TRAP abortion laws and partisan political party control of state government

Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (or TRAP) laws impose medically unnecessary and burdensome regulations solely on abortion providers in order to make abortion services more expensive and difficult to obtain. Using event history analysis, this article examines the determinants of the enactment of a TRAP law by states over the period 1974–2008. The empirical results find that Republican institutional control of a state's legislative/executive branches is positively associated with a state enacting a TRAP law, while Democratic institutional control is negatively associated with a state enacting a TRAP law. The percentage of a state's population that is Catholic, public anti-abortion attitudes, state political ideology, and the abortion rate in a state are statistically insignificant predictors of a state enacting a TRAP law. The empirical results are consistent with the hypothesis that abortion is a redistributive issue and not a morality issue.     

Voting in the U.S. House on Abortion Funding Issues

A bstract . The Supreme Court's ruling in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services increased the political saliency of the abortion issue. Since pro-choice and pro-life groups within the constituencies of U.S. legislators paid closer attention to abortion-related roll call votes after Webster, the legislators' voting behavior on such issues might have changed as a result of the decision. Accordingly, voting model estimates for abortion funding issues before and after Webster are used to examine changes in the role of legislators' personal policy preferences and the role of policy preferences among their constituency on voting on this issue. The results show that legislators, to some extent, vote according to their personal preferences on abortion funding issues. Moreover, the influence of personal preferences on voting behavior did not change substantially after Webster, despite the change in the outcome of the vote.     

Unification of Dual Foreign Exchange Markets

In this paper I investigate the impact of overnight floating of the official rate and easing foreign exchange restrictions on post-unification domestic inflation rate. After analysing the behaviour of an economy under dual foreign exchange markets, an official market with a crawling foreign exchange rate and a free illegal parallel market. The paper also shows that maintaining a unified free exchange rate depends on the degree of foreign exchange restrictions under dual foreign exchange system and on the level of the official reserve that prompts foreign exchange liberalisation policy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An options pricing approach to ramping rate restrictions at hydro power plants

This paper investigates the impact of ramping rate restrictions imposed on hydro operations to protect aquatic ecosystems. The optimal ramping decision is specified as an optimal control problem which results in a Hamilton Jacobi Bellman (HJB) equation. Electricity prices are modelled as a regime switching stochastic process. The optimal control is determined by solving the HJB equation numerically using a fully implicit finite difference approach with semi-Lagrangian time stepping. The paper focuses on the effect of ramping restrictions on a hydro plant׳s value and optimal operations, and provides an analysis of which factors cause ramping restrictions to have a greater or lesser impact on profitability. It is shown that hydro plant value is negatively affected by ramping restrictions, but the extent of the impact depends on key parameters which determine the desirability of frequent changes in water release rates. Interestingly for the case considered, value is not sensitive to ramping restrictions over a large range of restrictions. The results point to the importance of accurately modelling electricity prices in gauging the trade offs involved in imposing restrictions on hydro operators which may hinder their ability to respond to volatile electricity prices and meet peak demands.     

How does Monetary Policy Respond to Exchange Rate Movements? New International Evidence*

This article analyzes how monetary policy has responded to exchange rate movements in six open economies, paying particular attention to the two‐way interaction between monetary policy and the exchange rate. We address this issue using a structural VAR model that is identified using a combination of sign and short‐term (zero) restrictions. Doing so we find that, while there is a instantaneous reaction in the exchange rate following a monetary policy shock in all countries, monetary policy responds significantly on impact to an exchange rate shock in only four of the six countries.     

Party polarization,political alignment,and federal grant spending at the state level

Research on the distribution of federal expenditures has provided mixed evidence showing that states with more legislators who belong to the president’s party and states with more legislators in the chamber majority tend to receive a larger allocation of federal funds. We add to this research by considering how political polarization and political alignment impact these presidential and congressional determinants of how the domestic US budget is distributed to the states. Our results show that states with a larger percentage of senators in the majority can secure a larger share of federal grant expenditures per capita when political polarization is relatively low.     

An expository critique of the Takayama—Judge models of interregional and intertemporal market equilibrium

In this paper an attempt is made to expound the spatial-temporal multi-product allocation and price equilibrium models originally proposed by Takayama and Judge (1971). Certain restrictive features of these models are highlighted and an alternative specification which overcomes these restrictions and replaces both the single and multiple storage period models of Takayama and Judge is outlined. The enhanced realism of this new model and its relatively simple structure should commend it to regional economists concerned with policy questions involving the production and distribution of a wide range of commodities.     

国际短期资本流动对货币政策有效性的影响分析——基于VAR模型和脉冲响应函数的研究

采用VAR模型和冲脉效应函数实证分析国际短期资本流动对货币政策有效性的影响分析,结果显示：货币供给量、利率和国际短期资本流动之间具有长期稳定的均衡关系;利率变动和货币供给之间反向变动;国际短期资本流动对货币政策有效性的影响已经显现,然而国际短期资本流动带来的货币供应量的上升被国家货币政策的调控所冲销,而且冲销力度过大;由于我国对资本流动进行管制,因此隐蔽性资本流动对货币政策效果目标的影响不明显;进出我国的国际短期资本的套利动机虽然不显著,但是国际短期资本流动和利率的关联性已经很强。最后,以实证结果为依据,提出相应对策建议。     

Multilateral Trade Liberalisation and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows

This paper investigates two questions: how does multilateral trade liberalisation affect inward foreign direct investment, and does this impact (if any) depend on the domestic trade policy? The analysis uses a panel data set comprising 171 countries spanning the period 1995–2012. Results indicate that multilateral trade policy liberalisation is conducive to higher FDI inflows in host countries. Furthermore, our evidence suggests that domestic trade policy almost always positively drives inward FDI in a context of multilateral trade policy liberalisation. Countries which initially have the most restrictive trade policy regimes appear to be the greatest beneficiaries of FDI inflows when they liberalise their trade policy in the context of multilateral trade liberalisation.     

The effect of constraints on house costs

The U.S. residential construction industry allegedly is impeded by constraints such as (a) union restrictions, (b) restrictions on building supplier competition, (c) small size of home building firms, and (d) restrictive building codes that supposedly cause inefficiency and high cost. To determine the impact of such constraints on construction costs, the price of new, single-family houses was related to characteristics of these houses and measures of the constraints through multiple regression analysis. The best combination of house characteristics was selected to explain variations in cost. Then, constraint variables were added to this combination to determine the impact of constraints on construction outlays. The findings suggest that the quantitative effect of constraints upon the costs of one-family houses is small. Local building codes probably add no more than 2%, while the impact of unions on construction worker wages would appear to increase housing costs only by about 4%.     

Gender policy and female employment: a CGE model for Italy

The gender integration in all areas of policy choices and at all stages of the decision-making process is strongly recommended by the European Union and represents an achievement that the Member States should accomplish when implementing policy measures. In a country like Italy, where the level of female labour participation is among the lowest in Europe, policy maker decisions should encourage and stimulate the demand for female labour without neglecting the global employment rate and income growth. The multisectoral analysis offers the possibility to bridge gender disaggregation within income formation and distribution from the production phase to the demand formation. In this perspective, this paper develops a gender-aware CGE model based on the gender-aware SAM for the Italian economy to evaluate the impact of different fiscal policies aimed to reduce female labour cost and trigger woman hiring in those sectors with high gender disparity.     

Fiscal policy in good and bad times

In this paper we analyze whether the effect of fiscal policy differs across the business cycle. To tackle this question, we use a regime-switching error-correction framework, where nonlinearities are only modeled in the short-run and have no impact on the long-run equilibrium. Regime specific shocks to government revenue and government purchases are identified using sign restrictions. Linear combinations of the impulse responses of these basic shocks are used to construct a deficit-spending shock and a deficit-financed tax-cut shock. We find that active spending policies have a stronger impact in recession, with multipliers exceeding unity, and should be preferred to deficit-financed tax-cuts.     

Effects of rising energy prices on urban space

In this paper we review and analyze several well-known urban models that are presently being used to evaluate the impact of a decreasing energy supply on the spatial structure of our metropolitan areas. Certain models which demonstrate that rising energy prices reinforce a tendency for decentralization are shown to be extremely sensitive to modifications of certain desirable assumptions and, consequently, they may have restrictive applicability in urban policy formation. Acknowledging this possibility, we use a production function approach to derive, independently of the previously discussed models, results that indicate a rise in energy prices will generate centralizing urban adjustments.     

Land Market Restrictions,Women's Labour Force Participation and Wages in a Rural Economy

We analyse the effects of land market restrictions on the rural labour market outcomes for women. The existing literature emphasizes two mechanisms through which land restrictions can affect economic outcomes: collateral value of land, and (in)security of property rights. Our analysis focuses on an alternative mechanism where land restrictions increase costs of migration out of villages. Testable prediction of collateral channel is that wages remain unchanged, but the effects on labour force participation are ambiguous. Insecurity of property rights in land reduces labour force participation, but leaves wages undisturbed. In contrast, if land restrictions work primarily through higher migration costs, labour force participation increases, while wages decline. For identification, we exploit a natural experiment in Sri Lanka where historical malaria played a unique role in land policy. We provide robust evidence of a positive effect of land restrictions on women's labour force participation, but a negative effect on female wages. The empirical results thus contradict a collateral or insecure property rights effect, but supports migration costs as the primary mechanism.     

利率市场化时代下商业银行发展对策研究

利率是国家宏观调控的重要手段。2013年7月20日,中央银行取消了商业银行贷款下限的限制,使贷款利率完全由市场竞争来决定。利率市场化对商业银行的经营风险和经营环境产生了重大的影响,对商业银行未来的发展既是机遇也是挑战。在利率市场化时代下,商业银行必须采取必要的措施来把握机遇和迎接挑战。文中主要围绕利率市场化对商业银行的影响,对其未来可持续发展有针对性地提出对策。     

New evidence on innovation and market structure

Arrow and Demsetz have disagreed on theoretical grounds as to whether the incentive to invent is likely to be greater in a competitive industry or a monopoly one. Past empirical studies of the relationship between the rate of innovation and market structure have suggested that innovation occurs at a faster rate within a competitive market structure. This paper employs more detailed data and a larger sample of markets than have most previous studies of this relationship. Using a sales-weighted measure of innovation, the paper finds a positive and statistically significant relationship between the overall rate of innovation In individual markets and the level of seller concentration. This implies that public policy which reduces concentration may, through its impact on incentives, have the side effect of reducing the rate of innovation in the markets involved.     

Anti-Abortion Activities and the Market for Abortion Services: Protest as a Disincentive

Cross-section data for the US are used to estimate the effects of anti-abortion activity on the demand and supply of abortion services in 1992. Empirical results show that anti-abortion activity had a signi~cant negative impact on both the demand and supply of abortion services. Using estimates from a two-stage least-squares estimation of demand and supply, anti-abortion activities (measured as picketing with physical contact or blocking of patients) have decreased the market equilibrium abortion rate by an estimated 19 percent and raised the price of an abortion by approximately 4.3 percent. Taken together, the empirical results show that anti-abortion activities have been successful in making abortion services scarcer.     

Telecast Deregulation and Competitive Balance

A bstract . In 1984 the Supreme Court granted individual schools the right to negotiate football telecasts , a privilege previously held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This paper provides an empirical analysis of the impact of that decision on competitive balance in college football. Although changes in team and league winning percentages varied among conferences, the average effect indicates greater competitive balance in the post-decision period. These results support the Supreme Court's contention that restrictions on television appearances are not needed to equalize competitive success.     

鲜活农产品拍卖市场品类价格波动的相关性分析与检验

协整与Granger因果检验被广泛应用于宏观经济领域经济变量间的关系分析中,但是,将协整与Granger因果检验应用于企业微观市场结构经济变量之间的分析的文献还鲜见报道。论文选择昆明国际花卉拍卖市场2009年2月16日至2010年2月12日间玫瑰的交易数据,分析鲜活农产品拍卖市场品类价格波动的相关性及其影响。实证结果表明:价格与供货量存在长期的均衡关系,供货量是价格的内生变量;价格对滞后一期的供货量产生影响,供货量则影响滞后三期的价格;此外,价格对滞后三期的流拍率产生影响,但流拍率的变化不会对价格产生影响。     

非对称性利率政策对中国房价影响的实证分析

房地产行业资金密集性的特点决定了其必然受到利率政策的重大影响。本文从利率政策的非对称性视角出发,区分扩张性和紧缩性利率政策区间,建立向量自回归与误差修正模型,并进行脉冲响应和方差分解分析,研究结果表明扩张性利率政策对房价的促进作用要强于紧缩性利率政策对房价的抑制作用。如果欲促进房地产复苏,则降低与投资者和消费者成本收益紧密相关的短中期存贷款利率;如果欲遏制房价过快上涨,则提高短期存款利率和长期贷款利率。根据实证研究的结果,文章提出了有针对性的政策建议。