Estimates and Determinants of Armington Elasticities for the U.S. Food Industry

This paper provides estimates of elasticities of substitution between domestic and imported goods for 40 4-digit S.I.C. food manufacturing industries and explains the inter-industry differences among these coefficients in terms of industry sectoral characteristics. The results show that there is a wide range of variation among such elasticities and that the intensity of each industrys percentage of output sold to final consumers, foreign direct investment, expenditures on advertising and the existence of import quotas affect the degree of substitutability between domestic and foreign goods in the face of a relative price change.     

谈美国的经济现象与美元的财富效应

众所周知，美国是世界上经济实力最强的国家，同时也是贸易逆差最大的国家。那么，长期以来美国的巨额贸易逆差与经济增长却能同时并存，依然维持着美国经济的强势，这在世界上也是绝无仅有的经济现象。这里尽管原因很多，但从国际金融的角度分析，笔者赞同这样一种观点，即美元作为国际上流通量最大、流通范围最广的币种，其货币的特殊利益所带来的财富效应，已成为支撑美国经济发展的重要因素。现在，我们暂且不从理论上进行探讨，而只对美国经济现象的一系列数字加以分析，就会发现其中的奥妙，值得深入思考。在国际金融领域中，美国的国…     

美国海关

1776年,美利坚合众国宣布独立.然而人们的兴奋还未退去,年轻的美国就发现自己正处于破产的边缘:没有税收没有经济来源、财政十分紧张.政府不得不严肃面对这个问题,并紧急提上日程.终于,第一界国会讨论通过了乔治·华盛顿总统于1789年7月4日签署的关税行动草案,决定对进口美国的货物实施征税.美国海关正是在这个时候被正式提上日程.这份议案被当时的传媒界称为美国的"第二个独立宣言".四周之后,即1789年的7月31日,美国海关及其口岸正式建成了.     

Retaining and engaging older workers: A solution to worker shortages in the U.S.

Over the next 20 years, many organizations will experience significant shortages of skilled workers. At the same time, because of longer lifespans and a gradual rise in what society has considered the traditional retirement age of 65, older workers will represent a growing proportion of the American workforce. For a variety of reasons, many of these older workers desire to continue working and, if retained and engaged, they constitute a significant labor source for mitigating the emerging shortages of skilled workers. However, many organizations are not prepared to take advantage of this demographic shift; some even generate barriers that impede the retention and engagement of older workers. In this article, we identify a variety of ways in which organizations can retain and engage older workers to meet their staffing needs and enhance organizational performance. We also discuss the relationship of these proposals to prominent theories of motivation in management.     

Segmenting U.S. firms for export development

In attempting to aid firms in their exporting efforts, various segmentation approaches have been developed by government agencies and research groups. Each of these segmentation schemes aims at the identification of specific export needs within different groups of firms. The four major approaches suggested in the literature propose to differentiate firms into groups based on the level of international activities, managerial attitudes, size, and service orientation of firms. The research presented in this article investigates these four segmentation approaches by applying them to common data collected from small and medium sized U.S. manufacturing firms and investigating their effectiveness in differentiating among groups of firms. The results indicate that the differentiation of firms according to their level of international activities is the most effective one of the four approaches investigated. Subsequently, various specific needs of exporting firms are presented and a redirection of current export promotion efforts is suggested.     

U.S. seeking additional avenues for investment

In the lead-up to the first China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue （SAED）, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has said it will press Beijing to transform its domestic economic structure and open its doors wider to foreign investment.     

Evaluative criteria for purchasing leisurewear: Taiwanese and U.S. students in a U.S. university

The purpose of this research was to provide exploratory information relating to the young consumer market in terms of purchase criteria for leisurewear. Data were obtained from 105 Taiwanese and 126 U.S. students at a major mid-western U.S. university. Direct hand-in questionnaires were employed to obtain a higher usable questionnaire rate. Purchase criteria used for this survey were price, style, brand, fabrication, size/fit, media exposure, colour, country of origin, and quality. Several factors under each criterion were provided. Students were asked to rank the importance of each criterion/factor. Results indicated that much similarity existed between these two groups of students in purchasing leisurewear. However, U.S. students rated highest (in descending order) price, size/fit, style and quality while Taiwanese students ranked highest (in descending order) price, style, quality and size/fit.     

中国对美出口与美国GDP增长的相关性分析

本文利用1994年到2002年中国对美出口的季度数据与同期美国GDP增长率来计算并分析其相关性,两者呈现较强的负相关性。主要原因有:美国经济衰退后,居民收入水平下降,从而转向中国产品的消费;中国入世效应的体现;中关两国这些年对产品结构进行重大调整后,使两国产品的互补性提高;我国在通关税收等方面采取了重大改革等。故我国要进一步调整产业结构和产品结构,吸引外国跨国公司到中国投资高新技术产业,扩大从美国的进口等。     

An Inquiry into the Effects of U.S. Multinationals on U.S. Intraindustry Trade

Abstract

This study is among the first to examine the relations and interrelations among variables that measure the activities of U.S. multinational enterprises and their affiliates through the use of data that has recently become available. None of the results seem to contradict, and a large number seem to corroborate many hypotheses of contemporary international trade and global marketing theory. An important finding is that a strong gross complementarity between the variables exists which results in the values of these variables increasing simultaneously. Hence, the levels of intraindustry and international trade also increase simultaneously. However, it is found that net substitution relations exists between a number of pairs of the variables considered.     

The Determinants of Being Unbanked for U.S. Immigrants

Random‐effects binary choice models are estimated to identify the attributes that influence the likelihood that immigrants are unbanked. This study finds that the likelihood to be unbanked is higher for immigrants with less education, poverty‐level income, or a larger family but lower for immigrants with greater net worth or higher income. Among immigrant groups, Mexican and other Latin American immigrants have the highest rates of being unbanked. Programs aimed at helping immigrants move into the financial mainstream may benefit from taking into account the differences in socioeconomic attributes and migration experiences of specific populations.     

论美国国会与对外贸易法的制定与执行

在美国三权分立政体下,对外贸易法律的制定和执行是国会、总统交互作用的复杂过程。国会一方面通过授权总统扩大自由贸易;另一方面又建立完善的进口救济制度来平衡贸易保护主义的利益。国会还把相当的权力委托给国际贸易法院由其行使司法审查权,防止行政机关滥用授权。美国贸易政策的制订权往往是在行政部门和立法部门之间进行分配,法院通常奉行"司法克制"的态度,通常避免就国会和总统之间在对外政策领域的权力关系问题进行裁决。但其一旦决定介入,必然成为最终的决定性因素。     

The Retail Travels of the U.S. Greenback: A Comparative Study of Currency Substitution Along the U.S.-Canadian and U.S.-Mexican Borders

This currency substitution study explores the extent of retail firm-level U.S. dollar acceptance in Canada and Mexico. Employing a stratified random sampling approach of retail business in the border region, results demonstrate that all Mexican firms (N = 300/300) and nearly all Canadian (N = 257/261) firms accept the U.S. dollar in retail transactions. Of greater interest is the difference between firms in the two countries in how acceptance of the U.S. dollar is operationalized. On average, U.S. dollar sales of Canadian border firms comprise just 3.4% of total sales whereas U.S. dollar sales of Mexican firms encompass 23.7% of total sales. Our results also indicate a stark contrast as to the effective exchange rate for U.S. dollar acceptance— Canadian firms typically charge a premium (2.1% on average) while 69.3% of Mexican firms transacted business at a discount (?0.8% on average). Additional analyses further refine the currency substitution distinctions between Canadian and Mexican firms in the sample including a logistical regression which reveals significant differences as to firm-level predictors of U.S. dollar acceptance (whether at a discount or premium).