Measuring Technical Change Under Variable Returns to Scale: A Dual Approach

In this paper, a dual measure of technical change is developed. The measure does not require parametric specification or estimation of the underlying technology, nor the assumptions of constant returns to scale and perfect competition. Imposing these assumptions, the proposed measure is shown to be equivalent to Solow's productivity residual. Biases attributable to these assumptions are analysed.     

Regulated Competition under Increasing Returns to Scale

In the classical models of regulation economics, a mechanism that secures truthful revelation involves paying a subsidy to the firm. In this paper, we investigate whether it is possible to create a regulatory mechanism under a no‐subsidy constraint that induces the firm to report its private information truthfully. We consider a number of firms operating under regulated competition and with increasing returns to scale technology. It is shown that in equilibrium each firm chooses to report truthfully without receiving any subsidy. The use of competition may give rise to an efficiency loss due to the increasing returns to scale. However, we show that our mechanism may still be better, from a social welfare point of view, than the case of monopoly regulation that involves no subsidy.     

Incomplete Regulation,Competition, and Entry in Increasing Returns to Scale Industries

The paper analyzes the effects of liberalization in increasing returns to scale industries. It determines the optimal regulation of an incumbent competing with an unregulated strategic competitor, when public funds are costly. The model reveals the trade‐off between productive and allocative efficiency. Moreover, the welfare gains from liberalization, as compared with regulated monopoly, are a nonmonotonic function of the cost of public funds. Finally, in the case of severe governmental cash constraints, incomplete regulation may dominate the full regulation of duopoly.     

跨国公司建立后向关联中的东道国政府行为研究

东道国政府除了采用国家政策层面的措施以鼓励后向关联的建立和深化外，还可以采用更加直接的措施以鼓励后向关联的建立和深化。而东道国政府直接出面鼓励后向关联的建立和深化的措施又可以分为一般性鼓励政策和实施关联促进计划两大类。     

Growth Dynamics and Returns to Scale: Bifurcation Analysis

We investigate the dependence of the dynamic behavior of an endogenous growth model on the degree of returns to scale. We focus on a simple (but representative) growth model with publicly funded inventive activity. We show that constant returns to reproducible factors (the leading case in the endogenous growth literature) is a bifurcation point, and that it has the characteristics of a transcritical bifurcation. The bifurcation involves the boundary of the state space, making it difficult to formally verify this classification. For a special case, we provide a transformation that allows formal classification by existing methods. We discuss the new methods that would be needed for formal verification of transcriticality in a broader class of models. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: O41, O30.     

基于规模报酬可变的要素集聚与区域生产率增长比较研究

笔者研究了我国地区要素集聚以及由此导致的地区间全要素生产率的差异.通过计算各省就业密度和就业集中度指数发现,在我国的确存在地区劳动力集聚的情况.通过计算各地区的劳均资本存量的绝对差距指数和相对差距指数以及运用马尔可夫转换矩阵的分析,发现我国资本存量在省际间具有明显的两极化趋势.根据面板数据模型估算的结果发现不同地区要素集聚的规模弹性效应差异很大,并且中、西部地区的规模弹性效应对全要素生产率增长的贡献高于东部地区,表明东部地区已经出现要素集聚过度的特征.     

Aggregate Fluctuations with National and International Returns to Scale*

Cyclical movements in aggregate output, factor inputs, and productivity are all positively correlated across countries. This article proposes a model in which positive cross‐country correlations of these variables result from increasing returns to the world‐wide variety of intermediate goods even if technology shocks are purely country‐specific. The model also accounts for the observed positive relationship between bilateral trade volume and international comovements. Positive comovements can also arise with constant returns to variety, but only if technology shocks are themselves strongly correlated. The combination of constant returns and common shocks, however, tends to generate procyclical fluctuations of the trade balance.     

金融发展对出口贸易规模与结构的影响

金融发展对一国专业化分工模式的选择及其对外贸易的开展具有深远的影响。利用中国大陆省级面板数据(2001—2005),本文基于一阶差分GMM估计技术检验了金融发展对对外出口规模及其出口商品结构的影响。在控制了人均实际资本存量、人均受教育年限等众多因素后,本文发现,金融发展规模与金融发展效率对对外出口规模及其制成品在出口总额中的份额皆有显著的正向影响,而金融发展效率对对外出口结构的影响较对对外出口规模的影响更加明显。     

On the Equivalence of Two Concepts of Returns to Scale

We examine the relationship between two widely used concepts of returns to scale at different levels of analysis. We show that while their weak global versions are equivalent, the strict global versions are not so. Versions at a given input vector are never equivalent, which invalidates a result by Ide and Takayama (1987).     

Returns to Scale in the Australian Life Insurance Industry*

This paper seeks evidence of economies of scale for superannuation, ordinary and total business of a sample of 38 Australian insurance companies. It was motivated by the work of Rutledge and Tuckwell, but in contrast to their results, significant evidence, of economies is found.     

Exports, Returns to Scale, and Total Factor Productivity: The Case of Taiwanese Manufacturing Industries

The paper examines the relevance of international scale economies and international market efficiency of trade based on the firm-level data of Taiwanese manufacturing industries. The author first constructs a simple analytical framework to measure the extent of scale economies and total factor productivity for each firm. The measurements of scale economies and total factor productivity are then used to investigate the relationships among exports, scale economies, and productivity. Significant external scale economies associated with exports and a strong positive relationship between the individual firm's productivity and its own export intensity are observed.     

The CES‐‐Translog Production Function, Returns to Scale and AES

The translog functional form imposes no a priori restrictions on the substitution possibilities between the factor inputs, by relaxing the assumption of strong separability, and the CES–translog cost function specification allows for testing homothetic technology with Hicks‐neutral technical change. In this paper an n ‐factor CES–translog production function is presented which develops the parameters to directly assess scale effects from those due to technology in the production structure. In addition, by applying Shephard's lemma it was possible to derive the input demand functions, as well as the partial elasticities of substitution and the cross‐partial price elasticities of demand for a generalized CES–translog production structure.     

Regions of the Production Function,Returns, and Economies of Scale: Further Considerations

Contrasting their work with that of Christopher Ross Bell, the authors present a graphical isoquant analysis that suggests that it is not possible for a production function characterized by decreasing returns to yield economies of scale.     

Regions of the Production Function,Returns, and Economies of Scale: A Reply

The author discusses a pedagogical strategy based on data visualization and analysis in the teaching of intermediate macroeconomics and financial economics. In these short projects, students collect and manipulate economic data from the online Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED) in order to illustrate theoretical relationships discussed in class. All the data collection and manipulation tasks are conducted through the FRED Web site. The author argues that as students locate and effectively use the quantitative information that they need to evaluate abstract concepts, they are in effect developing the connection between theories and empirical evidence that underpins the discipline of economics.