Do Global Trade Distortions Still Harm Developing Country Farmers?

We estimate the impact of global merchandise trade distortions and services regulations on agricultural value added in various countries. Using the latest versions of the GTAP database and the GTAP-AGR model of the global economy, our results suggest real net farm incomes would rise in developing countries with a move to free trade, thereby alleviating rural poverty—despite a terms of trade deterioration for some developing countries that are net food importers or are enjoying preferential access to agricultural markets of high-income countries. We also show, for several large developing countries, the contribution of their own versus other countries’ trade policies. JEL no. C68, D58, F17, Q17     

Freedom of Choice in the Production Sphere: The Capitalist and the Self-managed Firm

A formula for measuring freedom of choice in the production sphere is proposed. Then a capitalist firm and a worker self-managed firm are compared in terms of freedom distribution. It is shown that the workers have little freedom, if any at all, in a capitalist firm, whilst the capitalist enjoys a great deal of freedom. In a self-managed firm, on the other hand, the amount of freedom enjoyed by the workers is positive and often even greater than that of the capitalist. The analysis is further developed by the introduction of asymmetric information. It is argued that, based on plausible hypotheses of monitoring costs, the difference between the amount of freedom enjoyed by self-managed workers and that enjoyed by the capitalist increases.     

About a duration index for life insurance contracts

Abstract

In this paper, after having defined the duration for a “generic” life insurance contract, we bring out some of its properties. We also prove that, in some cases, duration is a natural extension of well-known duration indices.     

Regime uncertainty and optimal investment timing

We construct a real options model in which a regime change is expected at a pre-determined future time and study the effects of regime uncertainty on a firm's strategic investment decision, taking into consideration the remaining time to the regime change and the probability of each regime state. We show that just before the time of a regime change, firms should act as if the worst-case scenario was about to happen, even if a good state is highly possible.     

A QUASI‐NATURAL MEASURE OF CHOICE FREEDOM FOR BUDGET‐ AND TIME‐CONSTRAINED OPPORTUNITY SETS

In this paper I present a measure of freedom for opportunity sets which are bounded by both budget and time constraints. The proposed formula applies to the intersection of two different sets, one of which is bounded by the availability of purchasing power, while the other is bounded by the availability of leisure time. The necessity of considering both kinds of constraints stems from a definition of choice freedom in terms of capability to do rather than capability to have. A natural measure should be one that numbers all possible choice bundles making up an opportunity set. The one proposed here is quasi‐natural in the sense that it is generically so.     

TAXATION,SOCIAL GOODS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF FREEDOM

The quantity of an individual's freedom is thought to coincide with the width of her opportunity set, and this is defined by taking account of budgetary, institutional and legal constraints to choices. A simple cardinal measure of freedom is proposed on the ground of which some exercises in comparative statics are worked out. It is shown that individual choice freedom may be widened when a new good is publicly provided free or at a low price. Furthermore, it is argued that progressive taxation redistributes freedom in favour of the poor, all the more so when public revenues are used to finance the public provision of goods, in which case overall freedom may be augmented.     

阿根廷失业的持续性:分地区的微观和宏观分析

本文旨在发展一个简单的方法来研究阿根廷各个地区失业的持续性。我们采用两个互补的视角 ,将宏观的 (加总 )回滞方法和微观的动态 (个人两阶段 )估计相结合。宏观分析的结果表明 ,大部分影响各地区和人口子集失业率的冲击都是显著持久的 (由于劳动参与和就业都有回滞性 (hysteresis) )。而另一方面 ,微观的分析则发现了明显的状态依赖 (state -dependence)效应 (存在于大部分地区的年轻人和妇女中 ) ,和一个仅在高失业率时才显著的时期依赖 (duration -dependence)效应。     

Energy and capital inputs: cornerstones of productivity growth in Mexico: 1965–2004

Gross domestic product per remunerated labor (GDP/L), known as the Mexican average productivity, grew very rapidly from 1965 to 1979; it increased at an average annual rate of 3.7%. But from 1979 through 2004, productivity stagnated with an average annual growth rate of only 0.19%. The hypothesis is that from 1965 through 1979, productivity increased rapidly because of concomitant growth in the utilized capital and energy per worker and the improvements in technology. After 1979, the productivity growth came to a standstill because of a slowdown in investment and stagnation in the utilized capital and energy per worker due to the sharply rising energy prices. The tool chosen to test this hypothesis is an aggregate Cobb-Douglas production function characterized by technical change embodied in the gross investment in new machinery and equipment. The estimation of this model shows energy as a cornerstone of productivity growth independent of capital and new technology.     

Fiscal impact of privatization revisited: The role of tax revenues in transition economies

In contrast to earlier literature, this paper finds empirical evidence that privatization has deteriorated fiscal balances in transition economies. The investigation focuses on the role of tax revenues in explaining the fiscal impact of privatization, as it appears that tax revenue in many transition countries remained lackluster even after the adoption of several tax reforms in the last two decades, and no formal econometric assessment has been conducted of the extent to which privatization has affected tax revenues. Using panel data for 29 Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries, the analysis finds robust signs of a strong negative impact of privatization on different tax revenue sources. The paper also provides some empirical evidence favoring the early adoption of value-added taxes that appear to have contributed to government revenue recovery.     

Escuelas de negocios latinoamericanas Un análisis empírico

Drawing on recent available data of a sample of Latin American business schools, this paper aims at identifying the organizational determinants of the students’ success in their post-MBA professional work. These relationships are tested through multiple regressions using panel data with random effects. The main finding is that the level of scholarly knowledge production, operationalized as number of articles published in journals indexed in the Social Science Citation Index, is in a positive and statistically significant way associated with the alumni’s success. The quality of the faculty has also a positive and significant effect upon the dependent variable, although this result is not robust as per different model specifications.