Multi-Dimensional Product Differentiation

We analyze product differentiation in a multi-dimensional model with non-uniform consumer distribution. The level of product differentiation is measured by both unit transport costs and firms’ locations. Our analysis concerns both measures. First, fixing firms’ locations, we show that equilibrium prices can increase or decrease with unit transport costs. The overall result depends on the interplay of a shifting effect and a rotating effect—the latter exists only in multi-dimensional models. Second, fixing unit transport costs, we find that under non-uniform distribution, there may exist no equilibrium where firms maximize differentiation on one dimension but minimize differentiation on other dimensions. Instead, there may exist an equilibrium where firms choose intermediate locations, contrary to common findings in existing studies which assume uniform distribution.     

新形势下中国企业对外投资的区位选择综合决策模型

对外直接投资的区位选择是跨国公司管理决策的关键点,在很大程度上决定着投资的成败,现有理论在解决了众多为何要对外投资的问题,但在向何处投资的问题上却没有理论和模型可以全面解释。本文建立了新的对外直接投资的区位选择决策二级系统模型,将影响因素按影响效果和属性分类,利用模糊优选方法解决了非量化因素的量化可比性问题。并将本国与外国因素融入同一模型,同时解决了是否要进行对外投资和向何处投资两个问题。     

An Index Approach to Measuring Product Differentiation: A Hedonic Analysis of Airfares

The main objective of this paper is to introduce an Allen-type index of differentiation based on cost functions. With this index, we create an economic measure of product differentiation that quantifies differences between products. Applied research has some generally accepted economic measures, for example, the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index for market concentration, or the Gini coefficient for inequality. Product differentiation, however, does not yet have an established measure. Our objective is to fill that gap and introduce a measure that can be used in market-related applied research such as market power, antitrust, price indexes, or market strategy. To operationalize the index, we introduce the concept of a core product and use cost functions to measure the degree of differentiation from the core product. To demonstrate the use of the index, we study the effect of product differentiation on price formation in the airline industry using an enhanced hedonic model. The model is empirically tested on 103,980 observations of quarterly US domestic airfare data between 2002 and 2016 and shows that product differentiation has a significant effect on both price and mark-up.     

The Timing of Environmental Policy: A Note on the Role of Product Differentiation

We examine the role that product differentiation can play in the design of environmental policy under full commitment and no commitment on the part of the environmental regulator. We consider a setting with two firms selling a differentiated product which generates pollution through emissions. Firms can reduce their emissions by undertaking abatement activities while an environmental regulator taxes emissions. The main results are: (1) When products are highly differentiated, the optimal time-consistent (no commitment) tax is always lower than the optimal pre-commitment tax. As the degree of product differentiation decreases, for relatively efficient abatement technology and high damages, the time-consistent emission tax exceeds the optimal pre-commitment one. (2) Abatement when product differentiation is extensive is higher under the time-consistent regime unless the abatement technology is extremely efficient. The same ranking applies to social welfare. However, as products become more and more similar, these results are (partially) reversed and pre-commitment could lead to both higher levels of abatement and welfare.     

最优关税和部分私有化战略-产品差异的混合寡头模型

本文通过构建一个双寡头垄断竞争的博弈模型,探讨了存在产品差异的混合寡头市场(mixed oligopoly)中,国内外企业的产品差异程度和公有企业私有化程度对最优关税的影响。研究结果表明:无论政府以收入极大化还是福利极大化为目标,其制定的关税税率都应随着私有化程度和产品差异程度的提高而提高,政府福利目标与关税收入目标都与产品差异程度成正比。与最近的其他研究发现不同,在不存在私有化或者当私有化程度相对较低而差异程度相对较高时,收入极大化关税税率总是高于福利极大化关税税率。同时本文还得出,福利极大化下的社会最优私有化比例总是大于关税收入极大化的社会最优私有化比例。因此,以社会福利极大化为目标的政府比以关税收入极大化为目标的政府更加倾向于私有化本国的公有企业。     

最优关税和部分私有化战略-产品差异的混合寡头模型

本文通过构建一个双寡头垄断竞争的博弈模型,探讨了存在产品差异的混合寡头市场(mixed oligopoly)中,国内外企业的产品差异程度和公有企业私有化程度对最优关税的影响.研究结果表明:无论政府以收入极大化还是福利极大化为目标,其制定的关税税率都应随着私有化程度和产品差异程度的提高而提高,政府福利目标与关税收入目标都与产品差异程度成正比.与最近的其他研究发现不同,在不存在私有化或者当私有化程度相对较低而差异程度相对较高时,收入极大化关税税率总是高于福利极大化关税税率.同时本文还得出,福利极大化下的社会最优私有化比例总是大干关税收入极大化的社会最优私有化比例.因此,以社会福利极大化为目标的政府比以关税收入极大化为目标的政府更加倾向于私有化本国的公有企业.     

Tax Morale in Spain: A Study into Some of Its Principal Determinants

In this paper, the role of certain determinant factors of tax morale in Spain will be analyzed through information provided by the Survey into Tax Morale in Spain, which had a remit that covered the entirety of the national territory. To this end, discrete choice models have been employed, and a particular relevance of a number of categorical variables, as well as some macroeconomic variables have been observed. The relevant role that socioeconomic variables play, such as the age and gender of each interviewee, is prominent and observable, as is the importance of other factors - such as that of the interviewee's having presented their income tax return or their belief that immigrants have to make contributions - in positively indicating the interviewee's level of tax morale. It is also observed that, in regions with a higher GDP per capita, a lower rate of unemployment or the greater strength of the construction sector, the level of tax morale is considerably lower than the mean.     

产品差异化战略的缺陷与选择--基于霍特林模型的分析

一般认为产品差异化战略能给企业带来额外的竞争优势,但产品差异化并非差异化战略的唯一选择。文章结合霍特林模型,阐释了产品差异化战略潜在缺陷,并进一步指出在宣传成本相对较高的情况下,产品差异化战略更重要的方面可能不在于产品本身,而在于产品的定价策略,这也将有助于理解我国部分行业中小厂商的山寨行为。总之,企业无需将产品的差异化视作差异化战略的必要条件,除了定价差异化之外,市场环境的微观区分因素如消费者感知情绪、宏观区分因素如企业社会责任导向,都可以是企业采取差异化战略获取竞争优势的有效途径。     

Tacit Collusion in a Spatial Model with Delivered Pricing

Received August 5, 1999; revised version received July 20, 2001     

个人所得税制度的收入分配效应——基于微观模拟的研究途径

本文提供了一个微观模拟模型,用于分析我国个人所得税制度的收入分配效应.模型通过收入调整、收入时化和税收制度实施更新微观个体的收入状态,通过对微观个体收入状态的统计估算税收制度的收入分配效应.应用吉林省城镇居民的微观数据,我们对个人所得税制度的收入分配效应进行了模拟.模拟结果表明:个人所得税制度的谩计基本满足居民之间和地区之间税负公平原则;尽管目前个人所得税制度的实施没有起到明显降低城镇居民收入差距的效果,但随着居民收入水平的持续增长和收入差距的不断扩大,税收制度调控居民收入分配的能力将不断增强.     

Access Regime Design and Required Rates of Return: Pitfalls in Adjusting for Inflation and Tax Effects*

Some access pricing regimes derive allowable cash flows to provide investors with an expectation of receiving a required real pre-(company) tax rate of return, with compensation for inflation built in via the allowable return of capital (depreciation). The required real pre-tax return is derived from nominal (or real) post-tax required returns. Techniques commonly used to transform post-tax into real pre-tax returns are biased, because they fail to capture accurately the characteristics of tax depreciation allowances. There is no general solution to this “transformation problem”, but alternative approaches can achieve the benefits prompting the use of a “real pre-tax” approach without suffering from this problem *I am grateful to the referee for valuable comments.     

基于CGE模型的环境税优惠政策的环保效应分析

通过建立一个CGE模型,并对该模型在存在和不存在环境税优惠政策两种场景下的社会产出、产品供应和社会福利状况进行模拟分析,考察环境税优惠政策的环保效应。结果表明,环境税的税收减免在长期内对社会福利的影响不大,但是,它却会对环境税的环境保护效果产生较大的负面影响。在使用税收减免工具时,政府要从社会福利和环境保护、能源使用等方面加以考虑,避免社会总福利的净损失。     

企业并购模式的动态选择

企业并购有横向、纵向、混合三种主要模式。横向并购浪潮促进了资本主义初期企业规模经济的形成与产业集中度提高;纵向并购浪潮促进了西方国家工业化中期企业资本进一步聚集与产业结构升级;混合并购浪潮一方面形成了一批多元化经营的巨型企业,另一方面,使规模小、实力弱的企业重新突出主业。本文将企业并购模式的选择与企业、产业生命周期联系起来考察,提出企业生命周期系数与产业生命周期系数的概念与计量方法;建立了企业、产业生命周期系数与经济周期指数三维坐标系,定量分析了企业、产业及宏观经济处于不同阶段时,如何动态选择并购模式,提高并购绩效。     

The determinants of FDI location choice in China: a discrete-choice analysis

This study addresses two questions: What are the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) location choice in China? What are the factors that determine investors’ choice between ‘Economic zones’ in China on one hand, and ‘other cities’ of China on the other hand? This study shows that FDI location choice is sensitive both on the endowment conditions in different regions/cities/economic zones in China as well as on the country of origin of the FDI. Based on a data set of 1218 observations, the results of the binary logit regressions indicate that the protection of intellectual rights, agglomeration economies, investments in education and gross regional product affect the location choice of FDI in China. This choices, however, varies depending on the origin of the FDI. Policy makers can use these findings to channel FDI to targeted regions/ cities.     

Tax Reform,Sector‐specific Labor Supply and Welfare Effects*

This paper focuses in particular on the 1992 tax reform in Norway. In this reform the top marginal tax rates were cut considerably. We find that the impact on overall labor supply is rather modest, but these modest changes shadow for stronger sectoral changes. The tax reform stimulated the women to shift their labor from the public to the private sector and to work longer hours. A calculation of mean compensated variation, calculated within the framework of a random utility model, shows that the richest households benefited far more from the 1992 tax reform than did the poorest households.     

How Borrowing Constraints Hinder Migration: Theoretical Insights from a Random Utility Maximization Model*

We provide a theoretical framework to analyze how financial constraints hinder migration. Introducing wealth heterogeneity and borrowing constraints into a random utility maximization model of migration, we find evidence of multilateral resistance to migration stemming from borrowing constraints. We calibrate the model on 22 European countries, and we show that omitting the constraints biases upward the estimation of bilateral migration rates. We then simulate an increase in the bilateral cost of migration to the United Kingdom. We find that omitting the constraints biases downward the change entailed by the cost increase in the bilateral rates of migration to all destinations.     

Stochastic Unit Roots in the Capital Asset Pricing Model?

Evidence is provided in this article for the existence of a stochastic unit root (STUR) in a proxy for the US risk‐free interest rate, in preference to a standard fixed unit root. The implications of the existence of the STUR, on estimating and testing the capital asset pricing model, are also examined through simulations. The effects of the STUR in the risk‐free interest rate, on conducting unit root tests for excess market returns and estimating the betas of assets, are found to be qualitatively similar to those of the standard (fixed) unit root. Thus, this article confirms the conjecture of Markellos and Mills (2001 , Applied Economics Letters, 8, pp. 499–502) on the risk‐free interest rate following near‐integrated processes, at least for a STUR.     

房地产税的纳税能力、税负分布及再分配效应

房地产税讨论经年,其税制要素设计的理论基础及开征后的社会经济效应,仍缺乏实证分析。本文以纳税能力理论为基础,构建衡量房地产税缴纳能力的指标;用"中国家庭金融调查"数据,测算不同地区家庭的房地产税缴纳能力、可行的地区间差异化有效税率及几种减免方案下税负在不同收入家庭间的分布,继而模拟把该税收入用于基本公共服务的再分配效应。结果表明:不同区域和家庭的房地产税支付能力差异悬殊,突出了房地产税的地方税特征。税负分布和再分配效应测算显示,该税调节财富差距的效应明显。在诸方案下,高收入家庭均承担总税负一半以上。"人均价值减免"在纵向公平、调节分配及税政实施三个维度均优于"首套减免"和"人均面积减免"。     

A Dynamic Model of the Choice of Technology in Economic Development

In this overlapping-generations model, there is unemployment in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing firms engage in oligopolistic competition and choose technologies to maximize profits. With capital as a fixed cost of production, increasing returns in the manufacturing sector exist. In the unique steady state, first, when individuals become more patient, the savings rate increases while the level of an individual’s income decreases. Second, an increase in population or percentage of income spent on manufactured goods does not change steady-state technology while the level of an individual’s income decreases. Third, an increase in the wage rate leads manufacturing firms to choose more advanced technologies and the steady-state capital stock increases. Finally, an increase in the level of subsidies to technology adoption does not change steady-state technology.