Economic and environmental efficiency using a social accounting matrix

This paper aims to show the utility of the so-called Social Accounting Matrix and Environmental Accounts (SAMEA) for economic and environmental efficiency analysis. The article uses the SAMEA for Spain in 2000, applied to water resources and greenhouse gas emissions. This matrix is used as a central core of a multisectorial model of economic and environmental performance, and it calculates the denominated “domestics SAMEA multipliers” and their decomposition into characteristic, direct, indirect and induced effects. These multipliers show some evaluation of economic and environmental efficiency. Also, we present an application of these multipliers that demonstrates that there is no causal interrelation between those sectors with higher economic backward linkages and those with higher environmental deterioration backward linkages.     

A vertical social accounting matrix of the U.S. economy

Abstract

This article presents an adaptation of the square social accounting matrix used in economic planning and programming to the rectangular or vertical transaction matrix used in post Keynesian monetary economics. The objective is to obtain a simple and intuitive framework to organize macroeconomic data in terms of the main institutional sectors of the economy, showing how production, distribution, demand, and financing are inter-related. The article presents the social accounting matrix of the U.S. economy as an example and use it to analyze the trends in net lending and household net income since 1960.     

Socio-ecological accounting: DPSWR,a modified DPSIR framework,and its application to marine ecosystems

In contrast to institutionally focussed environmental accounting, socio-ecological accounting frameworks organise information concerned with human–environment interactions at scales relevant to ecosystem change and thus encapsulate information more relevant to ecosystem-based management. The DPSIR (Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response) framework has been used to identify relevant information in a number of ecosystem contexts but suffers limitations in terms of its definitional clarity and conceptual foundations, which undermine comparability between studies. These limitations are addressed in the DPSWR (Driver–Pressure–State–Welfare–Response) framework, which defines information categories based on a synthesis of concepts in DPSIR and its predecessors so as to more clearly identify the object of measurement in each category and isolate information relating to social systems. Consequently, its categories dealing with social systems are better suited to assessing anthropocentric trade-offs in environmental decision-making, such as through cost–benefit analysis. A conceptual input–output analysis is used to highlight measurement issues connected with the inter-relations between information categories, particularly with regard to scale, and the application of the framework is illustrated by reference to issues affecting marine ecosystems included in a Europewide study for the European Commission. However, DPSWR's definitions are designed to be sufficiently general as to support application in other ecosystem contexts.     

Modelling change in individual characteristics: An axiomatic framework

Economic models describe individuals by underlying characteristics, such as the degree to which they like music, have sympathy, want success, need recognition, etc. In reality, such characteristics change through experiences: taste for Mozart changes through attending concerts, sympathy through meeting people, etc. Models typically ignore change, partly because it is unclear how to incorporate it. I develop a general axiomatic framework for defining, analysing and comparing rival models of change. Seemingly basic postulates on modelling change have strong implications, like irrelevance of the order in which someone has his experiences and ‘linearity’ of change. This paper is a step towards placing the modelling of change on axiomatic grounds and enabling non-arbitrary incorporation of change into economic models.     

中国社会责任会计信息披露模式的架构

本文在较系统地探讨了我国建立社会责任会计信息披露的目标和原则,并在国外披露模式的研究基础上,具体架构中国社会责任会计信息披露模式,慎重地提出架构我国企业社会责任会计信息披露模式应以传统的三大会计报表为核心,即社会资产负债表、社会利润表和社会现金流量表。     

Assessing sustainability, a comprehensive wealth accounting prospect: An application to Mozambique

We estimate the wealth of Mozambique in 2000 and 2005 in order to assess the sustainability of its development path. Our methodology builds on Arrow et al. (2010). We show that Mozambican wealth increases through human and physical capital accumulation, while the pressure on natural capital remains low. The growth of total factor productivity enhances the outcome of the different capital assets, but population growth has a strong downward effect on wealth per capita. Results suggest that Mozambican development was sustainable between 2000 and 2005, but these remain ambiguous and are highly sensitive to data and assumptions used.     

Internal and external exchange rate equilibrium in a cointegration framework. An application to the Spanish peseta

A simple cointegration methodology is used to compute the equilibrium real exchange rate for the peseta. The stock of foreign assets and the evolution of sectoral prices are considered to be the fundamentals for the real exchange rate. After testing for cointegration, we proceed to decompose the series into a permanent and a transitory component, following the method devised by Gonzalo and Granger. The permanent component of the real exchange rate corresponds to its (time-varying) equilibrium value, and the deviation of the actual real exchange rate from this equilibrium value gives an estimation of the degree of misalignment of the real exchange rate. By the end of the sample (1998:1), the peseta is estimated to be undervalued around 6%.     

Ex-ante evaluation of a targeted job program: Hypothetical integration in a social accounting matrix of South Africa

To analyze policy impacts of a targeted employment program calls for a new approach of estimation. This study proposes a simple modification to a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) in order to analyze the multiplier effects of a new sector. A different input composition, or technology, of the sector with targeted job provision makes a conventional analysis of final-demand injections on existing sectors invalid. Instead of a costly full-scale rebalancing, we apply the modification—so-called hypothetical integration—into a SAM to assess a proposed expansion of social care sector within the Expanded Public Works Program in South Africa.     

Institutions and economic growth in Portugal: a quantitative exploration

This paper presents a broad diagnostic of the level of institutional development in Portugal in the legal, corporate governance and financial systems. A comparative assessment suggests that Portuguese institutions are less developed than their European Union and East Asian counterparts, more developed than Greek institutions and on a level similar to that of Spanish institutions. We use data for a wide cross-section of countries since 1960 and correlate indicators of institutional development with the long-term average growth rate, identifying issues where reform is likely to significantly affect economic growth. We construct three new indices that measure the potential of institutional reform - the impact of reform on growth, the required reform effort and the efficiency of reform index - by taking into consideration the institutional distance between Portugal and the European Union. These indices measure, respectively, which reforms have the most payoff in terms of growth, which are less costly to undertake and which deliver the most growth per required effort. Our results strongly suggest that in a large number of issues, institutional reform may translate into substantially higher rates of economic growth. Of the ten most promising reforms, six are in the legal area, irrespective of which of the indices is considered. Whereas legal reform is promising at the aggregate and the microeconomic levels, in the financial sector aggregate indicators offer the wider scope for productive reform, while in the corporate governance area it is indices at the micro level that hold the most promise. These results support the view that a comprehensive reform effort is likely to deliver higher rates of growth in Portugal, allowing faster real convergence with the rest of the European Union.Received: January 2003, Accepted: February 2004, JEL Classification: O0, O5, K00, K4, G2, G3This paper is based on Firms, Financial Markets and the Law: Institutions and Economic Growth in Portugal, prepared for the conference Desenvolvimento Económico Português no Espaço Europeu: Determinantes e Políticas, organized by the Banco de Portugal. Financial support by the Banco de Portugal, NOVA FORUM and FUNDAÇÃO Para a Ciência e tecnologia and Polti through feder are gratefully acknowledged. Comments from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, two anonymous referees and the editor are sincerely appreciated. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Growth and equity effects of changing demographic structures in the Netherlands: simulations within a social accounting matrix

"This paper deals with the economic consequences of a changing demography in an industrialized country, namely the Netherlands. The analytical framework chosen is that of general equilibrium as statistically given by the social accounting matrix (SAM) in which we introduce households by size for the present economic demographic situation (1981) and for a future simulated situation (2010) featuring in particular a relative increase in one-person households (individualization). The income (output) multipliers of both SAMs show a positive growth bias towards three and more person households and towards mining, public utilities, trade and banking."     

An economic theory of altruism based on rankings in a stable social hierarchy

In order to fully understand the interaction between selfish and non-selfish actors, social scientists need rigorous formal models of other-regarding preferences. While the current models clearly present progress relative to the self-interest approach, the evidence also makes it clear that further theoretical progress is warranted. There is ample opportunity for improving our understanding of other-regarding behavior. This paper develops a theory of economic altruism entirely compatible with self-interest utility maximization by rational individuals. Sympathy arises when someone is interested in improving somebody else’s condition, and this will also enhance the utility of the one who acts. Construed in that way, sympathetic behavior is essentially self-interested behavior. A question addressed in this paper is whether a sympathetic population of individuals will exert their income-producing labor differently than a population of egoistic individuals. Two parameters suffice to characterize the altruistic conduct of an individual: a parameter governing the individual’s ranking in a social hierarchy and a parameter determining the sensitivity of an individual’s sympathy for others at different social ranks. The main testable implication of the theory is that in a large population, where each individual has a concave utility function embodying sympathy, the altruistic behavior of any specific individual is determined by his rank in the social hierarchy. A second implication is that in a horizontal social hierarchy, the most altruistic people in the population are those in the middle of it.     

Modelling the effects of protection in a dynamic framework

The effects of alternative trade strategies on development performance are analyzed using a small, dynamic, computable general equilibrium model. The static allocation costs of protection are quantitatively weighed against the dynamic benefits resulting from heterogenous capital goods and imperfect foresight. An attempt at quantifying the effects of protection on employment and savings behavior is made by using submodels specifying distortions in labor-markets and alternative savings functions.     

OECD推动下韩国的经济政策创新

自1978年实施改革开放政策以来,中国已形成了全方位、多层次、宽领域的对外开放格局。但是,随着开放领域和深度的扩大,贸易摩擦、金融风险、恶性竞争、民族经济力量弱、国际竞争力低等一系列问题逐步凸显出来。国际经验表明,开放条件下,这些问题的解决离不开系统的制度创新。基于此,我国政府已将制度创新提升到战略高度,积极酝酿相关的配套政策,完善制度环境。OECD作为国际性政策咨询与协调组织,一直发挥着国家决策智囊的作用。它依托强大的智能储备,对政府普遍关注的经济、社会重要领域进行调研,提出相关的政策建议,并协助成员国制定国内…     

An application of DPSIR framework to identify issues of pollinator loss

This paper is an attempt to apply the Driving forces–Pressures–State–Impact–Responses (DPSIR) framework to identify the issues of pollinator loss. The linkages between the significant pressures on insect pollinators, their underlying socio-economic driving forces and responses, with the focus on Europe, are addressed in the study. A review of literature revealed the shortage of empirical studies that prove direct links between policy responses and specific pressures on the pollinators. Based on written evidence and expert judgement, land use practices and the use of agrochemicals were regarded as the most significant pressures on different functional groups of pollinators. As demonstrated in the study, agricultural and rural development policy has been the key driving force of these pressures. The application of the DPSIR framework proved to be useful in identifying the pathway of human pressures on pollinators. The study also concludes that there is further need for specific empirical research on the effects and effectiveness of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) measures (agri-environment measures in particular) to support farming practices that facilitate the protection of the environment and the prevention of pollinator loss.     

Assessing the economic impact of entrepreneurship on a regional economy using social accounting matrices: the case of Andalusia

This article analyses the impact that entrepreneurial activity has, from the economic point of view, on a regional economy (Andalusia), based on a Social Accounting Matrix linear model. Moreover, to measure entrepreneurship at regional level, it is defined what can be considered an entrepreneurial initiative company from a quantitative point of view. The results obtained, in terms of Production, GDP and job creation, show how entrepreneurship, in the case of Andalusia, contributes to the sustainability of the economy, its growth and, above all, the reduction of unemployment in the short term.     

Temptation and social security in a dynastic framework

We investigate welfare and aggregate implications of a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) social security system in a dynastic framework in which individuals have self-control problems. The presence of self-control problems induces individuals to save less because of their urge for temptation towards current consumption. Individuals' efforts to balance between the short-term urge for temptation and the long-term commitment for consumption smoothing result in self-control costs. In this environment PAYG social security works as a self-control cost reducing device. In contrast, the presence of altruism induces individuals to save more. This in turn mitigates the adverse effects of self-control problems and PAYG social security on savings but magnifies the self-control costs. We find that in our environment the adverse welfare effects of a PAYG system are further mitigated relative to the environments that incorporate altruism and self control issues separately. However, the level of mitigation is quite modest.     

Water accounting for the Orange River Basin: An economic perspective on managing a transboundary resource

The framework for water accounting is applied to an international river basin, the Orange River Basin, which is shared among Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa. Each of the riparian states faces water constraints and relies increasingly on shared international water resources. The countries have adopted the principle of an economic approach to water management, once basin human needs are met, and all but Lesotho have constructed national water accounts to assist in water management. The water accounts for the Orange River Basin bring an economic perspective to water management at the regional level. The accounts include supply and use tables, which are used to compare the contribution to water supply from each riparian state to the amount used. The water accounts are then linked to economic data for each country to calculate water use and productivity by industry and country. There are considerable disparities in water productivity among the countries, which should be taken into account in future decisions about water allocation, pricing and infrastructure development.     

Expectations,uncertainty and institutions. An application to the analysis of social security reforms

The aging process that many developed economies will face in the medium-term is leading to reforms in the public pensions systems in order to solve the potential financial unsustainability generated by the foreseeable increase in the expenditure in pension benefits (assuming that the current social security contributions and the eligibility conditions will remain unchanged). Neoclassical economics defends a radical reform of these systems, substituting the current pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) systems by funded systems. In this paper, using the Post-Keynesian theory as a theoretical framework, we provide an alternative reflection to that proposed by the neoclassical economics about the choice between the alternative pension systems. The focus of the paper is the advantages of the PAYGO pension systems to stabilize the expectations of future income.     

BVAR models with economic priors: An application to the propagation of U.S. regional cycles to Canada

To overcome the over-parameterization problems typically associated with the estimation of large VAR systems, Litterman (1979, 1986) and Doan, Litterman, and Sims (1984) have proposed the inclusion ofstatistical a priori information. In this paper, we investigate how economica priori information based on regional input-output tables and trade flows statistics could help estimate a large U.S.-Canadian regional model. Instead of relying on the usual Choleski factorization, we present the variance decomposition based on a national-regional unobservable variables model. Using monthly series (total employment, 1966:1-1986:12) on five Canadian regions and four U.S. ones, we are able to characterize the north-south propagation mechanism.