The economic theory of clubs : Some clarifications

We provide a classification of club models and relate differences in implications to differences in assumptions. Then we address two main controversies - one concerning the optimality of market provisions of public goods and their optimality and the other concerning the desirability of segregation.     

Diffusion research in the industrial setting: Some conceptual clarifications

This paper deals with some conceptual and methodological issues concerning research into the diffusion of innovations. In particular, it examines differences in the research traditions of anthropological and sociological work on the one hand, and economic research on the other, and evaluates the usefulness of each field's paradigms in the study of industrial technological change. Such differences are found to exist with respect to the appropriate measure of diffusion, the role of information flows in the spread process, and the meaning of resistance to change. It concludes that explanations of diffusion processes in industry couched in terms of economic variables form a more solid basis for purposes of technological forecasting and planning.     

Public and private inputs in aggregate production and growth: a cross-country efficiency approach

In a cross section of OECD countries, we replace the macroeconomic production function by a production possibility frontier, total factor productivity being the composite effect of efficiency scores and possibility frontier changes. We consider, for the periods 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 one output – GDP per worker – and three inputs – human capital, public physical capital per worker and private physical capital per worker. We use a semi-parametric analysis, computing Malmquist productivity indexes, and we also resort to stochastic frontier analysis. Results show that private capital is important for growth, although public and human capital also contribute positively. A governance indicator, a nondiscretionary input, explains inefficiency. Better governance helps countries to achieve a better performance. Nonparametric and parametric results coincide rather closely on the movements of the countries vis-à-vis the possibility frontier and on their relative distances to the frontier.     

Public inputs and child schooling in Brazil

Household data from a one percent sample of the 1970 Brazilian census are used to analyze the effect of public inputs, i.e., the ‘supply’ of schooling, on children's school attainment in Brazil. The household data are combined with measures of school availability and quality derived directly from the same census data; the measures are based on the income and education of schoolteachers in each of 169 different areas of the country. Elasticities of demand with respect to these public inputs are estimated; these elasticities are high in both rural and urban areas. In urban areas, the positive effect of public inputs is greater for children from households with poorer and less-educated parents. In rural areas, the positive effect of public inputs is greater, if anything, for children from households that are relatively better off, at least compared to other rural households.     

The concept of routines: some clarifications

The concept of an ‘organisational routine’ is centralto the evolutionary theory of the firm. However, the conceptitself is still unclear. There is not much consensus in theliterature regarding its dimensions, its characteristics andits functions. Despite increasing use of the concept, not muchconceptual progress has been made in recent years, as remarkedby several of the leading writers on the topic. The objectiveof this paper is to contribute to further theoretical developmentof the concept of ‘organisational routine’, andto elaborate the research agenda on organisational routines.Both of these measures contribute to clarifying the conceptand enabling its application in empirical research in the socialsciences, thereby unlocking its potential for understandingorganisations and organisational change. Several problems forconceptual progress are identified. Implications for the conceptualisationof ‘organisational routines’, and for the researchagenda on organisational routines are drawn.     

Risk and savings: A taxonomy

The effect of risk on savings depends not just on preferences but also on the type of risk. This helps to explain why the empirical literature reports positive effects for developed countries but negative effects for developing countries.     

Postwar Reconstruction: Some Insights from Public Choice and Institutional Economics

A successful reconstruction is characterized by a widespread coordination problem, combined with potential pockets of conflict. We analyze the array of relationships that take place in the reconstruction process – political, economic and social – by considering under what circumstances they are situations of conflict or coordination. Historical attempts at reconstruction provide further understanding of how to achieve success.JEL Classification: N40, O1, P11, Z13.     

Public good provision rules and income distribution: Some general equilibrium calculations

A central issue in the analysis of public goods is the relationship between the optimal provision level and the distribution of income. Theoretical research has stressed the conditions under which the optimum is independent of the distribution of income. Here we focus on numerical analysis of more policy-relevant concerns. Specifically, to what extent is a given redistribution of income likely to affect the optimal level of public good supply? And how significant are the welfare costs of not adjusting public good supply when income distribution changes? We use an applied general equilibrium (AGE) model of the Australian economy and public sector to generate numerical estimates of the impacts of redistributive policies on these variables. Results suggest that the traditional separation of allocation and distribution in determining the level of public good supply may be a justifiable empirical simplification, except where very dramatic redistributions are involved.     

构建公共财政下税收体系的若干思考

公共财政是我国财政体制改革的必然选择,为了满足公共财政职能的需要,我国目前的税收体制必须作相应地调整,具体做法应该是：合理确定税收收入总规模,完善分税制改革,建立一个“宽税基、低税率、严征管”的新的税收体系。     

定价听证应当厘清的几个认识问题——兼议如何实施新修订的《政府制定价格听证办法》

新修订后的《政府制定价格听证办法》对定价听证的性质、范围、听证会中的角色、时间要求、听证结果的反馈等都作了新的规定。正确理解和掌握这些新的规定对有效贯彻实施新的定价听证办法是至关重要的。     

Incentives and public inputs

Considered in this paper is a mechanism to coordinate the decision to provide a public input to a group of firms designed to overcome the ‘free rider’ problem. The coordinating agent relies on information communicated by the firms and it is shown that the mechanism provides an incentive for each firm to send truthful information so that an optimal quantity of the public input will be provided.     

Validation of a taxonomy of ambulatory nursing practice

Ambulatory care is a complex and challenging nursing specialty. This survey of 33 ambulatory nursing administrators addressed the roles and responsibilities of nurses in ambulatory care settings.     

Some Insights on Religion from Public Goods Economics

This paper provides a theoretical discussion on what analytical insight is gained by viewing religion as both a pure and impure public good. It suggests that organized religion converts a public good into an excludable club good and can be viewed as providing both an access regime for this club good as well as acting as an intermediary. Interestingly, this drives a wedge between the ardent and moderate adherents of a religion. It also presents an analysis of trust in social relationships when organized religion works to provide a credible signal of trustworthiness.     

Some Insights on Religion from Public Goods Economics

This paper provides a theoretical discussion on what analytical insight is gained by viewing religion as both a pure and impure public good. It suggests that organized religion converts a public good into an excludable club good and can be viewed as providing both an access regime for this club good as well as acting as an intermediary. Interestingly, this drives a wedge between the ardent and moderate adherents of a religion. It also presents an analysis of trust in social relationships when organized religion works to provide a credible signal of trustworthiness.