Public Scholarship and Economics: Engaging Students in the Democratic Process

Public scholarship is an emerging pedagogical practice that integrates teaching, research, and service in ways that expand student learning by tackling critical, topical problems and generating real solutions. This paper describes the use of a course on women and the economy in two widely disparate institutions to demonstrate the process of integrating public scholarship in economics.     

明星代言虚假广告法律责任研究

随着社会经济的不断发展,广告作为宣传产品的重要手段,已经成为各大厂商竞争的新阵地。随着广告的增加,明星代言广告现象变得更为普遍,明星代言广告逐渐成为人们关注的热点问题。近几年,经常出现明星代言虚假广告的现象,给人民群众的生命、财产造成了严重的损害,使得我国的市场经济秩序遭到了严重的破坏。面对日益泛滥的虚假广告,我国相关法律对虚假广告的打击力度却非常有限。除了《食品安全法》中明确代言人对于代言的食品产品应当承担连带责任外,其他法律中还没有对代言人的虚假代言行为的责任承担进行规定。近几年,明星代言虚假广告的法律责任承担问题一直是社会各界所重点探讨的问题之一。特别是随着三鹿奶粉事件发生后,有关虚假代言行为的讨论更是被推上了新的高潮。     

农业政策性银行开办商业性贷款业务之思考

我国农业政策性银行——农业发展银行开办商业性贷款业务已一年有余。围绕商业性贷款业务的政策把握、贷款管理、风险防范等内容开展的研究与探讨，是当前农发行阶段性的重大理论与实践课题。     

注册会计师聘任机制研究

本文从审计关系的转变出发,对现行注册会计师的聘任机制进行了博弈分析,发现其种种缺陷是导致审计质量不高的间接原因,探讨了改革现有注册会计师聘任机制的两种方案并进行了比较。     

Engaging with Social Networks: The Bourdieu-Becker Encounter Revisited

Economic implications of social networks are of great importance and economic motives may well play crucial roles in network formation and dissipation. Although historically speaking the mainstream economics' attention to the subject had rather been limited, in the previous couple of decades, the economics discipline developed its own branch of social network analysis and incorporated in their analysis individuals' networking decisions based on a standard Beckerian cost-benefit calculus. In understanding the scope of this new branch in economics discipline to incorporate social dimensions of the economy, this article aims to bring a Bourdieusian critique toward this approach, given that Bourdieu had been critical to a Beckerian cost-benefit reductionism in decision-making and had himself developed his own approach to social relations.     

下游制造商R&D存在溢出效应时供应商的价格策略研究

针对供应链R&D投资套牢问题,以博弈论为工具,在一个两层供应链系统中,研究下游制造商从事成本节约型R&D时上游供应商的批发价格策略.主要考虑了供应商在保持批发价格灵活性和承诺批发价格下制造商的创新投资以及产量决策.研究表明,无论溢出水平多大,供应商承诺批发价格都会导致制造商R&D投资和产品产量的增加,但无论在哪种价格策略下,制造商的R&D投资和产品产量都是溢出水平的减函数.     

湖南省农户自为从事两型农业生产的实证分析

随着工业化、城镇化的深入发展,我国农业发展面临资源环境的双重约束.解决我国农业资源环境双重约束的根本出路在于走资源节约型、环境友好型农业(即“两型农业”)之路.以湖南省332个农户为研究对象,通过问卷调查考察农户自为从事两型农业生产的行为.调查显示,当前农户对发展两型农业的行为态度给予负面评价,在主观规范上缺少一定的压力以及感知行为控制能力低下,从而导致农户自为发展两型农业的意向低下.     

Socioeconomic dimensions of mercury pollution abatement: Engaging artisanal mining communities in Sub-Saharan Africa

In recent years, strategies to tackle mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining have mainly included restrictions — banning mercury trade internationally, prescribing alternate technologies and tightening regulations on mining (e.g. banning mercury use). However, artisanal mining communities in Africa are often trapped in cycles of poverty that make it difficult for workers to improve technologies and reduce mercury pollution. This article assesses problems with narrow pollution abatement discourses and top-down regulations, examining the need for integrated approaches to address pollution and socioeconomic challenges in low income mining communities. It advances the hypothesis that pollution abatement strategies fail if they do not explicitly address local socioeconomic capacities for improving environmental management, informed by an adaptive understanding of labor dynamics. Case studies in Mozambique and Tanzania are examined where United Nations pilot projects sought to address local challenges. These combined training on improved technologies and environmental risk mitigation with efforts to empower miners by enhancing access to microfinance services and fairer gold marketing arrangements. These case studies demonstrate adaptive ways of engaging local concerns in mining areas, highlighting lessons that are especially urgent now that recent policy commitments from Europe and the United States to ban mercury exports have specifically sought to make mercury more expensive for African mining communities. Ultimately, the analysis suggests how regionally focused ecological economics research has a vital role to play in (a) revealing how narrowly conceived responses to pollution can yield counterproductive results as well as exacerbate exploitative labor conditions in low income contexts; and (b) stimulating analytic focus on innovative ways of integrating pollution reduction strategy with grassroots socioeconomic empowerment strategies.     

Socioeconomic dimensions of mercury pollution abatement: Engaging artisanal mining communities in Sub-Saharan Africa

In recent years, strategies to tackle mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining have mainly included restrictions — banning mercury trade internationally, prescribing alternate technologies and tightening regulations on mining (e.g. banning mercury use). However, artisanal mining communities in Africa are often trapped in cycles of poverty that make it difficult for workers to improve technologies and reduce mercury pollution. This article assesses problems with narrow pollution abatement discourses and top-down regulations, examining the need for integrated approaches to address pollution and socioeconomic challenges in low income mining communities. It advances the hypothesis that pollution abatement strategies fail if they do not explicitly address local socioeconomic capacities for improving environmental management, informed by an adaptive understanding of labor dynamics. Case studies in Mozambique and Tanzania are examined where United Nations pilot projects sought to address local challenges. These combined training on improved technologies and environmental risk mitigation with efforts to empower miners by enhancing access to microfinance services and fairer gold marketing arrangements. These case studies demonstrate adaptive ways of engaging local concerns in mining areas, highlighting lessons that are especially urgent now that recent policy commitments from Europe and the United States to ban mercury exports have specifically sought to make mercury more expensive for African mining communities. Ultimately, the analysis suggests how regionally focused ecological economics research has a vital role to play in (a) revealing how narrowly conceived responses to pollution can yield counterproductive results as well as exacerbate exploitative labor conditions in low income contexts; and (b) stimulating analytic focus on innovative ways of integrating pollution reduction strategy with grassroots socioeconomic empowerment strategies.     

高度危险行业农民工权益保护现状及对策

农民工的权益保护已成为全社会普遍关注的热点问题。而矿山开采、建筑施工、危险化学品等高危行业农民工权益保护更是迫在眉睫。要妥善解决这一问题，进一步完善劳动保护制度，地方政府严把安全生产和企业准入关，提高农民工自我保护意识等是必要手段。     

Fertility,human capital and the wealth of families

Summary An overlapping generations model with parental altruism is examined. The existence of the optimal value function in a model with an endogenous discount rate is proven. Two development regimes are produced: a high fertility, low income and no growth steady state, and a perpetual growth equilibrium with low fertility and rising income.This paper is adapted from my dissertation. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee for helpful comments and suggestions, Messrs, Gary S. Becker, Robert E. Lucas, Jr., Kevin M. Murphy and Sherwin Rosen. I'd like to thank Brooks Pierce, Paul Romer, Ken Judd, Beth Ingram, Ed Prescott and Fernando Alvarez. I also thank the workshop participants of the University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, University of Rochester, University of Washington, Penn State University, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Columbia University and University of Iowa.     

Body mass index in families: spousal correlation,endogeneity, and intergenerational transmission

Previous studies have documented spousal and intergenerational correlations in body mass index (BMI) but few have considered familial weight data augmented with socioeconomic and behavioral control variables. This article considers a U.S. dataset that contains such information on husbands, wives, and grown children. Although certain variables (like education, race, and smoking status) are helpful in explaining an individual’s BMI, the BMI of one’s spouse (or parents) remains the most significant predictor of BMI. To help distinguish between correlation and causality in the married-adult BMI regressions, we consider two alternative approaches for dealing with possible endogeneity (due to omitted variables): (1) including spousal variables to proxy for omitted variables and (2) modeling spousal BMI in a hierarchical framework to explicitly allow for a “couple” effect. The results suggest endogeneity of educational attainment, but not smoking status, and support prior research that finds different associations of BMI with income for husbands and wives. For grown children, parental BMI and smoking status are identified as significant predictors.     

宋代家庭中的奁产纠纷——以已婚女为例

宋代家庭中夫妻之间、已婚女与丈夫族人之间的奁产纠纷不乏其例。透过这个窗口,我 们可以观察到两宋时期已婚女性的法制观、财产观及家庭内部在经济利益作用下的人际关系变化。     

Welfare and the family size decision of low-income,two-parent families

This study determines the increase in family size given an increase in the per child welfare benefit for a family with children in the US. The family size decision was modeled as a discrete choice decision. Data were obtained from the 1980-91 March Current Population Surveys of the US Census Bureau on 13,516 low-income, nonmilitary, non-farm, two-parent families with at least one dependent child. Low income was any amount under twice the official poverty level. Parents were limited to ages 18-40 years. Alaska and Hawaii were excluded. The data sets for 1979-90 were pooled. The sample included 10% Blacks and 27% receiving some amount of welfare. Average ages were 28.9 years for mothers and 30.8 years for fathers. The average number of children was 2.43. Findings from the ordered probit model indicate that education had a negative impact on family size, and age and race had positive impacts. Wages did not have a significant effect. The state unemployment rate and the average state income had negative effects. Unearned income had a small but significant effect on family size. The marginal welfare benefit had a positive impact. Findings reinforce the wealth hypothesis, that wealthier societies have smaller family sizes. Family size declines with increases in wages and education, which reflect increases in opportunity costs for time. Family size increases with age, as rearing children is labor-intensive. Family size increases with unearned income and welfare benefits that make childbearing affordable. It is argued that poor people in developed societies behave more consistently like poor people in developing countries. A 100% increase in the per child welfare benefit resulted in a 2% increase in the number of children. The policy implication is that a considerable increase in welfare benefits will have only trivial behavioral impacts for the poor on family size decisions.     

Child endowments and parental investments: Intra‐household allocation in oportunidades families in Mexico

This paper estimates a family fixed‐effects model to test whether parental educational investments are reinforcing or compensating differences in child height and body mass index (BMI) within Oportunidades households. The results indicate that allocations are not made in response to endowment differences in isolation, but depend on the interaction of child endowment, gender, and beneficiary status. Moreover, investments are made so as to counterbalance efficiency and equity considerations: widening differences in height but closing gaps in BMI, where both strategies maximize returns given the earnings–endowment function for height and BMI in Mexico. Finally, household socio‐economic status matters. Thus, discriminatory responses within the better‐off urban beneficiary households are smaller. In contrast, indigenous beneficiary households, which have the lowest average endowment z‐scores and fraction spent on education, see the largest differences in educational outlay between child subgroups. While the economic effects seem small, these are measured relative to the mean of the base category. In some cases, then, parents are dedicating nearly a quarter of all expenditures to education for a standard deviation increase in endowment over mean sibling endowment. Hence, it seems that the success of the Oportunidades program in improving overall human capital formation may be masking rising inequalities within recipient households.     

Economic burden,work, and school productivity in individuals with tuberous sclerosis and their families

Aims: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multi-organ autosomal-dominant, genetic disorder with incomplete penetrance. The multiple manifestations of TSC and impacts to numerous organ systems represent significant disease, healthcare, and treatment burden. The economic and employment burden of the disease on individuals and their families is poorly understood. This study assessed the cost of illness and work and school productivity burden associated with TSC in a cross-sectional web-survey sample.

Materials and methods: Eligible TSC individuals and caregivers were invited through the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance advocacy group to complete a web-based survey about illness characteristics, treatment, disease burden, direct and indirect healthcare costs, work and school impairment.

Results: Data from 609 TSC adults or caregiver respondents with no cognitive impairments were analyzed. TSC adults (>18 years of age) had significantly higher direct out-of-pocket costs for ER visits, expenses for medical tests and procedures, alternative treatments, medications and lifetime cost of surgeries compared to TSC pediatric individuals. Both TSC adults and TSC caregivers reported work and school absenteeism and presenteeism; however, adults reported significantly higher absenteeism and presenteeism and overall activity impairment due to TSC, as might be expected, compared to TSC caregivers. TSC adults had significantly higher absenteeism and presenteeism rates compared to adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and muscular sclerosis.

Conclusions: TSC results in considerable direct out-of-pocket medical costs and impairment to work productivity, especially for adults. Future studies should include the comparator group and examine direct cost burden in the US using electronic medical records and insurance databases.