Economic liberalization and wage inequality in the presence of labour market imperfection

This paper is purported to analyze the consequences of liberalized economic policies on the skilled–unskilled wage inequality in the developing countries using a three sector general equilibrium model reasonable for at least a few developing economies. The analysis of the paper has found that the wage inequality rises unambiguously due to a reduction of import tariff from the low-skill manufacturing sector. However, an inflow of foreign capital produces a favourable effect on the wage inequality under a reasonable factor intensity condition. Interestingly, contrary to the common wisdom, a policy of labour market reform may raise the competitive unskilled wage and improve wage inequality under reasonable condition.     

Welfare costs of reclassification risk in the health insurance market

We assess the quantitative importance of reclassification risk in the US health insurance market. Reclassification risk arises because the health conditions of individuals evolve over time, while a typical health insurance contract only lasts for one year. Thus, a change in the health status can lead to a significant change in the health insurance premium. We measure welfare gains from introducing explicit insurance against this risk in the form of guaranteed renewable health insurance contracts. We find that in the current institutional environment individuals are well-sheltered against reclassification risk and they only moderately gain from having access to these contracts. More specifically, we show that employer-sponsored health insurance and public means-tested transfers play an important role in providing implicit insurance against reclassification risk. If these institutions are removed, the average welfare gains from having access to guaranteed renewable contracts exceed 4% of the annual consumption.     

Mother's autonomy: impact on the quality of children's healthcare in India

Given the poor condition of children's health in developing countries, this article seeks to examine two hypotheses concerning healthcare for children. First, does mother's autonomy influence the quality of child healthcare and, second, which is related to the first, whether mother's autonomy reduces the apparent gender bias in child healthcare. Using household survey data from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India the article finds that for the most part as the mother's autonomy (measured several different ways) increases, the quality of care for children improves. The results also indicate that gender bias exists in the provision of quality healthcare for children. Male children generally receive better quality care. However, for several measures of female autonomy, an increase in such autonomy reduces the bias. The results of this analysis have important policy implications and provide additional insight into the state of affairs of children's health in rural India.     

聚集效应、劳动力市场分割与城市增长机制的重构--转轨时期我国农村劳动力转移的一个新古典模型的拓展

文章从经济中的劳动力市场存在着异质性、部门经济增长存在着聚集效应以及农村劳动力收入分配服从平均主义原则的假设出发,构建了一个解释二元经济城市增长机制的拓展的新古典一般均衡模型,并据此对我国现阶段城市化进程的基本规律及未来的演变进行了深入分析。文章认为,我国城市化过程的基本表现形式是农村劳动力向城市的转移,而这种转移将在城市正规部门与非正规部门两个不同的层次上同时进行。在一段时期内,城市正规部门的发展将决定农村中高素质劳动力的转移速度,而城市非正规部门的发展则决定了农村中低素质劳动力的转移速度。但从长期看,城市化进程的速度将取决于城市正规部门和非正规部门中具有聚集效应的那一部分经济的发展速度,而且更有意义的是,具有聚集效应的城市非正规部门的发展还将在极大程度上影响我国农村高素质劳动力向城市的转移和我国城市化层次的提高。