Labour Market Adjustment and Intra‐Industry Trade: The Effects of Association on the Hungarian Food Industry

The structure of Hungary’s food trade expansion over the period 1995–2003 and its implications for labour market adjustment are examined. The contributions of the paper are threefold. First, we test the sensitivity of results to the choice of measurement and their implications for the results. Second, we introduce more industry‐specific control variables. Third, we distinguish the short‐ and long‐run adjustment effects. Our results provide some support for the smooth‐adjustment hypothesis of intra‐industry trade. Estimations confirm that industry‐specific variables may have a significant effect on adjustment costs.     

Ex‐ante Evaluation of Policy Measures: Effects of Reward and Punishment for Fertiliser Reduction in Palm Oil Production

Palm oil production creates negative externalities, e.g. through intensive fertiliser application. Policies to limit externalities need an effective, sustainable and efficient measure We use a business simulation game in a framed field experiment in Indonesia to test ex‐ante different incentives for reducing such negative externalities. This setting allows inclusion of adequate contextual features, required for reasonable ex‐ante evaluation of policy measures. The different designs of the test incentives (either a reward or punishment) varied in their magnitude and probability of occurrence but with constant effects on expected income. Results show that participants react differently to these incentives, indicating that the design can contribute significantly to effectiveness, sustainability or efficiency. A high reward with a low probability was found to be the most effective and sustainable incentive. Moreover, for the most efficient design, a low and certain reward is indicated.     

民国时期商检新政的推行与贸易危机应对--以出口蛋品为考察中心

商品检验是国际贸易中不可或缺的重要环节。20世纪初,我国蛋品出口数量迅速增长,由此引发的商品纠纷也愈加频繁,而检验环节几乎缺失。1928年南京国民政府颁布《商品出口检验暂行规则》,次年成立官方机构,开始实施自主检验。其中包括对蛋品建立出口标准,科学严格地执行检验;深入蛋品生产加工环节进行改良指导;主导实施蛋业救济等。这一过程不仅有效地提高了蛋品质量,减少贸易失利因素,而且对新旧变革期的蛋业及相关行业发展,增加我国对外贸易中的话语权都有重要作用。但由于战争和检验本身的不足,南京国民政府的检政实践最终未能完全化解蛋业危机。     

Home Bias in Primary Agricultural and Processed Food Trade: Assessing the Effects of National Degree of Uncertainty Aversion

This study investigates the effects of national degrees of uncertainty aversion (unfamiliarity avoidance) on the magnitude of bias towards domestic products rather than imports. The empirical analysis is implemented for primary agricultural and processed food products, using a panel dataset covering trade between and within OECD countries. Primary agricultural products are often blended and associated with reference prices. Conversely, processed food products exhibit higher levels of product differentiation. The empirical results confirm expectations by emphasizing the magnifying effects of uncertainty aversion on home bias in the case of processed food products but not in the case of primary agricultural products. These magnifying effects are primarily associated with processed food products destined for final household consumption. Other results reveal significant variations between different countries (based on geo‐economic and national income categories). Our results also indicate that home bias and uncertainty aversion effects on home bias have not decreased over time. The empirical results remain robust under different estimation methods.