Hunting the Whale: More Evidence on State Government Leviathans

Caplan holds that governments are Leviathans, seeking to extend their power by increasing government expenditures beyond the level preferred by voters. We extend Caplan's model by examining the real (percentage) growth rates of government. We also examine whether government size increases at an increasing rate as the minority party weakens. We find evidence that supports and fails to support the original Leviathan hypothesis. We also fail to support our extensions of Caplan's hypothesis. Furthermore, our significant and contrary results have intuitively appealing interpretations. From these results, we conclude that the impact of political party power on government spending is ambiguous.     

Extinction of the human race: Doom-mongering or reality?

Summary In this paper a simple growth model is extended with an assimilation function that is founded on the natural sciences literature. Moreover, the possibility of a breakdown of the earth's life-support system, wich implies extinction, is explicity taken into account. Under the hypothesis of full information it is concluded that extinction can be an optimal policy. The market outcome is such that a breakdown of the life-support system is inevitable. However, if extinction is not optimal, the government may internalize the externality. It can do so by levying a traditional Pigouvian tax that must (in some cases) be accompanied by a new tax instrument, the overendowment tax.     

对黑龙江赫哲族文化认识与保护的思考

赫哲族是中国人口最少的少数民族之一，在许多非物质文化遗产濒临灭绝的今天，有必要通过对赫哲族民族文化的再认识，以采取行之有效的抢救措施，加大对民族文化遗产的保护力度。     

粒状土孔隙率与其颗粒级配的分形关系

粒状土是填(构)筑地基、路基和土石坝等构筑物最常用的工程材料之一。对粒状土孔隙空间的研究有助于揭示其粒状结构承受和传递外力的机理。以仿真颗粒的相互作用为基础的颗粒离散元法是研究粒状土力学行为的有力有效工具。然而,仿真计算所耗时间与颗粒数量成正比,在计算颗粒数量较多的大模型时会受计算机计算性能的制约,阻碍了颗粒离散元法在工程中的普及。为了减小颗粒数量,常常忽略粒状土中细小的颗粒,带来的问题是,颗粒体的孔隙率被低估,同时影响粒状土中力的传递。借助颗粒流离散元法开展一系列仿真试验。结果表明,模型孔隙率随着最小颗粒粒径的变小而变小且两者呈分形关系。基于分形理论建立粒状堆积体孔隙率与最小粒径的数学关系。研究结果可用于提高颗粒流(或计算流体动力学-离散元法耦合)模型计算的准确性和效率。     

The limitations of bargaining theory: A case study of the International Petroleum Company in Peru

The usual bargaining model used to analyze the interaction of foreign companies and developing countries is inadequate because its political assumptions are usually misleading and tend to abstract from a highly complex reality. The case of the International Petroleum Company in Peru is used to illustrate how political parties there were constrained by the presence of a large foreign firm to act in certain ways which could not have been predicted by a ‘rational’ model of bargaining.     

The role of fiscal policy in Japan: a quantitative study

This paper analyzes the role of fiscal policy in the recent slowdown in Japan. A dynamic general equilibrium model is developed in which fiscal policy can have both expansionary effects (through increasing returns) and contractionary effects (through the increase of public debt and tax burden). A version of the model is calibrated to the Japanese economy and is used to measure the importance of both these effects. We find that, under a wide range of parameters, net expansionary effects are quantitatively small, thus suggesting a limited role for fiscal stabilization     

The political economy of trade liberalization in developing countries

The paper addresses the issue of trade liberalization in developing countries from a political economy perspective using the theory of collective action. The role of collective action and interest group behavior is analysed critically both with respect to the initiation of attemps at liberalization and its outcome in terms of success or failure. A probit model is then used to test empirically the various hypotheses as to the determinants of likelihood of success of liberalization attempts. A sample of 51 liberalization episodes relating to 24 countries and spanning the period 1950–80 is used. Five factors are found to be critical in the process of liberalization: the strength of exporters groups as represented by the diversification and importance of manufactures and traditional exports, the strength of import-competing sector's opposition as measured by the share of manufacturing in GDP, the time elapsed since the beginning of import substitution, the size of country and the leadership committment and role.     

The influence of firms' financial policy on tax reform

The effectiveness of proposed reforms to the tax system intendedto stimulate investment depends on how capital structure affectscorporate behaviour. A dynamic general equilibrium model, calibratedfor the UK, is used to investigate the difference between threemodels of financial structure, including one of endogenous structuremotivated by agency theory. It is shown that the differencein predicted effects can be significant, and that the impactof the reform on the marginal source of funds is crucial.     

基于多层路径规划的自动布线优化研究

为实现大规模集成电路中的"自动布线问题",首先针对单层平面内通道自动布线问题使用A*算法,发现上下引脚连接线路发生路径冲突时,单通道自动布线问题无解.对多层数电路通道自动布线使用Floyd算法建模,分别对每层线路进行优化.构建基于遗传算法的A*目标函数最优化自动布线模型,来解决三维空间结构优化、系统整体布线距离优化以及金属线与通孔寄生电阻最小化问题.之后使用样本测例对建立的模型进行验证,提出新的解决路线.     

The systems approach to household labor supply in the Netherlands

Summary Deaton and Muellbauer's `Almost Ideal Demand System' is employed to model the joint determination of family income and male and female labor supply of individual households in the Netherlands. Family composition effects are incorporated as quasi-price effects, as originally proposed by Batten. The model is estimated for a cross-section of households in the Netherlands in 1982, to explain both actual hours of work and preferred hours of work. An analysis of the effects of rationing of male labor supply, by a mandatory reduction of the length of the working week, points to a sizeable compensating effect on female labor supply.The authors thank Jacques Siegers, Joop Hartog, Tom Wansbeek and a referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft. Geert Ridder kindly provided his maximum likelihood computer program GRMAX, which was used in the estimation of the model.     

The nature and causes of intra-industry trade: Back to the comparative advantage explanation? The case of Spain

The Nature and Causes of Intra-Industry Trade: Back to the Comparative Advantage Explanations? The Case of Spain. — The aim of this paper is to contribute empirically to the knowledge of the nature and causes of intra-industry trade (IIT), distinguishing between vertical and horizontal IIT. To this end, we estimate a more general empirical model than those used in previous studies, by introducing simultaneously both national and industry-specific variables which include measures for human and technological capital endowments. The results show that vertical IIT is positively related to industry technological intensity and differences in human and technological capital endowments between countries. On the other hand, horizontal IIT is explained by the traditional monopolistic competition model.     

On sustained economic growth with wealth effects

In a discounted one-sector convex model of optimal economic growth where utility may depend on both consumption and capital stock, I derive necessary and sufficient conditions for sustained growth (unbounded expansion of capital and consumption). Conditions for bounded growth and extinction are also outlined. Optimal paths may be non-monotone. Sustained growth may occur even though the asymptotic marginal productivity is less than the discount rate and may require the initial capital stock to be above a critical level. The behavior of the marginal rate of substitution between consumption and capital plays a crucial role in the conditions.     

开放式创新下的企业知识产权运营初探

文章首先从开放式创新概念和分类入手,引出开放式创新下知识产权运营的背景和必要性,进而从理论分析切入,对开放式创新下企业为什么要重视知识产权运营进行了理论剖析,最后重点对开放式创新与知识产权运营的协同机制进行了研究。在开放式知识创新的条件下,中国企业只有建立和健全知识产权价值体系和知识产权运营体系,才能不断提高企业国际竞争力,并且在经济全球化的国际分工中,获得更大的经济利益。     

The Political Economy of Trade Liberalization and Environmental Policy

A pressure group model where environmental and industry lobby groups offer political support in return for favorable pollution tax policies is used to explain and predict the equilibrium pollution tax in sectors protected by tariffs. The political economy effects of trade liberalization are investigated. The pollution tax is shown to decrease if the lobbying effort by the environmental lobby decreases more rapidly than by the industry lobby ceteris paribus. The level of political conflict falls with trade liberalization. Pollution may increase because of a reduction of the pollution tax, and tax revenues may fall simultaneously as pollution increases.     

跨国资产证券化的理论研究

跨国资产证券化是资产证券化的一个模式,它的发展只有短短十几年的历史,但在全球尤其是新兴市场国家正得到越来越快的发展。人们用它来利用各国法律、税收、会计、资本市场、经济发展等地区差异来发行资产支撑证券,降低交易成本。熟悉跨国资产证券化的运作原理、研究跨国资产     

The environmental consequences of stagnation in Nicaragua

A decade of war and revolution under the Sandinistas caused macroeconomic chaos but may have been indirectly beneficial to the environment. Now the country is a ward of the international financial community with foreign debt at almost six times GDP and few policy options. The Chamorro government, elected in 1990, has reduced the role of government and restored the price system as the principal means of resource allocation and income distribution. A three-gap model is used to show that environmental deterioration is likely to accelerate as a result of pursuing neoliberal policies. The analysis is based on a distinction between intensive and extensive environmental decay.     

The impact of tourism on poverty in South Africa

This paper evaluates the potential impact of tourism on poverty in South Africa on the basis of recent survey data on international tourism spending patterns. It looks at three scenarios, using an applied general equilibrium model. The main finding is that the poor benefit very little in the short term from additional tourism income. A further finding is that domestic and international tourist expenditure affect the economy differently; both markets are therefore important. In essence, the research confirms that tourism receipts can be used as a tool to alleviate poverty, but in South Africa this must be supported by policies that focus on the labour market and human resource development.     

The Economics of Animal Farm

This paper uses George Orwell's fictional story Animal Farm to make a comparison between Orwell's predictions and the Chinese experience with communism. An analogy is made between two characters from his novel, Napoleon the Boar, who attains power, and Boxer the horse, who does not. These are analogous to members and nonmembers of the Communist party, respectively. Readily available data by Griffen and Renwei (1988) are then used to compare the economic conditions of approximately 22,000 individuals. The empirical results strongly support many of Orwell's predictions. A theoretical predatory growth model that potentially explains the results is also introduced.     

Learning about fundamentals: The widening of the French ERM bands in 1993

Learning about Fundamentals: The Widening of the French ERM Bands in 1993. — The authors incorporate a Bayesian learning model into a fairly general model of exchange rate determination in discrete time. The model is applied to the period following the widening of the French-German ERM bands in August 1993, in which a systematic underprediction of the franc can be observed until February 1994. A (substantial) part of these forecast errors can be mimicked by a Bayesian learning process. Simulations with our model show that, after the widening of the bands, agents, contrary to their initial expectations, gradually learned that the true process driving monetary conditions in France had not changed notably.     

The effect of discrimination and segregation on black male migration

This article develops and tests a model of black male migration to major standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSAs). Migration is examined using a dual labor market approach. A statistical model is tested that incorporates measures of discrimination and segregation. The results are consistent with the argument that discriminatory employment practices constrain black male migration and suggest that past practices help explain the labor market problems of young blacks today. The analysis is temporal, but provides insights into previously unstudied determinants of black male migration. Decennial census data is used for fifty SMSAs.