LABOUR SUPPLY ESTIMATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

Abstract. Economists devote considerable energies towards refining their econometric techniques to overcome difficulties connected with conducting empirical research. Despite advances in technique. it is not clear whether further refinement in this direction is worthwhile for policy purposes. It may be that no further amount of statistical adjustment of inadequate data will increase understanding, and that better data is simply necessary to add to our knowledge. But rarely is sufficient credit paid to new forms of data. In short, econometric technique is emphasized to the neglect of data innovation, as if new data were merely lying about waiting for an ingenious suggestion for use. This paper surveys advances of the last twenty five years in estimating labour supply for policy purposes with a view towards appreciating the relative contribution of both improvements in econometric technique as well as developments of new data.
After briefly detailing the key parameters which economists have sought to estimate, we describe the early 'first generation' research (circa 1970), which is plagued by problems of unobservable variables, measurement errors, truncation and selectivity bias, and non linear budget constraints. 'Second generation' research constitute attempts to resolve one or more of these difficulties, and the respective contribution of econometric technique and new data is acknowledged and assessed, including the contribution of data generated by large scale social experiments in which participants are randomly assigned to different guaranteed income plans and their labour supply behaviour measured.     

Spatial determinants of Japanese FDI in China

Research on foreign direct investment in China has spawned an increasingly large literature. Whilst regional cleavages with respect to the distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) are acknowledged, empirical research on the spatial determinants of FDI in China has been limited. Furthermore, research on the spatial determinants of home country FDI in China has thus far been neglected due to difficulties in accessing the appropriate data. The objective of this paper is to examine the spatial determinants of Japanese direct investment in China by using an econometric model. To that purpose, a dataset is created from the Toyo Keizai directory on the overseas activities of Japanese companies. The results show that tertiary education, inland waterways, as well as coastal location are positive and significant determinants of Japanese investment in China.     

城市圈可接近性与城市经济增长——以珠三角、武汉城市圈为例

针对我国目前正在兴起的建设城市圈的热潮,本文讨论了城市圈形成的一个模型,运用空间计量以及面板数据的方法对我国已经发展较成熟的珠三角城市圈以及正在建设的武汉城市圈进行了比较研究,结果发现:城市圈的可接近性能显著地促进位于城市圈内的城市的经济增长水平。本文还提出了发展边缘城市、实施组团式发展的城市圈发展策略。     

中国经济增长空间相关性研究——基于"长三角"与"珠三角"的实证

本文建立了两套回归模型:无空间相关变量的单向和双向固定效应模型;有空间相关变量的单向和双向固定效应模型。对比分析后得出的结论有:"长三角"和"珠三角"区域内部的确存在经济增长的空间相关性,"珠三角"区域内部经济增长的空间相关性略大于"长三角"区域,但两者在统计上并没有显著的差别;两个地区都存在经济增长的β收敛,但"珠三角"地区呈现出更强的收敛性;对于影响"长三角"和"珠三角"经济增长的因素,有些相同和不同点值得关注。     

Outsourcing and trade in a spatial world

This paper provides an analysis of outsourcing and trade in a spatial model à la Hotelling. In this setting, we discuss the trade-off between transport-cost-related disadvantages and outsourcing-related production cost advantages of a large economy and we investigate how the existence of national transport costs influences both the structure of industrial production and the pattern of final goods trade. In addition, the model gives a rich picture of the possible welfare effects of trade liberalization. In particular, we show that a final goods exporting country definitely gains from economic integration, while a final goods importing country may lose. Finally, when lowering domestic outsourcing activities, trade liberalization may reduce world welfare, even if pro-competitive effects lead to a decline in consumer prices.     

城市总体规划中的空间区划与管制

探讨了城市总体规划中土地规划和空间管制的编制办法与操作程序,尝试提出空间资源区划和空间利用区划的有关概念,针对不同的空间利用分区和亚区提出了相应的空间管制要求,并把这些理念在大连西部地区总体规划实践中加以运用.同时又基于规划实践的体会,总结了提高空间管制规划的科学性和可操作性的若干认知,旨在为土地与空间管制规划的编制提供参考性思路.     

云南省城市化与经济空间结构的演变和趋势

云南省经济空间结构正处于核心—外围二元结构的空间演化阶段,集聚尤其是中心城市集聚占主导地位,但有向外扩散的趋势。要注意协调好核心地带与其他地区的关系,发展相互间的经济技术合作,在重点发展核心地带的同时,充分发挥核心地带的扩散作用,带动全省经济社会的全面进步。     

The proper panel econometric specification of the gravity equation: A three-way model with bilateral interaction effects

We argue that the proper specification of a panel gravity model should include main (exporter, importer, and time) as well as time invariant exporter-by-importer (bilateral) interaction effects. In a panel of 11 APEC countries, the latter are highly significant and account for the largest part of variation. First version received: February 2001/Final version received: June 2002 RID="*" ID="*"  We are grateful to two anonymous referees and Robert Kunst for their helpful comments.     

地区专业化的度量

在封闭经济假设和地区间需求结构一致假设下,本文构造了地区专业化的度量指标——地区专业化系数;这一度量指标更具一般性,产业结构差异系数、空间分布差异系数、绝对利差及行业分工指数等指标只是作为它的特例而存在。在讨论地区专业化问题时,如果忽略地区的(或行业的)相对规模因素,除了犯有逻辑推理错误外,在实践中还存在着可能得出错误判断的倾向。本文发现:中国工业的地区专业化水平自20世纪80年代中后期以来有了较大程度的提高;如果忽略地区的(或行业的)相对规模因素来讨论中国工业的地区专业化问题,则会高估中国工业的地区专业化水平。     

西部大开发战略与武汉城市功能的发挥

西部大开发战略的实施 ,为武汉这个中部特大中心城市的发展提供了机遇 ,如何顺势起飞 ,关键在于武汉中心城市功能的发挥。处于中部承东启西 ,九省通衢 ,基础强劲的武汉特大中心城市功能的发挥 ,也会有力地促进西部大开发战略的落实。武汉立足于其区位综合优势 ,从集散功能、生产功能、管理功能、服务功能、创新功能发展出发 ,借西部大开发之势重构和强化其金融商贸中心功能、交通枢纽功能、通讯信息中心功能、科技教育文化中心功能、生产和服务中心功能 ,是武汉发展和西部大开发的双赢策略。