Bandwagon mergers,international competitiveness,and government policy

This paper suggests that while the static welfare losses of merger predilections among Western firms may not be dramatic, they may lead to substantial dynamic losses when merger-prone firms need to compete with firms which instead focus on equipment investment and investments in R&D. It is suggested that such diverging investment priorities have been the real cause of the deteriorating competitiveness of many of the largest Western enterprises vis-à-vis their Japanese rivals. While mergers are generally taken to be determined by either efficiency or monopoly considerations, this paper argues that Western merger predilections are likely to be generated by a combination of imitative and defensive routines as well. That would make it difficult for firms to unilaterally break away from these competitiveness-threatening investments. If correct, this would imply that competition policies would need to be refocused. However, it is also suggested that the implications for international competitiveness should make merger questions a subject of industrial policies too. In that respect, the paper suggests some basic attitudinal changes.Earlier versions of this paper were presented at a Global Forum for Competition and Trade Policy conference in Vienna and at a EUNIP workshop at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Financial support from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (contract nos. 54473 and 57305) and the European Commission (contract no. ERB CHRX CT94-0454), research assistance from Michel Renirie and Chee-Wai Chan, and helpful comments from the conference and workshop participants, especially Kurt Bayer and Keith Cowling, are gratefully acknowledged. Only the author is responsible for the contents of, and any flaws in the paper.     

How to control a chaotic economy?

An economic system which exhibits chaotic behaviour has been stabilized on various periodic orbits by use of the Ott-Grebogi-Yorke method. This procedure has been recently applied to controlling chaotic phenomena in physical, chemical and biological systems. We adopt this method successfully for Feichtinger's generic model of two competing firms with asymmetrical investment strategies. We show that the application of this control method to the particular economic process considered brings a substantial advantage: one can easily switch from a chaotic trajectory to a regular periodic orbit and simultaneously improve the system's economic properties. Numerical simulations are presented in order to illustrate the effectiveness of the whole procedure.The work was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and by the Polish National Council (KBN) Grant No 2 P302 038 04.     

Economic Valuation of Health for Environmental Policy: Comparing Alternative Approaches. Introduction and Overview

Protecting human health is a primary goal of environmental policy and economic evaluation of health can help policy-makers judge the relative worth of alternative actions. Economists use two distinct approaches in normatively evaluating health. Whereas environmental economists use benefit-cost analysis supported by monetary valuation in terms of willingness-to-pay, health economists evaluate interventions based on cost-effectiveness or cost-utility analysis (CEA), using quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) or similar indexes. This paper provides background on the controversy about the relative merits of these approaches and introduces the remaining papers in the special issue. These papers (with one exception) were presented at a conference sponsored by the Department of Economics at the University of Central Florida with support from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Although CEA might not lead to substantially different implications for environmental policy than benefit-cost analysis, and QALY may provide a benefit transfer tool to fill gaps in the morbidity valuation literature, the papers in this issue raise serious concerns about the suitability of QALY-based CEA for environmental regulatory analysis. QALY does not in general appropriately represent individual preferences for health and CEA is neither independent of income distribution nor adequate to assess efficiency.     

预算功能取向与部门预算绩效评价理论导向

基于我国政策层面的近期预算绩效评价体系构建与远期绩效预算改革的战略部署,深度整理美国预算管理改革的轨迹,以经典预算功能取向分析范式为契合点,透视绩效预算与部门预算的内在拟和,演绎提出我国部门预算改革蕴含的"控制核心,绩效导向"的混合功通用取向.基于这种价值取向,引申确立我国面向绩效预算的预算绩效评价理论导向:源于实际的理论起点、面向未来与着眼现实的理论构架、过程控制与结果评价融合的实现体系.     

基于DEA方法的高校办学效益评价指标体系研究

介绍了建立DEA模型输入输出指标体系的原则,在对高校投入产出进行全面分析的基础上,对高校办学效益DEA评价指标体系进行了探讨.     

我国农村环境问题的经济分析及解决途径

本文分析了我国农村存在的环境问题,从经济学角度分析了农村环境问题产生的原因,并提出了农村环境问题的治理措施与途径:消除其公共物品性和外部性。     

政府部门绩效审计评价：基于预算的视角

随着政府绩效审计在我国的逐步开展，政府绩效审计评价已成为当前理论和实务界探讨较多的领域，评价指标的设置和评价方法的选取更是焦点。本文在回顾近年来我国政府绩效审计评价研究的基础上，从预算这一独特的视角，探讨了我国政府部门绩效审计评价指标的构建和评价方法的选择。     

我国反倾销中的反规避立法亟待完善

本文主要阐述了反倾销中的反规避行为，通过比较欧美立法，提出对我国立法具有参考性的建设性意见，强调了我国反规避立法的迫切性与必要性。     

振兴东北老工业基地资本运营效益研究

现阶段,东北老工业基地存在着高消耗、低性能、低附加值、产品生产能力过剩等问题,因而,在市场经济的大潮中,造成了竞争力减弱、经济效益下滑的局面.发达国家的实践告诉我们,传统产业高科技化能改变这种局面,但高科技需要大量投入资本,故而需要研究传统产业高科技化资本运营的模式,从而降低高风险,实现高效益.     

民工流动与乡村中年失业

对包括民工在内的各类乡村劳动力的年龄结构进行了分析。城市民工需求年轻化导致三个后果。首先导致青年民工的供不应求,从而在乡村还存在大量剩余劳动力的前提下,出现了全国性的民工荒;其次,导致乡村现有中年剩余劳动力难于在城市就业;最后,导致进入中年后的民工绝大多数无法继续在城市就业,中年民工家庭因不具备在城市定居的经济能力不得不回乡。后两个结果的不断积累产生了中国特有的一个经济现象-乡村劳动力的中年失业。