A Rent-Seeking Experiment for the Classroom

Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated that active learning techniques improve student comprehension and retention of abstract economic ideas such as rent seeking. Instructors can reinforce the concept of rent seeking with a classroom game, particularly one involving real money. The authors improve upon a game first introduced by Goeree and Holt (1999) and later expanded upon by Bischoff and Hofmann (2002). The authors present a version of the game in which students participate in an all-pay auction, risking their own money, and discover first hand the potential inefficiencies of rent seeking. The authors suggest extensions of the rent-seeking game, including discussions of social welfare effects, equity, campaign finance reform, tax simplification, and congressional reforms designed to limit the influence of rent seeking in the economy.     

Adverse Selection in Health Insurance Markets: A Classroom Experiment

Adverse selection as it relates to health care policy will be a key economic issue in many upcoming elections. In this article, the author lays out a 30-minute classroom experiment designed for students to experience the kind of elevated prices and market collapse that can result from adverse selection in health insurance markets. The students should come away from the experiment understanding why adverse selection leads to high prices on good quality insurance and why it forces healthy individuals into low quality plans. Additionally, the experiment helps students think about the market characteristics that make health insurance particularly vulnerable to problems of asymmetric information. Finally, the experiment connects the adverse selection problem with key features of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.     

Airing Your Dirty Laundry: A Quick Marketable Pollution Permits Game for the Classroom

In this article, the authors describe a simple classroom game that demonstrates the advantage of tradable emissions permits in regulating environmental pollution. Students take on the role of polluters who must consider the costs of complying with a uniform reduction and a tradable permits program. The class is divided into high-cost polluters and low-cost polluters so students can observe the gains from trade as high-cost students purchase pollution rights from the low-cost students in the tradable permits scenario. A major advantage of the game is that it can be conducted within as little as 20 minutes and does not require that students have prior knowledge of economics or regulatory policies. This makes the game appropriate for economics and noneconomics courses alike.     

Calculating the Candy Price Index: A Classroom Inflation Experiment

In this classroom experiment, students develop a price index based on candy-purchasing decisions made by members of their class. They use their index to practice calculating inflation rates and to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the consumer price index (CPI). Instructors can use the experiment as an introduction to the topic of inflation and how it is measured. The exercise also provides a concrete example of the sources of bias in the CPI, promoting discussion of the measures the Bureau of Labor Statistics has taken to reduce bias. The experiment, including follow-up discussion, fits into a 50-minute class period. The authors and other professors have used the exercise in introductory and intermediate macroeconomics courses, in classes of 10 to 135 students.     

因特网普及环境中证券营业部的选址布局及其优化

利用横截面数据动态考察因特网普及和区域不均衡发展的竞争环境中证券公司营业部的选址和布局问题。首先分析因特网和区域因素影响区域证券交易的机理,然后利用回归分析研究因特网、区域因素以及城市特征等变量与区域证券成交规模之间的关系,再利用GIS方法等考察近年来新增证券营业部的选址布局情况。研究发现：因特网和区域经济因素对区域证券交易规模具有显著的正向影响;城市特征和城市所在的大区域与证券交易规模之间存在密切联系;实践中证券公司在选址时过于偏好省会城市、直辖市或证券交易所所在地,对竞争因素考虑不足,有必要进行调整。     

Programmed Learning-Policy Analysis: An Experiment in Teaching Principles of Economics

Darnton reports on an experiment using programmed instruction in macroeconomics. He also explains how assignments to write “position papers” on economic policies are used. An analysis of the experiment deals with the time devoted to the course by students and instructor, student understanding of economics and student attitude toward this approach. The TUCE was used as the testing instrument, and Darnton asserts that the experimental group did better than the control group on complex application questions. The experimental approach proved to be popular with the students, and the author claims that it provided for a more efficient use of faculty resources.     

中国的城市化:从空间到人口

城市空间的扩张仅仅是城市化进程加速的前提,城市社会关系的和谐、福利的公平分享才是城市化的本质所在。我国城市化在经历了空间的快速扩张之后,今后要解决的重点问题是加速人口的城市化进程,进一步协调利益分配关系,实现城市福利的分享和城市经济的可持续发展。     

城市中心区绿地系统生态承载力空间格局研究

基于植被净初级生产力的生态承载力评估方法,采用MOD17A3数据并结合分区统计、空间自相关和锡尔指数等方法,研究大连市中心区绿地系统生态承载力的空间特征、格局和机制。结果显示:大连市中心区整体NPP平均值为197.68 gC/m2,Moran’s I指数为0.73,空间差异指数为0.13;生态承载力具有"极低"和"极高"级分化的特征,聚类特征和空间分异主要表现在甘井子区;生态承载力呈现出"西高东低"的网格格局、"乡村型高城市型低"的社区格局和"内低外高"的圈层格局。文章首次分析了自然因素和人类活动共同作用下,生态承载力空间格局的作用机制,研究结论对城市绿色空间可持续发展和绿地系统建设具有重要意义。     

Teaching Nash Equilibrium and Dominance: A Classroom Experiment on the Beauty Contest

Abstract: The authors' aim in this article was to show how the use of classroom experiments may be a good pedagogical tool to teach the Nash equilibrium (NE) concept. The basic game is a version of the beauty contest game (BCG), a simple guessing game in which repetition lets students react to other players' choices and converge iteratively to the equilibrium solution. The authors perform this experiment with undergraduate students with no previous training in game theory. After four rounds, they observe a clear decreasing tendency in the average submitted number in all groups. Thus, the findings show that by playing a repeated BCG, students quickly learn how to reach the NE solution.     

基于马克思地租理论的中国城市房价形成研究

本文运用马克思地租理论分析中国城市房地产经济现象,得到结论:城市房地产价格由生产过程中凝结的抽象劳动和地租资本化的加总决定;房地产价格可转化为成本价格、平均利润、城市地租的购买价格三个部分,其中城市级差地租决定了房价趋势的形成;同时在城市的不断发展和扩张中,级差地租受单个城市规模的限制给城市房价设定了一个运行区间。可见稳定房价需拉平城市房地产区位差异并对土地价值增值部分进行收入再分配。     

人口流动导致区域差异化效应分析——基于空间经济学原理

从人口流动对区域差距影响的视角出发,运用空间经济学理论,将我国东、西部地区作为两个独立的经济体,构建了劳动力人口流动向量模型,分析了人口流动对区域差距的影响及作用机制。得出结论:人口流动对区域差距的影响呈阶段性变化。最后,结合阶段规律和当前经济危机背景提出缩小区域差距的人口流动政策建议。     

Choosing Your Object of Benevolence: A Field Experiment on Donation Options*

In a large natural field experiment, we explore the effect of providing donors with the opportunity of choosing the target country for their donations. We find that our treatment manipulation affects neither the average donation size nor the response rate. Only a small fraction of donors (3.5 percent) actually choose their object of benevolence. These donors give more than those who do not specify a recipient. However, based on previous donations, we can only provide indicative evidence that this might be a causal effect rather than a mere selection effect.     

基于区位商理论的安徽特色产业研究

应用区位商和贸易比率理论,通过对安徽各产业进行计算和分析,确定以现代农业,以煤炭、电力为主的能源产业,以汽车等交通运输设备、机械设备为主的装备制造业,以冶金、化工、建材为主的原材料产业,以农副食品加工业、饮料制造业、纺织业、服装及其他纤维制品制造业为主的食品轻纺产业,以电子信息、生物技术等为主的高新技术产业以及现代服务业为安徽的特色产业。安徽要大力发展这些具有地方特色的特色产业,实施特色产业集群发展战略,加速推进经济发展。     

Take Your Time to Grow: A Field Experiment on the Hiring of Youths

We investigate the effect of spells of no formal employment of young Germans on their chances of entering the labor market through an apprenticeship. We also study whether the potential negative effects of such spells can be mitigated by publicly provided training measures. In a field experiment, the fictitious applications of three young women were sent to firms advertising apprenticeships for the position of office manager. One application was from a fresh school‐leaver and two from applicants who had been out of school for two years, where one of them had participated in a training measure. We find that applicants who have been out of school for two years and have participated in the training are more successful than older applicants without additional training. We do not find a significant difference between older applicants with or without training and fresh school leavers. Our findings show that training measures increase the attractiveness of applicants and that the potential stigma of spells of no formal employment after school are compensated by informal work experience or age or a combination of both.     

城市化进程中沈阳城市绿地土壤有机碳储量空间分布研究

城市绿地土壤是城市绿色生态系统重要组成部分,土壤有机碳是土壤质量关键因素。在沈阳三环区域内对城市绿地土壤(0~20cm)取样269份,分析了土壤的有机碳含量及其空间分布。研究结果表明,沈阳城市绿地SOC浓度与碳密度为24.82g/kg和3.98kg/m2,高于研究区周边的郊区和农村表层土壤;SOC浓度和碳密度具有较大的变异范围,CV值达到40%以上;SOC密度与离城市核心距离呈弱的负相关性;SOC密度在不同土地利用类型中表现差异显著,工业用地SOC密度最高,达到4.99kg/m2,居住用地最低,为2.91kg/m2;城市绿地SOC储量随土壤形成时间推移而不断累积,年代越早,SOC密度越高,20世纪80年代最高,达到5.47kg/m2,21世纪10年代最低,为3.18kg/m2。沈阳城市绿地SOC储存的空间分布有以下特点：城市绿地SOC相较于郊区和农村具有一定富集性;其分布不均匀,具有镶嵌性;在各土地利用类型中分布差异性大;碳储量由城市核心向城市边缘递减。沈阳三环内绿地SOC储量为6.438×105t,获得沈阳三环内城市SOC储量空间分布图。     

成渝经济区城际轨道交通网空间布局合理性分析——基于空间经济学原理

根据中心地理论及空间经济学的基本原理,首先通过引入冰山运输成本建立了一个以重庆、川南、川东北、成都平原四个城市圈为支撑点的空间菱形经济模型,然后分析了不同的运输成本对产业集聚的影响,最后将成渝经济区城际轨道交通网的空间布局与城市圈的空间菱形模型相结合,阐释了城际轨道交通网规划的合理性。结果表明,城际轨道交通网的空间布局可降低各城市圈之间的运输成本,从而促进经济区内专业化分工和产业集聚、加快成渝城市群一体化进程。     

区域过度集聚负外部性的福利影响及对策研究——基于空间经济学方法的模拟分析

区域协调发展是建设和谐社会中的重大战略问题。文章运用空间经济理论,在包含集聚中心区和外围区的两个子区域的区域系统中,定义了受劳动力要素空间流动和区域集聚状态因子影响的区域福利函数,阐释了区域过度集聚负外部效应对区域总体福利的影响机制,计算了影响阈值,得出适度集聚是区域福利最优条件的结论,提出区域协调发展的关键在于平衡区域集聚条件的政策建议。     

空间经济研究中马克思主义与新古典两条路径的关联——基于资本逻辑与空间基本规律的比较视角

空间经济学研究的兴起,主要有两条理论路径:第一条是马克思主义政治经济学到"马克思主义地理学"的研究路径,第二条是以马歇尔、克鲁格曼等为代表的空间要素模型分析研究路径。文章认为这两条路径有内在关联,前者是关于经济空间的动力机制的理论,后者是关于经济空间运动形式的理论。空间经济的深层逻辑和具体规律互为表里,为当前中国空间经济学发展提供了启示。     

公共服务、城市规模与人才区位——基于新空间经济学理论的分析

将城市规模引入新空间经济学理论模型,探讨公共服务、城市规模对人才区位的影响机制,并且利用2011-2017年CMDS微观数据匹配244个城市数据进行实证检验。结果显示：①城市规模对公共服务影响人才区位具有非线性门槛效应,只有当城市规模满足一定门槛条件时,增加公共服务供给才能显著吸引人才流入;②全国层面的实证分析有效验证了理论预期;③分区域看,东部与中西部地区门槛条件具有异质性,东部地区人才流动呈现竞争效应,中西部地区呈现集聚效应;④分城市等级看,大城市与中小城市门槛条件差异明显,满足门槛条件时,加大中小城市公共服务供给,吸引人才效果会更显著。最后提出基于城市规模和区域异质性的公共服务供给对策。     

中国城镇建设用地投入效率的空间分异研究

基于对城镇建设用地投入效率概念与内涵的理解,从投入产出水平、区际关系、载荷容量、人地关系等视角构建评价指标,从效率水平和人工复合生态系统内在耦合协调性组织内容,并结合均方差赋权法对我国30个省（自治区、直辖市）进行实证研究。结果表明：①该评价体系既能够较为全面反映公平与效率、制度安排效应,也能用于检验区域系统内部经济—社会—生态环境的耦合协调性,实用性强;②我国城镇建设用地投入效率呈现出的特征：水平特征——粗放、低效增长,复合生态系统处在低水平的耦合协调阶段,空间特征——分异明显,其中经济效率的空间分异最为明显,而区域四分法大体呈由东往西依次递减的地理格局;③我国城镇建设用地投入效率的空间分异在一定程度上映射了国家宏观发展战略相对注重社会公平而忽视效率、政府绩效考核体系对其投入效率的影响等。