Foreign trade model of the centrally planned economies

This paper presents a linked econometric model of the foreign trade of seven European socialist countries grouped in the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). The model aims at analysing the role of the international and regional trade in the economies of the socialist countries. The central part of the model is formed by foreign trade equations which allow analysis of the economic processes of the CMEA countries in relationships with the intra-CMEA and international trade. The assumptions of the model structure and some empirical results are discussed.     

The allocative efficiency of government expenditure: Some comparative tests

This paper examines whether observed government expenditures are consistent with optimising behaviour in Australia, Portugal, Sweden and the U.K. Expenditures are treated as intermediate goods producing desired outputs (e.g. health, education, security) conditional on demographic variables. These outputs are arguments in an objective function, optimised subject to a budget constraint. Optimisation then implies testable homogeneity, symmetry and negativity restrictions on the derived demand functions. These were estimated, using the Deaton-Muellbauer AIDS system, on time series data for four categories of expenditure in each country and the restrictions tested, with both homogeneity and symmetry being accepted for Sweden.     

Disequilibrium theory,waiting costs,and saving behavior in centrally planned economies: A queueing-theoretic approach

An expected-utility maximizer, obliged to make a single purchase from two alternatives, finds that a queue forms for the good that would have been selected had both goods been available. An M/M/1 queue is posited and for each period of delay the maximum additional payment $\text{b}{}^1$ that the consumer would incur to join the queue is determined. This has implications for saving. Not only the availability of the good, but also the delay in obtaining it, the alteration in its arrival rate, and the “stampede effect” determine saving behavior.     

A System of personalized funds: A proposal for a centrally planned economy

A proposal is made for establishing a system of personalized funds in a centrally planned economy, to be used mainly for the encouragement and implementation of innovation.     

Structures of foreign trade and income distribution: The case of Mexico

Using Mexico's input-output tables and household survey data, this paper examines various trade strategies and their relationship to commodity production with a view to assesing their effect on the distribution of income. The model incorporates income-induced multiplier effects, taking into account the full range of input import-substitution possibilities. The results show that the differences in the impact on income, particularly, of the lower incomes, are most marked in the tensions between exportable and import-competing activities. On the whole, production per unit of output in the non-tradable sector produces as much factor income as that in the export sector. Expansion of exportable activities marginally improves the economic position of the poor in relation to other income groups, but only when direct effects are taken into account. If, however, domestic production meets the needs of intermediate imports, then the distribution of income remains unaffected by alternative trade strategies.     

The contributions of technical and allocative efficiency to the economic performance of European railways

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the relative contributions of allocative and technical efficiency to the productivity performance of European railways over the period 1972 to 1999. A stochastic frontier approach is used to analyse the cost structure of the railway industry. We estimate a translog cost system in which allocative inefficiency is modelled through an exact relationship between the cost share equations and the cost function. To allow the estimation of such a model using the sample theory approach we assume that the share equation residuals represent deviations from first-order conditions and, therefore, that they represent exclusively allocative inefficiencies. The use of this simplifying assumption renders our analysis computationally tractable, but it could be inconsistent with the economic theory of duality and for that reason caution is required in interpretation of results. Acknowledging this caveat, we find that European railways have experienced significant cost increases due to inefficient behaviour, with a mean value of around 15%. In contrast to previous studies, however, our estimates indicate a larger role for allocative inefficiency, which accounts for around of a half of the total increase in cost inefficiency.

A comparison of alternative incentive structures for centrally planned economic systems

This paper addresses the problem of incentive compatibility in a centrally planned economy with a stochastic environment. A relatively decentralized planning procedure is analyzed in which the planner allocates certain scarce resources and enterprise managers make all other decisions. It is found that the New Soviet Incentive Model loses its desirable incentive properties when resource allocation is introduced. However, the traditional Soviet quota-bonus reward schemes can be modified to achieve incentive compatibility. The requisite modification consists in a specific formula for quota setting and in deletion of the lump-sum bonus for quota fulfillment.     

Unemployment dispersion and the allocative efficiency of the labor market

An idea that seems to gain recurrent popularity in the economics profession is that, because of technological change, changes in consumer demand, skill mismatches, and the like, the unemployed tend to become concentrated or trapped in particular geographic areas and that for these reasons unemployment rates have grown more disparate over time. This paper examines the theoretical conditions necessary for the above argument to hold and shows that such conditions are not consistent with the notion of a competitive labor market. The paper then examines various measures of unemployment-rate dispersion in order to determine whether or not unemployment rates have indeed drifted further apart over time. The empirical evidence presented indicates unequivocally that geographic unemployment rates are neither more nor less dispersed now than they were twenty years ago. The results, therefore, suggest that the competitive view of the labor market is appropriate and that the hypothesis that unemployment rates have become more dispersed over time because of structural imperfections in the labor market should be rejected.     

On the effects of emission standards as a non-tariff barrier to trade in the case of a foreign Bertrand duopoly: A note

Employing a model of an environmentally differentiated product market, we analyze how an emission regulation as non-tariff barriers to trade affects imports, the environment, and welfare in the case of a foreign Bertrand duopoly. Related to this issue, we reconsider the result of Moraga-González and Padrón-Fumero [Moraga-González, J.L., Padrón-Fumero, N., 2002. Environmental policy in a green market. Environmental and Resource Economics 22, 419–447] that a strict emission standard on a dirtier product degrades the environment and reduces the net social surplus associated with the valuation of environmental damage, if the marginal social valuation of environmental damage is larger. On the other hand, we show that a strict emission standard on a cleaner product always improves the environment and the net social surplus associated with the valuation of environmental damage.     

对外贸易在中国的发展之路

中国是传统农业大国,工业基础较差。改革开放以后,以对外贸易驱动的外向型经济加速了中国的产业结构的调整,中国经济开始走向腾飞。对外贸易不仅带来中国工业的迅速发展,创造了更多就业机会,也为中国积累了巨大的财富。对外贸易扩展了中国经济发展的视野,坚定了中国政府和人民坚持改革开放,对外发展的信心。     

金融危机对中国外贸发展的考验

金融危机对全球经济的影响已经在各国经济下滑的态势中得到了具体的体现。但金融危机发生之后,各国对自由贸易体制的态度的转变以及所采取的诸如贸易保护主义的种种措施不得不引起注意,在目前全球经济形势出现好转迹象的形势下,各国要充分挖掘自由贸易体制下各国对外贸易发展的优势,更应该让贸易保护主义国家认识到贸易保护措施为其带来的短期经济增长以及为此所要付出的长期对外贸易发展受阻的沉重代价。     

跨境电商带动传统产业转型升级路径

我国跨境电商近年来持续保持高速增长,为中小企业参与全球价值链和国际贸易提供新的机会,带动传统产业转型升级的优势逐步显现。我国制造业仍处于全球价值链中低端,跨境电商在与传统产业融合的过程中不断创新服务模式,扩大贸易规模。推动传统产业利用跨境电商改变生产方式和流通方式、塑造品牌形象、提高附加值,成为培育对外贸易竞争新优势的重要途径。     

A mathematical programming approach to constructing composite indicators

Composite indicators (CIs) have been widely accepted as a tool for performance monitoring, benchmarking, policy analysis and public communication in various fields. To a large extent, the usefulness of a CI depends heavily on the underlying weighting and aggregation schemes. In this paper, we propose a mathematical programming approach to constructing composite indicators. The proposed approach uses two sets of weights that are most and least favourable for each entity to be evaluated and therefore could provide a more reasonable and encompassing CI. We apply the proposed approach to develop a CI for modeling the sustainable energy development of eighteen APEC economies and present the results obtained.     

A robust approach to the measurement of Farrell efficiency

Measurement of efficiency of the frontier production function by Farrell's convex hull method is generalized here in two aspects. One develops a minimax method of estimation by following the Chebyshev principle and the other develops a dummy-variable method of stratifying the entire data set before ordinary regressions are performed to estimate the production frontier. An empirical application to educational production functions illustrates these methods.     

经济全球化与中国对外贸易

二十一世纪对中国来说，充满光明和希望，相伴而来的机遇和挑战并存。日益错综复杂的国际形势和世界经济环境给我们提出了一系列需要深思熟虑和谨慎处理的问题，其中一个最主要的问题就是经济全球化。一、加速经济全球化进程的三大因素经济全球化的进程正在加快，而且越来越快。促进经济全球化速度加快的因素有很多，但主要有以下三个方面：１．跨国公司的迅猛发展成为推动经济全球化的重要动力。二战后，跨国公司数目急增，主体优化，直接投资规模扩大，地区分布和产业分布范围延伸，极大地推动了全球化进程。据有关资料统计，全球有５．４…     

Testing for efficiency in selected developing foreign exchange markets: An equilibrium-based approach

This paper proposes an alternative way of testing FOREX efficiency for developing countries. The FOREX market will be efficient if fully reflects all available information. If this holds, the actual exchange rate will not deviate significantly from its equilibrium rate. Moreover, the spot rate should deviate from its equilibrium rate by only transitory components (i.e. it should follow a white noise process). This test is applied to three Central and Eastern European Countries — members of the EU. Considering an LSTAR model we find no evidence of nonlinear adjustment in the misalignment series. So, linear unit root tests imply that the Poland/Euro FOREX market is efficient, the Czech/Euro FOREX market is not, while the Slovak/Euro FOREX market is quasi-efficient.     

人民币升值对我国外贸业的影响

中国自2005年7月21日实行新一轮的人民币汇制改革以来,货币一直处于升值的状态,对国民经济产生各种影响,外贸经济也不例外。中国自改革开放以来,对外贸易一直保持高速增长,而且连年保持着贸易顺差。人民币的升值将对我国外贸进出口的总额及其结构产生一系列影响。所以,对人民币在进出口贸易中给我国带来的有利和不利影响进行分析极其必要。     

The effect of foreign aid on corruption: A quantile regression approach

This paper investigates the effect of foreign aid on corruption using a quantile regression method. We show that foreign aid generally reduces corruption, and its reduction effect is greater in less corrupt countries. Moreover, this effect is different by different donor countries.