EFFICIENCY AND EQUITY IMPLICATIONS OF CHARGING NONRESIDENTS FULL‐COST TUITIONS

With fixed costs and a break‐even constraint describing a public university, tuition and subsidy structures are endogenously determined that maximize constrained welfare, defined as students' value (net consumers' surplus) minus the taxpayer appropriation. Requiring nonresidents to pay full‐cost tuitions introduces relative deviations in demand that lead to efficiency losses and income transfers. To measure these effects, demand and cost expressions are developed to replicate standard decentralized budgeting frameworks for the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. Efficiency losses associated with requiring nonresidents to pay fully allocated costs are modest (2%–6%) compared to orders of magnitude larger distributional transfers from nonresidents to residents and taxpayers. (JEL I22, I28)     

THE EXTENDED GOVERNANCE OF COOPERATIVE FIRMS: INTER‐FIRM COORDINATION AND CONSISTENCY OF VALUES

This work aims at providing a framework for the analysis of governance in networks of cooperative firms. It builds on four bodies of literature: cooperation, transaction costs, monopoly capitalism, production networks. The framework associates the specific principles that define the identity of cooperative organizations (self‐help, member ownership, democratic control, financial participation, limited capital remuneration) alongside more general governance levels (embodied values, property rights, control, resource allocation). We then apply the same dimensions to production networks and propose a stylized networking model for cooperatives. We introduce market power, and identify two polarized types of networks: (1) heterarchical forms of coordination based on cooperation and mutual help, (2) hierarchical coordination based on exclusive direction. We compare both types with our normative framework providing examples and brief case studies for each network type. Recommendations to scholars and practitioners point at the opportunity to discriminate inter‐firm relations and production development strategy in terms of the values of cooperation, at all governance levels.     

区域科技投入与经济增长关系的实证分析

构建灰色关联度模型实证分析发现:科技经费投入、科技活动人员投入对产业经济增长有显著作用。进行区域科技投入与产业经济关系聚类分析可把我国分为三类典型区域。对于第一类地区,科技经费投入,尤其是R&D经费对第三产业的投入效率更高,在该类地区应加大科技经费的投入;对于第三类地区,R&D人员全时当量对第一产业的投入效率更高,在该类地区应加大科技活动人员的投入。     

中国对外贸易和FDI相互关系的研究

本文基于1980—2001全国的时间序列数据,对中国对外贸易与FDI 之间的关系进行了格兰杰因果关系检验,并以各省及东中西部三大区域数据作统计描述辅证之。文章得到以下结果:中国对外贸易与 FDI 之间的互补作用远大于替代作用,各省市 FDI 与贸易之间的关系存在着惊人的一致性;FDI与制成品的出口具有双向的因果关系;虽然长期中 FDI 对制成品的进口具有促进作用,但短期中 FDI 对制成品的进口具有替代效应;FDI 对贸易的短期影响具有滞后性,滞后三期的效果最为显著。     

民营企业与经理人价值取向差异及其影响的实证分析

民营企业与经理人价值取向差异影响后者的进入。而民营企业与经理人在职业的发展机会与空间、雇主信用、现金收入与福利水平、企业规模与形象等因素的价值取向上存在差异。民营企业需要重视其与经理人之间的价值供求失衡。     

国际商品价格波动与中国出口贸易的能源成本:一个实证分析

中国的出口贸易面临着国际市场能源价格快速上涨与工业品价格滞涨的双重压力。本文对2002—2007年中国出口商品所包含的能源成本进行的估算发现,以2002年不变价计算的能源成本在5年间增长了7.53倍。与此对应,能源成本在中国出口总额中所占的比例从2002年的8.4%上升到了2007年的21.2%。通过计算价格弹性发现,国际市场上能源相对价格的波动是引起我国能源成本率上升的主要因素。能源成本快速上升大大降低了我国出口商品的利润空间,表明我国的外贸质量在下降,这主要是由国际市场进出口价格体系以及我国出口商品结构不合理所造成的。     

INDIRECT PRICING THEORY OF THE FIRM: A GENERAL-EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS INVOLVING PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT SERVICE

Abstract.  This paper develops a general-equilibrium model that involves production technology and management service to study the emergence of firms from the perspective of saving transaction costs. Inframarginal analysis is used to formalize Coase and Cheung's theory of the firm and to generalize Yang and Ng's indirect pricing theory of the firm. Not only the emergence of firms, their growth and contraction, but also the relevant conditions for the existence of technology entrepreneurs and professional management are also investigated.     

POST‐PRIVATIZATION OWNERSHIP AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: A LARGE META‐ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSITION LITERATURE

This paper aims to perform a large‐scale meta‐analysis of the relationship between post‐privatization ownership and firm performance in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Baseline estimation of a meta‐regression model that employs a total of 2,894 estimates drawn from 121 previous studies indicated the superior impact of foreign ownership on firm performance in comparison with state and domestic private entities. Furthermore, the estimation of an extended meta‐regression model that explicitly controls for the idiosyncrasies of transition economies and privatization policies strongly suggested that differences between countries in location, privatization method, and speed of policy implementation strongly influence the link between post‐privatization ownership structure and firm performance. We also found that these factors not only cause a remarkable gap between countries in terms of ex post improvement in firm performance but also significantly affect the interrelationship between foreign investors, domestic outsider owners, and firm managers, and the relative superiority of various domestic outsiders. Conclusive evidence of the harm caused to ex post firm performance by voucher privatization is one of the most noteworthy empirical findings in this paper.     

REPEAL OF PROHIBITION: A BENEFIT‐COST ANALYSIS

In spite of an estimated increase in annual alcohol‐related motor vehicle costs of $2.767 billion (1947 dollars), the net social benefit of repeal of alcohol Prohibition amounts to $432 million per annum in 1934–1937, about 0.33% of gross domestic product. Total benefits of $3.25 billion consist primarily of increased consumer and producer surplus, tax revenues, and reduced criminal violence costs. A Monte Carlo simulation shows the probability of negative net benefits is 16%. The estimated price elasticity of demand for spirits, beer, and wine are –.60, ?.56, and –.51 respectively, which is consistent with the modern literature. (JEL D61, I18, K420, I120)     

澳门服务产业集聚效应实证分析

把澳门服务产业区位商作为集聚指数纳入生产函数的计量经济学模型中,通过回归分析,测算澳门整体经济和部分服务行业的集聚效应。从研究结果得知,澳门服务产业的区域集聚对整体经济以及博彩业、餐饮业、酒店业产生明显的促进作用,但对银行业、旅行社、运输和仓储三个行业出现负集聚效应,而通信业、批发和零售业、不动产管理业则不能确定集聚经济的存在。     

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN NEIGHBORHOOD INCOME AND UNIT NON‐RESPONSE IN THE SURVEY OF HEALTH,AGEING, AND RETIREMENT IN EUROPE

This paper estimates associations between individual and neighborhood characteristics and unit non‐response in a survey of the population aged 50 and over in the Netherlands in 2004. The statistical model includes interviewer fixed effects to control for the non‐random distribution of addresses over interviewers. The empirical analysis shows that, relative to individuals living in apartments, there is a lower unit non‐response among individuals living in houses and a higher unit non‐response among individuals living in old age institutions. Unit non‐response is positively associated with the size of a city. No age and gender effects are found. Unit non‐response is about 25 percent lower among individuals in the top than among individuals in the bottom of the distribution of neighborhood average income. This latter result implies that the response sample is biased toward individuals living in the more wealthy neighborhoods.     

MUTUAL AND SOCIAL EFFICIENCY OF ITALIAN CO‐OPERATIVE BANKS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

In this study we analyze the concept of efficiency in co‐operative banks (CBs) from the points of view of the mutuality and sustainability of business. According to the extant literature, CBs are often less efficient than traditional banks, but the reason for this apparently higher inefficiency is strictly correlated to their statutory commitments. The purpose of this paper is to verify, through an empirical survey of 33 Tuscan ‘Banche di Credito Cooperativo’ (BCC), if a particular type of Italian CB is less or more competitive compared to non‐co‐operative ones by using and adapting two financial indicators: the financial value added and the cost‐income ratio. Our findings show that by implementing appropriate corrections to the value‐added indicator and to the cost‐income ratio, BCC appear efficient and mission‐oriented, with a significantly reduced performance gap in comparison to non‐co‐operative credit institutions.     

CRIME AND LOCAL LABOR MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOW‐SKILLED WORKERS: EVIDENCE USING JAPANESE PREFECTURAL PANEL DATA

This paper examines the link between crime and labor market opportunities in Japan. To consider this link, we estimate the crime supply function first introduced by Becker using panel data for Japanese prefectures. The main empirical results are as follows. First, we expect that increasing the number of police will reduce crime, regardless of its type (i.e. whether referring to total crime, violent crime or larceny). Second, crime rates are generally lower in prefectures where a low‐skilled individual can find a job more easily. Third, the effects of wages for low‐skilled workers on crime, especially larceny, are significantly negative, whereas average wages in a prefecture do not appear to affect crime. Fourth, the prefectures with lower educational standards are expected to suffer more crime than other prefectures. Finally, prefectures with higher Gini coefficients on schooling years are also expected to suffer more crime than other prefectures.     

TEMPORARY EMIGRATION AND WELFARE: THE CASE OF LOW‐SKILLED LABOR

This article studies the implications of temporary emigration for the welfare of a source country. The framework is one of general equilibrium, where the economy's stocks of both capital and labor are endogenously determined by the saving and migration decisions of optimizing agents. Simulations of the model suggest that for realistic values of the parameters, welfare of nonmigrants of the source country is maximized when the migrants are employed abroad for a period in the range of roughly 8–12 years. The ideal duration is found to be an increasing function of the international wage differential, migration costs, and the degree to which the rights of migrants are protected in the host country.     

财政不平衡与城乡公共服务均等化：理论分析与实证检验*

本文基于中国分税财政体制下中央和地方财政不平衡这一事实分析了政府间的财政关系,并利用省级面板数据和SYS GMM方法实证研究了财政缺口、财政不平衡对城乡基本公共服务均等化的影响效应。结论表明：在分税财政体制下基层政府财政缺口的存在,并不利于缩小城乡基本公共服务均等化,而转移支付作为弥补财政缺口、均衡中央与地方财政不平衡的主要机制,对缩小城乡基本公共服务均等化产生了显著的激励效应。另外,尽管较高的转移支付筹资水平和专项补助方式有助于提高城乡基本公共服务的供给激励,但在我国中央和地方财政不平衡的分税财政体制框架内,这一供给激励机制将会大打折扣。     

财政不平衡与城乡公共服务均等化：理论分析与实证检验*

本文基于中国分税财政体制下中央和地方财政不平衡这一事实分析了政府间的财政关系,并利用省级面板数据和SYS GMM方法实证研究了财政缺口、财政不平衡对城乡基本公共服务均等化的影响效应。结论表明：在分税财政体制下基层政府财政缺口的存在,并不利于缩小城乡基本公共服务均等化,而转移支付作为弥补财政缺口、均衡中央与地方财政不平衡的主要机制,对缩小城乡基本公共服务均等化产生了显著的激励效应。另外,尽管较高的转移支付筹资水平和专项补助方式有助于提高城乡基本公共服务的供给激励,但在我国中央和地方财政不平衡的分税财政体制框架内,这一供给激励机制将会大打折扣。     

GROWTH,INTER‐INDUSTRY AND INTRA‐INDUSTRY COMPETITION AND WELFARE*

In this paper we introduce strategic interaction between firms in an R&D growth model which captures both the intra‐industry competition between firms operating within an industry and the inter‐industry competition between firms in different industries. We show that the more substitutable the goods produced within each industry (across industries) are, that is, the more intense the intra‐industry (inter‐industry) competition, the higher is the growth rate. In the comparison between social optimum and a decentralized economy, it is shown that the market outcome is characterized by inefficiently high entry of firms within each industry and insufficient productivity growth.     

MINIMUM WAGE HIKES AND THE WAGE GROWTH OF LOW‐WAGE WORKERS

This paper presents difference‐in‐differences estimates of the impact of the British minimum wage on the wage growth of low‐wage employees. Estimates of the probability of low‐wage employees receiving positive wage growth have been significantly increased by the minimum wage upratings or hikes. However, whether the actual wage growth of these workers has been significantly raised or not depends crucially on the magnitude of the minimum wage hike considered. Findings are consistent with employers complying with the legally binding minimum wage but holding down or offsetting the wage growth that they might have awarded in periods of relatively low minimum wage hikes.     

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UK TREASURY BILLS AND THE TERM STRUCTURE OF CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT*

Using principal components analysis, this paper derives a direct measure of movements in the level and slope of the certificate of deposit yield curve. Appealing to the efficient markets view of the term structure of interest rates, evidence is reported which suggests that changes in Treasury Bill yields have a considerable influence over changes in the level of CD yields but only have a small, transitory effect on the slope of the term structure of CDs.