Trade restrictiveness and efficiency*

This article proposes a trade restrictiveness quantity index (TRQI) to measure the welfare impact of trade restrictions based on a distance functions approach. The TRQI embodies two Farrell measures of efficiency—respectively for producers and consumers—that can be computed using standard efficiency measurement techniques. The TRQI can also be decomposed into a trade distortion and domestic distortion component. In the context of the debate on the interlinkages between openness and economic performance, the TRQI offers a means to disentangle economic inefficiencies induced by trade restrictions alone, from otherwise not directly trade‐related economic inefficiencies induced by domestic distortions.     

Economic Performance, Trade Restrictiveness, and Efficiency

The paper addresses the question of whether trade restrictiveness impacts economic performance, via a trade restrictiveness index that is decomposable into a trade distortion and a domestic distortion component. The paper builds on the Anderson and Neary price index measure of trade distortion, in evaluating trade restrictiveness via a distance function approach. This is accomplished by adding a “dual” version to their trade restrictiveness price index, based on distance functions that scale output quantities. The authors compute the trade restrictiveness quantity index (TRQI) using a parametric frontier approach to model the production side of the economy, and a panel of information on the agricultural sector of a set of European Community countries. The results suggest that the use of TRQI makes a considerable difference to interpretations of the efficiency impact of agricultural trade policies in EC countries, as compared to policy‐oriented aggregates or result‐oriented measures of trade restrictiveness.     

提高中国政府统计数据质量的几点思考

目前,中国政府统计数据失真问题愈演愈烈,对宏观调控造成一定程度的负面影响,已引起政府和学术界的高度重视。明确了政府统计数据质量的含义;分析了中国政府统计数据质量存在的问题;提出了若干提高中国政府统计数据质量的建议,希望对提高中国政府统计数据质量有所裨益。     

土地市场扭曲如何影响制造业出口产品质量升级 ——基于土地市场交易数据和制造业企业数据的实证分析

地方政府“以地谋发展”的策略在促进各地区制造业大规模集聚和出口贸易快速增长的同时,也势必会给企业出口产品质量带来深刻影响。本文综合利用中国土地市场网城市土地交易数据、中国工业企业数据、中国海关进出口产品数据和中国城市面板数据,实证检验了土地市场扭曲对企业出口产品质量升级的影响,并对其内在机制进行了探讨。研究发现：中国城市建设用地配置存在明显的工业偏向性,进而导致工业用地价格被低估,产生工业用地应得收益大于实际价格的反向扭曲问题。这种反向扭曲可通过抑制技术进步、阻碍产业结构高级化、弱化集聚经济效应等机制显著降低制造业企业出口产品质量。土地市场扭曲对企业出口产品质量升级的影响具有明显的异质性特征。具体而言,土地市场扭曲不利于一般贸易企业与混合贸易企业出口产品质量提升,但对加工贸易企业出口产品质量提升具有促进作用。土地市场扭曲对企业出口产品质量升级的抑制作用由东到西依次递增。土地市场扭曲不利于外资企业和国有企业出口产品质量提升,对集体企业及民营企业的影响不显著。     

中国制造业劳动力效率损失及其分解:理论与实证

现有文献在计算中国制造业劳动力配置扭曲所导致的TFP损失时,均没有剔除外部因素的扰动,从而高估了该损失.文章在Hsieh和Klenow(2009)理论模型的基础上,重新定义劳动力配置扭曲导致的TFP损失,在剔除外部因素扰动后,估算出劳动力配置扭曲导致的TFP损失从1998年的9.00%逐渐减少到2007年的7.39%.而现有文献也缺少在企业异质性模型下对TFP损失进行分解,文章将企业按特征进行分组,建立了分组之后TFP损失分解的理论.TFP损失的分解有利于分析TFP损失的构成,为制定相关政策提供参考,该理论不仅适用于制造业还适用于农业和服务业等,具有很强的适用性.文章最后以所有权分组为例分析了我国制造业1998-2007年劳动力配置扭曲TFP损失的构成.研究表明:(1)每个行业的劳动力配置扭曲导致的TFP损失是该行业的劳动力份额、产品替代弹性和劳动力成本产出比对数方差的增函数;(2)行业内各组之间不存在劳动力配置扭曲的条件为行业内各组企业的劳动力配置扭曲程度均值相等;(3)企业按所有权分组后,我国1998-2007年由劳动力配置扭曲导致的制造业TFP损失主要来自于组内,并且该损失在此时间段已经由国有企业和集体企业为主体变成了以其他企业为主体.     

Quality,quantity, spending and prices

One measure of the change in the “quality” of consumption is the degree to which the consumption basket as a whole moves towards more luxurious goods, away from necessities. We introduce two related measures based on the luxury/necessity distinction. One is an index of the extent to which the prices of luxuries change as compared to necessities, while the second indexes the change in spending. These two measures are interpreted as the price of and spending on quality. The “volume” of quality is then spending deflated by its price. Using the recent International Comparison Program data for 100+ countries, we find that, on average, quality increases with income, but at a slower rate; luxuries are relatively more expensive in richer countries, necessities cheaper; and approximately 75 percent of additional spending on quality flows into a volume component, with the remaining 25 percent accounted for by prices.     

An incentive pricing with two types of qualities and users

This paper analyses quality discrimination when the monopolist provides two types of qualities for two-types of users, for example, in the software market. The users using software are confronted with two types of quality in using the software: one is related to learning, while the other is operation. In addition, the users are discriminated by the frequency of utilization for software, for example, low-demand and high-demand users. In this paper, the characteristics for bi-directional quality distortion in both learning quality and operation quality are analysed. It is shown that the distortion can occur both for low demanders and for high demanders. Finally, from public policy, a subsidy mechanism is introduced.     

国有企业对资本和劳动价格扭曲的非对称影响

要素市场化的滞后是我国改革进程中的一个突出问题,要素价格的负向扭曲则是其重要表现.文章从国有企业的视角研究了要素价格扭曲的原因.一方面,金融抑制和所有制歧视使得国有企业以低于市场利率的价格获得了大量资本,加剧了资本价格的负向扭曲;另一方面,由于国有企业提供的社会保障、收入调节功能以及工会的作用会导致国有企业的劳动力价格高于非国有企业,反而有可能改善劳动力价格的负向扭曲.本文测算了171个三位数行业的资本价格扭曲和劳动力价格扭曲指数,通过实证研究发现,国有企业比重越高的行业资本价格扭曲越严重,但是劳动力价格扭曲越小.本研究具有重要的政策含义:虽然国有企业在提高劳动者收入上的作用值得肯定,但降低竞争性行业的国有企业比重、加快金融市场化改革、促进劳动力自由流动、减少政府对国有企业的补贴和保护,将有利于促进资源优化配置,提高社会的总福利水平.     

LONG‐RUN INEQUALITY AND SHORT‐RUN INSTABILITY OF MEN'S AND WOMEN'S EARNINGS IN CANADA

This paper examines the variability of workers’ earnings in Canada over the period 1982–2006. We decompose the total variance of workers’ earnings into a ‘permanent’ component between workers and a ‘transitory’ earnings instability component over time for given workers. We then investigate the statistical relationships between these components and indicators for the business cycle. The most marked change in earnings variances in Canada since 1982 is the general rise in total earnings variance, which is essentially driven by a quite dramatic rise in long‐run earnings inequality. The patterns across age categories of the two variance components are almost opposite. Long‐run earnings inequality generally rises with age, but earnings instability is seen to generally decline with age, so that earnings instability is markedly highest among entry age workers. Unemployment rate effects are positive on almost all variance measures, while higher unemployment is associated with widened long‐run earnings differentials and greater short‐run earnings instability.     

南京市紫金山国家森林公园风景林景观的 视觉质量评价及因子分析

以南京市紫金山国家森林公园风景林为研究对象, 对景观视觉质量展开评价,分析影响视觉质量的因子及核心成 分。采用主成分分析法,把影响因子转化成核心特征指数;结 合眼动分析图和特征指数分析影响风景林视觉质量的核心因 素。影响视觉质量的特征指数分别为：风景林近自然度、地域 文化特征、色彩丰富度、乔木易识别特征以及林内空间感。风 景林近自然度、地域文化特征以及色彩丰富度对视觉质量的影 响最为重要。以期能够对风景林的经营管理以及植物景观营建 有所帮助。     

The nexus between infrastructure (quantity and quality) and economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa

This paper examines the growth effects of infrastructure stock and quality in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). While previous studies established that the poor state of infrastructure in SSA slows economic growth, there is little evidence on infrastructure quality and a robust analysis on the causal links between infrastructure and economic growth. Using principal components analysis to cluster different infrastructure measures and examining the infrastructure-growth nexus in a Generalised Method of Moments while accounting for heterogeneity in a panel setting, our results reveal strong evidence of a positive effect of infrastructure development on economic growth with most contribution coming from infrastructure stock. The quality-growth effect is weak, thus giving credence to the combined effects of infrastructure stock and quality on growth, especially in regions with moderately high quality, and smaller in those with poorer quality. However, the long-term quality effect is higher than the short-term. Among the disaggregated infrastructure components, electricity supply exerted the greatest downward pressure on growth in SSA. Lastly, we find evidence for a unidirectional causality from aggregate infrastructure to growth. A number of policy implications are discussed.     

Defining quality of nursing work life

As the largest single employee component of hospitals, nurses are critical to the functioning of the organization, and improving employee productivity continues to be a common theme in the health care literature. However, any increased productivity will be transitory if achieved at the expense of the quality of nurses' work life (QNWL), since improvement in the QNWL is prerequisite to improved productivity. The conceptual components of the concept of QNWL that differentiate QNWL from the concept job satisfaction are explored.     

双边市场、不完全信息与二级价格歧视

本文研究了双边市场二级价格歧视问题。本文构建了包括广告商、消费者、垄断平台在内的两阶段博弈模型，研究了在最优与次优情况下平台的定价机制，分析了二级价格歧视对平台利润、社会福利等的影响。研究表明：（1）“顶部无扭曲”或“底部无扭曲”并不严格成立；（2）平台对观众提供的节目质量、广告插播量均可能出现类型逆转的情况；（3）二级价格歧视会增加社会总福利；（4）“会员制”是平台可能的占优定价机制之一。     

Climate change,health care access and regional influence on components of U.S. agricultural productivity

This article examines factors driving three components of total factor productivity change (TFPC) in U.S. agriculture – technical change (TC), technical efficiency change (TEC), and scale and mix efficiency change (SMEC). We also examine TFPC and contrast implications derived from the component models with those from a directly estimated TFPC model. Our results show that TC and SMEC are both significantly impacted by innovation through public research and improved human capital through education and health care access. TEC and SMEC are significantly affected by farm size, and the latter is significantly affected by public policy. The ratio of family-to-total labour, terms of trade and precipitation have significant impacts on all three components, but extension has no significant impact on any component. Climate change variables are the most impactful factors on each component as well as on TFPC. While the impact of climate change is heterogeneous across regions and components, its estimated historical impact is most often positive. Nearly all TFPC elasticities estimated directly are qualitatively the same as those calculated from the component models and quantitatively similar.     

Regional innovation environment and innovation efficiency: the Chinese case

The main goal of this paper is to analyse the connotation of ‘regional innovation environment’ and explore the relationships between the regional innovation environmental components and innovation efficiency (IE). Three regional environmental factors were extracted, namely, economic infrastructure (EI), the quality and structure of innovators (QSI) and regional openness (RO). The relationships between the regional innovation environmental components and innovation efficiency present a chain structure as RO–EI–QSI–IE. Only the QSI component affects IE directly, and all of the effects are positive. Based on these results, the characteristics of Chinese regional innovation systems were analysed, and the implications on science & technology policy were discussed.     

要素扭曲对我国制造业企业出口生存的影响研究

在构建要素扭曲和出口市场理论模型的基础上,分析了资本、劳动力和总体要素扭曲对制造业企业出口生存状况的效应。实证分析结论表明：要素扭曲对企业出口生存状态具有比较强的解释力度,也说明中国出口市场上制造业企业频繁退出与进入的现象部分原因归结于国内要素市场不完善而造成的企业间要素配置效率的差异。其中,资本扭曲对企业参与出口市场持续时间的影响是负面的,而劳动力扭曲是正面影响;资本扭曲对企业-目的地的贸易伙伴持续时间的负面影响,比劳动力扭曲的影响更大一点。虽然资本扭曲在一定程度上有利于延长企业-产品持续时间,但是劳动力扭曲的负面影响更大,总体上要素扭曲对企业-产品出口生存状况也产生了不利影响。     

Inequality foundations of concentration measures: An application to the Hannah-Kay indices

The aim of this paper is to provide a connection between concentration and inequality. In particular, we show that the general entropy inequality indices are, among inequality measures, those consistent with the whole set of Hannah-Kay concentration indices. We isolate the inequality component underlying concentration measures, obtaining an explicit additive decomposition of the change in concentration into the change in its two components, i.e., inequality and the number of firms. This relationship proves to be valid for the whole set of Hannah-Kay concentration indices, and embodies as particular cases some others previously found in the literature. We are particularly grateful to Emilio Cerdá for helpful comments on the mathematical formulation of the paper. The second author also acknowledges support through the European Commission Project #ERBCHRXCT980248.     

要素价格扭曲与工业产能过剩的关系——基于1991—2010年的样本数据

从要素市场中的3大投入要素———资本、劳动力和能源入手,测算1991—2010年中国工业产能过剩程度和三要素价格扭曲程度,并通过构建VAR模型、脉冲响应分析和方差分解,考察了各要素价格扭曲程度与产能过剩之间的长期均衡关系和短期冲击影响。实证结果表明:产能过剩与各要素价格扭曲之间存在长期稳定均衡关系和误差修正机制,其中劳动力和能源的价格扭曲对产能过剩具有正向影响,资本价格扭曲具有负向影响;能源价格扭曲对产能过剩偏离均衡的调整力度最大;资本和能源的价格扭曲对产能过剩的短期冲击影响较大,而劳动力更多作用于远期;劳动力价格扭曲对产能过剩变化的解释力度最大,资本价格扭曲的解释力度相对最小。     

户籍制度扭曲及放松对经济的影响:理论与实证

户籍制度是我国劳动力流动的主要障碍.那么,当前我国的户籍扭曲程度几何?户籍制度放松对经济又会有怎样的影响?对这些问题的回答将有助于政府评估户籍制度改革的空间和经济效益.文章在Hansen和Prescott(2002)的两部门劳动力流动模型基础上,将工人分为农业和非农户口,引入户籍扭曲因子,构建两部门两类工人的户籍扭曲模型;然后,使用1984?2013年宏观经济数据度量户籍扭曲程度,并对2013年我国户籍制度逐渐放松过程中经济变量的变化进行模拟;最后,文章建立了包含"农业与非农"和"本地与外地"户籍差异的省份异质性户籍扭曲模型.研究表明:(1)经济和户籍制度改革的不同步导致了1984?2013年我国户籍扭曲程度呈现倒"U"形变化,且相较于韩国尚有较大的改善空间;(2)以韩国为参照,若2013年我国户籍制度完全放开,经济达到均衡时,农业部门和非农部门的就业人数将分别下降58.83%和上升26.92%,工资率将分别上升19.44%和下降6.77%,社会增加值将增长15.33%,这说明社会经济效率将得到提升,贫富差距将缩小.文章丰富和完善了户籍扭曲的理论模型,从减少劳动力流动摩擦的视角为政府制定相关政策提供了参考.     

政府补贴对中国装备制造业企业创新绩效的影响机制

利用基于倾向得分匹配的倍差法,采用2006-2013年中国沪深股市A股上市公司的数据,系统讨论了政府补贴影响中国装备制造业企业创新绩效的微观机制和效应。进一步采用中介效应模型揭示了政府补贴抑制企业技术效率提升的主要途径。研究结果表明:政府补贴有效促进了装备制造业模仿创新下的技术进步,但显著抑制了资源的最优配置和技术效率改善;政府补贴引发的要素市场扭曲、企业寻租、市场集中和投资过度是导致创新活动技术效率损失的重要途径。因此,政府应通过补贴政策全面提升企业的自主创新能力、保证竞争性市场中资源的有效配置和营造良好的创新支持环境来提高中国装备制造业创新发展的质量和效益。