TEST OF THE CONVERGENCE HYPOTHESIS ALLOWING FOR CROSS‐SECTIONAL DEPENDENCE

A large empirical literature has investigated whether per capita output converges around a common trend across national and regional economies. The methods used in this literature assume no cross‐sectional dependence even though it is likely to be present and might be important in practice. Chang has devised a promising method of testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels with cross‐sectional dependence. We apply her method to test whether convergence takes place across three samples of economies: 15 advanced industrial countries; a broader group of 57 countries; and the 48 contiguous US states. We find evidence of convergence for the 15 advanced industrial economies but no evidence of convergence across either the broad group of countries or the US states.     

Understanding Differences in Nonmarket Valuation by Angler Specialization Level

Using the concept of recreation specialization, we would expect willingness-to-pay (WTP) differences among participant sub-groups as an expression of increasing commitment to their activity. To expand understanding of predictable angler sub-group differences in economic valuation, a two-stage process was used to investigate WTP differences among heterogeneous sub-groups. Cluster analysis was used with a three dimensional specialization model. A zero truncated binomial regression model was applied to estimate anglers' consumer surplus values per trip. Results supported the expectation that anglers in each group placed a different value on the social benefits associated with fishing and their concerns for possible resource loss.     

A theory of policy advice

This article analyzes a model of the policy decision processin ministerial governments. A spending minister and a financeminister are involved in making a decision concerning a publicproject. The two ministers have partially conflicting preferences.Policy decisions are made in two stages. In the first stagethe spending minister consults a technical expert to obtaininformation about the technical consequences of the project.If the technical consequences are favourable, in the secondstage the finance minister consults a financial expert to obtaininformation about the financial consequences. The finance ministercan veto a proposal for undertaking the project. This articleillustrates the consequences of specialization for informationtransmission. A drawback of specialization is that projectsare evaluated on the basis of their individual consequencesrather than on the basis of their total consequences.     

韩国的东北亚经济中心建设构想及难题

为了应对东北亚区域内外环境的变化以及韩国经济可持续发展的需要,韩国政府提出了构建东北亚经济中心的构想。这是一个以东北亚地区经济合作为基础,以促进东北亚地区经济资源流动与经济发展为目的,由韩国发挥中心作用的远大战略,其建设方案主要包括东北亚物流中心、金融中心、企业中心等内容。文章提出,实现这一目标,需要巨大的资本和较长的时间,需要对韩国政治、行政、经济、媒体、教育等领域进行改革;必须得到东北亚区域内国家特别是中国和日本的协助,构建东北亚经济合作组织。     

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PLANT DYNAMICS BY SIZE: KOREAN MANUFACTURING

A comparative analysis on Korean manufacturing plants is performed by size of plants and sources of TFP growth are decomposed into entry, exit, and survival effects of plants, focusing on the pre- and post-crisis periods. Additional survival analyses investigate internal and external determinants of the survival of plants. The results indicate that the exit of small- and medium-sized establishments (SMEs) with higher productivity is becoming problematic in the post-crisis period. The improvements in large-scale establishments (LSEs) after the crisis appeared to occur generally in high-technology industrial sectors; SMEs in low-technology industries are suffering from a sluggish market selection process.     

The Role of Durables Replacement and Second‐Hand Markets in a Business‐Cycle Model

Transactions of used durables are large and cyclical, but their interaction with purchases of new durables has been neglected in business‐cycle studies. I fill this gap by introducing a new business‐cycle model of consumer durables where households resell their goods on the second‐hand market and the production of new durables is affected by the supply of used goods. The model delivers three conclusions: Markups are smaller for goods that are more durable and more frequently replaced; markups are countercyclical for durables, resolving the comovement puzzle of Barsky, House, and Kimball (2007); and procyclical replacement demand amplifies durables spending.     

韩国LCD产业成功因素探究——基于与日本、中国台湾的比较分析

通过与日本、中国台湾对比,本文探讨韩国液晶显示器产业成功的因素。我们主要考虑以下三个因素:非可控的环境、可控制的战略与韩国企业的竞争力。同时,本文分析了韩国特有的诸多因素:LCD应用领域的扩大、大型LCD面板需求的迅猛增加、独立的技术开发、进攻型逆循环投资、新一代面板制造设施的快速建设、从半导体产业所获得的有效操作与高回报管理、充满激情的年轻工程师的献身、基于垂直融合与多种供应商的制造战略。此外,还有其他因素,比如主导企业(三星与LG)的竞争。     

Stability of the U.S. Short-Run Money Demand Function, 1959–81

Stability tests are performed for the conventional U.S. money demand equation using switch regression techniques. This methodology provides for the identification of the shift point and the type of shift (abrupt or drift), and is conducive to hypothesis testing to determine the sources of the shift for the regression equation. Our findings do not support the contention that the 1974 change in money demand equation is a downward shift in the constant term, as suggested by many recent empirical money demand studies.