From Sickness to Health: The Twentieth-Century Development of U.S. Health Insurance

This paper explores the institutional development of health insurance in the United States. By combining a qualitative history of the development of the market with an empirical analysis of a panel of health insurance data from 1931-1955, the paper identifies a number of factors that influenced the growth of the health insurance market. While demand factors such as increasing income and improvements in medical technology certainly contributed to the growth of the market, supply side factors were also important. There is evidence that hospitals may have contributed to the growth of health insurance as a means of smoothing revenues during the Great Depression. State-level policies that allowed the Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans to operate as nonprofits also spurred market growth, as did federal government policies that promoted the link between employment and health insurance.     

Anywhere they go,we go: Immigration inflow's impact on co-ethnic natives in the U.S.

Using data from the 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Censuses and the American Community Survey five-year sample for 2006–2010, we examine the impacts of immigration inflows on the migration patterns of co-ethnic natives in the United States. We explore whether the outcomes are driven by changes in labor market returns in the receiving cities or sociocultural benefits of being surrounded by co-ethnics. We find that a higher ethnicity-specific immigrant population share within a city increases the population share of both co-ethnic natives who remain in the receiving cities and co-ethnic natives who migrate into these cities, relative to natives of other ancestries. All baseline results survive robustness and falsification tests, and instrumental variable estimations. Through the heterogeneous effects, we find that the sociocultural benefits, such as language and ethnic goods that immigrants bring to receiving cities, are the potential channels that attract co-ethnic natives to migrate towards those enclaves.     

美国纺织服装区域性生产网络与中美纺织品协议的效应评估

为了应对全球化的挑战,美国与周边的墨西哥和加勒比海地区(CBI)国家合作,形成了一条以纵向一体化为核心的区域性纺织服装生产网络(regional production network,RPN)。由于RPN合作国家是美国纺织产业重要的出口市场,因此后者在该网络中具有既得利益。美国政府进而签订的《中芙纺织品协议》(以下简称"协议")旨在抑制后配额时代中国输美服装类产品对该RPN的冲击。本文就"协议"的实施对相关贸易流量的影响进行了评估。结果显示,"协议"已经对中国输美服装类产品产生贸易破坏效应,而墨西哥和CBI国家对美国的服装出口则从中受益。然而,研究并未显示"协议"的实施有助于美国增加纱线、面料等纺织类产品向RPN合作国家的出口,因而"协议"对美国纺织产业的实际保护效应有必要予以反思。本文的研究结论对于2008年"协议"到期后相关政策的制定和调整具有重要的借鉴意义。     

International factor migration and the U.S.

Conclusion The model employed is sufficiently realistic to provide conclusions regarding income distribution due to factor migration. While more disaggregation and other models would be revealing, these results correspond to observed positions on migration issues. Owners of a productive factor can be expected to favor migration policy, either the making or enforcing of laws, favorable to themselves. A factor owner's sentiments can be predicted by identifying patterns of friendship. While each productive factor is its own enemy, empirical results for the U.S. identify two pairs of enemies as well: capital/skilled and semiskilled/unskilled labor. Unskilled labor is a friend of capitalists and skilled labor, both of which can be expected to favor their free immigration.     

美利坚之魂

华盛顿故居位于弗吉尼亚州的波多马可河岸边。临近故居还有几公里时,路两边的树木就看出一种异乎寻常的茂盛。树都很粗,树叶乌黑黑的,树林很密,看不到边际。故居在一个小山包的山顶上,叫弗农山庄。弗农山庄是华盛顿同父异母的哥哥劳伦斯在其父亲所盖的一处房子基础上改建的,起名叫弗农山庄是为纪念哥哥心目中的一位偶像、一位英国海军上将。     

日美贸易摩擦中的美国“对日修正主义”研究

20世纪80年代中后期产生的日本异质论及美国"对日修正主义"是日美经贸摩擦延伸至体制领域的重要表现。它既是冷战结束前后国际政治格局变化和美国国内政治气候变迁的产物,又具有深刻的学术和舆论背景。美国"对日修正主义"者从资本主义发展模式的差异、日本政治经济体制及其相应政策手段的特殊性、美国对日贸易策略等三个方面阐述了其理论观点,在美国舆论界、学术界和决策层中产生了巨大的影响。     

酒精助然美国经济

酒精产业降低了美国对进口原油的依存度,减少了贸易逆差美国酒精产业最早始于19世纪30年代,上世纪80年代得以跳跃式发展,是过去三十年来美国加工制造业最成功的典范之一。2005年是美国酒精产业发展的分水岭,美国总统布什当年8月签署了新的能源政策法案(EPACT05),从法律高度激励     

享受美国售后服务

在国内,人们买了商品后退货要费很多口舌,甚至吵闹一番也没有结果。在美国,商家的服务方式和服务速度都让我们感到震惊。看看美国的售后服务,也许能给中国的商家们一些启示和反思。     

中美贸易逆差与美国贸易保护的转变

一、中美贸易逆差问题的背景根据中国的统计,中美贸易从1993年美方出现逆差,当年逆差额为62亿美元,到2003年上升到586亿美元,10年间增长了近8.5倍;根据美国的统计,从1983年起,美方对中方有逆差3亿美元,到2003年上升到1240亿美元,20年增长了412倍。按美方统计,1988年中国进入美国前10位逆差国行列,1989年就从第9位上升到第6位,1990年攀升到第3位,1991年成为仅次于日本的第2大逆差对象国。2000年以后,中国对美贸易顺差超过日本,成为美国最大的贸易逆差国。此后贸易逆差继续攀升,到2003年,中国占美国全部贸易逆差的23%。中美贸易逆差备受关注的…     

美元贬值对美国经常账户影响的估值效应分析

本文运用资产组合模型和协整计量方法,论证了美元汇率变化所带来的估值效应对美国经常账户调节的影响。分析结果表明,美元贬值引致的估值效应很小,再加上美元贬值可能使美国短期债务利率上升,这就很容易抵销掉贬值所带来的估值收益。因此,美国巨大的贸易赤字不可能通过美元贬值所带来的估值效应得以纠正。     

Technology transfer to the U.S.S.R and the shape of the production function

Summary In this paper we argue that previous studies of the impact of imports of Western capital to the Soviet Union have erred by emphasizing the direct contribution of such capital to output. To our view, a more important consequence of such imports is a catalytic effect on the productivity of indigenous capital and labor cooperating with Western machinery. Estimates of production functions for Soviet industry and several subsectors indicate that Western capital imports do improve the productivity of indigenous inputs and make the production process more capital intensive.     

冷静、冷静、再冷静--对当前美国与中美关系的几点观察

十几年前,当国际风云变幻、战略对比失衡时,邓小平综观全局,对形势突变及时做出了精辟的论断,提出要冷静、冷静、再冷静,指出无论国际环境如何变化,中国都要在和平共处五项原则的基础上从容发展同所有国家的友好关系;要保持警惕,谁也不怕,谁也不得罪,朋友要交,心中有数;要韬光养晦,埋头苦干,不扛大旗不当头,过头的话不说,过头的事不做。[1]今天重温邓小平的这些告诫,在新的国际环境下观察美国和中美关系,更感到发人深省。一、冷眼看美国冷战结束后的第一场战争———海湾战争,对维护和加强美国的世界霸权地位意义重大。但是,去年美国入侵伊…     

Economic relations between China and the U.S

ABSTRACT

First, we summarise the chronology of the China-U.S. trade war. We then show that the China-U.S. trade surplus, correctly measured, is not as large as it is made out to be, but is nevertheless still a large number. In terms of the total domestic value-added generated by the exports of goods to each other, the China-U.S. bilateral gap is even smaller. Next, we analyse both the immediate and real impacts of the mutual tariffs on the two economies. Third, we discuss economic and technological competition between China and the U.S. and present long-term projections of the two economies to 2050. Fourth, we identify the economic complementarities between China and the U.S. We then discuss the possibility of coordinated expansion of trade. Fifth, we also discuss the thorny bilateral issues in the economic relations between the two countries.     

不要误读美国房价

旅美学者沈克明较为细致地介绍了美国房地产市场的情况,并和中国进行了对比。对比之下,他认为中国消费者对房屋价值的认识还不够成熟,一旦消费者认清房屋价值的关键所在,中国目前不少所谓高端别墅的价格将会大幅缩水。当然,中美房地产市场不尽相同。面对中国庞大的人口,土地、房屋是稀缺产品,价值、价格的衡量因考虑多种因素。但无论如何,文章给读者带来了一些新的视角和独特的思考,也让我们较为全面地了解了美国房地产市场。美国的房地产市场一个多层次、完善成熟的市场：既有天价房,也有一般老百姓消费得起的普通住房,更有政府为低收入者提供大量“廉租房”。特别是美国政府对贫困人群住房问题的关注,值得我们借鉴。