The economics of regulation: Principles and institutions Alfred E. Kahn Cambridge,MA: MIT Press, 1988, Vol. I, 199 pp., Vol. II, 360 pp.

Conclusion Although Kahn's theorizing may be criticized in various ways, there is no doubt that he succeeds in arriving at the correct conclusion. Significant social benefits were to be attained through increasing competition, i.e., through deregulation, in all of the industries that are considered in his analysis. As chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, Kahn courageously and effectively acted to bring about the benefits from deregulation that he predicted would be forthcoming, for which this nation, if not the world, should be grateful.In this book, Kahn argues persuasively for increasing thecompetitive component in regulated industries in order to achieve greater economic efficiency. The message of the book endures, as is befitting the book's stature as a classic.The author expresses his appreciation to the Book Review Editor of this journal, the two anonymous referees, Janice A. Sears, Khy and Anne Alexis Daniel, and Tonya Katsoulis for their tolerance, encouragement, and suggestions. The author alone is responsible for any errors.     

美国航空业放松规制研究及对我国的借鉴

本文详细介绍了美国航空业放松规制的历程,从这个放松规制的案例分析中证明了放松规制有利于提升产业绩效。随后通过介绍我国航空业的放松规制的事实,批驳了我国行政垄断行业不能放松规制的观点。基于此,笔者提出我国需要进一步放松仍在行政垄断的产业,放松规制势在必行。     

英国电信业放松规制研究及对我国的借鉴

本文详细介绍了英国电信业放松规制的历程,从这个放松规制的案例分析中证明了放松规制有利于提升产业绩效。随后通过介绍我国电信业放松规制的事实,批驳了我国行政垄断行业不能放松规制的观点。基于此,笔者提出我国需要进一步放松仍在行政垄断的产业,放松规制势在必行。     

普京新政与俄罗斯经济政策走向

第三次当选总统的普京将立足于新型工业化道路,通过产业政策主导经济发展,大型国有企业与金融机构仍将成为关键性力量,国家垄断资本主义政策仍将延续,国有制将长期存在于自然垄断、军事工业与原材料产业。同时,普京也将试图通过减少管制和私有化来降低风险。再工业化定位、消除财政赤字的压力、欧美债务危机的警示、中产阶级的快速崛起,决定了普京政府的民粹主义色彩将不得不有所淡化,政策重点将主要围绕培育人力资本与发展高科技产业而展开。经济政策能否推动创新发展与结构转型,取决于一系列条件,其中最为重要的,是政治制度能否顺利实现转型。     

Black-White Differences in Consumption: An Update and Some Policy Implications

Marcus Alexis, in his Ph. D. dissertation and in later published work, conducted pioneering work in the area of black-white differences in consumption behavior and thereby influenced our understanding of household behavior and significantly impacted the field of marketing. This paper recapitulates his findings and reviews some contemporary work on black-white differences in consumption and some implications for future work on differences in consumption behavior.     

US telephone deregulation: lessons to be learned,mistakes to be avoided

The deregulation of the US telephone system and its transition from pervasive regulated monopoly to a mixture of competition and regulation has been a central feature of telecommunications policy in the US for the past two decades. Much progress has been made, but local telephone service remains as ‘the last frontier’. This review of the US experience provides important lessons for sensible regulation and deregulation – lessons that are applicable to international telephone service, as well as to other network industries.     

TRADE LIBERALIZATION AND PRICE‐COST MARGIN IN INDIAN INDUSTRIES

Using panel data for 137 three‐digit industries for 1980/81 to 1997/98, the paper examines the effect of trade liberalization on price‐cost margins in Indian industries. An econometric model is estimated to explain variations in price‐cost margins, taking tariff and nontariff barriers among the explanatory variables. The results indicate that the lowering of tariffs and removal of quantitative restrictions on imports of manufactures in the 1990s had a significant pro‐competitive effect on Indian industries, particularly concentrated industries, tending to reduce the price‐cost margins. The paper notes that despite the pro‐competitive effects of trade liberalization reinforced by domestic industrial deregulation, the price‐cost margin increased in the post‐reform period in most industries and aggregate manufacturing, which is attributed to a marked fall in the growth rate of real wages and a significant reduction in labor's income share in value added in the post‐reform period, reflecting perhaps a weakening of industrial labor's bargaining power.     

Geographic deregulation and new bank entry in Florida

Summary and Conclusions This study analyzes the impact of liberalizing Florida's restrictions on the rate of new bank entry. Based upon a limit entry profit model, an entry equation is estimated with data from 18 local banking markets in Florida. Using dummy variables it is shown that the intercept term of the entry equation increases under Florida's relaxed geographic restrictions on banking. Prediction results suggest that entry would have been significantly greater during the period 1977–79 had Florida allowed state-wide branching instead of countywide branching during this period. This paper's conclusions are consistent with earlier studies that find increased entry into banking after a reduction in government regulation. In the current controversy over the desirability of geographic deregulation, both interstate and intrastate, this paper provides policymakers with more evidence that deregulation enhances entry into commercial banking. The authors are indebted to an anonymous referee for his valuable comments and suggestions.     

The Future of Market Regulation

Market regulation is accomplished both by competition and by external government agencies, and the trend is toward greater reliance on competition. Economists have fostered this trend and have even invented markets to help overcome some externality problems. They have contributed to a steady improvement in antitrust policy, which currently reflects economic knowledge well. They diagnosed and demonstrated problems with external regulation of the airline industry and gave assurance that regulation by competition could work in its place. Success there led not only to deregulation of airlines but also deregulation of railroads, trucks, buses, and, in some ways, natural gas pipelines. Two other industries, telecommunications and electricity, are now following very ambitious paths toward less external regulation and greater dependence on competition. The Internet raises new issues, but there also, competition will play an important regulatory role.     

放松规制背景下的政府规制重构

传统的自然垄断理论主张政府应对自然垄断行业实施规制。但20世纪70年代以来,由于政府规制的失灵、技术和市场条件的变化以及规制理论的发展,自然垄断行业放松规制的改革之风盛行。在这一背景下,转变规制重点、强化对规制者的规制和改变规制方式的“三位一体”的政府规制重构是必然的选择。     

The impact of deregulation on employment discrimination in the trucking industry

Past studies of racial discrimination in the for-hire sector of the motor carrier industry find that deregulation is an effective tool for mitigating discrimination. These studies argue that regulation provides a refuge from competition that allows employers to discriminate and pass costs on to consumers. Thus, increased competition of deregulation allows less latitude to discriminate. This study reexamines the impact of deregulation on racial employment in the trucking industry. Specifically, micro-data are used to measure and decompose increased minority participation of for-hire drivers following deregulation. The findings of this paper concur that deregulation increased minority participation in the industry. However, the new findings suggest that only a fraction of this increase can be attributed to employers having less latitude to racially discriminate.     

The performance of minority banks in a deregulated banking environment

This study examined 58 performance ratios for minority banks in 1980 and 1988. Its purpose was to evaluate the impact of deregulation on high and low performance minority banks. The study found that deregulation had a positive impact on those banks in the high performance groups in 1980 and a negative affect on those banks in the low performance groups in 1980. The study also found minority banks, in general, needed to improve management efficiency. Management efficiency of low performance minority banks seemed to have deteriorated in the deregulation period. The authors suggest that low performance minority banks be given closer regulatory supervision and aid in developing efficient management in their organizations.     

Financial Deregulation and the Cost Structure of State and Private Banks in Indonesia: Some Evidence from Microeconomic Data

Since the major deregulation of Indonesian banking in the late 1980s the quality and availability of local banking services has significantly expanded. But controversy continues over the impact of deregulation on the industrial structure of banking in Indonesia. This paper uses micro data to examine the impact of deregulation on the costs and profitability of the state commercial banks in comparison with a benchmark sample of relatively efficient private banks. The sample period covers both the pre- and post- deregulation eras. The study finds that deregulation had a strong impact At the private banks, large cost reductions have been passed on to customers in the form of narrower intermediation margins By contrast, margins have barely changed at the state banks. Profitability measured in relation to equity has fallen significantly, especially at state banks For recent years, the margins are not out of line with available data on international comparators.     

Jokowi and the New Developmentalism

Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), made a remarkable political recovery in 2016. During his first year in office, Jokowi had been overwhelmed by a combative and divided parliament, disunity in cabinet, tensions with his own party, and declining approval ratings. In 2016, however, Jokowi expanded his ruling coalition and consolidated his power, and his approval rating rose to almost 70%. By mid-2016, the president had achieved stable government for the first time since winning office. Political stability gave us greater clarity on Jokowi’s agenda and the kind of Indonesia he wants to shape. I suggest that in 2016 a Jokowi-styled new developmentalism began to emerge. Jokowi’s administration focused narrowly on infrastructure and deregulation; other problems of government were subordinated to these developmentalist goals. There are uncanny echoes of the past in the new developmentalism, and its conservative and nationalist features reflect political trends that pre-date Jokowi’s presidency. Indeed, Jokowi’s developmental strategy is neither unique nor coherent; his decision-making is defined by ad hocery. Instead, I argue, deeper structural features of Indonesia’s socio-political landscape are making their mark on the president and returning Indonesia to its developmentalist moorings.     

菲律宾海洋产业发展态势

就菲律宾海洋渔业、海洋油气业、滨海旅游业、海洋交通运输业四个主要海洋产业的发展看,渔业、旅游业发展速度较快,是该国的支柱产业和重要的吸纳就业的产业。海洋渔业以捕捞业为主体;海洋油气业上游依赖外资,下游虽然放松管制,寡头市场结构格局未发生根本变化,其油气开发能力仍不能满足能源自给目标。对外贸易促进了海洋交通运输业发展,国内海洋交通运输增长缓慢。     

Russia’s intra-industry trade in international exchange: Major trends and growth potential

The current state and development trends in Russia’s international intra-industry trade with major trade partners are considered in the paper on the whole and by individual industries. The author suggests his approach to assessing the intra-industry development effect on industrial output and foreign trade indicators by individual industries. Forecast estimates are given on the international intra-industry trade development in medium-term prospects for the country as a whole and for processing industries depending on different options in government’s economic policy.     

Struggle for survival in credit crunch: The effect of interest rate deregulation in China

This study investigates how interest rate deregulation affects firms' financing choice between bank debt and public debt. Our analysis exploits China's 2013 bank interest rate floor deregulation as an exogenous shock to the supply of bank credit. Using a difference-in-difference design, we find that firms with higher default risk substitute away from bank loan and switch to public debt after the 2013 deregulation. However, this substitution to public debt is limited, leading to a dramatic decline in debt ratio. Our result also demonstrates that the effect on firms' public debt financing is more pronounced for firms with better information environments, suggesting that good information environment is an important prerequisite for making the switch. This switching, contradicting to traditional financing framework that high-risk firms prefer bank loans, inevitably is costly. Compared with low-risk firms, bonds issued by high-risk firms have significantly higher spreads, a higher likelihood of being secured, and a higher tendency of including an interest-adjusted clause. More importantly, we also document that high-risk firms subsequently improve their information transparency after the interest rate deregulation. Our findings highlight the role of interest rate deregulation in firms' financing choice and illustrate that firms incur high switching costs when their choice deviates from the optimal financing choice.     

The Impact of APROC on Taiwan's Economy: A CGEAnalysis of Deregulation

The Taiwan Government defines the Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center (APROC) project as designed 'to transform Taiwan into a regional economic center through overall liberalization and internationalization'. From this definition and the targets of APROC as set by the Taiwan Government, it is not difficult to see that deregulation is one of the basic means of achieving its goals. In this paper, we use a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to evaluate the possible effects of this deregulation. The effects of deregulation on the economy go through four channels in the model: (i) deregulation liberalizes the market; (ii) deregulation moderates factor market distortion; (iii) deregulation attracts foreign investment, speeds up capital accumulation and enlarges capital stock in Taiwan; and (iv) deregulation attracts foreign investment and hence improves technology. Six simulations are conducted in this paper. All of the simulations show positive effects on Taiwan's economy as a whole, while for individual sectors the effects are various.     

日元升值与人民币升值的比较分析

人们通常会将中国的现实汇率升值与20世纪80年代中期日元施压升值联系起来。从长期来看，人民币升值是调整国内经济与国际经济秩序的关系的需要，不能简单认为是西方国家的“阴谋”。中国必须采取措施解决国际和匐内的经济失衡问题——国际收支的双顺差与过度投资而消费不足。但人民币兑美元升值不能一步到位，一方面是一次性大幅升值将沉重打击出口产业及就业，另一方面存在汇率走势逆转的可能性。运用从紧货币政策强行控制通货膨胀是难以达到理想效果的，因为引发通货膨胀的很大一部分原因在于美元的泛滥，控制增发货币的闸口并不完全在中国人氏银行掌握之中。要从根本上解决消费不足问题，对资本账户实施非对称的开放。     

The effects of airline deregulation on shareholder wealth: Some additional evidence

This paper extends the prior research on the effects of deregulation on shareholders' wealth by measuring the market reaction to the events (i.e., information announcements) that led to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The research design employs a model similar to that used by Beneish [1991]. This model conditions the return-generating function on the event (i.e., information) announcement and the market index. The empirical results reported in this paper indicate that the market favored airline deregulation. The favorable stock price reaction to airline deregulation could be explained in three ways. First, the market anticipated an increase in managerial efficiency and a reduction in managerial consumption of corporate resources in a competitive market structure. Second, the market did not impound the adverse consequences of deregulation as predicted by management because the market either did not perceive the manager's claim as a credible signal or the market was influenced more by the economic forecasts that predicted increased profitability under deregulation. Finally, there was evidence of increased industry profitability, increased productivity growth, and an expansion of the passenger base during the transition period (1976–78) when the Civil Aeronautics Board voluntarily began to relax regulatory controls. In this case, the paper concludes that the signing of the act merely made legitimate and extended the board's reform that began in 1975. That is, the signing of the deregulation act made these gains certain and permanent and this was received as a positive signal by the market.