Private Sector Involvement in Infrastructure Projects

There has been little systematic discussion of the issues associated with private involvement in infrastructure. Analysis of the relative performance of the private and public sector in different phases of infrastructure provision suggests that, in most cases, the private sector will be most efficient in the construction phase but the public sector will be best equipped to handle the risks associated with ownership. The situation is less clear-cut with respect to operation—a mixture in which core operations are undertaken by the public sector owner with peripheral operations being contracted out may be optimal in many cases.     

Public Sector Rationing and Private Sector Selection

We study the interaction between nonprice public rationing and prices in the private market. Under a limited budget, the public supplier uses a rationing policy. A private firm may supply the good to those consumers who are rationed by the public system. Consumers have different amounts of wealth, and costs of providing the good to them vary. We consider two regimes. First, the public supplier observes consumers’ wealth information; second, the public supplier observes both wealth and cost information. The public supplier chooses a rationing policy, and, simultaneously, the private firm, observing only cost but not wealth information, chooses a pricing policy. In the first regime, there is a continuum of equilibria. The Pareto dominant equilibrium is a means‐test equilibrium: poor consumers are supplied while rich consumers are rationed. Prices in the private market increase with the budget. In the second regime, there is a unique equilibrium. This exhibits a cost‐effectiveness rationing rule; consumers are supplied if and only if their cost–benefit ratios are low. Prices in the private market do not change with the budget. Equilibrium consumer utility is higher in the cost‐effectiveness equilibrium than the means‐test equilibrium.     

The Impact of Public Infrastructure on the Productivity of the Chilean Economy

The aim of this study is to assess the effect of the change in infrastructure capital on the cost structure of the Chilean economy, and thereby on productivity, differentiating between two key institutional periods. A further aim is to establish the extent to which infrastructure capital formation affects private capital. The authors use an econometric estimation of the cost elasticity of infrastructure. Conclusions indicate that an increased infrastructure capital reduces the production cost of the economy, thereby increasing productivity, mostly in the second period. In turn, especially in this latter period, infrastructure capital formation appears to assert both a positive cost‐share effect on private capital and a negative cost‐share effect on labor. These effects can be explained to a large extent by the significant differences between the institutional structures of the two consecutive periods studied.     

Are Private Sector Consumption Decisions Affected by Public Sector Consumption?

This paper looks at the interaction between public and private consumption in Australia. The results show that there is a long-run equilibrium relation between private and public consumption. However, the nature of this relation changed during the 1980s from one of complementarity to one of substitutability.     

中国公共部门劳动生产效率实证研究

借鉴Karras(2007)的实证模型,本文利用中国1988-2007年30个省、市、自治区的面板数据,对公共部门的劳动生产效率进行实证分析,结果显示:(1)中国公共部门的劳动产出弹性为0.008;(2)中国公共部门的劳动边际产出高于非公共部门;(3)中国公共部门劳动人员的显性工资存在低估。虽然中国公共部门的劳动边际产出相对于非公共部门高,但其产出弹性仍处于较低水平。本文的政策含义是:加大劳动密集型公共品供给力度,有利于提高中国整个经济的产出水平;中国非公共部门需要改变劳动力粗放投入模式,地方政府应鼓励私人部门为员工提供多元化的职业培训与技能教育,以提高其边际产出。同时,优化公务员薪酬结构,将隐性收入逐步纳入正规货币工资范围之中。     

私人部门进入降低了城市供水行业成本吗?

私人部门进入在一定程度上降低了城市供水行业的成本,但不同城市、不同私人部门之间存在一定的差异。其中,私人部门进入对地级市供水行业成本的降低效应比县级市更为显著;与国际资本进入相比,国内民营资本进入对城市供水行业成本的降低效应更为显著;私人部门进入显著降低了中西部城市供水行业的成本,但对东部城市供水行业成本的降低效应并不显著。研究结论表明,应继续坚持产权多元化的改革思路,同时与东部地区、县级市相比,更应该引导国内民营资本和国际资本进入中西部地区、地级市。     

公共基础设施投资与全要素生产率:基于异质企业家模型的理论分析

本文构建一个异质性企业家模型,以中国现实数据为基础,利用数值模拟深入考察公共基础设施投资对全要素生产率(TFP)的影响机理,同时考虑金融摩擦、劳动摩擦和其他财税政策对公共基础设施投资TFP效应的抑制作用。研究表明,公共基础设施投资对TFP具有明显的倒U型影响,即存在TFP最大化的公共基础设施投资规模。这源于公共基础设施投资影响企业家的财富积累,即自融资机制,对企业间要素配置的重要影响。信贷约束对公共基础设施投资的TFP效应影响显著(企业家面临的信贷约束越严重,公共基础设施投资对TFP的影响越大)。存贷利差的影响则较弱。减少劳动摩擦可增强公共基础设施投资的TFP效应,较大的有效基础设施服务、企业间差异性和公共消费性支出也具有类似影响,利用消费税融资可更好地发挥公共基础设施投资对TFP的促进作用。     

The Effects of Public Capital on the Growth in Spanish Productivity

The aim of the article is to provide new evidence concerning the effect of public capital on productivity growth in Spain. To this end, the article follows the growth accounting approach, which, in addition to measuring both the direct and indirect effects of public capital on the total factor productivity, allows for assessing whether there is a distinctive impact of public capital across economic sectors. The results lead to three main conclusions: (1) Public capital has a strong influence on growth when we use data from the whole economy; (2) this influence varies across sectors, being more relevant in the exposed sectors (industry) than in sheltered sectors (agriculture, construction, and services); and (3) irrespective of the definition used for public capital, these basic results remain unchanged. (JEL C30 , E62 , H54 , O47 , O52 )     

The Effects of the Defense Sector on the Productivity of Civilian Industry in the United States and the USSR

In this paper we estimate production functions in order to measure the effects of the defense sector on productivity in the civilian branches of U.S. and Soviet industry. The size of the defense sector is measured by a flow variable, annual expenditures, and a stock variable, the stock of military capital. For the United States, we use annual data from 1948 to 1985, and for the Soviet Union we use annual data from 1965 to 1987. The results of the estimation procedure provide strong support for the hypothesis that increases in the flow of defense expenditures provide a short-term spur to civilian industrial productivity in both countries during the period under investigation. The supply-side crowding-out hypothesis is also supported, and as expected, support is weaker in short-term estimates than in long-term estimates. J. Comp. Econom., December 1993, 17(4), pp. 768-785. Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233.     

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in the Health Sector when There is a Private Alternative to Public Treatment

In health economics, cost-effectiveness is defined as maximizedhealth benefits for a given health budget. When there is a privatealternative to public treatments, care must be taken when usingcost-effectiveness analysis to decide what types of treatmentsshould be included in the public program. The correct benefitmeasure is in this case the sum of health benefits to thosewho would not be treated without the public alternative andthe cost savings to those who would otherwise choose privatetreatment. In the socially optimal ranking of treatments tobe included in the public health program, treatments shouldbe given higher priority the higher are costs per treatmentfor a given ratio of gross heath benefits to costs. (JEL: H42,H51, I18)     

浅议私营企业财务管理

在市场经济的不断完善中,私营企业得到了前所未有的发展,它们不但成为各地经济增长的主力军,而且在创造税收、增加就业等方面发挥着积极作用。然而私营企业在发展过程中,仍有相当一部分企业处于“高出生与高死亡率”的状态。由于财务管理水平是影响私营企业发展的一个重要因素,因此将针对中国私营企业财务管理的有关问题进行研究,希望能有助于中国私营企业的健康发展。     

长沙市公立与民办高校人力资源成本比较研究

随着市场经济的不断发展,高校人力资源成本问题不仅关系到高校的发展,而且关系到整个国家和社会的发展。本文通过分析长沙市公立与民办高校人力资源成本现状,并进行实证研究,对公立和民办高校人力资源成本进行比较,得出公立高校人力资源成本的最主要影响因素为人力资源使用成本,而民办高校人力资源成本的最主要影响因素为人力资源保障成本和人力资源使用成本,公立和民办高校的人力资源成本构成不尽相同的结论。并从人力流动机制和人力资源成本角度提出了降低高校人力资源成本的政策建议。     

集聚经济、公共基础设施与劳动生产率——来自中国城市动态面板数据的证据

文章采用2001-2007年中国城市面板数据实证检验了集聚经济、公共基础设施与城市非农劳动生产率的关系。结果表明:在控制住其他影响因素后,一个地区的就业密度和公共基础设施对其非农劳动生产率都有着显著为正的影响,但在忽略城市公共基础设施的情况下,集聚经济的估计值明显偏高了。     

一个中国私营部门发展模型

为讨论民营化、市场化对中国私营部门发展的影响,本文根据中国企业行为模式建立了一个简单经济数学模型。该文认为,由于中国的国有企业、私营企业和其他经济实体具有偏离利润最大化的多重目标,与单纯追求利润最大化的企业比较,它们倾向于利用更多的劳动力和资本生产更多的产品,但是,它们却只能获得更低的利润甚至亏损。这是中国经济高增长低效率的原因。本文还讨论了非利润目标和“准入成本”对企业数量和规模的影响。另外,模型分析表明,企业的管理能力和企业规模之间存在匹配问题,是中国的渐进式改革成功与俄罗斯大爆炸式改革失败的部分原因