Measuring the Impact of Child Care Subsidies on the Incomes of Mothers Returning to Work

The cost of child care is one of the greatest financial barriers faced by mothers returning to work. In recognition of this cost, the federal government provides child care subsidies to assist families to meet the cost of child care.
This paper models the use of child care services and the provision of child care subsidies to determine how effective the Australian government child care support programs are in reducing the financial barriers that make returning to work difficult for many mothers. Both childcare assistance and the newer childcare cash rebate are modelled. The impact of these assistance measures is examined for couples and sole parents on different incomes with one or two children in child care.
It was found that child care subsidies are highly progressive and make a substantial contribution to vertical equity by offsetting child care costs related to employment. They also contribute to horizontal equity, by providing greater assistance in meeting child care costs for families with more than one child in care, in recognition of their greater need. Sole parents derived the greatest benefit from child care subsidies, particularly those on low incomes working full-time and with two children in care.     

理论与实证视角的TBT对进口国经济效应解析

技术性贸易壁垒是当前国际贸易领域一项重要的非关税壁垒措施。关于技术性贸易壁垒对于进出口国的效应分析,可以将其分为短期效应和长期效应两个方面:在短期内技术性贸易壁垒确实能够增加进口国的福利,而如果进口国旨在用这一措施保护国内产业,则长期来看福利效益将难以实现。     

政府补贴、产权性质与战略性新兴产业创新绩效

政府补贴和产权性质作为战略性新兴产业发展的重要影响因素，其对创新绩效的影响已引起国内外广泛关注。采用Wind数据库中的中国战略性新兴产业上市挂牌公司面板数据，建立随机效应面板数据模型，科学评估政府补贴、产权性质对战略性新兴产业创新绩效的影响。结果发现：①现阶段中国战略性新兴产业政府补贴对企业绩效具有负向激励作用；②由于企业产权性质不同，政府补贴对非国有企业创新绩效的影响大于其对国有企业的影响。最后，提出完善政府补贴监管制度，营造合理透明发展环境，优化政府补贴政策，确保补贴方案因地制宜等政策建议，以期为政府制定更有效的补贴政策提供理论借鉴和决策支持。     

Trade liberalisation and exchange rate pass-through: the case of textiles and wearing apparels

Studies on the relationship between exchange rates and traded goods prices typically find evidence of incomplete pass-through, usually explained by pricing-to-market behaviour. Although economic theory predicts that incomplete pass-through may also be linked to the presence of non-tariff barriers to trade, variables reflecting such a link is rarely included in empirical models. In this paper, we estimate a pricing-to-market model for Norwegian import prices on textiles and wearing apparels, controlling for non-tariff barriers to trade and shift in imports from high- to low-cost countries. We apply the cointegrated VAR approach and develop measures of foreign prices based on superlative price indices (including the Törnqvist and Fischer price indices) and a data calibration method necessary to approximate relative price levels across countries. Our measures of foreign prices thereby account for inflationary differences and varying import shares and price level differences (known as the China effect) among trading partners. We show that these measures of foreign prices, unlike standard measures used in the pricing-to-market literature, are likely to produce unbiased estimates of pass-through. Once the China effect is controlled for, we find little evidence that pass-through has changed alongside trade liberalisation.     

非关税壁垒:理论与现实的沿革和变迁

本文研究贸易保护政策与贸易壁垒的缘起,不同历史时期非关税壁垒的作用特点及双重性分析,当代国际贸易壁垒重点的转移趋势,非关税壁垒形式及内容演变对中国参与国际分工和贸易的影响等四个方面的问题.[1]世人崇尚的自由贸易理念是否会忽视不同国家经济社会的不同特质,而坚持此种理念的实际结果又是否会使一些国家受益而使另一些国家受损呢?[2]没有哪一个国家打算用所谓超越国家利益的泛全球化的"道德观"或者"责任感"来一成不变的约束自身的行为.[3]不同的利益群体竭力通过各种方式和渠道表达自身的利益诉求.[4]全球化的经济和"地方化"的政治之间总是存在某种紧张关系的.[5]关键在于认识和掌握某些种政策工具,并在国际认定的框架和程序内熟练合理的借鉴利用.最低的目标应该是使中国的总体贸易保护水平与做法和全球适用通行的接轨.     

Impact of non-tariff barriers on trade within the Eurasian Economic Union

How great is the impact of non-tariff barriers on trade in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and how much will internal trade grow if they are eliminated? The Treaty on the EAEU declares removal of non-tariff barriers as a common goal. This article estimates the impact of non-tariff barriers on trade in goods in the EAEU based on 2010–2015 trade data. The empirical approach draws on the Haveman and Thursby disaggregated model. The estimates show that various trade-growth effects can be observed in different trade groups if non-tariff barriers are reduced or fully eliminated. Agriculture and the food industry have the highest growth potential: around 40% growth with a 50% reduction of barriers. The highest growth potential is found for trade between Belarus and Kazakhstan. The most significant effects are observed for member-states that are small in terms of the size of the economy and for which the internal trade share is large.     

A bottom-up re-estimation of global fisheries subsidies

Using a recently developed database of fisheries subsidies for 148 maritime countries spanning 1989 to the present, total fisheries subsidies for the year 2003 is computed. A key feature of our estimation approach is that it explicitly deals with missing data from official sources, and includes estimates of subsidies to developing country fisheries. Our analysis suggests that global fisheries subsidies for 2003 are between US25 and 29 billion, which is higher than an earlier World Bank estimate of between US 25 and 29 billion, which is higher than an earlier World Bank estimate of between US 14–20 billion. This new estimate is lower than our 2000 global subsidies estimate of US$ 30–34 billion. We find that fuel subsidies compose about 15–30% of total global fishing subsidies, and that capacity enhancing subsidies sum to US$ 30–34 billion. We find that fuel subsidies compose about 15–30% of total global fishing subsidies, and that capacity enhancing subsidies sum to US 16 billion or about 60% of the total. These results imply that the global community is paying the fishing industry billions each year to continue fishing even when it would not be profitable otherwise—effectively funding the over-exploitation of marine resources.     

Exchange rate pass-through in Canadian manufacturing: its direct and indirect components

Changes in the exchange rate have direct and indirect effects on the prices of domestically produced goods and imports in the domestic market. The direct effects originate with the impact of the exchange rate on the marginal cost of imports; the indirect effects, with its impact on the price of materials used by domestic producers and hence on their marginal costs. Direct and indirect exchange rate pass-through elasticities are estimated for 37 Canadian manufacturing industries and their determinants are examined in a cross-section analysis. It is found that the direct and indirect elasticities are approximately equal in size for domestic goods, while the direct effect is dominant for imports. For a small number of industries, the net result of the direct and indirect effects is that a depreciation of the domestic currency increases the competitiveness of imports, contrary to conventional analysis. Important determinants of the direct (indirect) elasticities are the import share and non-tariff barriers (the responsiveness of domestic costs to changes in the exchange rate, and concentration).     

OPTIMAL UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE,WITH HUMAN CAPITAL DEPRECIATION,AND DURATION DEPENDENCE*

This article introduces the possibility of a deterioration in job opportunities during unemployment into the standard optimal unemployment insurance (UI) design framework and characterizes the efficient UI scheme. The optimal program may display two novel features, which cannot be present in stationary models. First, UI transfers are bounded below by a minimal assistance level that arises endogenously in the efficient contract. Second, the optimal scheme implies a wage subsidy for long‐term unemployed workers. Numerical simulations based on the Spanish and U.S. economies suggest that both assistance transfers and wage subsidies should be part of the UI scheme in these countries.     

Trade policy and distortions in intra-Asian trade

This paper analysis wheather the level of tariffs and non-tariff barriers affect the pattern of inter-industry trade within Asia. The Heckscher–Ohlin theorem is based on the assumption of efficient resource allocation. However, markets in many developing countries protect the domestic production by trade barriers. We would therefore expect the pattern of production and trade not to reflect comparative advantages perfectly. It is found that import charges and non-tariff barriers have a significant positive impact on capital intensities in net export.     

论贸易技术壁垒的性质及其经济效应

贸易技术壁垒本身具有针对性和隐蔽性强、一定的合法性以及影响面广等特点，使得贸易技术壁垒成为国际贸易中使用最广泛、效果最显著的非关税壁垒措施之一。无可争辩的事实是：有些贸易技术壁垒措施具有合理性，也为国际贸易发展创造了新的机遇，但也有一些贸易技术壁垒措施从科学技术、卫生、检疫、安全、环保、产品质量和认证等方面入手，披上合法外衣，灵活多变，使得国外厂商难以应付，实际上已经成为推行新贸易保护主义的手段，从而影响着各国经济政策的制定，因而也就直接或间接地制约着国际贸易的发展速度，并在一定程度上影响着国际贸易的商品结构、地理方向，引起不同国家间、集团问的贸易摩擦和冲突。     

政府补贴对企业创新行为的影响 ——基于2011-2017年中国高科技上市公司微观数据

选取2011-2017年高新技术企业为研究样本，采用混合OLS、固定效应模型及GMM模型分析政府补贴对高新技术企业创新研发活动的促进作用。结果发现：政府补贴对高新技术企业创新研发具有促进作用，但针对不同地区、不同行业高新技术企业，政府补贴力度不尽相同；对于不同地区来说，政府补贴对一线城市扶持力度较大，对其企业创新投入与产出的激励作用比较显著，对于二、三线城市的扶持力度不够，对其企业创新投入与产出的激励作用相对较弱；对于不同行业来说，政府会有针对性地加大对某一行业制造业财政补贴力度，如铁路、船舶、航空航天和其它运输设备制造业、计算机、通信和其它电子设备制造业。最后，针对上述问题，进一步分析原因并提出相关政策建议。     

Protection for sale with imperfect rent capturing

Abstract .  Grossman and Helpman (1994) explain tariffs as the outcome of a lobbying process. In most empirical implementations of this framework protection is instead measured using non-tariff barriers. Since tariffs allow the government to fully capture the rents from protection, while non-tariff barriers do not, the existing parameter estimates of the protection for sale model are likely to be biased. To address this problem, we augment the framework by considering instruments that allow partial capturing. Our specification is supported by the data, where we find that only 72–75% of the rent from protection is appropriated by the government.     

Economic Implications of Alternative Allocation Schemes for Emission Allowances*

For reasons of political feasibility, emission trading systems may have to rely on free initial allocation of emission allowances in order to ameliorate adverse production and employment effects in dirty industries. Against the background of an emerging European‐wide emission trading system, we examine the trade‐off between such compensation and economic efficiency under output‐based and emissions‐based allocation rules. We show that the emissions‐based allocation rule is more costly than the output‐based rule in terms of maintaining output and employment in energy‐intensive industries. When the international allowance price increases, the inferiority of emissions‐based allocation vis‐à‐vis output‐based allocation becomes more pronounced, as emission subsidies drastically restrict efficiency gains from international trade in emission allowances.     

智能制造业创新产出：政府补助与市场竞争是否协同助力

基于2015—2019年中国智能制造行业上市公司数据，探讨政府补助与市场竞争对创新产出的协同作用，研究不同产业类别、不同市场竞争环境以及不同区域下政府补助的异质性效果。结果表明，政府补助和市场竞争对企业创新产出均有显著激励作用，市场竞争正向调节政府补助与企业创新产出的关系；政府补助对智能制造四大行业的创新产出均具有正向激励效应，其中对高端装备和新材料产业的促进作用更显著；在高市场竞争环境下，政府补助对高质量创新产出的促进作用更加显著；分区域看，东、中部地区政府补助对企业创新产出的促进作用更显著，且东部地区政府补助与市场竞争的协同促进作用更强，中部地区次之，西部地区较弱。结论对政府制定智能制造业补助政策、完善创新市场环境、促进政府与市场发挥协同创新作用等具有参考价值。     

政府补贴、行业竞争与企业出口技术复杂度

政府补贴作为经济发展的"有形之手",在我国出口技术结构升级中扮演何种角色呢?其内在影响机制又是如何呢?文章基于中国工业企业数据和中国海关统计数据库,利用倾向得分匹配法(PSM)和倍差法考察了政府补贴和行业竞争对企业出口技术复杂度的影响效应及渠道.研究表明:政府补贴抑制了企业出口技术复杂度的提升,而行业竞争促进了企业出口技术复杂度的提升;不同竞争程度的企业样本中,政府对低竞争行业的企业出口技术复杂度的抑制效应显著高于中高竞争行业,这说明行业竞争度的提高有利于纠正政府补贴对出口技术复杂度的抑制效应.进一步的影响机制分析表明:政府补贴促进出口技术结构升级的渠道为研发激励效应,且这种激励效应只在中高竞争行业样本中是显著存在的;从成本渠道考察发现,政府补贴有利于企业出口价格指数的降低,从而对出口技术复杂度的提升产生显著的成本扭曲效应.文章的结论意味着,不能一味地对企业进行补贴,而应该构建有效的激励机制与成本倒逼机制,让企业通过内生动力而非价格竞争形成企业出口技术复杂度的升级.     

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND JOB LOCK: THE INTERACTION BETWEEN TAX SUBSIDIES AND HEALTH INSURANCE REGULATIONS

This paper demonstrates that health insurance tax subsidies increase self‐employment, but that the effect differs substantially based on nongroup market regulations and health status. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, I show that households that cannot purchase health insurance because of a preexisting condition do not respond to tax subsidies in states in which they would be denied insurance, but they respond strongly in states in which they face risk‐rated premiums. Households respond similarly to tax subsidies in states with nongroup market regulations similar to those established by the Affordable Care Act, regardless of preexisting conditions. (JEL H20, I13, J30)     

Grant Assistance and Small Firm Development in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

Small business support is an important element of industrial development policy in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This paper examines the effect of grant support on small business performance from 1991–94. Around 50% of small businesses in Northern Ireland and 30% of small businesses in the Republic of Ireland received financial support over this period. In Northern Ireland, three clusters of assisted companies were identified who received support for marketing, training and capital investments. In the Republic of Ireland, two assisted clusters of firms were identified who received marketing and training grants. In each case, firms in the assisted clusters grew faster, tended to be more profitable, were more active in terms of sales and market development and adopted more ambitious strategic directions than those in the non‐assisted clusters. Selection models are used to explore whether these differences are due to differences in the characteristics of the assisted and non‐assisted groups or can be directly attributed to the effect of government financial support. In the Republic of Ireland there is no evidence of any effective targeting of assistance at better performing firms. In Northern Ireland, there is some evidence that assistance was targeted at firms with higher productivity growth. Grant aid had no effect on either the turnover growth or profitability of small businesses in either area. It did, however, boost employment growth. This is good‐news for job creation but has potentially worrying implications for firms' longer‐term competitive position through its negative effect on productivity.     

Rent Seeking and Government Ownership of Firms: An Application to China''s Township–Village Enterprises

Using its control of regulated inputs, a government agency extracts rents from a manager who undertakes an investment. Such government rent-seeking activity leads to a typical hold-up problem. Government ownership serves as a second-best commitment mechanism, through which the government agency will restrain itself from the rent-seeking activity and may even offer the manager assistance in the form of tax breaks and subsidies. This mechanism works at a cost, however, as government ownership also compromises ex post managerial incentives and creates distortion in resource allocation. Nevertheless, government ownership Pareto dominates private ownership under certain conditions. These conditions correspond to a host of stylized empirical observations concerning local-government-owned firms, i.e., township–village enterprises, during China's transition to a market economy.J. Comp. Econ., June 2002 30(4), pp. 787–811. Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 328 David Kinley Hall, Urbana, Illinois 61801. © 2002 Association for Comparative Economic Studies. Published by Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D23, D72, L33.     

Green Barriers： Obstacle or Stimulation ？

Most viewpoints in China consider green barrier is one kind of non-tariff barriers imposed by developed countries and is unfair to developing countries. Different from these, this paper points out that green barriers, evolving from the background of sustainable development theory and the principle of environment protection, have positive effect on ideology, international institutional arrangement and innovation stimulation. Demonstrating the rationality of green barriers, the paper puts forward that green barriers should be regarded as the stimulation for technology innovation and industrial restructure rather than obstacles. The best way to surmount the green barriers for Chinese government and enterprises is to implement circular economy and clean production so as to achieve the harmony of trade, environment and economic development.