FAMILY SAFETY NETS AND ECONOMIC TRANSITION: A STUDY OF WORKER HOUSEHOLDS IN POLAND

Can Eastern European families most severely impoverished during the transition to capitalism rely on private family safety nets? This question is likely critical for the transition's success, but little is known about family networks in Eastern Europe. We analyze newly available Polish household surveys, conducted both before and after Poland's economic transition, which measure private inter-household transfers. Such transfers are large and widespread in Poland, and in many ways appear to function like means-tested public transfers. They flow from high to low-income households and are targeted to young couples, families with many children and those experiencing illness. Private transfer patterns also suggest that they are responsive to liquidity constraints. Our results from 1987 data indicate that private transfers could fill a non-trivial portion of the income gap left by unemployment. However, we also find evidence from 1992 data suggesting that family networks weakened somewhat after the transition.     

COMMUNITY AND COOPERATION: THE EVOLUTION OF COOPERATIVES TOWARDS NEW MODELS OF CITIZENS' DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC SERVICES PROVISION

The community cooperatives that are spreading today in many parts of the world are the arrival point of an evolutionary process that has seen the progressive shift of cooperatives’ focus from specific social and professional groups to society as a whole. This evolution is marked by two changes. The first was at the turn of the 19th century when there made their appearance the first community cooperatives which catered to the needs of a whole community. Among them were electric cooperatives, cooperative banks and some kinds of agricultural cooperatives. A further development relevant to the evolution of community cooperatives occurred towards the end of the last century with the enlargement of cooperatives’ aims to embrace society's benefit. From this process there emerge in total four categories of cooperatives which taken together constitute a complete classification of the cooperative universe. New community cooperatives are the off‐springs of the old ones but the picture is rather confused. The term itself is relatively new and similar institutions are named differently at different times. Moreover, though having a few basic features in common, they differ much from one another and from the old ones. To take care of this we elaborate a concept of community cooperative consistent with its evolution and the classification of cooperatives we have identified. Basic elements of the concept are community goods, territory and citizenship, which are discussed extensively with reference to factual cases. We then discuss in what way new community cooperatives differ from old ones. The paper closes with a discussion of their future prospects.     

金融地理学理论视角及中国金融地理研究

基于对国际文献和中国实际的了解和思考,从金融机构的空间结构、空间发展过程以及金融机构与环境的关系等方面分析了金融地理学的主要研究内容。主要理论问题包括地理存在论、金融变化的区域经济影响观点、区域金融系统演化模式、金融地理的路径依赖、金融全球化与地方关系等;在此基础上,从环境对金融地理影响、全球化与区域金融系统、行政格局与金融体系、金融系统与区域发展、金融企业地理5方面提出中国金融地理研究的切入点。     

国际高端航运服务业发展趋势与宁波的策略

当前国际航运服务业总体上正在由劳动密集型的下游产业向知识密集型的高端航运服务业转变,一些世界级大港纷纷转向具有高附加值的高端航运服务业。分析了国际航运服务业的发展趋势,认为国际航运重心已经向亚洲特别是中国转移,但高端航运服务中心仍然在欧洲,特别是在伦敦,而新加坡、挪威等开始建设全球海洋知识枢纽,大力推动海洋研发,以知识经济带动高端航运服务业的发展。上海要在2020年基本建成具有全球航运资源配置能力的国际航运中心,发展的重点就是高端航运服务业。在这种大背景下,作为上海国际航运中心的重要组成部分,宁波发展高端航运服务业非常有必要。文章考察了宁波高端航运服务业的发展现状,并提出发展策略。     

沪港服务输出的比较研究

随着全球经济的快速发展,服务贸易在国际经济中的地位迅速提高,并逐渐成为衡量一国或地区国际竞争力的重要标准。沪港作为中国服务贸易发展较快的两个地区,而且又是未来东亚乃至全球经济中心的潜在竞争对手,所以两者在一定程度上具有可比性。因此,从三个方面对沪港两地的服务输出比较研究,发现它们之间存在较大的差异,并从差异原因的分析中总结出两地服务输出发展的成功经验,以期为北京、广州等地提供借鉴。两地在未来关系的发展中,应相互合作,实现共赢。     

THE PROVISION OF LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICES THROUGH MIXED ENTERPRISES: THE ITALIAN CASE

ABSTRACT ** :  The rules regulating the creation of mixed enterprises companies (public-private companies) for the provision of local public services have been subjected, in Italy, to a rather complex evolution over time. The new rules introduced allow the creation of a mixed private public enterprise, with either public or private majority; in any case the private shareholder must be selected through a public tender procedure. The data seems to show that mixed enterprises have been used by municipalities as a tool that allows the exploitation of economies of scale and of scope, without necessarily losing control of the leadership and direction of the local utility. Better flexibility of mixed enterprises is also shown by the proportion of mixed enterprises acting outside the territory which is higher than the proportion of public enterprises similarly engaged. Moreover the presence of multi-service units is proportionally higher in mixed enterprises.     

PRIVATE PROVISION OF PUBLIC GOODS AND INFORMATION DIFFUSION IN SOCIAL GROUPS

I describe a dynamic model of costly information sharing where private information affecting collective‐value actions is transmitted by social proximity. Individuals make voluntary contributions toward the provision of a pure public good, and information transmission about quality of provision is a necessary condition for collective provision to take place in a stationary equilibrium. I show that unlike in the case of private goods, better informed individuals face positive incentives to incur a cost to share information with their neighbors and that these incentives are stronger and provision of the pure public good greater the smaller are individuals' social neighborhoods.     

FRAMING OF INCENTIVES AND EFFORT PROVISION

A prospect theory model combining loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity predicts that the link between incentives framing and effort is ambiguous: small penalties yield higher effort, but isomorphic contracts with large penalties decrease effort. We conduct two experiments (a framed field and a conventional lab experiment) in which economically equivalent contracts are framed as menus of either (i) bonuses, (ii) penalties, or (iii) bonuses and penalties. The experimental results confirm the main intuition of the model as subjects performed best when bonuses and penalties are combined. A follow‐up lottery experiment confirms that both loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity influenced the performance.     

湖北省生产性服务业与制造业的互动发展程度分析

基于湖北省2005年投入—产出延长表,运用直接消耗系数、影响力系数和感应度系数等产业关联指标分析了湖北省生产性服务业与制造业的互动发展程度。结果表明:从生产性服务业与制造业二者之间的直接消耗情况看,制造业不仅对传统的生产性服务业,如交通运输及仓储业的依赖性较大,而且对技术及知识密集型生产性服务业如信息传输、计算机服务和软件业等的依赖程度较高,但生产性服务业对制造业的平均直接消耗水平不高,而且明显低于制造业对生产性服务业的平均直接消耗水平;从生产性服务业的影响力系数和感应度系数及其分解来看,生产性服务业对制造业以及其他部门的拉动作用不强,同时制造业对生产性服务业发展的需求引力作用十分微弱。上述研究结论表明湖北省生产性服务业与制造业之间的互动发展程度较低。     

厦门市服务业发展特点与对策研究

在对厦门市服务业发展的特点及其成因进行深入分析的基础上,有针对性地提出了总体对策与若干具体建议。     

公共品供给的实验研究 及其未来可能的进展

传统经济学基于理性“经济人”基础,认为公地悲剧问题是个体理性选择的必然结果,公共品供给需采取与个体真实公共品偏好相兼容的激励机制,并由政府承担供给角色。实验经济学研究则提供个体异质社会偏好的稳健性证据,并在合适的惩罚、沟通交流和声誉等机制下提供诸多可以实现公共品自愿供给的实验证据,表明群体或自愿组织也可作为公共品供给主体。这些公共品实验研究为现实公共治理创新提供更为科学的偏好基础和公共治理思路。     

MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY: POLAND IN THE 1980s

This paper presents results of an examination of poverty in Poland in the 1980s. The individual welfare measure is expenditure on consumption per equivalent adult. Household equivalence scales are estimated using a quasi-exact scales trans logarithmic model. Four poverty indices are calculated. These are intended to capture the following aspects of poverty: (1) incidence, (2) relative deprivation, acid (3) social ability to eliminate poverty by income transfers. The study revealed significant changes in poverty during the investigated period, from 9 to 30 percent with persistent poverty resulting for pensioners, farmers and low educated persons.     

TOWARDS A PARADIGM OF DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION: CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND CO-PRODUCTION OF PERSONAL SOCIAL SERVICES IN SWEDEN

ABSTRACT:  Many countries in Europe are now searching for new ways to engage citizens and involve the third sector in the provision and governance of social services in order to meet major demographical, political and economic challenges facing the welfare state in the 21st Century. Co-production provides a model for the mix of both public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. Citizen participation involves several different dimensions: economic, social, political and service specific. The extent of citizen participation varies between different providers of welfare services, as too does user and staff influence. Empirical materials from a recent study of childcare in Sweden will be used to illustrate these points. However, the role of citizens and the third sector also varies between countries and social sectors. Third sector providers facilitate citizen participation, while a glass ceiling for participation exists in municipal and for-profit providers. Moreover, co-production takes place in a political context, and can be crowded-in or crowded-out by public policy. These findings can contribute to the development of a new paradigm of participative democracy.     

INFLUENCING THE PUBLIC AND EFFICIENCY IN BUREAUCRATIC PROVISION

Abstract.  In the present paper a public bureau can extract additional budgetary allocations, not only by misreporting its production cost to its oversight committee but also by 'influencing' the perceptions of the public at large. I juxtapose the bureau's ability to influence the public with its ability to misreport to the oversight committee, and find that influencing the public might support an efficient level of production by invoking a separating equilibrium. However, a pooling equilibrium involving either overproduction or underproduction of output cannot be ruled out. Accordingly, overproduction could occur even when the bureau cares only about extracting excess budget and not increasing output per se.     

关于市场决定资源配置和更好 发挥政府作用的理论说明

明确市场对资源配置的决定性作用,实际上是回归到了市场经济的本义。市场配置资源的功能不只是选择机制,还有激励机制。市场由基础性作用改为决定性作用基本含义是,市场不再是在政府调节下发挥调节作用,而是自主地对资源配置起决定性作用。确认市场对资源配置起决定性作用只是明确改革的新方向,绝不意味着一放开市场作用就能实现资源配置的高效率。秩序混乱的市场配置资源达不到帕累托最优。完善市场机制主要涉及两个方面：一是规范市场秩序,二是培育市场主体。明确市场对资源配置的决定性作用不能放大到不要政府作用,也不能放大到市场决定公共资源的配置。更好地发挥政府作用除了通过自身的改革退出市场作用的领域外,还要承担起完善市场机制建设的职能。政府行为本身也要遵守市场秩序。     

GOODS AND SERVICES IN EXCHANGE FOR GOODS AND SERVICES The Milhaud Plan

The following article, which forms the first of a series, is taken from the December, 1941, number of the English periodical "Export", the official journal of the Institute of Export (*) . It will be followed by all the other articles which go to make up the series. We thank the authors and the directors of the review for their kindness in giving us permission to reprint this series of articles. (Editor of the Annals .)     

中国农村基层治理与公共物品提供

在发展中国家,寻求最有效的社区治理方式已经成为农村发展的关键。因此,就各种治理方式进行实证评价已经刻不容缓。20世纪90年代初以来,中国农村有成千上万个村子进行了村民选举,这无疑为研究民主对农村基层公共物品提供的影响提供了良机。基于最近一次农村调查,本文就两种基层治理方式进行了比较,研究结果表明村民选举有助于增加村的收入,且主要靠企业上缴的税收。但是,私有化增加了向企业征税的难度。单靠选举不一定能增加村财务支出中公共投资的比例。只有真正实现决策权分担以后,公共支出中用于公共投资的比例才会增加。     

STRATEGIC SHIRKING: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF MULTITASKING AND SPECIALIZATION

We provide a new theory to explain why firms multitask workers instead of specializing them. Workers overperform in tasks they like and underperform in tasks they dislike to favorably influence future job assignments. Anticipating this, firms may find it optimal to commit to future multitasking to induce workers to appropriately allocate effort early in the employment relationship. We show that when the product market is volatile, so that future product prices are uncertain, the firm's ability to credibly commit to a multitasking strategy diminishes. This generates a negative relationship between multitasking and product market volatility, consistent with recent empirical evidence.