A matrix approach to the Gini index decomposition by subgroup and by income source

The literature offers two main ways of decomposing the Gini index: decomposition by population subgroup and by income source. This article proposes merging the two decomposition dimensions by suggesting a matrix formula for the Gini index which permits the simultaneous decomposition by subgroup and by income source. Using this multi‐decomposition, one can investigate the role of the interaction between the subgroup and the source components in determining the overall inequality. We apply the methodology to sample data on Italian household incomes collected in 2008.     

The experience of some OECD economies on tax smoothing

Observed random walk behaviour of a tax rate does not necessarily support the tax smoothing hypothesis though the latter implies the former. This article presents a direct test of tax smoothing by showing that if the tax smoothing hypothesis holds then the future tax rate should cointegrate with the current permanent government expenditure rate even though the tax rate is a random walk. This test is a direct and robust test of a number of ‘random walk models’ available in the literature. This procedure also enables us to differentiate among ‘strong tax smoothing’, ‘weak tax smoothing’ and ‘no-tax smoothing’, all of which are consistent with the random walk behaviour of a tax rate. Application of this test to Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and the US show evidence in support of weak forms of tax smoothing.     

Decomposing household,professional and market forecasts on inflation: a dynamic factor model analysis

A dynamic factor model with stochastic volatility is used to investigate the relationships between three alternative measures of inflation expectations. The results show evidence of both a common time-varying trend and a common transitory component between inflation and short-term inflation expectations from households, professionals and markets. While the common time-varying trend has declined in both level and volatility since the early 1980s, it was found that consumer expectations are disproportionately influenced by the visibility of prices of select few goods. Roughly speaking, a 1% point increase in food and energy prices leads to about 1/3% point increase in consumer forecasts of inflation. In terms of policymaking, this finding suggests that stability in highly visible prices can moderate inflation in a meaningful way.     

International business cycle spillovers since the 1870s

This article considers the evolution of international business cycle interdependencies among 27 developed and developing countries since the beginning of 1870s, utilizing the generalized vector autoregressive (VAR)-based spillover index of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012), which allows the construction of a time-varying measure of business cycle spillovers. We find that, on average, 65% of the forecast error variance of the 27 countries’ business cycle shocks is due to international spillovers. However, the magnitude of international business cycle spillovers varies considerably over time. There is a clear increasing trend since the end of World War II and until the mid-1980s. After that, international business cycle interdependencies declined during the period that was dubbed the Great Moderation and stabilized around the beginning of the twenty-first century. During the Great Recession of 2008–2009, international business cycle spillovers increased to unprecedented levels. Finally, developed countries are consistently ranked as net transmitters of cyclical shocks to developing counties throughout the sample.     

The impact of output and exchange rate volatility on fixed private investment: evidence from selected G7 countries

This study examines the impact of shocks to exchange rate and output uncertainty (volatility) on real private fixed investment (FI) in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. The analysis is conducted using vector autoregressive models that contain the price level, real output, the volatility of real output, the real exchange rate, the volatility of the real exchange rate, an interest rate and FI. The results yield important public policy implications with regard to the impact of output volatility of FI. Our analysis indicates that volatility shocks, measured as output volatility or exchange rate volatility, do not have a significant impact on FI for any country in our study.     

我国中部六省碳排放量影响因素分解分析

估算了1995—2009年期间我国中部六省的碳排放总量、人均碳排放量,从产业、能源消费结构、城乡消费结构的角度,对碳排放结构进行了分析。利用LMDI分解方法将碳排放量的影响因素分解为经济规模、产业结构、能源强度、能源结构以及碳排放系数,分析其具体影响,并进行省际比较。结果表明:1995—2009年期间中部六省的碳排放总量和人均碳排放量均呈增长趋势,且各省的差距较大;从产业结构和能源结构的碳排放情况看,各省的碳排放均来自第二产业和燃煤;经济规模的扩张是碳排放量增加的最主要因素,能源结构变化和碳排放系数变化对碳排放量变化的抑制作用不明显。     

Extending the Lee–Carter model: a three-way decomposition

In this paper, we focus on a Multi-dimensional Data Analysis approach to the Lee–Carter (LC) model of mortality trends. In particular, we extend the bilinear LC model and specify a new model based on a three-way structure, which incorporates a further component in the decomposition of the log-mortality rates. A multi-way component analysis is performed using the Tucker3 model. The suggested methodology allows us to obtain combined estimates for the three modes: (1) time, (2) age groups and (3) different populations. From the results obtained by the Tucker3 decomposition, we can jointly compare, in both a numerical and graphical way, the relationships among all three modes and obtain a time-series component as a leading indicator of the mortality trend for a group of populations. Further, we carry out a correlation analysis of the estimated trends in order to assess the reliability of the results of the three-way decomposition. The model's goodness of fit is assessed using an analysis of the residuals. Finally, we discuss how the synthesised mortality index can be used to build concise projected life tables for a group of populations. An application which compares 10 European countries is used to illustrate the approach and provide a deeper insight into the model and its implementation.     

基于LMDI模型的化肥施用量时空特征与驱动机制分析

临沂市化肥施用量近年来一直处于下降趋势,但化肥施用强度仍未达到国家和国际标准。基于临沂市2010—2019年的面板数据,利用灰色GM(1,1)模型预测临沂市未来化肥施用强度趋势,评价临沂市化肥施用情况,计算达到国家和国际标准所需年限;采用弹性脱钩模型分析临沂市化肥施用与农业增长关系变化;运用LMDI分解模型将临沂市化肥施用分解为规模效应、结构效应、市场效应、效率效应,计算出各效应的贡献值,从而提出临沂市化肥减量驱动机制,为临沂市化肥减量提供理论指导。结果表明：临沂市化肥施用强度到2027年达到国家标准,到2030年达到国际标准;临沂市弹性脱钩系数近10年除2016—2018年为扩张性联结外,其他年均已达到绝对脱钩,且各县区大部分已绝对脱钩,说明临沂市及其各县区近年来的农业产值与化肥施用量变化关系较小。对临沂市化肥减量起主要作用的是市场效应（负效应）和效率效应（正效应）,而规模效应和结构效应对临沂市化肥减量的影响程度较小。因此,应坚定不移地致力于提高化肥效率、加大农业投入、加强农户施肥培训、改善种植结构。     

减量增效技术的选择性采纳与集成推广策略

目的 基于农户“选择性采纳”特征开展减量增效技术的系统集成与打包推广,是降低推广成本、提高推广效率的重要途径。方法 文章运用2017—2018年浙江省638户稻农调研数据,基于列联分析、Order Probit与Multivariate Probit模型,从采纳强度和采纳结构两个方面,分析了农户化肥减量增效技术选择性采纳特征及其影响因素。结果 农户选择性采纳现象十分普遍,且技术属性与资源禀赋共同塑造了选择性采纳特征：（1）采纳强度较低,减肥技术平均采纳强度为1.74项。（2）虽然总体上农户更加偏好资金密集型技术,但采纳结构差异明显,多项减肥技术采纳决策中同时存在替代与互补关系。（3）禀赋约束是决定农户选择性采纳的重要因素,其中劳动力数量、家庭收入等经济禀赋决定了劳动力密集型与资本密集型技术的取舍进而影响了采纳强度与采纳结构,而参与技术培训、加入合作社等社会禀赋则有助于缓解经济禀赋约束。结论 减量增效技术的集成推广应基于农户资源禀赋异质性,制定更为灵活化、差异化的推广方案。     

农业产出增长的结构分解及与服务业融合发展研究

目的 在加快推进农业现代化的背景下,研究农业产出增长分解及其与服务业产业融合,对深入推进农业结构性改革以及加快培育农业农村发展新动能具有重要意义。方法 文章以2007年、2012年和2017年中国地区投入产出表中数据为研究样本,通过核密度分析、结构分解分析与归因矩阵分析,考察农业产出的动态变迁,分解产出增长的主要因素,量化农业与服务业产业融合状况。结果 （1）我国农业整体呈现产出增长与区域布局调整的动态趋势,农业产出增长的主要动力由各省份的内部需求扩张效应转变为国内需求扩张效应;（2）技术水平变化对西部省份农业产出的增长作用显著;（3）出口扩张效应并不显著,最终产品与中间产品的外部流入对我国农业增长的挤出作用扩大;（4）农业与服务业产业融合主要体现在需求侧融合,仍需加强农业与服务业供给侧融合。结论 促进农业供给适应需求变化,进一步优化农业区域布局,加快发展农业生产性服务业,塑造参与农业国际合作竞争新优势。