Biotechnology as a low-level-of-coherence policy priority: effectual-targeting and the need for learning and experimentation capabilities

During the last two decades, policymakers in various positions have been adopting a systems-approach to policy thinking. However, in contrast with the quasi-evolutionary way in which policy is thought of and conceptualised it seems that policy doing is still being guided by ‘market-failure’ justifications causing actual policies to remain narrow in their scope. In this paper we sidestep this analytical divide of thinking/doing by developing a co-evolutionary framework that utilises a more productive analytical divide of means/ends. That is to say we focus on a process of co-evolution of a higher-order, one which takes place ‘inside’ the agent of policy herself, and involves changes in the ways ‘means’ and ‘ends’ are understood and acted upon. Conceptualising policy problems in terms of means/ends contributes to current debates by rendering the difficulty that countries are facing in their attempts to prioritise biotechnology more intelligible and thus manageable.     

Beyond market failures: the market creating and shaping roles of state investment banks

The paper develops a typological framework of the roles of state investment banks (SIBs) in the economy. The typology identifies four different roles: countercyclical; developmental; venture capitalist; and challenge-led. The paper conceptually elaborates the typology by first providing a historical overview of SIBs, and then discussing how the mainstream “market failure theory” justifies them. It then advances a different conceptualization based on insights from heterodox economics, showing that all roles of SIBs are more about market creating/shaping rather than market-failure fixing. The paper concludes with a proposal of a new agenda for research on SIBs based on our typological framework.     

信息结构、利益集团与公共政策:当前金融监管制度选择中的理论问题

本文试图确立一个分析当前金融监管政策制定格局的基本框架。文章认为 ,当前的金融机构体系呈现由少数机构垄断的特点 ,因而具备形成独立利益集团的必要条件 ;而当前的监管政策制定程序似乎昭示了这一点。文章从理论上分析了信息非对称和利益集团对金融市场和消费者利益的负面影响 ,特别指出不同集团间的竞争未必给消费者带来好处 ,提出关键在于继续推行透明度建设 ,逐步放开市场准入管制的政策建议。     

中国货币政策与股票市场的关系

本文提出的综合理论框架全面分析描述了以稳定物价水平、促进国民经济持续增长为目的的货币政策与股票市场的关系 ,着重对中央银行干预股票市场的必要性和有效性进行理论分析和实证检验。本文应用的动态滚动式的计量检验方法适应中国经济体制不断调整的特征 ,不但可以完成我们的理论分析 ,更可以检测中央银行对股票市场干预的机制及干预的有效性 ,从而分析进一步的政策含义 ,为中央银行的货币政策制订和预期效果提供一个前瞻性的预测分析框架。     

World energy outlook: An assessment of long-term energy developments and related policies

The purpose of this article is two-fold. It provides a framework for understanding what happened in the recently failed effort to reform the U.S. medical industry. The guiding theme is that politicians, the public at large and social scientists framed the discussion in largely ritualistic terms: “bureaucratic reformers” advocated a federally regulated national health system: “market reformers” advocated a free market health system. This framing of the debate doomed meaningful reform, whether or not the Clinton plan had passed. Second, with this discussion as backdrop, a closely related problem is examined:1 why most social scientists failed to introduce more thoughtful, critical discussion into public debate. This part of the discussion draws on, though is not limited to, the author's experience of more than a decade with issues of health planning and policy,2 in medical industry reform in Omaha and in Nebraska.     

Inflation persistence: The path of labor market structural reforms

In this paper, using a monetary policy framework where the central banker is considered as conservative, we investigate the role of labor market structural reforms in inflation dynamics. Our theoretical model suggests that a more deregulated labor market reduces inflation persistence. Using data from a large sample of OECD countries over the period 2000–2012, we empirically confirm our theoretical proposition. The main policy implication is that the reduction of inflation persistence can be addressed not only by central banks, but also by governments through the path of labor market structural reforms.     

The maastricht fiscal criteria: Required but ineffective?

The paper investigates the rationale for, and the effectiveness of the fiscal criteria in the Maastricht treaty against the background of two questions: What are the incentives for an unsound fiscal policy in EMU, and what are the (potential) negative externalities if such a policy were to occur. The paper argues that EMU creates both incentives for a higher fiscal deficit while respecting solvency, and incentives for not rectifying a potentially unsustainable debt level once one is a member. Unsound fiscal policy could trigger important negative extermalities for the other member countries. The paper concludes that the current fiscal provisions of the Maastricht treaty are not sufficiently well defined and the envisaged sanctions not strong enough to enforce a disciplined fiscal stance. This leads to proposals of supplementary measures for surveillance and alternative sanctions. Staying within the framework of the Maastricht treaty, it is strongly suggested that both debt and deficit criteria should be strictly surveyed, but in view of their conceptual and operational deficiencies they should be supplemented by additional indicators. Based on this broader measurement concept, it is proposed to use semi-automatic and market-led sanctions to enforce a disciplined fiscal stance.     

Medical service reform: Rituals,hypothetical games and the social sciences

The purpose of this article is two-fold. It provides a framework for understanding what happened in the recently failed effort to reform the U.S. medical industry. The guiding theme is that politicians, the public at large and social scientists framed the discussion in largely ritualistic terms: “bureaucratic reformers” advocated a federally regulated national health system: “market reformers” advocated a free market health system. This framing of the debate doomed meaningful reform, whether or not the Clinton plan had passed. Second, with this discussion as backdrop, a closely related problem is examined:¹ why most social scientists failed to introduce more thoughtful, critical discussion into public debate. This part of the discussion draws on, though is not limited to, the author's experience of more than a decade with issues of health planning and policy,² in medical industry reform in Omaha and in Nebraska.     

Socio-technical challenges in the development of digital multimedia broadcasting: A survey of Korean mobile television development

This paper examines the prospectus of Digital Multimedia Broadcasting from the technical, economic and regulatory issues. This paper attempts to gain a better understanding of how DMB will evolve and stabilize in next generation network environments. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How does DMB trigger a change in policy, market and industry structure? (2) What are the driving forces of the rapid DMB development in Korea? As these questions involve socio-technical issues, this study uses a socio-technical perspective to investigate the complex relations between the social and technical aspects of DMB by highlighting the co-evolving nature, diversity, and interface between different driving forces and policy. The finding is that Korean DMB is the outcome of a proactive strategy of a telecom carrier and the Korean government's industrial policy to support such strategy. Among the push-oriented trajectory, however, non-technical issues such as users, market and regulation are left behind, which reveals the disjunction of the DMB development in terms of the socio-technical system perspective. The development of DMB sheds light on the growing challenges in the dynamics of industry, regulation, and technology.