THE HOUSEHOLD DISTRIBUTION OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES FOR AGRICULTURE AND EDUCATION IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA IN 1974

The paper reports on several results from a comprehensive study of the household incidence of public expenditure in Peninsular Malaysia in 1974. The results for education show a pro-poor distribution of expenditure when measured as a share of household income. Using however the criterion of each according to his needs (that is the number of school-age children per household) reverses this outcome. In agriculture, because of the importance of land settlement, benefits from public expenditure distribute predominantly in favor of the poor.
The research differs from the usual study of this kind in that individual government outputs such as school years, or fertilizer loans, were defined, and in the case of education their unit costs estimated and their distribution across households measured. In the case of education, both the costs of services from capital and the households' out-of-pocket educational costs were added to the current subsidies. As one consequence, it was seen that total expenditure for education in Malaysia exceeds one-eighth of GNP, nearly double the conventional estimate. Equally important, for the poor the burden of private costs for education even within a public system were seen to be very high.
The contrasts between the strong results for education, a broad based social service, and the less conclusive results for agriculture, an economic service which impacts directly on production, were instructive in suggesting the limitations of such research in measuring the effects of government budget activity on distribution.     

MOTIVATIONS FOR HOSTILE TENDER OFFERS AND THE MARKET FOR POLITICAL EXCHANGE

This paper reviews the arguments concerning the role of hostile tender offers in today's corporate world. Some observers suggest that "corporate raiders" do not pay shareholders a fair price for their holdings and that they disrupt firms' day-to-day operations. Others point to the significant premiums paid to shareholders in tender offers, and they suggest that raiders play an important role in forcing changes in corporations. The paper also presents the authors' views on the viability of proposed regulations in the corporate control area.     

MONETARY POLICY IN EMU WITH ASYMMETRIC TRANSMISSION AND NON-TRADABLE GOODS

Which policy objective should a central bank pursue in a monetary union with asymmetric monetary transmission and different rates of inflation? Should it base its decisions on the EU‐wide average of inflation and growth or should it instead focus on (appropriately weighted) national utility losses based on national rates of inflation and growth? We find that a policy which minimises the sum of national utility losses leads to higher average utility if the variability of common shocks is large relative to idiosyncratic demand shocks in the non‐tradables sectors. We draw conclusions for the appropriate weight of common and national objectives in the union.     

SECTORAL PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH AND PRICE-MARGINAL COST MARGINS IN THE INTERMEDIATE GOODS MARKET

Models of aggregate productivity growth linked to sectoral models of production typically assume that all intermediate goods markets are perfectly competitive. An econometric analysis reveals that many intermediate goods markets exhibit transactions at prices quite different than marginal cost. Measures of productivity growth that ignore these market imperfections are biased. A measure of the actual magnitude of the bias that emerges under the assumption of equating price to marginal cost is constructed.     

HOUSEHOLDS, GOODS, AND WELL-BEING

Household economies translate goods into well-being through production, co-operation, and distribution. Between market goods to households and well-being to persons, value is added. Income is a measure of goods, consumption well-being is measured by equivalent income. An absolute interpretation of equivalent income is argued as the value to persons of consumption well-being after household economies. Guidance is suggested on the choice of equivalence scales, and for the measurement of well-being and inequality.     

BLACK MARKET EXCHANGE RATES AND CAPITAL MOBILITY IN ASIAN ECONOMIES

This paper examines whether foreign exchange black markets have eroded the effectiveness of capital controls and contributed to an increase in the effective degree of capital mobility in a sample of Asian countries. Comparing the uncovered interest parity forecast errors between the official and black market exchange rates suggests that in those countries with more stringent capital controls, foreign exchange black markets have reached a maturity level to threaten the effectiveness of those controls.     

DURABLE GOODS MONOPOLISTS AND BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY*

This paper provides an economic analysis on the choice of backward compatibility by a durable goods monopolist in the presence of network effects. We examine the time inconsistency problem faced by a monopolist in its dynamic provision of two compatible products. We suggest an economic reason why, and when it will be strategically optimal, for the monopolist to choose backward compatibility even though it is socially undesirable, and not to choose forward compatibility even though it is technologically possible. We also investigate the compatibility choices with and without price discrimination, and compare market outcomes with the social optimum. Two different social inefficiencies (planned obsolescence) which arise from the viewpoints of optimal consumption and optimal compatibility are discussed.