Estimation and cross-country comparison of capital stocks

While capital stock as the measure of productive capacity and the wealth of a nation figures prominently in policy analysis, capital stocks data is lacking in many countries because of the cost of data collection and other difficulties. Even in those countries where such data is compiled, the data is not always up to date. In this paper, we estimate and report the time series data for the capital stocks of 69 countries. We then use the capital stocks series to assess the future growth potentials of these countries.We would like to Thank an anonymos referee for many helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

房屋租赁的替代效应与福利评价

租房还是买房是每位住房需求者需要面临的重大决策。本文通过建立代表性消贡者购房与租房决策选择模型,对代表性消费者不同住房决策间的相互影响进行了理论分析。并通过引入空间计量分析方法,以中国216个地级市2000年的统计数据为样本对理论分析结果进行了相关实证检验。结论显示,住房租赁市场的发展在空间上具有显著的外溢性,经济适用房的“不经济”引致了住房租赁市场的活跃。以全国和北京市的两次抽样为样本的回归结果显示,获得房屋的产权和提高居住面积均有利于增强住房者对生活的满意程度。     

中国省级政府财政支出的策略互动性

本文通过空间计量经济学方法,研究了中国省级政府财政支出的策略互动性行为。研究发现,省级政府的财政生产性支出对于邻近地区省份具有正向的反应,即邻近省份的财政生产性支出增加,那么本地区的政府也会相应的增加财政生产性支出。另外,研究还发现经济发达地区和落后地区间省际财政支出的反应函数可能存在差异。     

The impact of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs on physician visits and drug requests: Empirical findings and public policy implications

This study analyzes the effect of DTCA expenditures for anti-hyperlipidemia drugs on patient behaviors. The key findings are: (a) DTCA expenditures have a positive and long-term effect on the number of visits to physicians by newly diagnosed hyperlipidemia patients. (b) The effectiveness of DTCA in generating new patient visits varies substantially across patient sub-groups. (c) The effect of DTCA is larger on drug visits than on non-drug-only visits. (d) Own-brand DTCA expenditures increase the number of patient requests for Lipitor and Zocor, but have no effect on patient requests for Pravachol. Competing drugs’ DTCA expenditures have a positive effect only on patient requests for the leading brand, Lipitor. (e) A cost-effectiveness analysis suggests that the economic benefits of DTCA in terms of life years saved by preventing cardiovascular disease are considerably larger than the costs of advertising. (f) DTCA on TV has strong effects on underserved segments of the population, such as those on Medicaid. We believe this finding should be carefully considered by proponents of a complete ban or stricter regulations on DTCA.     

A Law of Large Numbers: Bidding and Compulsory Competitive Tendering for Refuse Collection Contracts

In this paper we investigate the relationship betweencosts and number of bidders for U.K. local authorities'refuse collection contracts. We find that a highernumber of bids is associated with a lower cost ofservice. This finding, as well as being an importantempirical verification of standard proposition inauction theory, has important policy implications. TheU.K. Labour government elected in 1997 has abolishedCompulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT). Our findingsindicate that this would increase local authorities'expenditure in refuse collection.     

Gram–Charlier densities: a multivariate approach

This paper introduces a new family of multivariate distributions based on Gram–Charlier and Edgeworth expansions. This family encompasses many of the univariate semi-non-parametric densities proposed in financial econometrics as marginal of its different formulations. Within this family, we focus on the analysis of the specifications that guarantee positivity to obtain well-defined multivariate semi-non-parametric densities. We compare two different multivariate distributions of the family with the multivariate Edgeworth–Sargan, Normal, Student's t and skewed Student's t in an in- and out-of-sample framework for financial returns data. Our results show that the proposed specifications provide a reasonably good performance, and would therefore be of interest for applications involving the modelling and forecasting of heavy-tailed distributions.     

local industrial systems and the location of FDI in Italy

This article investigates the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) location across Italian provinces. Specifically it examines the relationship between industry‐specific local industrial systems and the location of inward FDI. This extends previous analysis beyond the mere density of activity, to illustrate the importance of the specific nature of agglomerations in attracting inward investment. The article develops a model of FDI location choice using a unique FDI database stratified by industry and province. The results also suggest that the importance of agglomeration differs between industries, and offers some explanation for this.     

Is UNESCO recognition effective in fostering tourism? A comment on Yang,Lin and Han: Reply

This note replies Cellini's comment on the real effect of WHL in inducing more tourist arrivals in Yang, Lin and Han (2010, Tourism Management). Due to the time-invariant feature of the WHL number in the short-run, the fixed effect of panel data model seems to be inadequate on evaluating the impact of WHL on attracting international tourists. However, pooling estimates show that a region with more WHLs can attract more tourists.     

Introduction: P.A.V.B. Swamy's contribution to Econometrics

This paper introduces this special issue of Economic Modelling which marks the significant contribution made by P.A.V.B Swamy to econometrics. His work spans almost 50 years and has been both innovative and challenging. The many distinguished authors who have contributed to this volume attests to the high regard in which he is held in the profession.     

基于空间面板计量的产业集聚与省域经济增长关系研究

利用1985~2011年我国各个省域产业集聚和经济发展面板数据进行了空间计量分析,依次包括全域空间自相关分析、局部空间自相关分析、空间面板滞后模型分析、空间面板误差模型分析等。实证分析结果表明:我国产业集聚和区域经济增长具有明显的区域差异;产业集聚与区域经济增长均存在比较明显的空间自相关;产业集聚对区域经济增长的影响具有正向空间自相关特性,即产业集聚对区域经济增长具有显著促进作用。