THE ISSUES RAISED BY THE EXPERIENCE OF UTILITY PRIVATIZATION IN THE UK

ABSTRACT^**: The UK utilities have all had a change of ownership over the last decade and a half. Does it really change things and, if so, in what ways? In fact, very little research has been carried out on this much copied experiment and evidence on efficiency gains is not that strong. But two main things have emerged. First, regulation and competition are the key drivers of change. It may well be that privatization was needed in the UK to allow these things to happen. It does not follow, however, that in other industries, or other countries, change is dependent on privatization. Second, different groups gain and lose (in absolute and relative terms) from privatization. In the UK, shareholders and large consumers have gained far more than small consumers, ex-employees and the tax payer. In particular, the fact that low-income consumers have done less well than the generality of consumers raises important issues for social cohesion and for policy.     

广州市金融机构微观集聚案例

利用广州市1984年第三产业普查数据,1996年、2001年基本单位普查数据以及金融机构名录资料等数据,识别出广州市4个金融机构微观集聚地段,并概述了天河北地段金融服务业发展状况。通过对天河北地段金融服务业及其辅助行业经理人员的访谈和问卷调查,得出天河北地段金融机构线性增强微观集聚模式的特点,即空间上尚未连接成片区,组织结构尚未形成垄断,集聚程度不高,金融机构及其辅助机构与众多非金融性公司之间的锁定关系使集聚得到强化,政府以及行业公会组织公共服务尚显不足。指出了天河北金融机构微观集聚对于广州市21世纪CBD金融商务区建设的借鉴意义。     

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS AND BALANCE SHEETS: ISSUES FOR THE REVISION OF SNA

This paper is an abridged version of a report with the same title originally written for the United Nations Statistical Office, as a part of the ongoing review of the System of National Accounts. Its purpose is to identify the issues in the financial statistics area that need to be considered in the course of the review. Particular attention is paid to problems of harmonization of SNA with related standards of the International Monetary Fund. The 1968 SNA provided a place in the framework for financial accounts and balance sheets, but did not develop them in any detail. In the 19 years since the revised SNA was published, policy and analytic interest in financial questions has greatly increased, and much work has been done on conceptual development and statistical compilation of financial statistics, both within and outside of the SNA framework. It is now apparent that some of the early decisions taken when financial considerations were not the focus of attention need reconsideration, some of the makeshift solutions that have grown up over time are no longer adequate, and some issues that have not been dealt with at all need to be addressed. This paper is not intended to propose solutions, but rather to reflect questions that have been raised, and to present alternatives that have been proposed.     

中国城乡一体化评析及公共政策探讨

对城乡一体化理论、概念及其形成背景作了讨论,对我国一些地方实施城乡一体化的结果作了实地考察,在此基础上根据若干文献资料对我国一些地方实施城乡一体化的实践作了评价。并得出结论：从制度、机制角度提出的城乡一体化,在实践中发生了概念性误偏,畸变成了物质环境布局的一体化,结果未能收到预定成效,反而影响了地方的可持续发展。最后,提出了实施我国城乡一体化的若干公共政策建议。     

关于可持续发展理论与实践的若干思考

可持续发展理论与实践的深入有赖于在四个方面的重新认识：首先,可持续发展是观念性、战略性实践性的统一;其次,可持续发展是层次性与阶段性的统一;第三,可持续发展是区域性与综合性的统一;最后, 制度变革与创新是影响可持续发展的关键因素。     

空间稀缺性--公共政策地理研究的一个视角

空间稀缺性是人类经济活动空间需求的数量与质量的提高与空间供给的有限性的矛盾。产生空间稀缺性的原因有自然原因和经济原因。人类在经济活动中发展了应对空间稀缺性的各种措施，如以技术进步应对空间稀缺性、通过空间扩展应对空间稀缺性、优化空间组合应对空间稀缺性、通过政府管制应对空间稀缺性等。经济地理学应该致力于空间稀缺性研究，并从空间稀缺性的视角发展公共政策地理学。     

STRUCTURAL SHIFTS IN UK UNEMPLOYMENT 1979–2005: THE TWIN IMPACTS OF FINANCIAL DEREGULATION AND COMPUTERIZATION

This paper analyses UK unemployment in the period 1979–2005. Structural breaks are identified endogenously and they coincide with key institutional changes associated with financial deregulation and computerization in the New Economy. A vector error correction model is estimated and it confirms that computerization and financial deregulation have had counteracting impacts on UK unemployment. The results are consistent with three hypotheses: technological advances associated with computerization have moderated inflationary struggles between firms and insiders by increasing total factor productivity; financial deregulation has generated financial fragility fostering rises in unemployment; financial deregulation and computerization together have been associated with shifts from manufacturing towards services, fostering structural unemployment.     

THE ROLE OF THE STATE AS GUARANTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICES: TRANSACTION COST ISSUES AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

ABSTRACT ** :  The aim of the paper is to take a closer look from a transaction cost perspective at empirical findings on the changing role of the State as a guarantor of public services. In recent years, a number of economic and legal research efforts have been devoted to analyse under which conditions and for which public services specific organizational forms and institutional arrangements would be adequate. The empirical evidence referred to for the public services supports in principle central statements and hypotheses of transaction cost theory and leads to some important conclusions for empirical research and for policy recommendations.     

GROWTH, R&D AND WELFARE: THE ROLE OF PUBLIC POLICY

This paper analyzes the normative side of an R&D growth model in which market structure and growth are jointly determined in the equilibrium of a one‐sector economy under monopolistic competition. We find that a distortion in the allocation of R&D, namely the presence of technological spillovers between firms, generates two market failures: insufficient growth and excessive entry of firms. We show that this result is driven by the interplay between market structure and growth. A simple tax/subsidy scheme to support the efficient solution is proposed.