An Index Number Method for Estimating Scale Economies and Technical Processes Using Time-series of Cross-section Data: Sources of Total Factor Productivity Growth for Japanese Manufacturing, 1964–1988

Sample multicollinearity often makes it difficult to estimate returns to scale. We present an index number method to overcome potential multicollinearity problems when the production function is homogeneous of degree k . We apply our method to estimate empirically the effects of returns to scale and technical progress on growth in total factor productivity (TFP) using establishment data for Japanese manufacturing industries. We find that, while significant scale economies exist in many manufacturing industries, the TFP growth in the last twenty-five years is attributable primarily to technical progress. This finding also validates the current practice of assuming constant-returns-to-scale production functions in macroeconometric modelling.
JEL Classification Numbers: C43, D24, 030.     

Environmental regulations,induced R&D,and productivity: Evidence from Taiwan's manufacturing industries

This paper examines whether stringent environmental regulations induce more R&D and promote further productivity in Taiwan. Using an industry-level panel dataset for the 1997–2003 period, empirical results show that pollution abatement fees, a proxy for environmental regulations, is positively related to R&D expenditure, implying that stronger environment protection induces more R&D. On the other hand, pollution abatement capital expenditures do not have a statistically significant influence on R&D. Further evaluation of the influence of induced R&D by environment regulations on industrial productivity shows a significant positive association between them. This finding supports the Porter hypothesis that more stringent environmental regulations may enhance rather than lower industrial competitiveness.     

Informal Insurance Arrangements with Limited Commitment: Theory and Evidence from Village Economies

Recent work on consumption allocations in village economies finds that idiosyncratic variation in consumption is systematically related to idiosyncratic variation in income, thus rejecting the hypothesis of full risk-pooling. We attempt to explain these observations by adding limited commitment as an impediment to risk-pooling. We provide a general dynamic model and completely characterise efficient informal insurance arrangements constrained by limited commitment, and test the model using data from three Indian villages. We find that the model can fully explain the dynamic response of consumption to income, but that it fails to explain the distribution of consumption across households.     

Overeducation and Undereducation and their Effect on Earnings: Evidence from Hong Kong, 1986–1996

The expansion of the higher education sector and the structural changes in the Hong Kong economy in the late 1980s raise the issue of the incidence of overeducation in the Hong Kong labor market. Using the 1991 Hong Kong Census, and the 1986 and 1996 Hong Kong By‐census data, the present study finds that the incidence of overeducation in Hong Kong is only a temporary phenomenon. The rate of return to education increased, while the premium to overeducation decreased, between 1986 and 1996. It also finds that there is a tradeoff relation between education and experience.     

The Behaviour of Banking Stocks During the Financial Crisis and Recessions. Evidence from Changes‐in‐Changes Panel Data Estimations

This paper examines the impact of the financial crisis and economic recessions on bank shares compared to the overall stock market index for 18 OECD countries from 1993 to 2015. The empirical methodology utilizes the changes‐in‐changes approach. We compare and contrast the returns of the banking stock price index (treatment group) in each country with their general stock price index (control group), which experiences smaller changes. Our results suggest that bank returns on average perform significantly worse than that of the general stock price index during recessions. In addition, we also find significantly greater volatility in bank share returns.     

Causal Links Between Financial Activity and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from a Cross–Country Analysis, 1970–1990

To clarify the causal links between financial activity and economic growth, a series of path models is estimated. It is shown that during the 1970s and 1980s finance was predominantly a supply–leading determinant of economic growth. The data suggest, however, that there has been a structural change and that from about 1975–80, finance was far less beneficial – and possibly even detrimental – to growth.     

基于灰色关联理论的产业结构与经济协同发展的实证分析——以江西省为例

运用灰色关联分析方法对江西省产业结构和以人均GDP为表征的经济发展两项指标的协同关系进行实证分析,在没有排除指标序列初始值影响的情况下,三次产业结构与经济发展间的灰色绝对关联度趋于相似;进一步实证分析江西省三次产业与GDP之间的灰色综合关联度,发现第三产业对江西省经济增长的作用最为明显,证明现阶段江西省经济发展正步入正常的经济演化轨迹。这一分析结论再次佐证了传统经济理论中关于不同经济阶段三次产业贡献度演变规律的合理性。研究结论可以为中西部其他省份产业结构变迁以促进经济发展提供典型经验。