration in water supplies, because of a more efficient use of organic nitrogen together with a reduction in the use of mineral nitrogen in crop production.     

Elasticity of demand,price and time: lessons from South Africa's plastic-bag levy

Policy makers in many countries have perceived plastic-bag litter as a problem, and have used a variety of regulatory tools to address it. South Africa's current legislation on plastic-bags came into effect on 7 May 2003. It increased the thickness of the plastic used, charged a small levy and required that bags be sold rather than distributed gratis. These regulations sharply reduced consumption of plastic bags in the short term, but unlike the Irish and Danish levies have failed to curb their use meaningfully in the long run. It is suggested that the initial sharp fall in use of bags was a result of loss aversion rooted in an endowment effect (the bags having long been a free good). Once consumers became accustomed to paying for bags, demand slowly rose to its historic levels.     

CANADIAN FARM INCOME SAFETY NETS AND U.S. COUNTERVAIL LAW

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the factors explaining U.S. countervail action. Factors that indicate changes in the political economic environment are incorporated into a logit model to explain the propensity to initiate a countervail suit. These factors, augmented by variables representing foreign subsidy specificity, are used in a logit model to explain the propensity to levy a countervail duty, once a suit is initiated. Evidence indicates that factors that would lead to political lobbying are significant in the initiation of a countervail suit. However, these variables are not significant in explaining the propensity to actually levy a duty; rather, the analysis finds that subsidy specificity criteria are the significant variables.     

Does taxation have real effects on agricultural output? Theory and empirical evidence from China

China has a long history of taxing agriculture, with special levies on output. Whether farm households are taxed on a lump-sum basis or as a proportion of output is an important issue. This paper develops a theoretical model to understand better the effects of the lump-sum and proportional taxation on agricultural output. It then empirically investigates the predictions using tax and output data on Chinese agriculture. The theoretical model predicts that lump-sum taxation affects only consumption, while proportional taxation simultaneously affects consumption, capital inputs and final output. Although the main tax policy targeted output, our results suggest that taxation had only a modest impact on output since it was effectively applied as lump sum taxation brought about by localized levies and taxes.     

Maximising sustainability of Dutch dairy farming systems for different stakeholders: A modelling approach

A multi-attribute sustainability function is included into a dairy farm LP-model by using Weighted Goal Programming. The created Weighted Linear Goal Programming (WLGP)-model is used to maximise sustainability of different Dutch dairy farming systems and to analyse the impact of: (1) maximisation of individual sustainability aspects (economic, social and ecological sustainability) and (2) maximisation of overall sustainability using stakeholder preferences. Maximising the individual aspects of both dairy farming systems, i.e. conventional and organic, shows the trade-offs between different aspects of sustainability. For conventional as well as organic dairy farming maximum scores are highest for external social sustainability. The conventional dairy farm achieves a slightly higher score for overall sustainability than the organic dairy farm for all stakeholders (i.e. consumers and producers). This shows that it is possible for conventional dairy farms, similar to the conventional farm used in the analysis especially regarding the stocking density and under Dutch policy conditions, to achieve equal sustainability scores in comparison with organic dairy farms. It is concluded that the WLGP model is a suitable tool to analyse the sustainability of different dairy farming systems.     

A mechanism for computing an efficient system of wastes emission quotas

Presented is a mechanism that coordinates producers' wastes disposal decisions and consumers' demands for a clean environment. The mechanism imposes emissions' quotas on firms and levies taxes or subsidies on both firms and consumers. It is shown that a competitive equilibrium relative to the mechanism is Pareto optimal, and that the mechanism provides an incentive for each agent to communicate true marginal information in equilibrium.     

对上海、重庆房产税征收的深思考——基于不动产购买者分析视角

房产税改革的试点工作已经一年多了,改革道路中所遇到的困难较多,所取得的成效也不是很明显,加之大众的舆论压力,房产税的开征似乎在被否定,其实不然。房产税对高房价的抑制作用是一个过程,并非一蹴而就的事情。政府应加大投资力度,并出台相关政策法规促进并保护改革的顺利进行;地方政府需在配合中央工作的同时,引导其走入正确的轨道上来;房产开发商则需履行好商业道德,诚信做事;至于不动产购买者,要维护房产税的开征工作,丢弃投机行为,并为房产税的开征提供合理化建议。房产税的改革工作需要多方共同努力,创造条件,才能为房地产市场走向理性化营造良好环境。     

The Use of Organic vs. Chemical Fertilizer with a Mineral Losses Tax: The Case of Dutch Arable Farmers

The paper focuses on farm-level nitrogen fertilization strategies of Dutch arable farmers for analyzing the substitution of organic fertilizers (manure) with chemical fertilizers. The model developed investigates the impact of the major parameters affecting the inferiority of manure compared with chemical fertilizers, including the low availability and non-uniformity of the nitrogen in manure, and the low level and high non-uniformity of plant-available nitrogen supplied via manure. The sensitivity of the optimal fertilization decisions and its associated environmental impact to product price, manure cost, and environmental tax is also examined. The theoretical analysis is applied to a representative Dutch grower of ware potatoes in the northern part of the Netherlands. The results suggest that in the absence of a subsidy the representative farmer will prefer to apply nitrogen only via chemical fertilizers.     

环境政策促进经济发展的作用机理分析——基于环境污染的溢出效应

笔者基于环境污染的溢出效应以及要素的产出、替代弹性,引入内生化环境政策,构建以和谐生态为导向的企业价值模型,以此分析环境政策促进经济发展的作用机理及各个效应因子在其中的作用.通过数理分析与数字模拟发现,以征收生产税和加大污染税收惩罚为主的环境政策,既能刺激经济增长,更能抑制污染、改善环境;经济增长和环境改善的程度,取决于要素生产与溢出弹性的强弱对比及投入要素间替代弹性的强弱.笔者据此提出了两类最优均衡发展路径,以指导实现环境质量改善和经济增长的"双赢"局面.     

An Environmental Macro-Economic Model for the Construction Sector

This article describes theeconomic-ecological model BASIS, which handles theconstruction sector, its consumption of materials,and the resultant environmental effects. The modelis a satellite model of the macro-economic modelADAM. The building materials examined are plastic,metal and concrete, each of which result in variousemissions that impact upon the environment andhealth. Materials consumption and energy consumptionare central environmental parameters, and can beconsidered both as indicators of environmentalpressure per se, and as explanatory variables forvarious types of emissions and waste generation. Thearticle documents BASIS and illustrates itscharacteristics through a number of scenarios. Thescenarios examine the effects of changes in variousmacro-economic variables and of environmentalpolicy-based levies.     

Beyond Patrimonial Plunder: The Use and Abuse of Coconut Levies in the Philippines

This article re-examines a case of corruption that was perpetuated during a period of authoritarian rule in the Philippines: the subversion of ‘coconut levies’, a tax on coconut production imposed by strongman President Ferdinand Marcos from 1971 to 1982. Literature on the case has formed the basis for locating the political origins of the country’s struggles with long-run economic transformation in terms of the extent of ‘rent-seeking’ and articulations of ‘neo-patrimonialism’ in this middle-income developing economy. The article interrogates how extant analyses of the case have explained associated malign developmental outcomes with reference to institutional design and governance conditions. It forwards a re-interpretation that focuses on the distributional contest underpinning levy mobilisation, including the types of state-engineered privileges contested, and how access to these were politically determined and regulated during and after the Marcos period. This approach, in which developmental possibilities of rent-creating state interventions are not universally denied but considered with reference to configurations of power and structures of political bargaining, will be shown to address limitations of preponderant analyses and bear relevance to developing countries where, because of structural reasons, neo-patrimonialism may be endemic but rent-creating state interventions cannot be discounted as instruments for promoting economic development.     

Costs and benefits of on-farm nature conservation

The costs of on-farm nature conservation is an important issue in Dutch agriculture. As nature is a public good, nature conservation cannot do without subsidies from the government. The question of how much farmers should receive in subsidies in order to keep farms engaged in conservation activities is highly topical. In this article, the questions of how much farmers should receive in subsidies and what other factors motivate or demotivate farmers to participate in on-farm nature conservation are addressed. The study was carried out for a particular region in the northern Netherlands and was initiated by the concerns that farmers organisations had about the level of subsidies for landscape conservation as a major form of nature conservation on dairy farms in this region.In this study, both a normative model and a survey were employed. A normative economic dairy farm model was first used to determine differences in income between a typical farm involved in landscape conservation and a typical farm not involved in landscape conservation. Results from the model show that the farm involved in conservation earned a lower income than the farm not involved in conservation. This was due to the first farmer's smaller scale, lower intensity and lower productivity. The lower income, however, was compensated for by conservation subsidies. Next, a survey concerning on-farm nature conservation in general was carried out among the farmers in this area. From the survey results, it appeared that the majority of the respondents were satisfied, at least to some extent, with the level of subsidies for on-farm nature conservation. Moreover, the survey also revealed that the farmers' commitment to their natural environment strongly motivates farmers to get involved in on-farm nature conservation schemes, whereas the uncertainty about regulations and the feeling of being controlled too much demotivate them.The results show the complementarity of the two methods. The findings of the survey confirm the main findings of the normative model calculations, and, moreover, the survey reveals that in addition to monetary compensation, other factors play a role for farmers in the decision to get involved in on-farm nature conservation.     

Are foreign investors attracted to weak environmental regulations? Evaluating the evidence from China

At the center of the pollution haven debate is the claim that foreign investors from industrial countries are attracted to weak environment regulations in developing countries. Some recent location choice studies have found evidence of this attraction, but only for inward FDI in industrial countries. The few studies of inward FDI in developing countries have been hampered by weak measures of environmental stringency and by insufficient data to estimate variation in firm response by pollution intensity. This paper tests for pollution haven behavior by estimating the determinants of location choice for equity joint ventures (EJVs) in China. Beginning with a theoretical framework of firm production and abatement decisions, we derive and estimate a location choice model using data on a sample of EJV projects, Chinese effective levies on water pollution, and Chinese industrial pollution intensity. Results show EJVs in highly-polluting industries funded through Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan are attracted by weak environmental standards. In contrast, EJVs funded from non-ethnically Chinese sources are not significantly attracted by weak standards, regardless of the pollution intensity of the industry. These findings are consistent with pollution haven behavior, but not by investors from high income countries and only in industries that are highly polluting. Further investigation into differences in technology between industrial and developing country investors might shed new light on this debate.     

利息税存废的经济学分析

开征储蓄存款利息税可起到了一定的刺激消费、抑制居民储蓄存款的作用,但征税后对消费和储蓄的总效应为消费减少而储蓄增加。这是利息税对储蓄的收入效应和替代效应在中国具体的市场经济环境中综合作用的结果。为此,政府应采取措施改善居民对未来收支的预期,制定配套保障体系和税收政策,加快建设高效资本市场的步伐,引导一部分储蓄存款进入证券投资领域,合理调整居民消费和投资结构。     

碳关税:发达国家实施的可能性及中国的应对策略

尽管发达国家和发展中国对于开征碳关税的合规性、合理性存在很大争议。但鉴于发达国家在国际经济秩序中的主导地位,掌控着话语权,而发展中国家之间对碳关税缺乏统一协调的立场,因此发达国家未来单方面实施碳关税政策的可能很大。为此,中国应当未雨绸缪,积极应对碳关税。中国需要从战略层面和政策层面采取对策,在战略层面,发展低碳经济是应对碳关税的根本手段;在政策层面,尽快在国内开征碳税可能是一种较好的政策选择。     

Copying, superstars, and artistic creation

We provide a new perspective on the impact of unauthorized copying and copy levies on artistic creation. Our analysis emphasizes three aspects of artistic markets: the predominance of superstars, the important role of promotion expenditures, and the difficulties of talent-sorting. In the short run, piracy reduces superstars’ earnings and market share and increases the number of niche and young artists. In the long run, copying can also have a positive effect on high-quality artistic creation by helping more young artists start their careers, which increases the number of highly talented artists in subsequent periods. The long-term impact of levies on copy equipment on artistic creation depends on whether their yields primarily accrue to superstars who already receive rents or are allocated to help young artists.