Reprint to: Infrastructure provision and macroeconomic performance

This paper studies the differences between private and government provision of infrastructure. Capital utilization decisions and their differential role in determining market prices for capital goods under the two regimes of infrastructure provision serve as a critical transmission mechanism for fiscal policy. A subsidy to private providers of infrastructure is preferable to direct government provision irrespective of how the subsidy or expenditure is financed. The case for private provision is much stronger in economies characterized by high levels of congestion. The choice between private and government provision also has a crucial effect on the design of optimal fiscal policy.     

Infrastructure provision and macroeconomic performance

This paper studies the differences between private and government provision of infrastructure. Capital utilization decisions and their differential role in determining market prices for capital goods under the two regimes of infrastructure provision serve as a critical transmission mechanism for fiscal policy. A subsidy to private providers of infrastructure is preferable to direct government provision irrespective of how the subsidy or expenditure is financed. The case for private provision is much stronger in economies characterized by high levels of congestion. The choice between private and government provision also has a crucial effect on the design of optimal fiscal policy.     

Enhanced network effects and stochastic modelling in generation expansion planning: Insights from an insular power system

Electricity generation capacity expansion is driven by both economic and socio-political realities. Policy makers determine public infrastructural decisions, such as climate and renewable targets, and transmission infrastructure, and the optimal generation capacity expansion follows. Policy makers therefore require planning models that can determine the optimal generation capacity mix in the long run under various scenarios, including policy choices. This work presents a planning model based on linearised alternating current optimal power flow which determines optimal generation capacity expansion and operation, in a least-cost manner, given global and local technical constraints, as well as policy decisions. We apply the model to a test case of the island of Ireland, which has two weakly interconnected systems, high renewable generation targets and low storage and interconnection. We determine the optimal generation expansion and operation out to 2030 considering the effects of increased multi-area interconnection, existing fossil fuel generation phase-out and increased renewable generation targets and carbon prices. Our results find that costs and emissions are driven primarily by the decommissioning of old inefficient generation units. High renewable targets, on the other hand, render increased carbon prices relatively ineffective in reducing system emissions. Furthermore, high renewable generation targets crowd out low-carbon power generation options such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). The strategic north-south interconnection has little effect on renewable energy source installations required to achieve renewable power generation targets but does impact on security of supply and the congestion level across the island.     

Selling to Socially Responsible Consumers: Competition and The Private Provision of Public Goods

We model firms as competing for socially responsible consumers by linking the provision of a public good (environmentally friendly or socially responsible activities) to sales of their private goods. In many cases, too little of the public good is provided, but under certain conditions, competition leads to excessive provision. Further, there is generally a trade-off between more efficient provision of the private and the public good. Our results indicate that the level of private provision of the public good varies inversely with the competitiveness of the private-good market and that the types of public goods provided are biased toward those for which consumers have high participation value.     

城市基础设施项目公私合作制模式的新探讨——基于价值集成的视角

为了解决城市基础设施供给不足的问题,需要大量的私人资本参与城市基础设施项目的建设和运营。目前,政策允许也已经有私人资本采用项目融资模式参与城市基础设施项目的建设和运营。为了吸引更多的私人资本参与城市基础设施项目的建设和运营,避免或减少社会公共福利的损失,论文以城市基础设施项目为核心,基于价值集成理论,提出相关项目集成化开发的投资理论模式,以期为更多的私人资本参与城市基础设施项目的建设和运营提供一种新的思路。     

交通施工企业基础设施PPP项目风险管理研究

当前,新的融资方式即PPP模式的出现提高了民间资本在基础设施项目中的比率,在减轻政府压力的同时能够提高项目收益。论文就交通施工企业基础设施PPP项目风险管理措施进行探讨,希望能够实现公私双方共赢。     

市政公用事业改革为城市发展注入活力

作者认为 ,改革开放以后 ,城市市政公用事业有了长足进步 ,主要表现在 :城建资金总量提高 ,能力建设增长迅速 ;城市基础设施“欠帐”问题初步解决 ,城市面貌极大改观 ;市场化改革取得进展 ,供应效率有提高。成就的取得在于观念、机制和体制的转变。     

Pareto improving interventions in a general equilibrium model with private provision of public goods

Most of the literature on government intervention in models of voluntary public goods supply focuses on interventions that increase the total level of a public good, which is considered to be typically underprovided. However, an intervention that is successful in increasing the public good level need not benefit everyone. In this paper we take a direct approach to welfare properties of voluntary provision equilibria in a full blown general equilibrium model with public goods and study interventions that have the goal of Pareto improving on the voluntary provision outcome. Towards this end, we study a model with many private goods and non-linear production technology for the public good, and hence allow for relative price effects to serve as a powerful channel of intervention. In this setup we show that Pareto improving interventions generally do exist. In particular, direct government provision financed by “small” , or “local” , lump-sum taxes can be used generically to Pareto improve upon the voluntary provision outcome.     

Productivity impacts of infrastructure development in Asia

This study investigates the impact of infrastructure capital on total factor productivity in selected Asian countries. The scope of the assessment is broadened by exploring the effect of infrastructure development on sectoral differences in total factor productivity. The study calculated the total factor productivity over the period 2006–2016 for 16 manufacturing industries in 19 Asian countries. Further, the impact of lagged infrastructure and endowment is also explored with an eye toward improving different infrastructural measures. The empirical findings show that lagged infrastructure and endowment exert a positive and significant impact on infrastructural improvement. The impact of telecommunications, road, and power infrastructure on sectoral productivity is investigated by applying the fully modified ordinary least squares estimation technique to control the endogeneity problem associated with infrastructure provision. Overall, the empirical findings show that infrastructure provision, particularly the provision of telecommunications and power, is an important factor for explaining patterns of comparative advantage, whereas the provision of roads is important to explain patterns of absolute advantage. The results further indicate that road infrastructure is more important for low technology-intensive industries, while power infrastructure is crucial for high technology-intensive industries.     

Does state preschool crowd-out private provision? The impact of universal preschool on the childcare sector in Oklahoma and Georgia

Universal preschool policies introduced in Georgia and Oklahoma offer an opportunity to investigate the impact of government intervention on provision of childcare. Since Georgia used a voucher-like program and Oklahoma utilized its existing public schools, the two states offer a case study of how government provision compares to government subsidization alone. Using a synthetic control group difference-in-difference estimation framework, we examine the effects of universal preschool on childcare providers. In both states there is an increase in the number of formal childcare centers. With the voucher-like program in Georgia, the overall increase in care is partly driven by an increase in the supply of formal childcare in the private sector and partly driven by new publicly-provided preschools. However, there is substantial crowd-out of private consumption of preschool. In Oklahoma, where universal preschool is publicly provided, the increase in the number of childcare providers occurred only in the public sector. The expansion of publicly-provided care seems to be driven largely by movement of employees from private centers to public settings. As such, this case-study comparison suggests that government subsidization through funding was more effective at expanding preschool than government provision.     

如何对电气自动化控制设备进行可靠性测试

如何进一步提高带有半导体器件的电气传动及自动化控制设备的可靠性一直是生产厂和用户十分关注的问题。对此,国家电控配电设备质量监督检验中心结合我国现状提出了电控及自动化设备的可靠性测试方法,以指导设计和工艺的改进。本文就此问题做以简单讨论。     

现代城市的发展趋势

城市的经济作用是非常明显的。作者在分析了国内外当今城市发展的多种趋势和理论后 ,着重对辽宁本溪市在新世纪建设现代城市中的城市建设和规划提出自己的看法和建议 :( 1)城市建设很重要的一点是搞好城市布局和用地结构调整 ,并从调整中获得建设资金。 ( 2 )投资渠道要多元化 ,政府投资可少一点 ,主要依靠社会各方面的投资。 ( 3)本溪市“十五”期间应完成城市道路、绿化、供水等几个重点工程。     

Non-audit Services and Audit Quality: Evidence from Private Firms

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between audit quality in private firms and the provision of non-audit services (NAS) – an issue that has rarely been considered in prior research. The threats to auditor independence are different in private firms compared to public firms. The same is true of the opportunities to use the same knowledge for audit and for NAS. Therefore, the effect of the provision of NAS on audit quality is also likely to be different. In this study, audit quality is measured by discretionary accruals, as well as by managers' perceptions of the extent to which the audit improves accounting quality. The regression analysis is based on 420 surveyed private firms in Sweden and suggests that audit quality is positively associated with NAS in general and accounting services in particular. The findings indicate that the joint provision of audit and NAS do not necessarily result in impaired auditor independence, but rather support the existence of knowledge spillover between the services.     

Risk allocation in service triads – The case of Dutch and Finnish home care procurement

We compare how Finland and the Netherlands organize home care services, both in legislation and in procurement practices, from a service triad risk perspective. We find Finnish public bodies rely to a great extent on inhouse provision and hybrid outsourcing. Dutch public bodies rely completely on outsourcing, using framework agreements with many care providers in parallel. Incentives used in contracts affect financial and service quality risks assumed by buyers, suppliers, and end-customers in the triad. This research improves our understanding of risk allocation among the actors in the service triad based on buyer decisions on outsourcing and supply market conditions. The risk profiles for all three actors in the home care service triad are affected by the manner in which public bodies outsource home care services: the purchasing practices. The delivery method (whether public and private or all private) and the number of providers impact the information position of the municipality versus the care provider in the triad.     

A multiregional planning and forecasting model with special regard to the public sector

Despite the magnitude of the public sector and its rapid growth most multiregional economic models are lacking public sector content. The present paper aims at incorporating some of the roles of the public sector in the regional development. It is done within the framework of a multiregional optimization model for the allocation of private and public investment, production, employment (and population) over economic sectors and regions. By choosing appropriate objective functions, the model may be used for either planning or forecasting purposes. In the model the focus is on the public sector as a service and provision body and as a provider of public infrastructure. Its role as an agent for transfer payments is not stressed. The capacities of the model are illustrated by means of an example concerning Swedish regional development 1977–1983.     

浅谈电量电费核算管理创新与实践

电力是一项公共事业,电量反映社会实际发展情况。而供电企业是我国维持社会供电的主要场所,在日常运行管理中,设备的管理、维护和投资建设以及电力科研项目均需要投入较大的成本以维持正常运行。电费是供电企业收入的主要来源,也是供电设施基础建设的物质保证,因此电量电费承载的不仅是供电企业的生存与发展,更是整个国家电能质量的管理与发展。为了实现供电的可持续发展,电量电费的核算管理成为了供电企业基础管理中一项重要的基础工作,也成为考核企业和客户电量电费的一项指标。鉴于此,文章重点分析了电量电费基础核算管理创新的相关问题。     

城市基础设施的政府与非政府共同供给

为实现以基础设施为代表的城市公共品的有效供给,在对城市基础设施特征和分类进行分析的基础上,结合我国城市基础设施建设和运营的实际情形,运用公共品理论和公共选择理论进行论证,指出政府与非政府的共同供给可有效解决我国现阶段城市基础设施供给不足的问题,并就共同供给的思路进行了讨论。     

Public infrastructure provision and skilled–unskilled wage inequality in developing countries

In this paper, we develop several static three-sector general equilibrium models with diverse labor market structures to investigate the effects of government provision of public infrastructure on the skilled–unskilled wage inequality in developing countries. The basic full employment model shows that the production sectors' relative dependence on the public infrastructure provision plays a crucial role in determining the skilled–unskilled wage inequality. Different relative dependences on public infrastructure may even result in opposite changes in the skilled–unskilled wage inequality. The above results are robust even when we extend the basic full employment model to three fundamentally different cases.     

The provision of public goods in a growing urban economy

The growth path of a mixed open urban economy is considered. In the private sector profit maximizing firms produce an all-purpose output with labor, capital and public infrastructure. Workers move between the urban area and the rest of the nation so as to increase their real income which is the sum of wages and income derived from the use of the urban infrastructure. The public sector determines infrastructure investments so as to maximize the current value of future per capita felicity. Infrastructure has public good characteristics and is used jointly by firms and workers. The urban growth path is derived and public sector policies are analyzed.