Another look at sticky prices and output persistence

Price rigidity is the key mechanism for propagating business cycles in traditional Keynesian theory. Yet the new Keynesian literature has failed to show that sticky prices by themselves can effectively propagate business cycles. We show that price rigidity in fact can (by itself) give rise to a strong propagation mechanism in standard models, provided that investment is also subject to a cash-in-advance constraint. Reasonable price stickiness can generate highly persistent, hump-shaped movements in output under either monetary or non-monetary shocks. Hence, whether or not price rigidity is responsible for output persistence is not a theoretical question, but an empirical one.     

Another look at the Tail Area Influence Function

A new way of computing the Tail Area Influence Function (TAIF) exactly is proposed and a new finite sample robustness measure, based on the TAIF, is introduced. The main properties of this robustness measure are also studied, for both finite and asymptotic sample sizes. Next, a very accurate approximation to the finite sample power function of a test is obtained; this is based on the TAIF plus an iterative procedure. The results are valid when there are no nuisance parameters.     

Another look at the naive estimator in a regression model

We consider the linear regression model where only a particular linear function of the dependent variables is observed, Stahlecker and Schmidt (1987) proposed a naive least squares (LS) estimator for regression coefficients in such a case. In this note we represent their estimator as a general ridge estimator. This observation leads to a view different from the previous work and provides an easy way of obtaining many important properties of the naive LS estimator. Our approach also gives some insight into the relationship between the naive LS estimator and the generalized least squares estimator.     

Industrial energy efficiency: A look at the data

It is extremely difficult to make a precise, quantitative assessment of the impact of the myriad of factors affecting the improvement in industrial energy efficiency. It is certainly not correct to conclude that housekeeping measures alone have led to the observed improvement. Changing product mix among four digit SIC industries within the same two digit classification, variations in capacity utilization (returns to scale) and energy price increases as well as technological innovations have all contributed to part of the realized reduction in energy use per dollar value added over the period of investigation. Unfortunately, data limitations as well as modeling weaknesses prohibit an exact delineation of the impact of each of the factors on the increase in energy efficiency. The best that can be done—and quite convincingly so—is to qualitatively show that unequivocally these factors had an impact on the efficiency with which energy was used in the manufacturing process for the ten most energy intensive industries in the period 1971–1976.     

Small high technology firms: some regional implications

Small high technology firms are often regarded as a vehicle for economic growth. This paper considers theories of small firm innovation and the evidence from sectoral, regional and national case studies. Small innovative firms appear to have some common needs; an environment conducive to entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial and technical ability to translate new technologies into products for which a market exists; pleasant locations where R&D activity is concentrated and where there are clusters of skilled craftsmen and local suppliers of ancillary goods and services. Current policies to stimulate the generation and growth of small high technology firms are evaluated and some alternatives are suggested.     

Efficiency and productivity growth comparisons of European and U.S. Air carriers: A first look at the data

In this paper we carry out technical efficiency and productivity growth comparisons among the four largest European carriers and eight of their American counterparts. The time period of our comparisons is 1976 through 1986. This is a particularly interesting period since it begins just after the informal steps toward deregulation in the United States and ends just prior to the introduction of the first wave of reforms by the Council of Ministers in Europe. We also identify the potential efficiency gains of the European liberalization by comparing efficiency differences between the two carrier groups. The reductions in inefficiency describe the amount that inputs can be decreased without altering output.     

Competition for private capital and central grants: the case of Japanese industrial parks

Local governments invest in public infrastructure to develop their regions. When they depend on intergovernmental grants for local development and have opportunities to lobby upper-level governments for such grants, horizontal intergovernmental competition in lobbying activity may emerge in addition to competition over public infrastructure. This paper empirically examines the existence of these interactions between Japanese localities, by using data on the value of industrial parks as infrastructure provisions and on personnel interchanges between the central and local governments as a measure of lobbying activity. Our results suggest that a Japanese local government’s choice of the size of industrial parks and its invitation to central officers to act as a director on loan are positive responses to the neighboring local government’s policy choices. As the value of the industrial parks in a district is affected by the neighboring districts’ lobby activities and their industrial park values, we can interpret these results as evidence of inter-regional competition in these two dimensions, rather than control by the central government in this unitary state.     

The American work force: 1992-2005. Industry output and employment

Projections show services providing more than half of new job growth; in goods production, construction adds jobs, while manufacturing employment declines.     

Partnering: a closer look at one group's programs

The word "partner" brings to mind myriad thoughts and ideas: an association, a sharing relationship, joint interests, marriage. "Partnering" is arguably the most overused term in health care purchasing so far in the 1990s; nonetheless, it represents a change in how business is being conducted and an effective way to lower costs. The following is a representation of how one of the nation's leading group purchasing organizations (GPOs) uses partnerships with a variety of associates to provide opportunities for health care providers to lower costs.     

Making Public Policy: The New Philanthropists and American Education

Power in K–12 education is rapidly moving from local school boards and government to extraordinarily wealthy private philanthropists. Building networks among nonprofits, government agencies, school districts, and others, private foundations such as the Gates, Broad, and Walton family foundations are fundamentally restructuring American K–12 education. The Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluation, and charter schools are a few of the initiatives these funders are backing. The massive influx of private money into education policy and its influence over public education raises questions around the proper role of philanthropy in a democracy. In a society with increasing wealth inequality, should the economic elite be able to gain further power to shape social institutions through giving? Are there or should there be any limits to this power? Examining specific trends and events in education philanthropy over the last 10 years, this article identifies key players in philanthropic education reform and argues that philanthropy in education is now playing a policy‐making role—without checks and balances—that is qualitatively and quantitatively different than before. I conclude with a cautionary note on the dangers of letting education policy become the domain of the economic elite.     

What Public Choice and Philosophy Should Not Learn from One Another

ABSTRACT . Lomasky offers accounts of public choice and of political philosophy, in which these disciplines have complementary theories of motivation, and suggests that each discipline can learn something from the other. This note argues that these two theories of motivation share a common weakness: an a priori, non‐empirical mode of analysis. Political philosophy models human beings as rational moral agents; public choice theory treats individuals as rationally self‐ interested. Neither theory is concerned with the psychology of actual human motivation. This common feature facilitates the transfer of ideas between the two disciplines, but it limits the usefulness of both. There is more to political motivation than can be captured by theories of reason.     

The phantom of the opera: Cultural amenities, human capital, and regional economic growth

We analyze the extent to which endogenous cultural amenities affect the spatial equilibrium share of high-human-capital employees. To overcome endogeneity, we draw on a quasi-natural experiment in German history and exploit the exogenous spatial distribution of baroque opera houses built as a part of rulers' competition for prestigious cultural sights. Robustness tests confirm our strategy and strengthen the finding that proximity to a baroque opera house significantly affects the spatial equilibrium share of high-human-capital employees. A cross-region growth regression shows that these employees induce local knowledge spillovers and shift a location to a higher growth path.     

A new look at performance appraisal: The specimen check-list

The specimen check-list represents a breakthrough in appraisal because its format minimizes appraiser-errors common in rating, ranking, and essay appraisal methods. The specimen check-list requires the appraiser to diagnostically report behavioral incidents observed, based upon prompted recall.     

美日企业文化融合及其启示

美国的理性主义企业文化与日本的灵性主义企业文化融合的趋势越来越明显.分析两国文化融合成功的经验,把握企业文化融合的一般规律,将为建设有中国特色的企业文化提供宝贵的财富.     

On location: American capital and the local labour market in the Vancouver film industry

This article makes three contributions to the local labour market literature. Firstly, it provides an empirical example of the contours and dynamics of a unique local labour market. Secondly, it explores the degree to which the local labour market is shaped by external forces operating at the national and international scale. Thirdly, it considers the extent to which the local labour market can be conceptualized as a multi‐vocal social construct. These ideas are developed through a case study of union involvement in the Vancouver film industry. During the summer of 1997 there was a period of discord between the actors’ union in Vancouver, UBCP, and American producers, represented by the AMPTP. These tensions were exacerbated by the involvement of the Provincial Government, the local press and other vested interest groups. Using a variety of interview and documentary evidence, this dispute is used to illustrate the geographically specific and highly complex nature of local labour markets. Cet article réalise trois contributions aux travaux sur le marchré local du travail. Premièrement, il analyse un exemple empirique des contours et des dynamiques d’un marchré unique du travail local. Deuxièmement, l’auteur examine la contribution des forces externes (nationales et internationales) à l’organisation du marchré local du travail. Troisièmement, dans quelle mesure un marchré local du travail peut‐il étre conceptualisré comme une construction sociale à plusieurs discours? Ces points sont drévelopprés dans le cas d’rétude de la participation des syndicats dans l’industrie du film a Vancouver. Pendant l’rétré1997, il y eut une prériode de dissensions entre le syndicat des acteurs à Vancouver (UBCP) et les producteurs amréricains, reprrésentrés par l’AMPTP. Ces tensions rétaient aggravrées par la participation du gouvernement provincial, de la presse locale et d’autres groupes militants. A partir de diverses donnrées provenant d’entrevues et de documentation, ce conflit est utilisré pour illustrer la particularitré gréographique et la nature extrémement complexe des marchés locaux du travail.