Comparing Time Series Cross-Section Model Specifications: The Case of Welfare State Development

In recent years, an impressive number of pooled time series (TSCS) cross-section models have been estimated in order to test hypotheses on welfare state development. Although most of these models share several of the variables, they can often be distinguished by the model specification adopted. This begs the question: what is the appropriate specification for modeling welfare state development? In order to answer this question some leading specifications are evaluated with respect to their ability to meet the theoretical assumptions about the theory of welfare state evolution in addition to the econometric canons on panel analysis. The main conclusions of this paper are the following. First, all specifications in levels are econometrically unfounded because most of the variables typically used for analyzing this topic cannot be considered to be stationary. Second, although a first difference model performs better from an econometric point of view, it is unable to test the hypothesized long-term relationships underlying welfare state dynamics. Third, and more importantly, the single equation error correction model represents the best pooled TSCS specification for modeling welfare state development since it is able tocapture long-run effects even in the presence of nonstationary processes.     

Italian Lessons on the Welfare State

The growth of government in Italy provides a stark warning of the dangers of the spirolling costs of the welfare state. Antonio Martino Professor of Monetary History and Policy at the University of Rome, examines how the machinery of the state develops its own momentom and wams that the Italian example suggests democratic govement may be imperilled unless measures are taken to tome Leviathan.     

试论环境公益诉讼

环境公益诉讼作为一种主要调整环境问题凸现引起的法律关系而设立的专项诉讼制度,因环境公益诉讼有其明确的价值目标、理论支撑和现实土壤而具有可行性。因此,笔者拟在本文中浅析我国构建环境公益诉讼的可行性。     

Productivity and Welfare

Technical change is generally characterized by a rate and biases, both evaluated for given producer prices. This paper examines the potential discrepancy between this rate and the corresponding rate of consumer welfare change as measured by Allais distributable surplus. We postulate a general equilibrium context with various market failures (taxes, quotas, imperfect competition, and “poorly priced” commodities), and use comparative statics to express the rate of welfare change in terms of the rate and biases of the technical change. An elementary simulation model of a taxed economy suggests that the rate of welfare change may differ from the rate of technical change by as much as 50% under plausible circumstances.     

Labor Force and Welfare Program Participation: The Effects of Welfare

A bstract This research examines the quantitative impacts of welfare program characteristics and individual characteristics on both the labor force and welfare participation decisions of low-income females with children . The participation decisions are estimated jointly as a bivariate probit model using data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey for the years 1979 to 1990, inclusive. These data allow the estimation of the precise behavioral impacts of welfare. The main empirical findings are that effective welfare guarantee levels and the effective welfare tax rate on unearned income both significantly affect the probability of labor force and welfare program participation, but that such impacts are very small in magnitude. Implications for policy are discussed.     

标准化活动的福利效应——研究综述与展望

在经济全球化的背景下,标准已成为影响国际贸易的重要因素之一,而标准化活动的福利效应也正逐渐成为受人关注的研究领域.文章首先分别从消费者、厂商以及国家政府的角度分析了标准的福利效应;在此基础上,从促进和阻碍两个方面重点讨论了在国家层面上标准化活动的福利效应,并强调了效应的条件性;最后文章指出了本领域的研究中需要加强和补充的方面.     

The Politics of Welfare

People must be given the maximum opportunities to opt out of state provision-both consumers and providers. Rational criticism of state welfare, including the historical evidence, should be encouraged. And the family, charities, churches and voluntary associations should be seen as the mostappropriate moral outlet for compassion.     

Welfare migration in Europe

The enlargement of the European Union has increased concerns about the role of generous welfare transfers in attracting migrants. This paper explores the issue of welfare migration across the countries of the pre-enlargement European Union and finds a significant but small effect of the generosity of welfare on migration decisions. This effect, however, is still large enough to distort the distribution of migration flows and, possibly, offset the potential benefits of migration as an inflow of mobile labour into countries with traditionally immobile native workers.     

Sweden's Crumbling Welfare State

The 'Social Democracy' of Sweden is commonly offered as a model for Europe and the West. Four Swedish authors combine to demonstrate the accelerating failure of the Swedish welfare state and the disillusion revealed by former adherents and advocates in Swedish industry and academia.     

生产要素选择与社会福利关系的研究

通常企业偏爱价格低的生产要素,因为低价生产要素更加有助于企业实现生产成本最小化。但是,企业的生产不仅产生企业私人收益而且也可能带来外部不经济,这些都会影响社会福利的增长。为此,我们通过构建价格函数以及相应的社会福利函数,导出兼顾企业收益和环保收益的要素价格及生产能力,并最终归纳出生产要素的四种模式,希望能为政府决策提供参考。     

也议自产产品用于非货币性福利的会计处理

企业以自产产品作为非货币性福利发放给职工的会计处理在业界存在多种处理方法,使得会计工作人员在处理该业务过程出现疑义,因此对该业务的探讨显得更加重要。本论文主要采用理论综述和多角度对比分析的方法,对自产产品用于非货币性职工薪酬的经济业务进行深入分析。表达一些观点,希望能对会计核算理论有点帮助。     

Big Business and Community Welfare

A bstract .   Building on research published by C. Wright Mills and Melville Ulmer in 1946 , the relationships among community welfare and civic engagement, the independent middle class, and big business are examined. Manufacturing-dependent counties are the units of analysis. Partial correlation analysis is used to identify the effects of the independent and mediated effects of big business, civic engagement, and the independent middle class on community welfare. Results show that a local economy organized around smaller-scale, diversified enterprises has more favorable outcomes than one dominated by one or more large corporations.