PAY EQUITY AND COMPARABLE WORTH

An important and emerging public policy consideration… generally called equal pay for comparable worth…has received great attention from those who influence or report public policy initiatives. The comparable worth movement is directed at pay equity issues, primarily between men and women. The source of controversy surrounding comparable worth concerns the mechanism for determining wages in the economy…either an unrestricted market process or a subjective valuation process by designated "pay equity experts." Although the pay and allocation mechanisms and their side effects are controversial, other important questions concern the actual method of equity determination to be used in implementing comparable worth. This paper analyzes, from a general public policy perspective, many of the issues and much of the evidence surrounding comparable worth initiatives.     

ON EQUITY ASPECTS OF IMPERFECT INCOME REDISTRIBUTION

We develop a theoretical analysis of the impact of imperfect targeting, participation costs and incomplete take-up upon the level of progressivity, vertical equity, horizontal inequity and redistribution exerted by state benefits. An illustration using the distribution of British Supplementary Benefits (now Income Support) indicates that progressivity is roughly untouched, vertical equity and horizontal inequity are increased, and total income redistribution is slightly increased by these redistributive imperfections in 1985 Britain.     

ON THE SOURCES OF THE INFLATION BIAS AND OUTPUT VARIABILITY

Why do dynamic inconsistencies in monetary policy exist? In this paper, a traditional model with output inefficiencies is introduced, but monetary policy is allowed to be influenced by the various constituencies in the economy that pressure Congress in turn to pressure the Central Bank to adopt a particular policy stance. This paper shows that in this economy an inflation bias arises because of the lobbying pressures of outsiders. Furthermore, it shows that if lobbying pressures are high enough, an inflation bias cannot be avoided for any finite level of Central Bank independence. It also shows that introducing the realistic feature of lobbying pressures has an impact on the stabilization properties of monetary policy. When a supply shock occurs, the shock is totally absorbed by a non‐myopic trade union, which has no lobbying costs. This is independent of any finite degree of conservativeness of the central banker, who has to accept an extreme increase in price instability. It is shown that monetary policy delegation is therefore sub‐optimal in achieving price stability compared with labor‐market reforms meant to remove monopsonistic elements. However, the same structural policies will induce greater output instability by strengthening the power of conservative central bankers.     

ECONOMIC INCENTIVES FOR AN URBAN BIAS IN DEVELOPMENT POLICIES*

This paper presents a labor turnover model in which urban employers have an economic incentive to support an urban bias in development policies because of the indirect effect of rural incomes on urban training expenditures through the rate of labor turnover. A comparative static analysis of the model shows that an income transfer from rural workers to urban workers increases the profits of urban employers, even if urban employers are not directly involved in the transfer. Unlike previous versions of the labor turnover model, worker behavior is explicitly grounded in utility maximization.     

换房旅游开发探析

换房旅游是一种新型的旅游产品,与传统的旅游产品相比较而言,具有不可比拟的优势,发展潜力巨大,将会受到社会各界的普遍关注。文章在介绍换房旅游发展历程的基础上,探讨了发展换房旅游的重要意义,提出了开发思路,使之尽快走上健康、有序、高效的发展轨道。     

GLOBAL OIL PRICES,OIL INDUSTRY AND EQUITY RETURNS: RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE

The purpose of this paper is to promote a greater understanding of the implications of oil price changes on the equity investment climate in Russia. A dynamic bivariate exponential general autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (EGARCH) analysis shows that global oil price returns have significant impact on Russian equity returns and volatility. At the same time, a dynamic correlation analysis highlights Russia's importance in the international geopolitical scene and its positioning as a reliable supplier of oil during times of turmoil in the Middle East. There are a number of challenges, however, that threaten to slow down the performance of the oil industry in Russia and compromise the country's future economic growth and stock market performance.     

ARE JAPANESE INVESTORS TAKING THEIR MONEY HOME?

Only recently has Japan become the world's largest investor. Yet stories of investors taking their money home already have developed. Are Japanese investors taking their money home? Would it matter? To answer these questions, one must examine the economic, regulatory, and political motivations guiding Japanese investments. So far, shifts in the flows of funds have not been sensational, but by no means should one dismiss the shifts as irrelevant. A tightening of liquidity at home and a pricking of the bubble's in Japan's equity and land markets have altered the calculus of returns on overseas investments. Tims, the annual increments to Japan's overseas holdings, which already had shrunk in 1990, should stay low in the coming years. Tlie impact on global financial markets will depend crucially on whether new flows from Japan fall faster than new demands for funds outside of Japan.