Heckscher–Ohlin theory when countries have different technologies

Rethinking the foundations of Heckscher–Ohlin theory when countries have different technologies, this paper shows how to make the proper adjustments for international productivity differences. The central tool is a factor conversion matrix that computes the local factor content of foreign Rybczynski effects. Factor-specific productivities are a special case of these more general linear relationships.     

WTP- and QALY-Based Approaches to Valuing Health for Policy: Common Ground and Disputed Territory

This paper discusses links between two approaches to the value of health: the willingness to pay approach of environmental economics and the quality-adjusted life year approach of health economics. The approaches are used in cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses of health interventions. Despite fundamental differences in the decision contexts and conceptual foundations of the two approaches, in current practice they are likely to lead to similar policy decisions. The paper also shows how research on the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) can be used to fill in gaps in the willingness to pay literature. The paper sketches a simple model that shows how to ``QALY-fy the value of a statistical life;' i.e., how to combine QALY estimates with estimates of the value of a statistical life to estimate willingness to pay for morbidity risks.Presented at the workshop “Economic Valuation of Health for Environmental Policy: Assessing Alternative Approaches," March 18–19, 2002, Orlando, Florida. I thank Glenn Blomquist, Mark Dickie, John Mullahy, Gary Zarkin and two anonymous referees for useful comments. All remaining errors are my own responsibility.     

Balance of payments accounting and exchange rate dynamics

The balance of payments is an accounting identity. Many wonder how the current and capital accounts, which add up to zero, can influence exchange rates. This paper shows how payment flows arising from balance of payments imbalances affect the demands for different currencies in the foreign exchange market over time. Based on a dynamical system approach, the paper demonstrates how international payments evolve depending on the joint dynamic behaviour of different balance of payments components. It finds that international payments and exchange rates interact in fundamentally different ways depending on whether a country restricts its capital inflows and outflows, whether capital flows are accommodating or autonomous and whether the exchange rate is fixed, flexible or, say, governed by a crawling peg. Empirical evidence from major industrial countries as well as from countries hit by currency crises support the paper's theoretical predictions.     

Valuations of aircraft noise: experiments in stated preference

The aim of this paper is to report new evidence relating to residents’ valuations of aircraft noise in three countries with an emphasis on a comparison of the valuations obtained using two contrasting approaches. One might be regarded as a standard stated choice approach offering pairwise comparisons of two alternatives characterised by a limited number of attributes. The other choice format adopted is innovative in drawing inspiration from the priority evaluator approach to embed aircraft movements alongside a wide range of other local factors that impact on residents’ quality of life. The paper addresses the differences in the results of the two approaches and explores the possible explanations for these variations. Although not conclusive, there is a suspicion that strategic bias may have influenced the results and we urge further research regarding incentives to such bias.     

国际人才流入是否影响我国FDI区位选择

根据相关经验研究及理论模型可知,国际人才流入可通过降低国际贸易壁垒提高贸易自由度。利用2006-2013年中国内地29个省市面板数据,实证分析了国际人才流入对FDI区位分布的影响。结果显示,国际人才流入与地区FDI水平显著正相关,但国际人才流入对FDI区位分布的影响存在一定区域差异。同时,国际人才流入与企业经营环境及地理集聚水平之间存在某种替代效应,即国际人才流入能够在一定程度上弥补由于企业经营环境缺失和地理集聚水平低下带来的负面影响。此外,良好的企业经营环境和较高的地理集聚水平也对FDI区位分布具有重要影响。上述结论对于我国进一步提升外商直接投资国际竞争力及促进我国FDI区域分布平衡具有重要理论参考价值,同时也对其它新兴发展中国家具有启示作用。     

On the international harmonisation of environmental accounting: comparing the National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts of Sweden,Germany, the UK,Japan and the Netherlands

This article presents a preliminary comparison of the systems of integrated economic and environmental accounts in Sweden, Germany, the UK, Japan and the Netherlands. These countries have presented their results in a National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (NAMEA). Although the first Dutch NAMEA may have served as an example, for each country different features can be found depending on differences in objectives, available statistical sources and subsequently institutional backgrounds. Moreover, most countries have developed the NAMEA simultaneously with other accounting approaches. The first section compares differences in objective, scope and methods. The second section presents an preliminary comparison of the results which shows that comparable accounts will not automatically lead to comparable results.     

中国农食产品标准国际化能否提升出口产品质量?

执行国际标准能够促进产品质量提升,但也会给企业带来过高的遵从成本,从而可能不利于企业产品质量的提升。选取2000-2013年中国农食产品标准数据与企业-产品层面海关数据,实证分析中国农食产品标准"国际化"对企业出口产品质量的影响。结果显示:从整体来看,标准"国际化"对企业出口产品质量效应显著为负,而我国自行制定的国家标准对质量影响显著为正;按照对国际标准采纳程度分类,以及对出口产品和出口目的国发展程度分类,分样本检验发现,标准"国际化"对企业出口产品质量存在异质性影响。为此,照搬发达国家主导制订的国际标准不适用于中国出口企业,可能会由于过高的遵从成本阻碍企业产品质量升级。另一方面,以中国为代表的发展中国家需积极参与到国际标准的制定中,从而减少过高遵从成本对产品质量升级及出口带来的不利影响。     

Economic discrimination in a two-good model

Conclusions The main conclusion of this study is that in the general case we cannot make any predictions regarding the effects of discrimination on the welfare of whites or blacks. To reach definite results special assumptions have to be made, and even then much depends on in terms of which good the effects are measured.Joseph E. Stiglitz has criticized the trade approach to discrimination on the grounds that once the step is taken from the simple Beckerian one-good model to the full-fledged two-by-two-by-two framework used in international trade theory this approach can no longer explainwage differences, since the factor equalization theorem will apply, at least as long as the two groups are not totally specialized in production⁸. This criticism can be extended in the light of the results of the present work. We have in the foregoing seen how even in a model that assumes total specialization in production we cannot reach any clear-cut conclusions regarding under which circumstances it pays for the majority group to discriminate against the minority. Maximization of majority welfare by means of economic discrimination simply requires too much information, at least when the trade approach is used. Other theories are likely to yield better explanations regarding the causes of discrimination, and future research is likely to become more fruitful if attention is concentrated more on alternative approaches.The research was financially supported by the Swedish Council for Social Science Research (Statens råd för samhällsforskning). Thanks are due to an anonymous referee for thorough and helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Time-spectral density and wavelets approaches. Comparative study. Applications to SP500 returns and US GDP

Various forms of instability can be observed in macroeconomic and financial data including changes in variance, changes in cycle properties, or both. Traditional tests do not allow to distinguish between these different cases. This paper proposes and compares two alternative approaches. The comparison is based on Monte Carlo simulations. The first approach is based on windowed-estimate of the time-spectral density, while the second method is the wavelets theory. We show that the wavelets approach is particularly powerful to detect changes in cyclical properties, while the first approach fails in such a case. In contrast, the wavelets method fails to capture time–interaction effects, while the first approach is more powerful regarding this point. Hence the two methods are complementary. A first application on the SP500 returns shows that there are only changes in variance without altering the cyclical properties of the series. A second application on the US growth rate allows to conclude that there are simultaneous changes in the time and frequency domain.     

Organic food consumption in Europe: International segmentation based on value system differences

In this paper, we analyze the market for organic products in eight European countries, based on differences in their respective value systems. With a significant sample of 8014 consumers, we first identify international segments in the European organic products market using the Values Theory. Then we apply the Theory of Planned Behavior to examine how European consumers use attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control to form their purchase intention for organic products. Results show that subjective norms are the main underlying factor driving consumer behavior concerning these products. This effect is higher for the group of countries whose citizens score higher on Schwartz's value scale. In this segment of countries, people are more likely to be affected by what others think, which means that the best approach is to increase social awareness of the relevance of purchasing organic products. Organic products represent a potentially profitable opportunity for companies with an international horizon. Results are also useful for consumers and public administrations.     

The Capital Idea and the Scope of Economics

This paper traces the idea of Capital from Adam Smith to modern times and shows how different conceptions of Capital give rise to different approaches to economics and the range of problems that can be investigated. A structural, as opposed to a stock, approach to Capital is shown to be more conducive to a studies of business institutions and practices, and to rules, institutions and standards in a changing world.     

Do Equity Preferences Matter for Climate Negotiators? An Experimental Investigation

This paper investigates whether climate negotiators have preferences for equity and whether these preferences may help to explain different positions in international climate policy. For this purpose we conducted an online experiment with individuals who had been involved in international climate policy. The experiment consisted of two simple non-strategic games suited to measure individual inequality aversion as captured by the equity preference model of Fehr and Schmidt (Quarterly Journal of Economics 114:817–868, 1999). We find that our participants show an aversion to advantageous inequality to a considerable extent while the aversion to disadvantageous inequality is moderate. Regarding the geographical variety in our sample, we cannot confirm significant differences in the degree of inequality aversion between different regions in the world. Our conclusion is that regional differences in addressing climate change are driven more by national interests than by different equity concerns.     

INTERNATIONAL AVERAGE PRICES AND COMPARISONS OF NATIONAL AGGREGATE PRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURE

"The whole question of making inter-spatial comparisons between countries is a most complicated and hazardous business" (Mr. Campion); international comparisons of a particular value aggregate between countries present a difficult problem connected with the conversion of national value aggregates into a comparable magnitude. This paper presents an alternative approach in that an internationally comparable value aggregate for each country is prepared by the international average prices of commodities which are determined simultaneously with the partial exchange rates of national currencies to a standard currency. The calculated partial exchange rates are so defined as to reflect the purchasing power of national currencies in respect of the group of commodities selected. Consequently, the resulting value aggregate for international comparison has a quantity dimension, eliminating the effect due to the different purchasing power of national currencies in which original prices are quoted. The other methods of international comparison so far being used by other research workers, such as C. Clerk and M. Gilbert and his associates, are examined in the light of the properties of the present method and the crucial differences are delineated. Using the method proposed, an international comparison is made of the aggregate value of agricultural products for 11 selected countries in the world, with sub-divisions into two regions.     

竞争力平价与人民币均衡汇率研究

传统的汇率决定理论认为，一国货币汇率的衡水平是由购买力平价、利率平价和货币相对供求等决定的。大多数实证研究表明，这些均衡汇率理论只是强调单一因素，同现实相距甚远。本文构建了多因素国际竞争力平价模型，认为均衡实际汇率随着国际竞争力的相对变化而变化，国际竞争力相对提高，该国货币升值，反之则反之。本文利用主成分分析法，从影响人民币汇率的多因素中构造国际竞争力这个指标，实证研究表明人民币实际有效汇率与国际竞争力之间存在协整关系，然后再基于这个协整关系式计算人民币的均衡实际有效汇率，并据以判断人民币汇率偏离均衡水平的程度。     

PRIOR ELICITATION IN MULTIPLE CHANGE‐POINT MODELS*

This article discusses Bayesian inference in change‐point models. The main existing approaches treat all change‐points equally, a priori, using either a Uniform prior or an informative hierarchical prior. Both approaches assume a known number of change‐points. Some undesirable properties of these approaches are discussed. We develop a new Uniform prior that allows some of the change‐points to occur out of sample. This prior has desirable properties, can be interpreted as “noninformative,” and treats the number of change‐points as unknown. Artificial and real data exercises show how these different priors can have a substantial impact on estimation and prediction.     

Firms' internationalization and productivity growth

From a theoretical perspective it is well stated that firms involved in international markets should exhibit higher productivity levels. There is also empirical evidence that supports this result. This paper extends this relationship to a dynamic perspective. It provides evidence on how productivity evolves in more internationalized firms distinguishing different degrees of international involvement both in qualitative as well as in quantitative terms. The results show that productivity evolves differently in those firms that are doing international business, although without differences between large exporters and multinationals.     

Cross-national and cross-industrial comparison of two strategy approaches for global industrial evolution

This research focuses on analyzing the two prime science and technology (S&T) strategy approaches for industrial evolution based on the concept of S&T gap, namely, the optimist and pragmatist approaches. Particularly, the cases of global IC, pharmaceutical, and computer industries, are used to make cross-national and cross-industrial comparison of these two approaches. The optimist approach is developed based on the product life cycle theory which envisions technology transcending everyday limitations. With this perspective, market demand is the most critical factor in selecting the S&T strategy approaches. The pragmatist approach is formed based on the new trade theory which recognizes the power of science and technology but seeks to fit it into structures that already exist, and government must manage resources pouring into science and technology. Case studies of global IC, pharmaceutical, and computer industries during the 2nd half of the 20th century are used as research targets to reflect policy impacts on the technological evolution. The results of this study reveal that, strategy approaches have to be adapted and turned to the specific stage, technology level, and market segment that have been selected for intervention. This result of comparison also offers the criteria of strategy selection for developing different industry based on distinct national base.     

Estimation and Forecasting in Models with Multiple Breaks

This paper develops a new approach to change-point modelling that allows the number of change-points in the observed sample to be unknown. The model we develop assumes that regime durations have a Poisson distribution. It approximately nests the two most common approaches: the time-varying parameter (TVP) model with a change-point every period and the change-point model with a small number of regimes. We focus considerable attention on the construction of reasonable hierarchical priors both for regime durations and for the parameters that characterize each regime. A Markov chain Monte Carlo posterior sampler is constructed to estimate a version of our model, which allows for change in conditional means and variances. We show how real-time forecasting can be done in an efficient manner using sequential importance sampling. Our techniques are found to work well in an empirical exercise involving U.S. GDP growth and inflation. Empirical results suggest that the number of change-points is larger than previously estimated in these series and the implied model is similar to a TVP (with stochastic volatility) model.     

MEASURING HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES: SOME INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS

This paper focusses on macroeconomic approaches to the measurement of non-market household work or production in industrialised countries. It details the variety of parameters involved, the choice of which depends on the specific aim pursued by authors. A review of different aims pursued, parameters chosen, concepts used, alternative methods applied, and available statistical data is presented and results of evaluations are then compared. The money value of household activities is given in percentage of GNP and comparisons are made within the framework of similar approaches. Under this condition, results are remarkably consistent. At the same time, the paper shows how sensitive results are to the method used; it also puts emphasis on the lack of adequate statistical data which may be held responsible for a gap between the theoretical model of evaluation and its practical implementation. In the present state of knowledge, no definite assertion can be made on the time trend of household work and its money value as percentage of GNP or national income. The paper stresses the importance availability of data on the volume and nature of non-market household output would have for future research on the economic contribution of households in industrialised as well as in developing countries. Such data permitting an output approach to measurement would lead to better understanding of the interrelation between market and household sectors and would therefore improve economic analysis and forecasting. Adequate statistical data could possibly be collected through a process similar to that used for time use data in national surveys.     

Financial frictions and optimal stabilization policy in a monetary union

Financial frictions differ across countries and thus cause international differences in the transmission of shocks. This paper shows how the optimal mix of monetary and fiscal policy depends on these country-specific financial frictions. To this end, we build a two-country DSGE-model of a monetary union. Financial frictions are captured by the cost channel approach. We show that the traditional solution to the assignment problem – the common central bank stabilizes the inflation rate at the union level and the national fiscal authorities stabilize the national economies – does not hold in a world with financial frictions. The cost channel decreases the efficiency of monetary policy and increases the need for fiscal stabilization even at the union level. Moreover, the more heterogeneous the union, the more important is fiscal policy in stabilizing shocks. Finally, we evaluate the scenarios in terms of welfare of the representative household.