On local relative stability. With special reference to economic applications

Relative stability can be defined as the stability of equilibriumrays. Hence standard method of studying local stability by means of the spectrum of the Jacobian matrix at an equilibriumpoint cannot be used. This problem can often be circumvented by deriving from the original one a new system, having as state variables certainratios between the original variables, so that the equilibrium set will become a point and the standard method will apply. However, the Jacobian matrix at that point will be formed on the basis of a linear combination of the rows of the Jacobian matrix of the original system at a point of its equilibrium set and will normally be much more difficult to analyze. Here a method for studying local relative stability on the basis of the latter matrix is provided.

---

Riassunto La stabilità relativa può esser definita come la stabilità diraggi di equilibrio. Quindi il metodo consueto consistente nello studiare la stabilità locale per mezzo dello spettro della matrice giacobiana in unpunto di equilibrio non può esser usato. Tuttavia questo problema spesso può esser superato qualora dal sistema originale possa esser derivato un altro sistema, avente come variabili di sato certi rapporti tra le variabili originarie, cosicché l'insieme di equilibrio del nuovo sistema si riduca ad un punto. In tal caso la matrice giacobiana in tale punto sarà formata sulla base di combinazioni lineari delle righe della matrice giacobiana del sistema originario in un punto del suo insieme di equilibrio, cosicché lo studio qualitativo della prima matrice sarà di regola molto più difficile di quello della seconda. Qui si propone un metodo per studiare la stabilità relativa locale sulla base della seconda matrice.

---

---

I wish to thank M. Bianchi and E. Venini for their comments on previous drafts of this paper.     

Delegation of board work to committees in Europe

A sample of 6169 firm year observations in 14 western European countries between 2002 and 2009 is used to investigate how committee practice within boards of directors is related to company characteristics, and to the existence of alternative corporate governance instruments in place. We find that committees in Europe are prevalent in larger companies, and in companies with large and independent boards. However, we also find that leverage, director interlocking, concentrated ownership, and the presence of managers on the board mitigate the use of committees, suggesting that committee use is limited by the existence of alternative governance mechanisms. Consequently, recent regulatory changes in Europe that promote the creation of committees within boards may be unsuited for certain types of company, especially smaller companies and those with concentrated ownership.     

The German federal employment program for regions with special employment problems: An evaluation

A special labor-market program to support regions with high unemployment was introduced in the Federal Republic of Germany in the summer of 1979. The program is evaluated through analyses of the determinants of the take-up rate and estimates of the impact on the unemployment rate using Box-Jenkins analysis. Evaluation of the program indicates some success with respect to training and public works creation, but also some serious shortcomings in design and implementation.     

The sale of relational capital through tenure profiles and tournaments

In this paper, a specific form of human capital is analyzed, relational capital, which consists of matches between market parties. Search and information costs make these matches valuable to both parties. Its peculiarity is that the control over such matches is transferred within firms from those who initially control it to anyone who works with it for a period.This characteristic allows someone who approaches the end of his working life to sell his relational capital to junior partners. This sale can explain upward sloping tenure profiles and can result in tournaments if juniors are budget-constrained and perfect contracting is not possible. The need to keep the amount of relational capital constant implies a generational balanced workforce within each firm.     

苏锡常高新区“二次创业”能力评价与提升对策

从经济实力、经营效益、科技创新能力、对外开放能力和环境竞争力五个方面选取30个指标,运用层次分析法和灰色关联模型,对苏州高新区、苏州工业园、无锡高新区、常州高新区的"二次创业"能力进行了评价。结果显示,苏州工业园"二次创业"能力最强,无锡高新区次之,苏州高新区第三,常州高新区最弱。针对苏锡常高新区"二次创业"能力的提升,提出了若干对策和建议。     

创新『五个推进』建特色企业文化

中国石化上海石油化工股份有限公司的前身是创建于1972年的上海石油化工总厂。经过31年的建设和发展,上海石化已经成为我国最大的集油、化、纤、塑于一体的现代化石油化工联合企业。31年来,上海石化的历届领导班子一直非常重视企业文化建设。公司党政领导在不同时期对企业文化如何融人管理的各个层面,如何将形式内容更     

非均衡经济学与新兴古典经济学的比较分析

本文对非均衡经济学和新兴古典经济学进行了比较分析。认为其同点在于产生的学术背景、行为主体的决策过程和产生的直接动机。它们的主要差异在于：一是虽然都是对古典经济学的批判与发展,但发展的“方向”不同,二是虽然都注意到了经济生活中信息不完备的现实,但对其影响“领域”的归结不同;三是它们对市场作用的看法不同。     

大型水电工程设施(大坝)的经济学思考

大型水电工程所建筑的大坝因其巨大,不仅给人类带来了具有震撼性的视觉效果,从而让许多人在心理上得到了战胜自然的暗示或明示,而且,还因其可以提供电力,给人类社会带来了巨大的经济效益。但是,研究和经验表明,修建大坝,包括以水力发电、供水、防洪和灌溉为目的的大型工程,征服自然的代价是昂贵的、缺乏效益和损害社会与生态环境的。本文首先简要讨论了大坝的意义,然后重点分析了大坝的外部性问题,主要关注其社会外部性和生态环境外部性。从社会和科学进步以及发展现代经济学的角度看,完整的水电工程的成本一效益分析应该将外部性成本和效益纳入其中。本文还讨论了大坝建设的经济成本超预算问题,以及对私人部门投资大坝建设现实性分析和前景展望。最后,本文对我国怒江水电建设提出了几点问题和一些建议。     

Ethics and Politics to the Rescue of Neoclassical Economics?

Why is it so difficult to reform the economies of Eastern Europe? Jan Winiecki, of the Institute of Labour Economics in Warsaw, argues that the decline of moral standards under communism means that reform can only be brought about by people untainted by the old regime.     

The Methodology of Austrian Economics and Its Relevance to Institutionalism

A bstract . The methodology of Austrian economics's presented in the writings of Ludwig von Mises is described. The Misesian system is built on a priori categories (choice, causality, teleology, time, uncertainty) which Mises regarded as common to all human actors. He used these categories to describe how theories of social phenomena must be constructed if they are to be comprehensible to others. To interpret history , including economic history , one must invent models based on subsidiary assumptions and he or she must make bypotheseszbom the specific "intentions and expectations" of actors. One model is that of an "economic institution." The meaning of the Misesian model of an institution is stated. It is said to have much in common with the models of phenomenologicai sociology. Finally, contrary to recent papers in this J ournal , it is argued that (1) Misesian a priori categories are not alternatives to a priori assumptions described by institutionalists, (2) although a pure theory of choice does not lend itself to the evaluation of public policy , hypotheses about specific intentions and expectations do permit such evaluations, and (3) statements by Mises on institutions and the study of history resemble those made by many institutionalists.     

Meta-ethical Reasoning: Applied to Economics and Business Principles

A bstract . Ethics and ethical thinking involve two primary and interdependent elements of analysis: the individual and the society. Economic thought dichotomized these two elements into the individual (competitive capitalism ) or the society (Marxist socialism ), with one element being the cause, and the other the effect. Views of economic reality were developed not on the basis of the interdependence of the individual and the society but their mutual antagonism.
Economic thought is based on the scientific reasoning of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its abstract definition of reality narrowed the significance of the concrete appearances of things in favor of the rules (science) that define things. Science requires both an objective causal order (independent of human definitions and beliefs) and the development of laws (independent of the human observer or participant) that explain the nature of the objective world. Ethical reasoning requires that economic causality be defined to include both the individual and the society. Ethical reasoning is needed to bring together both the scientific and the metaphysical for human meaning. The science of means must be joined to the human purposes of ends.     

A multiregional planning and forecasting model with special regard to the public sector

Despite the magnitude of the public sector and its rapid growth most multiregional economic models are lacking public sector content. The present paper aims at incorporating some of the roles of the public sector in the regional development. It is done within the framework of a multiregional optimization model for the allocation of private and public investment, production, employment (and population) over economic sectors and regions. By choosing appropriate objective functions, the model may be used for either planning or forecasting purposes. In the model the focus is on the public sector as a service and provision body and as a provider of public infrastructure. Its role as an agent for transfer payments is not stressed. The capacities of the model are illustrated by means of an example concerning Swedish regional development 1977–1983.     

Optimal city size,land tenure and the economic theory of clubs

In this paper, a connection is made between urban population size in the presence of increasing returns to scale, and the economic theory of clubs. It is shown that under certain conditions, the optimal size of the population is finite and that collective action are transferable concepts from the theory of clubs. The model is also solved in a closed format, i.e., including rent payments as part of total income, under two redistribution schemes. It is shown that the optimal size of the population is independent of the mode of ownership of the urban residential land, when the transportation cost function is linear.     

Accounting in Turkey with reference to the particular problems of lease transactions

Leasing in Turkey has grown rapidly in the later part of the 1980s. This has presented challenges to accountants which have yet to be resolved. At present the country does not have an accounting standard on this topic and as a consequence transactions are recorded in accordance with tax laws. This paper considers the development of accounting in Turkey and whether the principles stated in International Accounting Standard (IAS) 17 on leasing are applicable for Turkey. The responses to questionnaires sent to accountants in Turkey suggest that the principles in IAS 17 are acceptable to accountants in that country.