Anti-Abortion Activities and the Market for Abortion Services: Protest as a Disincentive

Cross-section data for the US are used to estimate the effects of anti-abortion activity on the demand and supply of abortion services in 1992. Empirical results show that anti-abortion activity had a signi~cant negative impact on both the demand and supply of abortion services. Using estimates from a two-stage least-squares estimation of demand and supply, anti-abortion activities (measured as picketing with physical contact or blocking of patients) have decreased the market equilibrium abortion rate by an estimated 19 percent and raised the price of an abortion by approximately 4.3 percent. Taken together, the empirical results show that anti-abortion activities have been successful in making abortion services scarcer.     

Market Imperfection and Productivity Growth—Alternative Estimates for Taiwan

This study first explores why the shares of factor inputs have not been measured correctly and concludes that the earlier findings are biased due to the miscalculation of factor shares which have produced low estimated total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the East Asian countries. Second, three approaches are proposed to empirically illustrate the impact of capital and labor shares on the estimates of TFP growth. It is suggested that TFP growth in the East Asian economies will be understated if net indirect taxes and imperfect competition profit are ignored. Finally, by taking the net indirect taxes and imperfect competition profits into account, the result of this paper indicates that Taiwan's economy has enjoyed an average annual TFP growth rate of 3.6% over the period 1980–1999.     

Issues in the Industrial Organization of the Market for Physician Services

What is the nature of the industrial organization of the market for physician services? Is the market “competitive?” Are there pareto-relevant market failures, such that there is room for welfare-improving policies? Economists have devoted a great deal of attention to this market, but it remains relatively poorly understood. The key features of this market are that the product being sold is a professional service, and the pervasive presence of insurance for consumers. A professional service is inherently heterogeneous, nonretradable, and subject to an asymmetry of information between buyers and sellers. These characteristics are what bestow market power on sellers, further strengthened by the fact that consumers face only a small fraction of the price of any service due to insurance. This paper considers the implications of these characteristics for agency relationships between patients and physicians, and insurers (both private and public) and physicians. Agency relationships within physician firms are also considered. Both theoretical and empirical modeling of contracting between insurers and physicians and of the joint agency problems between patient and physician and insurer and physician are recommended as areas for future research. Because failures in this market are seen to derive largely from the structure of information, the potential gains from government intervention may be sharply circumscribed. Nonetheless, careful consideration of the competitive implications of contracting between physicians, insurers, and other health care providers is an important area for antitrust policy.     

Productivity Growth in the UK Regions, 1968–1991

This paper provides estimates of total factor productivity growth for the regions of the UK. It shows that the peripheral regions generally performed better than the national average in the 1980's. A model to explain TFP growth found that much of this increase can be attributed to a general upskilling of a more flexible workforce, falling plant sizes, and a 'catch-up' effect in the unionized sector.     

浅谈服务业与市场经济

随着服务业对经济增长拉动力的增强,服务经济日益成为经济持续发展的重要源泉,对于未来社会经济走向的影响越来越大。服务业是规模空间最大,覆盖面最广的产业。现代服务业是经济可持续发展的重要支持。     

A Cost Indirect Evaluation of Productivity Change in UK Universities

The study provides an empirical analysis of productivity change in publicly-funded UK universities, against a background of government policy specifically designed to enhance the productive efficiency of universities in the provision of teaching and research. The nonparametric analysis employs a cost indirect approach to measuring productivity change, taking explicit account of the quality of research output and decomposing productivity change into technical change and efficiency change. The latter is also decomposed into changes in pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency and output congestion. Changes in size efficiency are also computed. On average, productivity declined by 4% over 1989–92, mainly as a result of regressive technical change. Evidence of biased technological change was found, with the frontier shifting out in favour of the teaching outputs and in relative to the research output.     

Market size and seasonalities: The case of the UK investment trust industry

The particular characteristics of the UK mutual funds industry provide ideal ground for examining the pertinence of the ‘Small-size effect’ and the ‘tax-loss-selling’ hypothesis. The evidence indicates the presence of a modest-size premium for smaller investment trusts, but, rather surprisingly, size in general does not appear to be a determining factor of market performance. Moreover, in spite of some variation in the rates of return around the turn of the tax year, the evidence as a whole does not unambiguously support the tax-loss-selling hypothesis. However, there is ground to believe that the overall poor performance of the UK investment trust industry could be due to the tax regimen governing the industry's operations during the period 1965–80.     

生产性服务业生产率与经济增长关系分析

生产性服务业作为现代服务业的核心,集中体现了对经济的促进作用。生产性服务业通过提高经济增长效率、延展产业链和促进就业,推动了经济的增长,而经济的增长也为生产性服务业的发展提供了所需的基础设施和经济环境。     

International Comparisons of Labour Productivity in Transport and Communications: The US,the UK and Germany

We construct benchmark estimates of labour productivity covering the transport and communications sectors for the US, UK and Germany for 1992 and 1993. The US lead is substantial in rail and trucking, even after adjusting for differences in stage length, but Britain leads in air transport and all three countries have similar productivity levels in local transport. In telecommunications and postal services the US enjoys a large lead over both the UK and Germany. We compare these estimates based on industry data with ones derived from the national accounts and find them similar in communications but not in transport. For 1973–96, and also 1989–96, productivity was growing slower in the US, hence some of the gap has been closed.     

Too Big to Fail: UK Financial Services Reform in History and Policy

Previous banking crises have been used as opportunities for new and beneficial developments in regulation and in the market itself. The global financial crisis should be seen as such an occasion. There is a need to refine the role of the central bank as lender of last resort and also to reform deposit insurance so that it only applies to a limited range of bank accounts.     

生产性服务业集聚对城市生产率的影响——基于行业异质性视角

从行业异质性角度切入,对生产性服务业集聚的城市生产率效应进行了理论和实证研究。基于作用机制的理论研究表明,生产性服务业集聚不仅通过自身来对城市生产率产生影响,而且还会对其他有着上下游投入产出关系和技术关联的其他行业生产率影响,来对城市总体生产率产生影响。基于2003—2012年中国283个地级及以上城市的实证研究表明,生产性服务业及其六个细分行业的集聚对城市生产率具有显著的正效应,但不同行业的影响程度不同,这显然与各子行业的特性差异密切相关。     

Product Market Competition,Skill Shortages and Productivity: Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing Firms

In this paper, we estimate the impacts of product market competition and skill shortages on the productivity level performance of Canadian manufacturing firms. We use firms perceptions of their competitive environment from the Statistics Canada 1999 Survey of Innovation to measure product market competition and skill shortages. We argue in the paper that such perceptions are important for productivity level performance. After controlling for other factors, we find that product market competition has a positive impact on the performance of medium-sized and large-sized firms, and that skill shortages have a negative impact on the performance of small-sized and medium-sized firms.Jel Classification: L0, O0     

Market Orientation and Performance: Objective and Subjective Empirical Evidence from UK Companies

The link between market orientation and performance has been claimed largely on the basis of the analysis of subjective measures of performance. Consequently, the aim of this study is to examine the links between market orientation and objectively measured financial performance. The paper begins with a brief examination of the definition and components of market orientation. Thereafter, extant research into the consequences of developing market orientation is reviewed critically, leading to the development of a number of research hypotheses. After detailing the research design and methodology adopted in this study, the findings of a survey of UK industry are presented. Briefly, the results indicate that when subjective measures of performance are adopted, market orientation is associated with company performance in certain environmental conditions. However, when objective measures of performance are adopted, we see a narrower range of environmental conditions where market orientation is positively associated with performance. The paper concludes with a series of implications for both theorists and practitioners.     

Market segmentation - are UK charities making the most of the potential?

This paper discusses the findings of research carried out into the application of market segmentation in the charity sector. Four hundred and ten of the top performing charities (as ranked by income from voluntary donations) were surveyed to determine what techniques of segmentation they apply to their database. They were also asked to indicate how this information is used to inform and determine appropriate fundraising strategies. The findings show that with the exception of a few large organisations, the concept of market segmentation is as yet not utilised to its full potential in the development of successful fundraising strategy.     

Prospects for the UK Economy

The prospects for the UK economy are the brightest for some time. Growth is above trend, inflation is low, and balance-of-payments pressures are benign.