Public Goods,Tax Policies,and Unemployment in LDCs

We build a general equilibrium model of a small open economy characterized by unemployment and producing two privately traded goods and one nontraded public consumption good. The provision of public good is financed with an income tax or an excise tax on the manufactured good or an import tariff. Within this framework, the paper examines the effects of such policies on the country's unemployment ratio and welfare, and it derives the efficiency rules for public good provision for each policy instrument. It shows, among other things, that the private marginal cost of the public good always overstates its social marginal cost in the case of income taxes and may overstate it in the case of an excise tax on the manufactured good or a tariff even if the taxed good and the public good are substitutes in consumption.     

排污税与减排补贴的减排效应比较研究

研究排污税、减排补贴对减排的影响机理,并从污染排放控制效果、等量污染排放下的社会福利影响等方面对减排效应进行比较分析,得出以下结论:排污税率、减排补贴率均与污染排放负相关,与社会福利水平的关系均受税率和补贴率的影响;当税率和补贴率等量提高时,排污税效果比减排补贴的效果好;当经济由未采用政策到采用政策而导致等量减排时,就社会福利的增加量而言,减排补贴比排污税的社会福利增加量大。此研究结论从政策的减排效果和福利影响方面,给予政府制定减排政策提供了参考依据。     

Over het sociaal-economische gemenebest

Summary The title of this essay reflects the responsibility that people share in today's society for the outcome of the economic process to be efficient and equitable for everybody.Overcoming both the pursuit of Economic Welfarism and the separation of Efficiency and Equity, in welfare economics one has to look to a general understanding of the maintenance and furtherance of welfare on the physical, subjective and ethical levels. For that purpose, a recognition of the pluriformity of the ingredients of welfare is necessary. External effects, ecological problems and the scale of private, mixed and public goods, fall into that pattern.Openbare les, gegeven bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van gewoon lector in de staathuishoudkunde aan de Vrije Universiteit to Amsterdam op 22 september 1972.     

A Classroom Exercise: Voting by Ballots and Feet

This classroom experiment illustrates the efficiency-enhancing property of a Tiebout system in which local public goods decisions are determined by a political process. Students are given playing cards that induce diverse preferences for expenditures on alternative public goods and are initially assigned to specific communities. Then those in each community vote on the type and level of public goods provision, which determine the tax cost. After the provision and tax results are announced, students are free to move to a location where the prior results are more consistent with their preferences. This process continues for several rounds, with a new vote taken at each location after moves have been made. The exercise demonstrates that the combination of voting with feet and ballots tends to increase the total net benefit for all communities. The voting on provision levels is structured to facilitate a discussion of the median voter theorem.     

中国开征碳税对价格、福利及公平影响的测度

本文利用投入产出和线性需求模型分析了碳税的价格影响、福利成本以及再分配效应。征税导致占中低收入居民支出比重较大的基本消费品价格大幅上涨,如电热水气、房屋、公共交通、食品等;从等价性变化、补偿性变化的角度看,城镇居民的福利损失随收入降低而上升,而农村居民中中等收入家庭损失最大;Atkinson公平指数显示碳税前后贫富差距有所扩大。因此,碳税具有一定累退性。但是,碳税边际福利成本及其收入差距影响并不大,因此政府可以通过转移支付手段缓解其负面冲击。     

中国开征碳税对价格、福利及公平影响的测度

本文利用投入产出和线性需求模型分析了碳税的价格影响、福利成本、以及再分配效应。征税导致占中低收入居民支出比重较大的基本消费品价格大幅上涨,如电热水气、房屋、公共交通、食品等;从等价性变化、补偿性变化的角度看,城镇居民的福利损失随收入降低而上升,而农村居民中中等收入家庭损失最大;Atkinson公平指数显示碳税前后贫富差距有所扩大。因此,碳税具有一定累退性。但是,碳税边际福利成本及其收入差距影响并不大,因此政府可以通过转移支付手段缓解其负面冲击。     

On the specification of an investment function

Summary In this paper the process of investment planning is followed step by step. It is assumed that the objective of the planning is to maximize the present value of net receipts. Two alternative assumptions (perfect and imperfect competition), concerning the market where the output is sold, are analyzed. One result is the optimal (desired) quantity of capital on hand plus on order, from which investment demand (i.e. the orders to be placed) is derived. This demand is compared with available internal funds, where a positive difference between the two is supposed to be bridged only partially by external financing. The extent to which this occurs depends on the amount to be bridged. Then actual investment demand appears to be a convex linear combination of investment demand not restricted by funds available and of internal funds. The weights of the components, however, are not constants. An outline is given of the relation of the above approach to the traditional approach of maximizing profits by equalizing the marginal efficiency of investment and the marginal cost of funds. This is done by considering a two-period model in which costs of funds are explicitly introduced.The author thanks Professor W. H. Somermeyer for criticizing a previous draft of this paper.     

公共物品供给中的内在性问题研究

在公共物品供给问题上,传统的市场失灵理论为政府干预提供了必要的理论基础。但政府公共机构的确立在很大程度上反映了其内部而非社会利益的标准或目标,即内在性问题,导致了公共物品供给的低效率,具体表现为公共物品的高成本和非均衡供给、反公共物品问题等。文章认为,克服内在性问题,提高公共物品供给效率,应该在改革政府、引入市场机制的基础上,赋予公民更多的话语权。     

How do trust and property security influence household contributions to public goods?: The case of the sloping land conversion program in China

Trust and property rights are generally considered to influence farmers' behavior regarding resource use and environmental management. Previous studies show that higher trust levels may enhance contributions to public goods. This paper investigates how trust and (land) property rights security influence the provision of one concrete public good: land protection through the Sloping Land Conservation Program in China. The analysis is based on household survey data from Ningxia Autonomous Region in China. From our questionnaire two trust factors are derived and distinguished, using factor analysis: general trust and kinship trust. Farm households are less likely to contribute to public goods when they perceive more secure land rights, but trust has mixed effects on public goods. The results show that general trust and kinship trust may rely on two opposite effects for influencing public goods provision. On the one hand, high levels of general trust may directly enhance people's willingness to provide contributions to public goods (by reduced likelihood to reconvert forest land) when farmers are aware of the positive environmental effects of the program, that's the public goods effect. On the other hand, general trust may also make it more likely that people invest more in their own private goods to pursue their own welfare (a more likely reconversion of forest land to arable land), that's the private goods effect. The final outcome depends on the size and direction of both effects. Compared to general trust, kinship trust is more inward-looking and self- or group-interested compared to more reciprocal general trust. Thus, unlike general trust, kinship trust may have no significant public goods effect on the provisioning of public goods.     

Regulating the Anticommons: Insights from Public‐Expenditure Theory

This article offers a new interpretation of the traditional Cournot complements problem, or anticommons, by using the theory of public goods to gain a perspective on the problem. Specifically, I examine the pricing strategies and regulation of multiple monopolies that produce products which consumers view as perfect complements. I show that collusion by the firms increases total social welfare and that the collusion problem can be reinterpreted as a problem of provision of public goods from the point of view of the firms. I take this insight further and derive the familiar concepts of the Samuelson marginal condition and the ratio equilibrium for the firms. I compare these outcomes to the first best solution and then apply incentive‐compatible mechanisms to strategically implement the Pareto superior ratio‐equilibrium outcome and the optimal marginal‐cost pricing outcome. Finally, I show how this methodology can be applied to the more familiar Cournot model of oligopoly.     

Overshooting,reform and retreat of the welfare state

Summary The paper discusses various reforms that may lower the costs of the contemporary welfare state, including a shift from taxes to actuarially fair, although still compulsory, insurance premia; wider use of co-insurance,etc. It is also suggested that social security entitlements are made more robust against political interventions by moving them outside of the government budget. Freer competition is suggested in the provision of social services. Reform of the political process is also discussed to avoid an overshooting of the welfare state in the sense that imperfections in the political process result in excessive welfare state spending.Seventh Tinbergen Lecture delivered on October 1, 1993 at De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam for the Royal Netherlands Economic Association. I Am grateful for comments on an early draft of this paper by Thorvaldur Gylfason, Torsten Persson, Agnar Sandmo, Karl Gustaf Scherman, Lars E.O. Svensson, Paul Söderlind and Lars Söderström.     

Second Best Environmental Policies under Uncertainty

We construct a strategic environmental policy model of an international duopoly. Governments use environmental policies, such as an emissions standard or a tax, to control pollution and for rent shifting purposes. Contrary to firms, however, governments are unable to perfectly foresee the actual level of demand and the cost of abatement. Our results suggest that not only the presence but also the absolute level of uncertainty matters for the optimal choice of the environmental policy instrument. Moreover, the optimality conditions under strategic behavior may lead to welfare losses relative to the cooperative outcomes because of under‐regulation and lack of policy coordination between the two countries.     

地方性公共产品分权式供给的效率及优势分析

市场经济中效率是公共产品供给决策的基本准则,本文对地方性公共产品分权式供给的效率优势作了分析,指出地方政府在供给公共产品上具有资源配置优势和比较成本优势,还具有溢出效应,并认为在分权体制下通过地方自治方式确保地方政府在公共产品供给上的优先权和自主权等可以保证了地方性公共产品供给的高效性。     

Observations on technical change and paretian welfare economics

Summary This article brings together two major topics of economic theory: technical change and Paretian welfare economics. Until now, the tendency has been to study these topics separately. By introducing economic search behaviour in the first phase of technical change, the analysis of technical change is broadened by means of a link between this behaviour and so-called virtual goods. The concept of Pareto optimality is broadened by expanding the space of goods with new and virtual goods. The question is whether the generalized Paretian theory makes it possible to compareex post equilibria after the process of technical change with theex post situation before this process takes place. Although generalized Pareto optimality does not allow a welfare judgement on aprocess of technical change, the theory still provides us with an explanation for the allocation of resources of R&D in terms of consumer preferences and with an analytical device to compare actual economic structures with a generalized Pareto optimum in a static setting.If they (i.e. economists) are to perform their guiding task as conscientiously as possible, it is first necessary that they themselves have proper insight into the regrettably narrow limits of what economics has to offer to politics in terms of purely economic criteria; secondly, that they are aware of the foundations and the substance of their additional sociopolitical valuations and finally, that they do not fail to make these known when advising society. (Hennipman, 1995, p. 174).This article is a condensed revised version of my Prof. dr Pieter Hennipman Lecture of February 23, 1993. Some time after the presentation of the lecture, I had the opportunity to discuss several issues with my beloved teacher. No doubt this version benefited from his comments. 1 A notable exception is K.J. Arrow (1962, pp. 210–228).     

Labour Market Policy and Welfare Reform: Meeting Distribution and Efficiency Objectives

Alongside the growth in overall employment and the steady rise in average real incomes over the 1990s, many developed countries experienced a concentration of low labour market attachment and low pay among certain groups in society. In response, the focus of welfare policy shifted towards targeted making work pay programs. This paper considers the validity of the arguments underlying this shift in welfare policy. It examines two broad classes of policies: active labour market programs and earned income tax credits.     

安徽新农村建设中的公共品供给制度的创新

取消农业税后,农村公共品供给紧缺的问题,成为新农村建设的瓶颈。因此,如何增加农村公共品的供给,已成为建设社会主义新农村必须关注的重要实践和理论问题。根据当前的经济和社会发展情况,文章认为,增加农村公共品的供给的关键是进行农村公共品供给制度的创新。这种制度创新,包括供给制度的创新、供给主体的创新、供给渠道及公共财政供给效率评价模型的创新。     

The excess burden of the tax and social premium system for Dutch married women

Summary The excess burden of a tax is the diminution of utility above that which would have occurred had the tax been collected as a lump sum. Computing the excess burden for the 1983 and 1985 Dutch tax and social premium system enables a partial welfare evaluation of the recent changes in the system, the so-called Tweeverdienersmaatregelen. Based on the equivalent and compensating variation, the excess burden as a percentage of the taxes and social premiums for the 1983 and 1985 system are valued at 27010 and 84010, and 37010 and 58010 respectively. This result indicates that, welfare-theoretically, the old system seems preferable to the new one.The author wishes to thank Hans Doodeman, Paul Renaud and Jacques Siegers for their critical remarks on an earlier version of this article.     

Strategic corporate social responsibility of high-speed rail in China

This paper investigates the strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) of a high-speed rail (HSR) firm when competing with an airline firm in a differentiated transportation market and the interactions with government environmental policies in the context of a Cournot–Bertrand comparison. We find that a standard CSR chosen by the government is lower under Cournot than that under Bertrand when both the marginal cost of HSR and product substitutability are low enough, while a voluntary CSR chosen by the HSR operator is always higher under Cournot than that under Bertrand. We also find that the voluntary CSR could be higher or lower than the standard CSR, depending on marginal costs, product substitutability, and competition modes. We then show that when the government imposes an environmental tax together with CSR activities, both the strategic CSR and environmental tax are always lower under Cournot than those under Bertrand. Finally, we show that equilibrium traffic volumes, ticket fares, consumer welfare, and social welfare are independent of competition modes with environmental tax.     

农村公共物品市场化供给与政府监管

长期以来,我国农村公共物品供给一直沿袭计划经济体制下的政府主导模式,虽取得了一定的成效,却忽视了政府监管体系的建立,影响了公共物品供给的质量和效率。政府,尤其是县乡基层政府,应转变工作重点从注重农村公共物品供给转向构筑农村公共物品监管的法律框架、建立多主体参与的现代监管体系、强化政府内部激励和约束机制、放开市场准入、监控服务价格、规范服务质量、维护公平有序的竞争环境上来。     

区域性公共产品与东亚的功能性合作——日本的实践及其启示

区域性公共产品的供给和消费是分析东亚区域合作的一个理论新视角。自第二次世界大战结束以来,日本在不同阶段提供了各具形态的区域性公共产品,这成为日本促进东亚经济一体化和实现自身大国外交战略的核心途径之一。在日本国内,功能性合作被普遍视为构建东亚共同体的基本路径和关键内容,而区域性公共产品的供给则是开展功能性合作的重要方式。在东亚的区域合作中,亚洲各国既要珍惜传统友谊、政策宣示的积极作用,也要通过制度性建设和功能性的外溢、通过公共产品的供给和消费以及相互利益的交换和妥协等方式给予刚性支撑。在当下的东亚国际政治经济格局中,联合供给区域性公共产品和开展功能性合作是一种较为现实的政策选择。积极扮演区域性公共产品提供者的角色,有效促进东亚的区域经济合作成为二战后日本亚洲外交战略的重要组成部分。中国应该积极借鉴日本的成功经验,以共同供给区域性公共产品的形式进一步推进东亚区域合作。