The deregulation of Japan's electricity industry

Japan's electricity industry is now in the process of regulatory reform. This industry consists of three sectors: generation, transmission, and distribution. The reform phases out the entry barrier in the first sector, while keeping the latter two as they were with a rate-of-return (ROR) regulation. To simulate this regulatory reform, we employ a computable general equilibrium model, which distinguishes these three sectors and is equipped with the ROR regulation and substitution among various energy sources. Our numerical simulations show a potential for significant welfare improvements and substitution among energy inputs even if the reform scope is limited.     

The impact of casinos on employment across sectors in Macau

This paper investigates a contemporary issue of Macau concerning the impact of casinos on other sectors’ employment. The long-run and short-run effects are investigated using data-oriented econometric models. In the long-run, the casino boom leads to an employment expansion in other sectors. However, the effect is insignificant in the short-run. Simulations from a theoretical model disclose the pure crowding-out effect of the increased casino employment on other sectors with other things the same as the situation of 2003. During the period 2004–2008, the crowding-out effect is more serious on the non-casino service sector than on the industrial sector. Results from both types of models shed light on policy options.     

Assessing the gains from deregulation in Japan's international telecommunications industry

The Japanese government terminated the monopoly of international telecommunications service by Kokusai Denshin Denwa (KDD) as part of the regulatory reform in telecommunications in 1985. Two new carriers entered the market in 1989. In defending its market share, KDD intensified cost reduction efforts and accepted lower profitability in order to carry out a series of sharp rate reductions. I have assessed the size of the net welfare gain associated with the deregulation. Deregulation brought about a 22.2% fall in KDD's unit cost for the eight-year period ending in 1992. Because this efficiency gain was fully passed along to telephone users in the form of lower rates, the corresponding increment of consumer surplus was of significant size, equivalent to 25.6% of total international telephone call revenues in 1992. (JEL L95, O53)     

The impact of targeted partnership grants on minority employment

This paper assesses the relative impact of the major design components of the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) targeted partnership development initiative on minority employment in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA). Data are drawn from records obtained from the Department of Housing and Urban Development of completed UDAG projects between 1978 and 1988 for the Pittsburgh PMSA. The results suggest that targeting geographic projects by leveraging private investment in a central city does not yield a significant increase in minority employment. Moreover, the geographic emphasis of UDAG projects do not exhibit an ability to increase minority employment. These findings support the benefit capitalization and ecological fallacy arguments, which propose that the benefits of targeted partnerships (i.e., employment) is shifted away from the original beneficiaries. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these findings and directions for future research.     

The impact of foreign direct investment on wages and employment

This paper studies the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI)on wages and employment When labor-management bargaining isindustry-wide, two effects of FDI are identified; the collusioneffect and the threat-point effect. It is shown that: (i) FDIalways reduces the negotiated wage; (ii) FDI reduces union employmentand the competitive wage if die union cares more about employmentthan wages or is equally concerned about employment and wages.However, if labor-mingement bargaining is firm-specific andunionization is industry-wide, then the above effects of FDIare substantially reduced.     

International price discrimination: The pharmaceutical industry

It is generally asserted that price discrimination is a common feature of the international pharmaceutical market, resulting in unnecessarily high medical costs to developing countries, since it is pharmaceuticals that are the largest component of their health care expenditures. However, little comprehensive empirical research has been carried out to test this hypothesis. This article compares the prices of identical packages of pharmaceutical products for 32 countries for the year 1975 and examines which factors contribute to thehuge price differences. A strong positive relationship between price level and per capita GDP is found, a 10% increase in per capita income being associated with on average 8% higher drug prices. The implementation of direct price control measures by the government results on average in a 20% price reduction, while government policies such as bulk purchasing through a centralized government agency, promotion of the use of generics and, to a lesser, extent excluding patent protection seem to be sucessful in lowering the general price level of pharmaceuticals. These results suggest that the pharmaceutical industry charges what the market “will bear”.     

Evaluate the impact of deregulation within the European Union on the airline operations

Since the first major breakthrough of regulation in June 1984 in Europe, many elements such as customer service level have been affected significantly in airline operation. This paper will represent how customer service level has been influenced in the management of airline operation, which will be focus on three scopes. Above all, the quality of customer service level become much more important than before related to the competitive advantage. Beside, due to the market change a lot, the passengers needs become a crucial factor for the measurement and improvement of customer service level. Finally, the improvement and diversification of product symbolize the dramatic changed of customer service level.     

基于公平就业的反歧视策略探讨

劳动力市场就业歧视集中表现为就业机会、劳动报酬和就业保障等方面的歧视,而引起歧视的原因主要在于制度上、监督上和法律上的缺失。因此,展开反歧视行动,必须从这三方面入手,设计合理的制度,政府切实监督市场运行,法律上制定更有操作性的条款,使得劳动力市场的歧视行为得到有效控制。     

The impact of mandated employment verification systems on state‐level employment by foreign affiliates

Faced with diminishing prospects for a comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level, states have started to take immigration matters into their own hands. For example, many states have been mandating the use of employment verification (E‐Verify) systems to confirm work eligibility. Some of the consequences of these E‐Verify mandates remain unclear. In this article, we focus on the effect of anti‐illegal immigrant laws on foreign investment. Specifically, we exploit the state‐level and time variation in the enactment and implementation of E‐Verify mandates to explore if punitive measures against the firm impact states' ability to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). We quantify FDI through the employment by U.S. affiliates owned by foreign firms. Our results suggest that E‐Verify mandates adversely affect employment among these majority‐owned U.S. affiliates and, therefore, work against states trying to attract FDI.     

The impact of female employment on male salaries and careers: evidence from the English banking industry, 1890–1941

The late nineteenth‐ and early twentieth‐century British labour market experienced an influx of female clerical workers. Employers argued that female employment increased opportunities for men to advance; however, most male clerks regarded this expansion of the labour supply as a threat to their pay and status. This article examines the effects of female employment on male clerks using data from Williams Deacon's Bank covering a period 25 years prior to and 25 years subsequent to the initial employment of women. It is shown that, within position, women were substitutes for younger men, but not for senior men. In addition, the employment of women in routine positions allowed the bank to expand its branch network, creating new higher‐level positions, which were almost always filled by men.     

Minimum wage and employment in the fast food industry

Recent empirical studies on the impact of minimum wage legislation generate results that are inconsistent with conventional economic theory. Employing a methodology that compares affected with unaffected areas, these investigations indicate that employment levels are not adversely affected by the imposition of a minimum wage. Two studies in particular focus on the fast food industry. Although one study has come under attack for improperly measuring employment, an interesting theoretical question remains. This paper derives the demand for labor function of a fast food outlet facing price and profit margin constraints dictated by the company. The results of a minimum wage constraint are consistent with current empirical literature.     

破解中国就业歧视:基于美国的经验分析

依然处于经济转轨时期的中国,就业歧视业已成为我们不得不面对的一个普遍问题。就业歧视对我国正在构建的和谐社会是一种严重挑战。建立我国的反就业歧视体制,是目前我国亟待加以解决的一件任务。在与就业歧视斗争方面,美国长达45年的经验为我国提供了有益的启示。基于美国的经验与我国国情,我国需要:政府高层对就业歧视问题予以重视、加快反就业歧视立法、建立中央政府反就业歧视专门机构、对就业歧视现象予以严厉处罚,以及向社会广泛宣传有关反就业歧视法律法规。     

The impact of demand management policies on black vs. white employment

This article uses vector autoregression analysis to examine the relative impacts on black and white employment growth of monetary and fiscal actions. It was found that the employment responses to anticipated policy actions, while significant, were generally short-lived, with the exception of the effects of anticipated money growth on white employment. The influences of unanticipated policy changes are of a longer duration. The predominant finding in which black employment growth responded differently from white employment growth was in response to a monetary shock. The black employment response was sharply negative while the white employment response was a gradual increase over nine quarters. The results indicate that this difference occurred only during the 1980s and not in the 1970s and suggests that the effects of bank failures and credit rationing during this period may have significantly hurt minority employment opportunities.     

The impact of foreign direct investment on export structure and employment generation

The literature on foreign direct investment often treats its determinants and consequences independently. This is particularly so for empirical studies. The purpose of this paper is to consider both aspects simultaneously and to provide some empirical evidence on the nature of foreign investment and its impact on export structure and employment generation. The method consists of a model which includes both industry-specific and location-specific determinants of foreign direct investment in the export sector and their effects on the employment generating capacity of individual manufacturing industries. It is estimated for three-digit S.I.C. industries in Puerto Rico in 1979. The results suggest that Puerto Rico's export sector consists of US based firms producing on a large scale. These firms are primarily attracted to the island by relatively higher profits than on the mainland. Low wage labor is not considered an important inducement to foreign investment in Puerto Rico. The labor intensity of the island's export sector lags behind that of comparable countries due to the capital-intensive nature of its principal exports. The island's manufacturing employment can be more effectively increased by altering the composition of exports than by inducing present firms to hire more workers.     

论现代服务业的隐性就业增长机制

某一产业的发展对就业的促进不仅在于产业本身吸纳劳动力，还在于本产业的发展能促进其他产业的就业，这种隐性的就业机制是产业促进就业的重要方式，应该引起足够的重视。本文根据现代服务业的特性，从乘数效应、产业关联、技术进步和劳动力供需配对四个方面分析了现代服务业的隐性就业机制。