The International Implications of the United States Telecommunications Act

This paper revisits the premises and promises of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. It argues that it was based on flawed premises and for that reason failed to lay the foundation for substantive reform. By design, and at the behest of the banks, it lacks the explicit rules and bright lines that are critical to lasting and effective financial regulation. Also missing is a plausible end to "Too Big To Fail" financial institutions, over-leverage, and irresponsible (including fraudulent) risk-taking. The article closes with several concrete suggestions for strengthening regulatory agencies and improving financial regulation.     

The Change in Productive Efficiency in Telecommunications in the United States

The question addressed here is whether the adoption of incentive regulation, which has become an important regulatory tool in the telecommunications industry in the USA, has resulted in a change in the technical efficiency of local exchange carriers in the USA. After providing an overview of the nature of incentive regulation, a methodology for measuring technical efficiency and its change is introduced. This is a multiple-output/multiple-input distance function approach to measuring technical efficiency. The results of implementing this approach for 19 local exchange carriers for the 1988–2001 period indicate that in the production of local service, intrastate toll/access service, and interstate access to local loops, there was no change in technical efficiency between the 1988–1990 period and the 1991–2001 period, something that incentive regulation was specifically designed to promote.     

The Change in Productive Efficiency in Telecommunications in the United States

The question addressed here is whether the adoption of incentive regulation, which has become an important regulatory tool in the telecommunications industry in the USA, has resulted in a change in the technical efficiency of local exchange carriers in the USA. After providing an overview of the nature of incentive regulation, a methodology for measuring technical efficiency and its change is introduced. This is a multiple-output/multiple-input distance function approach to measuring technical efficiency. The results of implementing this approach for 19 local exchange carriers for the 1988-2001 period indicate that in the production of local service, intrastate toll/access service, and interstate access to local loops, there was no change in technical efficiency between the 1988-1990 period and the 1991- 2001 period, something that incentive regulation was specifically designed to promote.     

Another look at the Relationship between Telecommunications Investment and Economic Activity in the United States

Abstract

In a recent issue of this journal, Beil et al. (2005, hereafter, BFJ) examined the relationship between telecommunications investment and economic growth in the United States over the period 1947–1996. Based on results from Granger-Sims test, BFJ conclude that ‘… investment by telecommunications firms is caused by, but does not cause, economic activity, and the findings are robust across lag lengths’. However, using another version of the Granger causality test due to Toda & Yamamoto (1995) and the same data set transformed into natural logarithms, the evidence in this paper indicates a feedback where there was a bi-directional causality between telecommunications investment and economic growth. This seems to suggest that policies aimed at stimulating the US economy by accelerating investment in the telecommunications sector may be successful.     

Price Index Convergence Among United States Cities*

We study the dynamics of price indices for major U.S. cities using panel econometric methods and find that relative price levels among cities mean revert at an exceptionally slow rate. In a panel of 19 cities from 1918 to 1995, we estimate the half‐life of convergence to be approximately nine years. The surprisingly slow rate of convergence can be explained by a combination of the presence of transportation costs, differential speeds of adjustment to small and large shocks, and the inclusion of nontraded goods prices in the overall price index.     

Bundling in the Australian Telecommunications Industry

This article considers some of the implications for social welfare of bundling in the Australian telecommunications industry. The practice of bundling—offering two or more products for sale as a single package—is a strategy used in many industries. Although common, there are circumstances when the practice can be used anti-competitively. Yet bundling does not always harm consumers; at times, the practice benefits both consumers and producers, and it can even advantage consumers to the detriment of producers. The general literature on bundling suggests that its effect on social welfare depends on several factors such as market structure, the elasticity of demand for the products, the marginal cost of production, economies of distribution and the use of complex menus. We consider these factors when assessing the likely welfare effects of bundling in the Australian telecommunications industry, concluding that the potential effects of bundling on competition and the information costs imposed on consumers by complex menus of services seem the most significant considerations for social welfare. It is desirable that regulatory authorities monitor developments closely, although heavy-handed regulation of bundling seems undesirable.     

美国金融监管改革对中国的启示

2010年奥巴马签署的《美国金融改革法案》旨在解决此次金融危机中所暴露出来的金融市场系统性风险,在不断推进金融创新的同时,加强对金融业的监管,最大限度的保护广大投资者的利益。该法案是近年来对美国未来金融业发展以及金融机构监管较为深远的一项改革法案。它将给中国金融市场提供有益的借鉴,要求我们既要尊重金融市场化发展规律,推进金融创新,加强市场透明度,同时也要在统一监管方面做足功课,并积极促进国内监管改革向国际接轨。     

美、韩、俄等国改进政府规制质量运动及其借鉴

20世纪末以来,先行发达国家、后起发达国家及转轨国家都开展了以较低成本获得更高效、更优质的政府规制为目标的规制改革运动,旨在不断提升政府规刺质量.各国提升政府规制质量的改革都是在本国特定的政治、经济、文化历史传统背景下展开的.本文对三个典型国家,即:美国(规制体系比较完备的西方发达国家)、韩国(东亚后起的发达国家)、俄罗斯(典型的经济转轨国家)提升政府规制质量的改革历程与经验进行概括,阐明转轨国家进行规制政策移植的可能性、约束条件及借鉴意义.     

经济学科在美国

本文将介绍经济学科在美国的情况.由于美国代表了目前全世界现代经济学教学和研究的前沿,了解经济学科在美国的情况,对于如何参与国际经济学界的学术活动是很有必要的.我介绍以下四个方面的情况:第一,美国大学中经济学科的设置;第二,美国大学的经济学教育;第三,美国的经济学博士教育模式在欧洲;第四,中国学生申请留学美国攻读经济学学位时应注意的事项.     

Economic Benefits of Dolphins in the United States Eastern Tropical Pacific Purse-Seine Tuna Industry

This paper provides a profit-maximizing modelwith vessel-level dolphin mortality limits forpurse seiners harvesting tunas in the easterntropical Pacific Ocean. The model analyticallyderives the shadow price (estimated economicvalue) for dolphin mortality, the fishing-fleetsize, and the annual tuna harvest as functionsof a few key fishing parameters. The model alsoprovides a statistical method to determine theaccuracy of all needed parameter estimates. Thepaper then applies the model to the year 1996and the period from 1985 to 1987. The shadowprice measures the economic value to the UStuna fleet of dolphins lost in the harvestingof tuna. This value is essential whenattempting to evaluate the economic benefitsand costs to society of any action designed toreduce the mortality of dolphins in theharvesting of tuna in the eastern tropicalPacific Ocean.     

Teaching Macroeconomics After the Crisis: A Survey Among Undergraduate Instructors in Europe and the United States

The Great Recession raised questions of what and how macroeconomists teach at academic institutions around the globe, and what changes in the macroeconomics curriculum should be made. The authors conducted a survey of undergraduate macroeconomics instructors affiliated with colleges and universities in Europe and the United States at the end of 2010. The results show that courses feature very much the same lineups of models as they did before the crisis. A notable exception concerns public debt dynamics, which receives considerably more emphasis. The finer fabric of undergraduate macroeconomics teaching, however, shows substantial shifts: A host of topics related to financial markets has entered the curriculum, and there is more interest in economic history, the history of economic thought, and case studies.     

论中国电信业重组问题

中国电信业改革取得了重大成就。从企业的一般属性和电信产业的特殊性进行分析,中国电信业实施重组有其必然性,重组应从构建有效竞争格局、促进资源合理配置和加强有效管制等方面进行考虑。     

Farm Labor in the United States

The mainstream blames the global savings glut for causing the 2008 global financial crisis and proposes currency realignment to restore balance. However, this view fails to provide solid theoretical and empirical support to the claim that net inflows of foreign savings reduced U.S. long-term real interest rates and inflated asset prices. It also ignores the role of the global financial system in shaping the development strategy and macroeconomic imbalances in emerging Asian economies. Furthermore, forcing currency revaluation in China and other surplus countries may risk reducing global demand instead of shifting demand from the United States to surplus countries. The paper argues that an overhaul of the defunct global financial system lies at the root of global rebalancing; whereas in the short run, the United States should actively pursue demand-enhancing policies to strengthen global economic recovery.     

电力行业中的规制改革

20世纪70年代后期，大量智力、政治和经济发展因素开始融合并持续到整个80年代，已经引起了传统的自然垄断观点的根本性变革。这些近来的变革包括：(1)对国家公共事业制起源的观点修正；(2)在理论和经验上对电力行业的自然垄断提出挑战；(3)在回报率规制(RORR)下；(4)政府使用所有权和规制，在经济上的规文已经遍及全世界，并弱化了对改革的政治对立。     

美国区域产业调节法律制度构建与启示

文章对美国区域产业调节法律制度的历史变迁及主要内容进行了考察,分析了美国构建区域产业调节法律制度以促进区域经济协调的主要措施与成功经验。通过历史分析、规范分析等方法,研究了美国通过设立综合性区域产业调节机构,创立促进西部地区产业结构升级机制,建立倾斜支持区域农业发展机制,健全区域产业调节工具协调机制以构建区域产业调节法律制度,规范政府区域产业调节行为,促进市场机制和政府调节机制协同运作的基本做法。研究表明,美国的相关成功经验对我国区域产业调节法律制度合理处理市场调节与政府调节机制之间的关系,建立综合性的区域调节机构,明确区域产业调节作用的重点,建立完整的区域产业调节制度体系等方面具有重要的启示与借鉴作用。     

Graduate Economics Programs in the United States

Sterrett and Barr comment on the results of a survey of graduate programs in economics in the United States and on the marked increase in the number of masters degrees granted by the responding institutions.