INFORMATION AND PRICE DISPERSION: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

Limited information is the key element generating price dispersion in models of homogeneous-goods markets. We show that the global relationship between information and price dispersion is an inverse-U shape. We test this mechanism for the retail gasoline market using a new measure of information based on commuter data from Austria. Commuters sample gasoline prices on their commuting route, providing us with spatial variation in the share of informed consumers. Our empirical estimates are in line with the theoretical predictions. We also quantify how information affects average prices paid and the distribution of surplus in the gasoline market.     

INTER-COUNTRY AND INTERREGIONAL COMPARISONS OF INEQUALITY AND POVERTY

Review of Smeeding, T., O'Higgins, M., and Rainwater, L. (Ed.), Poverty, Inequality and Income Distribution in Comparative Perspective
Borooah, V. K., McGregor, P. P. L., and McKee, P. M., Regional Income Inequality und Poverty in the United Kingdom     

HIGH SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS' INITIAL COLLEGES AND MAJORS

We use statewide administrative data from Missouri to examine the explanatory power of high schools over student sorting to colleges and majors at 4‐year public universities. We develop a “preparation and persistence index” (PPI) for each university‐by‐major cell in the Missouri system that captures dimensions of selectivity and rigor and allows for a detailed investigation of sorting. Our analysis shows that students' high schools predict the quality of the initial university, as measured by PPI, conditional on their own academic preparation, and that students from lower–socioeconomic status high schools systematically enroll at lower‐PPI universities. However, high schools offer little explanatory power over major placements within universities. (JEL I2, J1)     

城市化和城乡一体化

城市化不仅要解决劳动力向城市转移问题,还需要解决城乡一体化问题。城乡一体化是现阶段城市化的重要内容。城乡一体化,并不是城乡均质,其基本含义是通过体制一体化、城镇城市化、产业结构一体化、农业企业化和农民市民化,把城市与乡村建设成一个相互依存、相互促进的统一体,充分发挥城市与乡村各自的优势和作用,使城乡之间的劳动力、技术、资金、资源等生产要素在一定范围内进行合理的交流与组合。推进城乡一体化的核心在于强化都市圈内的中心城市的市场功能,发挥中心城市对外围区域的支配、联系和溢出等效应,促进城乡设施、产业、空间的紧密联合乃至融合。     

IDIOSYNCRATIC AND AGGREGATE RISKS,INEQUALITY AND GROWTH

The paper disaggregates productivity shocks at a firm level into idiosyncratic and aggregate risks, and studies their impacts on inequality, growth and welfare. It develops a growth model with human capital and incomplete insurance and credit markets that provides a closed‐form solution for income inequality dynamics. We find that uninsured idiosyncratic risks are the most important determinants of inequality, growth and welfare. They are the source of nondegenerate wealth distribution. A lower weight of these shocks leads to lower steady‐state inequality, higher growth and welfare. A redistribution of income that serves as social insurance against such risks increases welfare and decreases inequality. But, it also decreases growth by distorting individual consumption and saving decisions.     

城市化、结构变动与农业发展——基于城乡两部门的动态一般均衡分析

本文认为,地方政府和企业之间的合谋是中国经济的高增长率和高事故率并存的原因。我们刻画了最优的防范合谋契约,在该契约下地方政府和企业拥有正的信息租金,防范合谋将给中央政府带来额外的成本。在临界值以下,赔偿金具有部分地替代监督和惩罚的作用。以最优的防范合谋契约为基准,我们解释了造成当前政企合谋大量存在的若干重要原因:中央政府防范合谋的成本太高、地方政府缺乏长远预期、企业被过度抽税、第四方监督失效和惩罚不可置信等。     

我国西南地区水土治理及西部大开发的实证研究

无论是从问题的实质,还是方法论的角度来讲,水土治理都是西南地区经济开发中的一项战略性工程。通过对云南省红河州具体的水土流失现状、危害和治理的紧迫性和治理中存在的主要问题的分析,提出了西南地区水土治理的总体战略设想和具体的治理措施。     

INNOVATION AND EXPORT PERFORMANCE: ADJUSTMENT AND REMAINING DIFFERENCES IN EAST AND WEST GERMAN MANUFACTURING

Abstract

The economic situation in Germany 16 years after reunification is marked by the fading out of the adjustment process between East and West. This paper refers to this context analyzing the export behavior comparing firms in West and East Germany. Our estimates confirm a strong relationship between innovations and export performance as well as structural differences between East and West German firms. East German firms are less likely to export than firms in the West. Besides, West German medium technology firms are comparable in their export behavior to high tech firms while East German firms are more similar to the low technology sector. Labor productivity turns out to be more important in East Germany. We interpret these findings as a specialization of West German firms towards technologically-driven high-quality markets, whereas East German companies are faced with higher sunk costs and seem to operate more often in less dynamic, price-sensitive markets.     

以人为本的发展观及其理论和实践意义

以人为本的发展观的基本要求是富裕人民。富裕人民不仅涉及加快经济增长问题,还涉及经济增长成果的分配问题。以人为本的发展观并不否认收入差距,但要求这种收入差距建立在公平正义的基础上。解决收入差距的重点在于公平权利的实现,特别要关注贫困家庭的基本需要。人力资源作为发展的第一资源,提出了人的现代化的要求。人的现代化包括人的素质现代化,人的身体素质、文化素质和道德素质达到现代化水准。发展观转到以人为本,就要高度重视消费力概念。经济增长由投资需求拉动转向消费需求拉动反映了向以人为本发展观的转变。     

信息化对城乡一体化进程的影响及对策

城乡一体化作为我国协调城市和农村两大地域经济和社会系统的重要方式，在未来全球信息化的浪潮中，将会对我国城市化进程产生更加广泛和深刻的影响。文章从城乡地域社会经济、人口流动和居住空间的变化、城乡文化和思想意识的交流以及城乡地域生态系统的可持续发展等角度出发，分析了信息化对我国城乡一体化进程所带来的各方面影响，并就城乡制度政策改革、统一市场体系、基础设施建设、生态环境保护等方面如何利用信息化趋势来促进城乡协调发展提出了相应的对策。     

INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY: EVIDENCE AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Drawing on the author's work, this lecture presents evidence on U.S. income and wealth inequality. It presents series for top income and wealth shares, and the distribution of economic growth by income groups. It discusses the mechanisms behind the evolution of U.S. income and wealth inequality from historical and comparative perspectives. It analyzes the role of public policy and in particular taxation in the evolution of inequality. (JEL D31, F66, J24)     

TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIZATION AND THE MAGNITUDE AND QUALITY OF EXPORTS

Abstract

This paper examines how technology specialization, measured by citation-weighed patents, affects trade flows. The paper analyzes the relationship between (i) technology specialization and export specialization across regions and (ii) the technology specialization of origin and destination and the quality of export flows. We find that the export specialization of regions corresponds to their technology specialization. Regions with higher technology specialization export products of higher quality, as indicated by higher prices. Moreover, export flows to destination countries with a high technology specialization consist of products of higher quality in the specific technology. The results are consistent with knowledge and technology being important for export performance and with regions with higher specialization in a technology being better equipped to produce high-quality products. They are also consistent with destinations of higher technology specialization, having a more pronounced demand for products of higher quality in the same technology.