Estimating the wage costs of inter- and intra- sectoral adjustment

Estimating the Wage Costs of Inter- and Intra-Sectoral Adjustment. — The proposition that labour market adjustments to intra-industry trade are less costly than adjustments to inter-industry trade is a widely-held belief amongst trade economists. If there are significant sector-specific skills, then this ‘smooth adjustment hypothesis’ seems intuitive. Direct evidence relating to this issue remains largely anecdotal. In this paper we estimate the returns to tenure within jobs, industries and occupations in order to predict the costs, in terms of wage losses, of moving jobs between and within sectors. We find no compelling evidence that wage costs of moving between industries are larger than the costs of moving within industries.     

产品质量问题之法律研究--附赠商品质量问题

一、问题的引出引一案例权做本文之序:某生意人李先生到某一大型商场购买手机,在商场里,其看到商家正在对一新款手机做促销活动,促销牌上明确写着:凡购买本款手机者均赠送手机电池一块,数量有限,赠完为止。李先生随即购买了此款手机,并获得了赠送的手机电池一块。商家签发了收款单据并开示了产品质量保证单, 保质期为半年,但商家并未对赠送的手机电池质量作出任何说明。     

Innovation, international R&D spillovers and the sectoral heterogeneity of knowledge flows

We analyze the relative effects of national and international, intrasectoral and intersectoral R&D spillovers on innovative activity in six large, industrialized countries over the period 1980–2000. We use patent applications at the European Patent Office to measure innovation and their citations to trace knowledge flows within and across 135 narrowly defined technological fields. Using panel cointegration we show that intersectoral spillovers have a key impact on innovation activities and that domestic R&D has a stronger effect than international R&D. However, within technological fields, estimated international R&D spillovers are 2.4 times the national R&D effects. We find significant differences across chemicals, electronics and machinery industries.     

Joint product signals of quality

Summary The relationship between product quality, signals, and the firm's optimal pricing policy has been given much attention in economics. The literature is extended in this paper by considering the signaling problem of a firm that jointly produces two commodities—one of known quality to consumers (a search good) and one of unknown quality (an experience good). The model presented employs a stylized reputation function, a linear cost structure, and linear demand schedules to produce two interesting insights. First, the search good's price can potentially be used as a signal of the quality of the experience good. Second, the price of a search good will depend upon whether it is jointly produced with another search good or an experience good or whether it is produced in isolation by a single product firm. Furthermore, evidence from a paper on gasoline pricing seems to support this contention.     

Digital product imports and export product quality: Firm-level evidence from China

Based on the Statistical Classification of the Digital Economy and Its Core Industries (2021) released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the information and communications technology products released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to construct a digital product catalog manually, this paper analyzes the impact of digital product imports on Chinese firms' export product quality using a combined data set of the Annual Survey of Industrial Production and China Custom Records from 2000 to 2013. The results show that digital product imports have a significant positive effect on a firm's export product quality. To address potential endogeneity, this paper uses a series of instrumental variables (IVs) and constructs a multi-timing difference-in-differences model using the firm's first digital product import as exogenous shock, and finds strong supporting evidence. Digital product imports improve the quality of export products through three mechanisms: technology spillovers, productivity, and information-searching capabilities. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital product imports have greater impacts on foreign-owned and capital-intensive firms, and digital intermediate imports play a bigger role than do digital non-intermediate imports. The results of this paper have important implications for developing countries that wish to improve the quality of exports through digital trade.     

Cyclically oscillating product quality: A simple model of the product life cycle

This paper presents a dynamic model of the firm, where the firm can exert influence on demand by setting the price and by controlling the quality index. Assuming profit maximization, it is shown by means of the Hopf Bifurcation theorem that persistent oscillations of the variables may occur if there is positive growth at the steady state together with a high discount rate. Oscillations may also occur if the influence of an additional unit of the quality index on demand and price is sufficiently large, thus yielding a special version of the product life cycle. A numerical example is used in order to illustrate the results derived in the general framework. Valuable comments from an anonymous referee are gratefully acknowledged.     

Robust Taylor rules under heterogeneity in currency trade

It is demonstrated in this paper that the exchange rate should be included in the Taylor rule when there is heterogeneity in currency trade to have a determinate and least squares learnable rational expectations equilibrium that also is desirable in an inflation rate targeting regime. Moreover, for certain Taylor rule parameterizations, these properties of the interest rate rule are robust against the degree of technical trading in currency trading.     

论我国产品质量责任的完善

产品质量关系到人们生命财产安全、产品出口、经济发展、国家形象,目前我国的产品质量状况远不能适应形势发展和市场变化的需要,究其主要原因是由于我国的产品质量责任太轻、范围太窄、内容不明确。完善产品质量责任应从扩大产品质量责任主体的范围、规定惩罚性赔偿条款和召回制度、设置问责机制等方面入手。     

Pricing to market, firm heterogeneity and the role of quality

We build a pricing-to-market (PTM) model with firm heterogeneity, which allows for imperfect competition and market segmentation in the presence of flexible exchange rates, horizontal and vertical differentiation and different tastes of consumers in destination markets. We derive firm’s pricing behaviour in response to price and quality competition shocks. We show that there is PTM heterogeneity across firms if quality has a role. We empirically assess the main predictions of our theoretical framework on Italian firm-level data. We document that export-domestic price margins are significantly affected by price and quality competitiveness factors even controlling for foreign demand conditions, size, export intensity, destination markets and unobservables. Finally, we provide evidence of strong heterogeneity across firms in their reaction to price and quality competitiveness.     

谈“假冒伪劣商品”的暴利与风险

一、从“阜阳劣质奶粉”事件谈起 阜阳劣质奶粉事件震动了全国，由此也引起人们对假冒伪劣商品的重新关注。本次事件不得不让我们注意到一个新问题：假冒伪劣商品对农村消费群体的危害十分严重。事实上，近些年来，许多地方的农村市场成为假冒伪劣商品的倾销地。这些假冒伪劣商品中相当一部分就是与人们的健康密切相关的食品，甚至是人命关天的药品。而农民则开始成为了假冒伪劣商品的基本消费者和主要的受害者．     

由CER产品性质探究我国碳交易发展

低碳经济作为世界经济发展的新方向,越来越受到人们关注。中国作为目前世界上最大的CDM供应方,碳交易市场潜力巨大。本文通过对于CDM交易中CER产品的价值、价格、风险分析,针对我国碳交易发展,提出加强赤道银行建设、增强产品异质性、提高议价能力、摆脱产业链下游地位、开创衍生品市场等对策,其根本目的是加快研发环保减排技术、提高国民节能环保意识、增强我国在国际市场上的话语权。     

提高产品质量是扩大内需的基础性工作

产品质量低劣使消费者缺乏对国货的认同力,妨碍企业特别是个体户的正常经营,加大消费者的购物成本,降低农民购买力,增强人们的不确定性和消费支出预期,抬升企业生产经营成本,抑制财政政策发挥效益,是制约我国扩大内需的重大因素。应通过充分利用科学技术,实行严格的质量检测标准和产品检验制度,强调职工的敬业精神,认真执行《消费者权益保护法》,提高人们的质量意识等措施,进一步提高产品质量。     

Population aging,consumption budget allocation and sectoral growth

This paper assesses the heterogeneous effects of population aging on personal budget allocation across sectors. Using China's household survey data, we break down each household expenditure component into its constituent members. We find consistent and robust age profiles of the composition of personal consumption expenditures. Young people spend larger proportions of their budget on food and education, culture, and recreation services. The middle-aged spend significantly more on clothing and transportation and communication. Lastly, the elderly spend substantially more on food and health care and medical services. After controlling for period and cohort effects as well as other socio-economic factors, we still find age to be a fundamental driver of consumption budget allocation. We also incorporate the estimated results into the population forecast data and predict the evolution of China's consumption budget allocation patterns driven by demographic change.     

Explaining sectoral discrepancies between national and provincial statistics in China

This paper examines sectoral contributions to discrepancies between China's national aggregate statistical values and the sum of provincial figures. In institutional terms, the paper then explores the sources of principally sectoral discrepancies. We find that the industrial sector has been the major contributor to discrepancies in both gross domestic product (GDP) and total energy consumption in recent years. Technical aspects such as statistical coverage, data collection method, and double-counting cannot explain the discrepancy. For the industrial sector, limited data accessibility undermines external checks and balances from the general public. As the primary bodies in collecting industrial data, the Provincial Bureaus of Statistics (PBSs) are not subject to effective internal checks and balances from other governmental divisions. To out-compete counterparts and get promoted, provincial leaders have explicit incentives to overstate provincial GDP, with industrial added value being the first statistic to be affected. This dynamic further extends to industrial energy consumption, which is over-reported as well.     

International spillover effects of sectoral tax differentiation in unionized economies

Sectoral tax differentiation has in recent years appeared onthe agenda in European policy discussions concerning unemployment.The member countries of the European Union are allowed to reducethe value added tax rates on goods and services that are particularlylabour intensive and price elastic. This paper provides a theoreticalanalysis of the international repercussions of such policies.We develop a two-country and two-sector model with monopolisticcompetition in the goods market and wage bargaining in the labourmarket. Policy externalities operate through the endogenouslydetermined terms of trade. We examine how national and supranationalcommodity tax policies affect sectoral and total employmentand characterize optimal commodity taxes with and without internationalpolicy cooperation. Some rough estimates of the welfare gainsfrom policy coordination are also presented, using a calibratedversion of the model.     

新形势下江苏高新技术产品出口研究

金融危机对我国整体的外贸出口造成了不小的冲击,其中高新技术产品的出口在新形势下对经济的拉动作用尤为突出。本文分析了金融危机对江苏省高新技术产品出口的影响,探讨其产业内部存在的问题,并提出相关政策建议。     

Links between urbanization and sectoral shifts in employment in Java

The relationship between urbanization and changes in the employment structure in Indonesia is analyzed. In particular, the author examines whether changes in the occupational structure in rural areas can have any effect in slowing the general shift in economic emphasis to urban areas, whether nonagricultural economic activities can be developed in rural areas, and what policies are needed to assist the transformation of the rural employment sector. Data are primarily from Indonesian censuses, including the 1980 census.     

公共产品背景下政府发展学前教育的经济分析

现实中政府广泛地为社会提供基本的、均等的学前教育服务,从应然的角度来说,其依据并不是基于准公共产品,而是着眼于保障人权的社会公平,维护社会稳定和谐与缩小竞争起点差距的机会公正;从实然的角度来看,作为个体或家庭消费品的学前教育应交由市场发挥基础性作用;从非竞争性、非排他性以及正外部性的角度来看,学前教育并非完全为公共产品,而是具备私人产品部分属性,市场可作为资源配置的天然平台。     

PPP视阈下农村公共文化产品及服务的供给研究

农村公共文化产品及服务体系是公共文化服务体系的组成部分,是新农村建设的重要内容。目前,我国农村公共文化产品及服务的供给失衡,究其原因,主要是由于农村公共文化产品及服务的供给模式存在严重缺陷。与传统供给模式相比,在PPP模式下,农村公共文化产品及服务建造商和运营商建立起了合作关系,从而有效减少运营成本并提高运营效率。因此,PPP模式的引入,不仅可以改善农村公共文化产品及服务供给不足的现状,而且有助于促进文化产业的发展和推动新农村建设。