Varieties of paternalism and the heterogeneity of utility structures

A principal source of interest in behavioral economics has been its advertised contributions to policies aimed at ‘nudging’ people away from allegedly natural but self-defeating behavior toward patterns of response thought more likely to improve their welfare. This has occasioned controversies among economists and philosophers around the normative limits of paternalism, especially by technical policy advisors. One recent suggestion has been that ‘boosting,’ in which interventions aim to enhance people’s general cognitive skills and representational repertoires instead of manipulating their choice environments behind their backs, avoids the main normative challenges. A limitation in most of this literature is that it has focused on relatively sweeping policy recommendations and consequently on strong polar alternatives of general paternalism and strict laissez faire. We review a real instance, drawn from a consulting project we conducted for an investment bank, of a proposed intervention that is more typical of the kind that economists are more often actually called upon to offer. In this example, the sophistication of current tools for preference attribution, combined with philosophical externalism about the semantics of preferences that makes it less plausible to attribute their literal self-conscious representation to people as propositional attitude content becomes more tightly refined, blocks applicability of the distinction between nudging and boosting. This seems to call for irreducible, context-specific ethical judgment in assessing the appropriateness of the forms of paternalism that economists must actually wrestle with in going about their everyday business.     

Estimating the Impact of Transgenic Bt Cotton on West and Central Africa: A General Equilibrium Approach

West and Central Africa (WCA)’s cotton sector is experiencing rising production costs and lower yields, reversing decades of growth. Declining input use, soil fertility and inefficient chemical pest controls are contributing factors. We evaluate the potential impact of Bt cotton on WCA using a multiregion general equilibrium model and multicountry estimates of Bt-induced productivity. We find that Bt cotton raises growers’ returns, land value and welfare. Released labor from cotton is shifted to food crops hence reducing labor shortage constraints. Overall, results indicate that potential gross benefits from Bt cotton are substantial for WCA cotton sector, and that the economic costs of nonadoption are equally significant.     

导游专业计算机教学中任务性学习的研究与实践

素质教育的一个重要部分就是学生综合应用能力及探究能力的培养。笔者针对导游专业的特点,在计算机基础教学中引入任务性学习方式,改善了教学效果,提高了该专业学生的计算机综合应用能力及自主探究能力。     

饭店员工"360度绩效考核方法"研究

全面地分析了360度绩效考核方法在饭店应用的意义、可能产生的风险，并系统地阐述了饭店采用360度绩效考核方法的设计原则、技术路线、评价项目及标准设计、考核操作方法设计、反馈设计等。     

大学经贸英语课程教学改革探索

探讨了现阶段大学经贸英语课程教学所存在的几个问题，指出了大学经贸英语课程教学必须整合课程设置、编写更实用的教材、建立高素质的师资、改革教学方法等，从而有效地培养大学生经贸英语的交际能力和应用能力。     

在校学生犯罪情况分析和防范对策

在校学生犯罪率的不段上升,是一个非常严峻的社会问题。预防、减少在校学生犯罪,学校责无旁贷。本文通过对 在校生犯罪情况的分析,探讨了构建三大"育人网络"作为防范对策的现实必要性。     

技术引进、研发外溢和二次创新

本文利用专利竞赛模型 ( patent race) ,探讨技术引进及其二次创新活动中技术引进费用与自身应用性研发投入的关系以及二次创新速度和市场均衡时参与该竞赛的厂商数目的决定。同时也分析了研发外溢效应对模型的冲击。文章的主要结论是 :技术引进与自身应用性研发投入是互补抑或替代关系需视两者相对大小而定。双方的关系呈现阶段性变化。此外 ,随外溢效应的增强 ,整个参与竞赛的厂商数目和厂商应用性研发投入水平均趋于下降 ,但是整个社会引进技术的二次创新速度却趋于加快     

Assessing the international spillover effects of capital income taxation

Changes in capital taxes by one economy spill onto other economies with internationally mobile capital. We evaluate these impacts using a two-region, intertemporal general equilibrium model. The foreign economy's unilateral reduction in corporate income taxation has positive but small effects on U.S. welfare. In contrast, unilateral reductions in personal income taxation impose large negative spillovers. The differences result from CIT being source-based and PIT residence-based. The CIT cut reduces tax burdens to U.S. residents who invest abroad, while the PIT cut reduces foreigners' tax burdens only. Through general equilibrium adjustments neglected in simpler models, the PIT cut lowers U.S. residents' welfare.     

桑叶配方颗粒物质基准研究

桑叶配方颗粒迄今尚没有统一的质量标准。为提升桑叶配方颗粒的内在质量,对其物质基准评价方法进行了研究。选取具有代表性产地的15批桑叶制备物质基准,采用高效液相色谱法,以芦丁、异槲皮苷、紫云英苷作为评价指标,确定桑叶物质基准的出膏率范围、标志性成分含量及转移率范围,采用超高效液相色谱法,建立物质基准UPLC特征图谱,并对其主要成分进行指认。结果表明:15批物质基准中,芦丁转移率为19.94%～34.05%,异槲皮苷转移率为11.67%～43.58%,紫云英苷转移率为10.73%～43.05%;物质基准特征图谱中,标定了14个共有峰,指认出7个色谱峰,分别为新绿原酸、绿原酸、咖啡酸、芦丁、异槲皮苷、槲皮素-3-O-(6″-O-丙二酰基)-β-D-葡萄糖苷、紫云英苷。所建立的基准评价方法为桑叶配方颗粒质量标准的制定及其后续大规模生产提供了数据基础。     

传统型美术专业在应用型本科院校中的生存与发展

传统型美术专业是否真的具有培养应用型人才的能力，是值得思考的问题。大众化教育是我国高等教育的新局面，但应用型本科院校中的传统美术专业却逐渐变为冷门。课程改革的迟缓、生源数量的减少、校地合作的局限性等问题，一直困扰着传统型美术专业。如何能够向应用型教育模式转变，是扭转此番尴尬局面的关键。