Globalization, intellectual property, and economic prosperity

Innovation and the adoption of new ideas is fundamental to economic progress, and so is free trade of goods and services. Here we examine the underlying economics of the market for ideas and its implications for trade. From a positive perspective, we examine how such markets function and how international trade interact with them. From a normative perspective, we examine the pitfalls of current intellectual property regulations, and how might they be improved. We highlight recent research by ourselves and others challenging the notion that government awards of monopoly through patents and copyright are "the way" to provide appropriate incentives for innovation. JEL Classification: X15, X16 This article is based on the text of the SER Invited Lecture delivered by Michele Boldrin at the 2003 Simposio de Análisis Económico (Seville). We thank National Science Foundation Grants SES 01-14147 and 03-14713 for financial support. Corresponding author: Michele Boldrin     

Technological innovations and economic prosperity: A time series analysis

Using a univariate decomposition of per capita real GDP into its permanent trend and irregular components, the objective of this paper is to measure, rank, and compare the relative importance of the major technological innovations of the past two centuries as measured by their contribution to the growth rate of real per capita GDP. The paper uses the growth model and Beveridge and Nelson’s (1981) univariate decomposition method to measure and to compare the economic impact of random technological shocks, as measured by the average increase in real per capita GDP during sub-periods of major technological advancements.     

Democracy and prosperity in two decades of transition1

This article revisits the relationship between democracy, liberalization and prosperity in transition countries, using a panel of 25 countries over 20 years. Earlier investigations found political and economic liberalization to be positively correlated although the relationship between political liberalization and prosperity remained unclear. In this article, the results are ambiguous regarding the relationship between democracy indicators by Freedom House and the Polity Project on one hand and growth on the other. This contribution therefore investigates the component variables of these indicators to determine their degree of influence. The findings suggest that basic constitutional rights and constraints on the government rather than political competition as such may be conducive to both economic liberalization and prosperity in the transition countries.     

Deregulation,innovative entry and structural diversity as a source of stable and rapid economic growth

The importance of free innovative entry (deregulation) for diversity of structure and competition is studied. I demonstrate quantitatively that even with a narrow definition of entry (firms), and given observed entry behavior, successful entrants completely dominate the long-run performance characteristics of the economy. Rapid and stable long-run macro economic growth can only be achieved if innovative competitive entry is vigorous. Free access to markets alone is a necessary condition, with competence a sufficient condition. It is probably wrong to believe that the (ex ante) threat of entry is sufficient for dynamic competition. A growing economy requires a steady showering with optimistic entrants, a few of which turn out ex post to be superior performers. Failing and exiting firms are part of the innovation costs to society for steady and rapid economic growth. The benefits of financial innovations like junk bonds are to reduce barriers to competitive entry to make both successes and failures possible.     

Economic prosperity, biodiversity conservation, and the environmental Kuznets curve

Many conservationists contend that economic growth and biodiversity conservation are incompatible goals. Some economists contest this viewpoint, arguing that wealthier countries have the luxury of investing more heavily in efforts to conserve biodiversity. Under this assumption, we expect a U-shaped relationship between per capita wealth and proportion of species conserved. We test this environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) using estimates of per capita income and deforestation rates (index of biodiversity threat) for 35 tropical countries. A prior analysis [Dietz, S., Adger, W.N., 2003. Economic growth, biodiversity loss and conservation effort. Journal of Environmental Management, 68:23-35] using conventional regression techniques failed to provide any support for the parabolic relationship predicted by the EKC hypothesis. Here, we introduce the use of quantile regression and spatial filtering to reanalyze this data, addressing issues of heteroskedasticity and spatial autocorrelation. We note that preliminary analysis using these methods provides some initial evidence for an EKC. However, a series of panel analyses with country-specific dummy variables eliminated or even reversed much of this support. A closer examination of conservation practices and environmental indicators within the countries, particularly those countries that drove our initial support, suggests that wealth is not a reliable indicator of improved conservation practice. Our findings indicate that an EKC for biodiversity is overly simplistic and further exploration is required to fully understand the mechanisms by which income affects biodiversity.     

繁荣哈尔滨文化市场 助力文明城市创建

以哈尔滨市创建全国文明城市为切入点,从5个方面阐述了哈尔滨市文化市场的现状,指出了哈尔滨市文化市场主要存在发展规模小、文化消费水平低、供需矛盾突出、管理人才缺乏以及文化产业的发展存在体制性障碍等问题并且分析了原因,从而提出了以壮大特色文化市场主体为核心、以打造文化精品为突破口、以引导市民树立文明文化消费意识为保障加强队伍建设等方面的对策建议。     

政党建设与中共诞生地纪念馆的价值取向

执政能力建设和先进性建设是执政的中国共产党建设的主线,南湖革命纪念馆作为党的诞生地纪念馆有着“资政育人”的独特政治资源。要从当代政党建设的科学内涵出发,保持理论上的清醒,认真研究纪念馆的价值取向,把握好党的建立和执政是中国近现代史发展的必然,中国特色社会主义是复兴中华的必由之路,“红船精神”是教育当代中国共产党人的无价瑰宝。     

Innis Lecture: Canadian policies for broad‐based prosperity

Abstract. Canadian policy makers operate in the fog of myth, a myth that has been repeated so often it is mistaken for truth. According to this myth there is only one path to prosperity, and if we are to successfully travel this path, first charted by Americans, then we must abandon our most disadvantaged. We must sacrifice our core Canadian values of community and caring on the altar of competitiveness. Yet the facts of the last three decades scream out against this myth. Over that time Canada's per capita GDP fell by almost 20% relative to the United States. And this sacrifice of prosperity did not make us a more caring society. Instead, it depleted our fiscal resources by a staggering $68 billion per year and left us without the wherewithal to take care of our most disadvantaged. In this paper I debunk the myth that there is a trade‐off between a prosperous society and a caring society. In place of the myth I offer up a cohesive picture of what ails Canada and how we can cure it.     

经济全球化与我国对外经贸的发展

经济全球化发展的趋势 ９０年代以来,经济全球化以不可阻挡的强大力量向世界的每一个角落和各国经济生活的各个领域延伸。随着经济全球化的不断深入,世界各国经济都被纳入到统一的世界经济体系之中,各国经济相互渗透和相互依存已成为当今时代的一个重要特征。 经济全球化作为当代世界经济发展的一个根本特征,其意义是显而易见的。由于形成了全球市场,各国可以拥有更广阔的发展空间,可以突破单个国家市场规模和资源禀赋等方面的限制,在全球范围进行资源的优化配置,从而也就能带来更高的效益。由于经济全球化是建立在信息革命的基础上…     

Heterogeneous capital, economic growth, and economic development

This paper asks how much does physical capital contribute to economic growth. It postulates that capital is heterogeneous because of embodied progress, and it structures the inquiry to account for differences in economic development. Embedded in data that cover 120 nations over 41 years are 35 derived capital stock series, whose characteristics include average ages stratified by development state. Growth accountancy proceeds by regression analysis cast in a production function context and repeated for each capital type. Those results help to establish the growth contributions of labor quantity and quality and capital quantity and quality. They also bear on neoclassical convergence.     

Crowd-out and diversity

Research has shown that altruism is lower in diverse communities. Can this phenomenon be counteracted by government intervention? To answer this question, this paper introduces diversity to the canonical model of “warm glow” giving. Diversity may have two effects on incentives: it may attenuate individuals' altruistic preferences for public goods, and it may “cool off” the warm glow that individuals get from voluntarism. Either of these effects leads to diverse communities having lower levels of public goods, consistent with prior research. However, these effects have opposite implications for the efficacy of government intervention. I then empirically investigate whether government intervention is more effective in diverse communities. For identification, I exploit the Supreme Court-mandated 1991 expansion of the SSI program. Using a new dataset of United Methodist churches from 1984 to 2000, the results show that the expansion of SSI crowded-out charitable spending by churches. The crowd-out estimate for the average church is reasonably large, but this masks significant differences in crowd-out between communities. Crowd-out occurred almost entirely in relatively homogeneous communities; there is only modest evidence of crowd-out in racially diverse communities. Thus diverse communities, while having the lowest levels of altruism, are in this instance the most amenable to government intervention.     

Integration and diversity

Experimental Economics - We study a setting where individuals prefer to coordinate with others but they differ on their preferred action. Our interest is in understanding the role of link formation...     

The Polish economic collapse: Contributing factors and economic costs

The rapid expansion of industrial output in Poland during the 1970s came to an abrupt halt during the latter part of the decade. This paper examines the factors contributing to the economic collapse and measures the economic costs in terms of foregone output. The basic results indicate that, although a decline in hard-currency imports and labor-hours worked were substantial contributing factors, most of the decline in output is accounted for by factors such as planning, managerial difficulties, or political unrest. In addition the gap between actual and potential industrial output reached more than 35%.     

经济法与政府经济管理行为之法律机制

政府对于经济的作用,在我们国家表现得尤为突出.在市场经济体制改革被正式提出之前,政府是中国经济运行的绝对的中枢,它决定着中国经济的启动、运行、刹车的全过程,直到今天,我们的经济仍然无法摆脱历史的惯性.