INFORMATION AND PRICE DISPERSION: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

Limited information is the key element generating price dispersion in models of homogeneous-goods markets. We show that the global relationship between information and price dispersion is an inverse-U shape. We test this mechanism for the retail gasoline market using a new measure of information based on commuter data from Austria. Commuters sample gasoline prices on their commuting route, providing us with spatial variation in the share of informed consumers. Our empirical estimates are in line with the theoretical predictions. We also quantify how information affects average prices paid and the distribution of surplus in the gasoline market.     

经济社会发展中的公害品: 理论、形式及其治理

网络谣言、食品安全事故、信息泄露与环境污染等公害品是困扰当代中国经济社会发展的重大问题。本文从公共经济学视角出发,在厘清公害品的内涵及其总体特征的基础上,对束缚当代中国经济社会发展的公害品进行了效应与危害分析。为了促进中国社会的可持续发展,必须构建规范我国公害品问题的法制保障体系和公共政策体系,明晰政府、市场和第三部门的权责界定,唯有如此,才能将公害品的负外部性限制在最小范围之内,我国社会经济发展才
能真正走出公害品困境。     

明斯基与主流经济学：渊源和分化*

在其学术生涯中,明斯基从最初主流经济学范式的追随者,逐渐转变为如今为人所知的主流经济学的批判者,因而长期以来被主流经济学所边缘化。2008年这场“大衰退”令主流经济学界“重新发现”明斯基。然而,由于明斯基所构想的经济图景或世界观、所遵循的方法论和相应的模型化表述方式以及所主张的政策含义都与主流经济学格格不入,因而纵使主流经济学研究呈现出向明斯基洞见靠拢的趋向,也注定了明斯基的思想无法被主流经济学所真正理解和吸收,以至于依旧徘徊在主流思想的边缘。     

INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY: EVIDENCE AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Drawing on the author's work, this lecture presents evidence on U.S. income and wealth inequality. It presents series for top income and wealth shares, and the distribution of economic growth by income groups. It discusses the mechanisms behind the evolution of U.S. income and wealth inequality from historical and comparative perspectives. It analyzes the role of public policy and in particular taxation in the evolution of inequality. (JEL D31, F66, J24)     

WIC PARTICIPATION AND MATERNAL BEHAVIOR: BREASTFEEDING AND WORK LEAVE

We examine the effects of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program on breastfeeding outcomes and maternal employment decisions. This research expands the existing literature using an alternative identification strategy and a broader set of outcomes. Using data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, we control for selection bias into WIC using the variation in food prices as an instrumental variable. The results of this study are robust to a number of specification and falsification tests. We find WIC decreases exclusive breastfeeding by nearly 50% and increases work leave duration by over 20%. (JEL I18, I38)     

重组并购理论与中国的实践

有效的资产重组和公司并购,能够优化企业的资源配置,提升企业的竞争能力。我国上市公司的重组并购是在我国特定的制度和政策环境下产生发展的,必须正视我国资本市场重组并购中存在的问题,鼓励实质性重组并购,这是证券监管当局必须承担的责任。     

STRESS AND SMOKING: ASSOCIATIONS WITH TERRORISM AND CAUSAL IMPACT

This study analyzes the effects of the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 terrorist attacks on stress, smoking, and smoking quit attempts using 1,657,985 observations from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Regression discontinuity results suggest that, in the fourth quarter of 2001, stress increased by nearly an extra half day per 30 days (11.9%) among ever smoking adults. In the 2 years after 9/11, smoking prevalence increased by 1.1 percentage points (2.3%) among ever smoking adults, resulting in between 950,000 and 1,300,000 adult former smokers becoming smokers again because of terrorism. The net cost to the government was between $530 million and $830 million through the end of 2003. Adults reported disproportionate stress increases based on community military participation and education. Simultaneity between smoking and stress is addressed by an instrumental variables model, providing validity to the hypothesized causal pathway between terrorism, stress, and smoking. This model suggests that an extra day of stress per 30 days causes a 3.4 percentage point increase in smoking among ever smoking adults. Results help to quantify a hidden cost of terrorism and provide a better understanding of utility maximization during periods of high stress. (JEL I12, I18)     

ECONOMICS AND ANTITRUST: RESPONSE

In responding to the preceding papers by Professors Dewey, Fink, and High, I will deal primarily with Professor Dewey because his remarks constitute the most wide-ranging critique. His remarks run the spectrum from political philosophy to price theory.     

INNOVATION AND EXPORT PERFORMANCE: ADJUSTMENT AND REMAINING DIFFERENCES IN EAST AND WEST GERMAN MANUFACTURING

Abstract

The economic situation in Germany 16 years after reunification is marked by the fading out of the adjustment process between East and West. This paper refers to this context analyzing the export behavior comparing firms in West and East Germany. Our estimates confirm a strong relationship between innovations and export performance as well as structural differences between East and West German firms. East German firms are less likely to export than firms in the West. Besides, West German medium technology firms are comparable in their export behavior to high tech firms while East German firms are more similar to the low technology sector. Labor productivity turns out to be more important in East Germany. We interpret these findings as a specialization of West German firms towards technologically-driven high-quality markets, whereas East German companies are faced with higher sunk costs and seem to operate more often in less dynamic, price-sensitive markets.     

DETERRENCE: CREDIBILITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

This paper extends the analysis of deterrence to examine terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and rogue nations. Such situations are characterized by differential pre-emptive and response capacity, in contrast to the traditional deterrence literature on nuclear superpowers, where such factors are absent. We focus on the credibility of deterrence responses to pre-emption and show that credible (subgame-perfect) responses are rarely proportional. The analysis is also extended to asymmetric deterrence scenarios whereby credibility and proportionality depend on the potential aggressor's access to conflict technology and the responder's preferences for indirect conflict vs. the status quo.     

GLOBALIZATION: CONTENTS AND DISCONTENTS

William Shakespeare's Tragedy of King Richard III, written approximately in 1592, is the story of evil acts by the detested and misshapen hunchback, Richard, who plots to sow discontent among his brother, the King, and others, and has his brother murdered along with other wicked deeds in order to gain the throne. It opens with the line, “Now is the winter of our discontent” (p. 111, ed. Wright 1936). “The Winter of Our Discontent” is also the title of John Steinbeck's (1961) novel of a man who trades his moral convictions to reclaim lost family wealth. “Globalization and Its Discontents” is the title of Joseph Stiglitz's (2002) book that critiques rigid adherence by major economic institutions—such as the International Monetary Fund—to economic orthodoxy in the promotion of globalization. (JEL F6, D72, D3, O23, O24, L17, K33)     

CORRUPTION AND POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REFORMS: A STRUCTURAL BREAKS APPROACH

In this paper we look at the impact of broad policy reforms on the levels of corruption. We use a structural break approach to identify country-specific time periods in which significant shifts in corruption levels take place. We then correlate these times of change with a set of covariates with specific focus on the impact of democratization, and trade and equity market liberalization. We find robust support for the hypothesis that episodes of reduction in corruption levels tend to be correlated with democratization and equity market liberalization.     

SHORT-TERM CONTRACTS REGULATIONS AND DYNAMIC LABOUR DEMAND: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

We present a dynamic labour demand model where we evaluate the impact of employment regulations on permanent and temporary employment. We consider three different kinds of regulations, namely firing costs, hiring costs and a constraint on temporary contracts. These regulations differently affect the size and composition of employment. The theoretical results are interpreted and questioned on the basis of empirical evidence on the employment effects of the regulation reforms that occurred in the major European countries in the period 1983–1999. The empirical analysis is based on a new set of time‐varying indicators on permanent employment protection, fixed‐term contracts and temporary agency work regulations. We find evidence in support of the hypothesis that fixed‐term contracts have been effective stepping‐stones to permanent jobs during the period under observation. On the contrary, flexible temporary agency work regulations seem to induce a substitution of permanent with temporary contracts.     

我国就业与失业的科学测量和实证研究

随着计划经济转向市场经济,我国劳动力市场出现了公布的就业和失业数据与劳动力市场实际状况不相吻合的现象,这说明我国还没有建立起一套科学的就业与失业的测量标准。因此,我们要从多维度完善我国的就业和失业测量体系。我们既要学习和吸收发达市场经济国家的经验和做法,更要正视我国作为一个发展中国家的国情,深入地研究和探讨发展中国家就业和失业测量的一些特点和规律。     

PACIFIC RIM TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT: HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENT AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Pacific Asia is deep rooted in its cultural heritage and historical background, which have set the tone for regions success. These same factors also have created rather different trading practices, compared with those of the West — practices that are less transparent and full of hidden private trade barriers.
Interdependence within the region suggests integration, but Pacific Asia has taken a course of non-exclusive cooperation rather than following the exclusive course of the European Community (EC) and of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The latter two trade blocs threaten the continued success and development of Pacific Asia. Although the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) sends relief, fostering a cooperative rather than a retaliative Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization offers the most promise.     

市场价值、生产效率与上市公司多元化经营:理论与证据

理论建模和实证分析表明,在股票市场资源配置缺乏效率的情况下,多元化经营对上市公司的市场价值和生产效率具有不同影响。多元化经营最大化了市场价值,但却显著降低了生产效率。这一发现揭示了新兴市场下多元化经营有着自身特点,它体现出一种市场机会主义的短视行为,并由此导致了公司投资扭曲和长期绩效损失。     

WEALTH AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME: PERMANENT AND TRANSITORY EFFECTS

This paper examines the permanent and transitory effects of changes in wealth, the top federal marginal income tax rate, and capital gains tax rate on the distribution of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). This paper establishes the importance of wealth in determining the distribution of AGI, and results here suggest that its effects can negate the permanent effect of a change in both tax rates. Of the two tax rates, the capital gains tax rate is the most important for AGI distribution. The marginal income tax rate is notably less important for long run behavior, but does have short run impacts.