National Papers of Interest to Economic Educators

The author argues that while advances in technology may have made long-range and long-term planning less critical, they have not made long-run decisionmaking obsolete.     

地方政府经济干预行为的经济学解释

以往分析地方政府干预经济行为的研究较多关注于地方政府的意识形态偏好.文章通过构建以中央政府行为为外生变量的地方政府行为模型,对在中央政策给定的情况下,地方政府的种种政策选择做出分析.对地方政府以优惠政策招商引资、对垄断部门实施保护以及民营企业对地方官员的"公关"、民企参与国企改组迟缓等现象做出了解释.借助地方政府和中央政府的动态博弈模型,分析了中央政策对地方政府行为的影响.     

An Alternative View of Citation Patterns of Quantitative Literature Cited by Business and Economic Researchers

Using nationally representative data, the authors examine the effects of preprofessional education on the earnings of lawyers. They specify and estimate a statistical earnings function on the basis of well-established theory and principles. Along with standard control variables, categorical variables are included to represent graduate degrees in addition to the law degree and an assortment of undergraduate major fields. Holding a Ph.D. or M.B.A. degree, with the law degree, is associated with significantly higher earnings in some sectors. Lawyers with undergraduate training in economics earn more than other lawyers, ceteris paribus, and economics is the only undergraduate field associated with earnings that differ significantly. The available evidence supports the hypothesis that economics training increases a lawyer's human capital compared with other undergraduate majors.     

Towards a Theory of Revealed Economic Behavior: The Economic-Neurosciences Interface

Based on recent findings from economics and the neurosciences, we present a conceptual decision-making model that provides insight into human decision-making and illustrates how behavioral outcomes are transformed into phenomena. The model may be viewed as a bridge between the seemingly disparate disciplines of neuroscience and economics that may facilitate more integrative research efforts and provide a framework for developing research agendas for scientists interested in human behavior and economic phenomena.     

区域经济合作中的利益分享与补偿机制

随着竞争的加剧,区域经济合作越来越成为我国地方政府获取竞争优势、促进地区经济发展的重要力量。然而,区域经济合作利益分享与补偿机制的缺失,直接影响到我国区域经济合作与一体化进程。利益分享与补偿机制作为不同地方政府在区域经济合作过程中平衡、协调各方利益的制度安排,是突破现有制度瓶颈、促进区域经济合作的有效途径。     

互联网中版权制度的经济学分析

网络中的版权不同于传统的版权,传统的版权制度在信息技术普及的今天遭遇到了严重困扰。互联网时代的数字作品的有其不同于传统作品的特点,基于经济学的角度,互联网中版权制度所应确立的原则、版权人利益和社会利益之间的平衡等问题有必要进行重新的认识,以利于版权制度的建全与完善。     

全面理解人力资本的经济价值——教育经济学与培训经济学的融合

教育经济学不应只是正规学校教育的经济学,在终身学习的理念下,正规学校教育的结束并不意味着学习步伐的停滞和人力资本投资的终结。教育经济学未来拓展的路径,除了理论基础上的"外延式"发展外,还可以在原有的人力资本理论框架内走一条"内涵式"发展的道路,即强调综合考察人力资本投资的多种途径,特别是教育和培训这两种最主要的人力资本投资形式,让教育经济学走出正规学校教育经济学的固有领地,团结在人力资本理论的名义下,与培训经济学融合,走向人力资源开发研究的广阔天地,惟其如此,才能全面、深入地研究人力资本的经济价值及其实现机制。     

Testing for the Presence of a Tremble in Economic Experiments

The classical trinity of tests is used to check for the presence of a tremble in economic experiments in which the response variable is binary. A tremble is said to occur when an agent makes a decision completely at random, without regard to the values taken by the explanatory variables. The properties of the tests are discussed, and an extension of the methodology is used to test for the presence of a tremble in binary panel data from a well-known economic experiment.     

论区域经济在国家和地区发展中的作用

区域经济是市场经济条件下国民经济增长的主要动力和源泉,其自身有突出的运行特点、发展规律。通过分析区域经济的内容及模式,可以正确制定促进国家和地区发展的政策和战略,在西部大开发当中,应当更加重视区域经济理论的指导作用。     

区域经济一体化对多边自由贸易体制的影响——一个简单的制度经济学解释

区域经济一体化组织的出现是否有利于推动多边自由贸易的实现,这一问题已经引起了学者们的广泛关注.从制度经济学的角度看,先走区域经济一体化的道路,然后再进行区域经济组织的自由贸易合作,从而最终实现全球贸易的自由化,能够比"一味地"等待世界所有国家同时实现贸易的自由化给各利益主体带来更大的现期净收益.因此,相比WTO所推行的多边贸易自由化而言,区域经济一体化具有更多的现实性和可行性,它将为世界自由贸易的实现做阶段性准备.当然在此过程中,还应该注意加强WTO对区域经济一体化组织的监督和协调,以引导它向更有利于提高世界福利和贸易自由化的方向发展.     

The role of peer imitation in agricultural index insurance adoption: Findings from lab-in-the-field experiments in Kyrgyzstan

Frequent climate shocks require farmers in developing countries to increase their resilience. Although index insurance is often discussed as a promising climate adaptation strategy, take-up rates are still low. This study primarily explores the role of peer behavior as peer imitation in the demand for three marketable and unsubsidized crop index insurance options. Furthermore, the influence of trust and understanding is investigated. We collected data in lab-in-the-field experiments among farmers in Kyrgyzstan, where index insurance is planned for imminent implementation. Applying ordered logit estimations, our results show significant and strong peer imitation effects. Imitation attitudes decrease with own insurance experience and received insurance payouts, but intensify with peer size, insurance trust and practical insurance understanding. While trust robustly increases index insurance adoption, understanding effects only gain significance in the dynamic perspective. These findings underline the importance of community-based extension treatments and trust toward the uptake of innovative agricultural technologies in the first steps of dissemination.     

经济改革与经济学转型

我国的经济改革是在传统计划体制背景下启动的,也是在一定的改革意识引领下发生的,但在传统政治经济学框架内形成的改革理论具有一定的局限性。改革开放以来,经济学者运用现代经济学方法对中国经济进行分析,获得了有价值的成果。但是,我国经济学理论的转型还没有完成。为了深化市场经济的改革,如何科学地认识市场经济,怎样在经济学理论研究中体现现代精神,都需要在范式转型的前提下继续进行探索。     

区域经济发展中不同利益体对环境政策的博弈分析

在经济发展过程中,不同利益主体为了各自区域经济的发展,仅追求自身利益,造成自然资源不合理地被开发利用、环境污染和生态破坏,这些制约了整个区域经济的可持续发展。本文运用博弈论分析了区域经济发展中,不同利益主体间利益关系以及各博弈主体可能的行为,为政策当局制订合理的区域经济发展政策提供一定参考性意见。     

跨国公司总部经济对区域经济的影响分析

跨国公司总部经济是经济全球化和区域经济一体化发展到一定阶段的产物,其效应不仅促进了跨国公司的加速发展,更促进了所在区域的发展。跨国公司总部经济在中国大中城市的迅速发展,推动了区域经济的良性发展,促进产业集群的形成,并加快区域经济融入国际化的进程。     

政府教育支出区域间不平衡的动态分析

本文认为 ,在对区域间政府教育支出发展不均衡的问题进行研究时 ,还要着重考虑两个方面 ,一是政府教育支出要受到政府财政规模的限制 ,二是政府教育支出要受制于国家教育政策的长期目标。本文从我国近年来总体的政府教育支出规模增长与教育需求的特点着手 ,用动态分析方法对近年来省区间政府教育支出规模变动所引起的受教育人口水平的变化过程进行了分析。文章认为 ,政府应先行调整经济发达地区的教育政策目标 ,继续加大对经济不发达地区的转移支付力度。同时 ,优化教育支出结构 ,提高政府教育支出效率 ,确保有限的政府教育资金都能用在教育事业发展上。     

经济地理与地区间工资差异

地区间收入差距究竟可以在多大程度上由需求的空间分布差异来解释?本文基于新经济地理学模型,利用1997年中国区域间投入产出表的流量数据,通过引力模型计算了衡量各地级城市空间需求大小的市场准入,并以此解释地级城市间的职工工资差异。本文发现:(1)各地级城市的市场准入差异极大;(2)工资对市场准入的弹性系数为0.22—0.32之间。基于上述实证依据,本文认为,各地级城市的市场准入差异是其工资差距存在的重要原因,而市场准入差异是劳动力流动的不充分性所产生的。     

Contemporary Economic thought. The Contribution of Neo-Institutional Economics

This article examines the historical developments of the institutionalist theory of the business enterprise since the early 1900s in order to demonstrate its distinctive characteristics that are often overlooked or belittled by some institutional-evolutionary economists and most mainstream economists. I argue that the institutionalist theory is an evolving and emergent theory, which bears a reciprocal, evolutionary, and cumulative relationship between the business enterprise and society. The institutionalist theory is, therefore, suitable for the understanding of the real-world business enterprise as it can be modified and refined along with the evolution of capitalism. The article begins with a discussion of the present state of the institutionalist theory. The following section is devoted to the major contributions to the institutionalist theory situated in the evolution of U.S. capitalism. The penultimate section provides a critical discussion of new institutional and evolutionary approaches to the firm. The article concludes with a brief discussion as to what should be done for the further development of the institutionalist theory of the business enterprise.     

The Economist Watcher: Economic Contributions of David Colander

ABSTRACT

This article gives an appraisal of the work of David Colander. After a brief biographical summary, we look at his work in methodology and the role that institutions and ‘vision’ play in his economic analysis. A crucial part of his work in this area is viewing not only the economy but also the economic profession as an adaptive complex system. This leads us to his major contributions to macroeconomics and economic education. We conclude with an overall assessment of his contributions to economics.