RELIABILITY AND REGULATION IN PRICING PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICE

The principal question addressed in this paper concerns the optimal price profile for a regulated public utility where demand is stochastic. Through the introduction of rationing costs and a rate-of-return constraint, marginal revenue will be approximately equated to the cost associated with satisfying the last unit of consumers’demand. This has significant implications for capacity expansion. Namely, capacity is added to keep the risk of failure minimal. As a result, to the extent that the associated costs are higher for the last unit of capacity, a higher marginal revenue and hence price will result. That is, if the marginal unit of capacity has a high operating and delivery cost and low capital cost with high reliability and consequent high total cost (e.g., an internal combustion peaking unit), the indicated result follows. Consequently, there is a direct trade off between the level of risk of failure and marginal revenue. This provides a rationalization for the existence of the price differential between firm and interruptible customers. Finally, if the firm is contrained to earn a fair return on its capital investment, it will set prices to favor the consumers generating the expansion in capacity.     

农村居民低收入循环增长原因分析

首先利用收入、替代效应以及人力资本的风险投资特征分析了农村居民人力资本投资偏少的原因;而后从历史、制度、市场角度分析了农村居民收入增长缓慢的原因;最后利用人力资本投资乘数和加速数阐明了农村居民低收入循环现象的内在决定机制。     

Foreign direct investment and wage differentials in Taiwan

Abstract

The ease of restrictions on foreign direct investment in China since 1990 has attracted a continuous and dramatic flow of outward investment from Taiwan to the mainland. At the same time, the relative wages for skilled workers in Taiwan have risen mildly despite a rapid increase in the share of educated workers in its labor market. The aim of this paper is to explore the linkage between capital outflows to China and the wage share of skilled workers in Taiwan over the period 1991 – 2001. We find that the pattern of changes in relative wages is consistent with shifts in the relative demand for skilled labor. For the most part, the increases in the relative demand for skilled workers could be attributable to within-industry factors. Findings also indicate that outward direct investment to China has a significantly positive impact on the skilled labor wage share.     

论如何同时降低通货膨胀率和失业率——菲利普斯曲线的微观经济基础及其移动

菲利普斯曲线有其微观经济基础。菲利普斯曲线描述的货币工资变化率与失业率之间的关系取决于失业工人随机寻找工作的经济决策、在岗工人与公司之间的博弈行为、工会势力与公司讨价还价力量的均衡、公司调整产品价格和工人工资的决定、劳动供给曲线的斜率等。以此为理论基础,通过对工作报价、最低工资预期水平、搜寻工作的效率、工会势力和公司势力、辞职率与临时解雇率、生产技术效率、劳动周转率、劳动市场分隔及其不平衡等因素进行政策性调节,可以使菲利普斯曲线整体性向左下方移动,从而同时降低通货膨胀率与失业率。     

A Note on Dynamic Optimization,Maintenance Expenditure and Quality of Capital

The dynamic interaction between investment–maintenance decisions and uncertainty about the capital's future productivity status is considered. Maintenance influences the flow of services provided by a stock of capital, affecting the firm's technological knowledge of capital productivity. In a simple Lerner–Haavelmo–Jorgenson framework with constant returns to scale and linear homogeneous cost of adjustment, two closed forms for the firm's market value are presented and the impact of uncertainty on investment–maintenance policy is analyzed. The optimal management strategy uses maintenance to sustain the profitability of existing capital. This smooths out investment fluctuations and lengthens the periods of time in which the firm invests. Nevertheless, since the random movement of quality of capital makes the marginal revenue products of capital decline over time and maintenance cannot offset this tendency, a stochastic switching time emerges at which the firm will find it optimal to stop investing and let the stock deplete.     

大学毕业生人力资本存量贬损及对策研究

人力资本存量贬损指人力资本承载者获得收入的能力、拓展收入空间能力的弱化或消失,其实质是承载者无法获得既有投资决策时点的预期投资收益。大学生在我国＂毕业即失业＂的事实属于人力资本存量贬损现象。初始投资决策失误,保留工资水平过高,投资收益回收路径过少是贬损的内因;经济不景气,城市人力资本市场的供给激增,人力资本市场供求错位,企业、政府及非政府组织对职业培训供给不足是贬损的外因。可通过个体的后续人力资本投资、构建高校就业助推机制和营造社会的就业援助氛围,形成个体、高校、社会的三级联动应对体系。     

THE WAGE–WAGE‐ . . . ‐WAGE–PROFIT RELATION IN A MULTISECTOR BARGAINING ECONOMY

The equalization of profit rates across industries subject to firm‐level bargaining over wages generates an interindustry wage structure with higher wages in capital‐intensive sectors. The familiar inverse wage–profit relation gives way to a wage–wage‐ . . . ‐wage–profit surface on which the profit rate can vary directly with the wage paid in an individual industry. Institutional changes that decrease workers' bargaining power and increase the incomes of the unemployed tend to compress the wage distribution; these changes draw political support from cross‐class coalitions of low‐wage workers and capital‐intensive firms. Some capital‐using, labor‐saving technical changes that raise capitalists' profits in current prices lower the equilibrium profit rate.     

基于就业主体视角的农民工就业质量的影响因素研究——以南京市为例

根据"南京市外来农民工劳动权益保障情况调查"数据,从劳动合同的签订、就业的稳定性以及工资水平三个方面,对农民工就业质量的影响因素的实证研究发现:从农民工本身的就业主体角度来看,在受教育程度、职业培训状况以及技能水平等人力资本方面具有优势的农民工,其就业的质量也较高。良好的社会资本有助于增强农民工的工作稳定性,但是对于劳动合同的签订以及工资水平没有显著的、积极的作用。     

理论劳动收入份额测度及分解——基于时变弹性生产函数模型

劳动收入份额是理解国民收入分配格局的关键。本文基于时变弹性生产函数模型估计得到理论劳动收入份额,并将实际劳动收入份额分解为为理论劳动收入份额和市场扭曲两个因素。定义劳动收入份额实际值和理论值的差值为市场扭曲。实证研究发现,理论劳动收入份额显示与实际劳动收入份额一致的趋势,是劳动收入份额长期趋势的决定因素;市场扭曲显示与实际劳动收入份额一致的波动,是劳动收入份额短期波动的主要原因;实际劳动工资偏离劳动边际产出,是市场价格扭曲的根本体现。本文研究为正确理解中国劳动收入份额时变性提供新的参考。     

Efficient bargaining,welfare and strategic export policy

We present an efficient bargaining model and analyse the welfare effects of unionization, where rival exporting governments employ strategic export policy. The domestic firm is unionized and conducts a Nash bargain with its union to determine wage and employment. The union may be wage oriented, wage neutral or employment oriented. The foreign firm is non-unionized. Stability of the reaction function equilibrium in policy space is sufficient for the following results: (i) domestic welfare increases with the degree of wage orientation; (ii) an increase in the union's bargaining power leads to higher (lower) domestic welfare if the union is wage (employment) oriented; (iii) if the domestic social marginal cost of labour is less than or equal to the foreign marginal cost, domestic market share is higher under wage orientation.     

SOCIAL CONFLICT,GROWTH AND FACTOR SHARES

Standard growth theory is based on atomistic agents with no strategic interactions among them. In contrast, we model growth as resulting from a one‐off, strategic game between ‘workers’ and owners of capital (‘capitalists’) on factor shares, in an otherwise standard ‘AK’ growth model. The resulting distribution of income between factors further determines the marginal revenue product of capital and the rate of growth. We analyse the properties of four equilibria: competitive, Stackelberg equilibrium, a hybrid non‐cooperative regime and cooperative, in terms of labour shares, growth and welfare. Our model thus endogenizes key aspects of the ‘social contract’.     

资本品进口、资本技能互补与中国的相对工资差距

中国是资本品净进口国,资本品进口引致资本积累并通过资本与技能互补效应增加对熟练劳动力的相对需求,是影响熟练劳动力与非熟练劳动力之间相对工资差距的一个重要机制。文章实证检验了资本品进口与中国熟练劳动力的互补效应及其对中国相对工资差距的影响。研究结论表明：资本与技能互补效应在中国长期存在,资本品进口促进了中国的资本积累,并通过资本与技能互补效应提高了熟练劳动力的边际产出,增加了对熟练劳动力的相对需求,扩大了相对工资差距。然而,劳动力的相对数量效应和相对效率效应对中国不断扩大的相对工资差距的解释力不强。     

Governance of Knowledge‐Intensive Firms in the Modern Market Economy

We model contracting for joint production between workers and shareholders when investment in knowledge is non‐verifiable and the resulting specific human capital embedded in the workers is non‐tradable. The model explains how the effective cost of human capital services will vary depending on whether the investment in knowledge is financed by the workers or by the shareholders. We apply the results of the modeling to identify which firms are expected to gain and which to lose from posted trends in higher employability and lower empowerment of workers in modern market economies. Finally, we present conditions on the self‐interest of current shareholders to empower workers as a way to stimulate their investment in firm‐specific human capital.     

Is it ‘you’ or ‘your workplace’? Predictors of job‐related training in the Anglo‐American world

This paper examines the determinants of job‐related training and workplace voice. Using data from a unique 2016 cross‐national survey of Australian, British, Canadian and American employees, the paper contrasts two classic formulations in the literature; (1) the neoclassical/human capital approach which predicts that individual characteristics (such as age and education) which increase the efficiency of learning, will have the largest impact on the allocation of training (i.e. younger and more educated employees will be afforded training) and (2) the traditional institutional approach which favors the structural characteristics present at the industry and firm level, the nature of the job itself and the strategic choices of firms as the major predictors of job‐related training. We find that age – a key factor in the human capital model – plays a significant role in the allocation of training but that education (in keeping with recent evidence) does not. In sum the human capital model provides, at best, only a partial explanation for the differences in training observed across individuals. In contrast, variables invoked by the institutional literature (i.e. occupation level; industry; ownership type; and market structure) are highly significant and account for a much greater proportion of the variance in training observed across workers. Other institutional factors such as the presence of a union and a human resource department were strong positive predictors of job‐related training. But most important were product‐market strategy and employee voice. Respondents working in firms utilizing a ‘high road/high quality’ product/service strategy and with a workplace consultative committee were significantly more likely to receive training than similar workers employed in observably similar firms. This last finding supports the industrial relations view of voice as an important channel by which training is optimally delivered inside the firm.     

Temporary trade and heterogeneous firms

Using Hungarian firm-transaction level export data, we show that about one third of firm–destination and about one half of firm–product–destination export spells are short-lived, or temporary, each year. This is in odds with theories where comparative advantage is stable and market entry costs are sunk. We show how endogenous choice between variable and sunk cost trade technologies can explain the empirical importance and some characteristics of temporary trade. We build a model in which the likelihood of temporary trade depends on productivity and capital cost of the firm as well as well-known gravity variables of destinations. These predictions are borne out by the data; the likelihood of permanent trade, defined by a simple filter, rises with firm productivity, financial stability, proximity and GDP of destination countries.     

RISK‐AVERSION,OPTIMAL LEVERAGE AND THE INVESTMENT–UNCERTAINTY RELATION

We develop a partial equilibrium dynamic model in which firms are risk‐averse. We analyse the determinants of the investment–uncertainty relationship by means of numerical techniques. When firms can borrow ‘outside’ resources at the riskless rate, an increase in price volatility depresses investment for realistic parameter values. In our model, portfolio considerations play an important role. When the marginal revenue of capital becomes more uncertain, the risk‐averse firm's owners reduce their ‘short position’ in the risk‐free asset, thus diminishing the firm's debt level. The contraction in leverage reduces the expected returns on investment because the expected marginal revenue product is higher than the user cost of capital. In turn, the reduction in expected yields tends to depress investment.     

“三农”问题的制度经济学分析

我国是一个农业大国 ,农业、农村和农民问题在整个国民经济中的地位是显而易见的。在经济体制转轨的过程中 ,“三农”问题更显得突出和紧迫 ,它不仅影响了我国农业的可持续发展 ,而且还影响了农民的收入水平及其在国民经济中的基础地位。本文运用一个动态的投资模型 ,分析了沉淀成本对农业生产进入与退出的影响 ,并探讨了其对农户生产投资行为的影响 ,提出了解决“三农”问题的政策处方 :即在农业生产经营活动中 ,由于普遍存在的沉淀成本严重地影响了农民的投资行为 ,因而完善市场制度和非市场制度 ,提高农业生产要素的流动性 ,降低其沉淀成本 ,是解决“三农”问题的关键。     

资本回报率、人力资本投资与收入不平等——基于Galor-Zeira模型的扩展

资本回报率下降对人力资本投资、收入不平等程度有较大影响。本文将可变资本回报率加入Galor-Zeira模型,理论推导发现:收入不平等陷阱并非不可逾越的障碍。当技能劳动力工资高于受教育固定成本时,随着资本回报率下降,接受教育的遗赠临界水平将降低,更多家庭将发现投资人力资本是有利的,稳态的技能劳动力比例将提高。在当前资本回报率下降的大背景下,提高技能劳动力工资、降低受教育成本、对教育贷款实施财政减免优惠、为农村中等教育支出减负和提升农村教育质量、倡导节俭和重视遗赠的文化氛围在长期都有助于提高技能劳动力比重以及缓和收入不平等。     

Does globalization weaken labor unions in developing countries?

For a developing economy with a given urban wage rate, globalization in capital markets strengthens labor unions. This result hinges on the fixed urban wage rate, which leads to a constant capital–labor ratio in the urban sector. Globalization via capital inflows not only enhances the employment effect of unionization but also reduces the rent-shifting related loss in production inefficiency to domestic capital, lending a support to labor unions for developing economies. This result is contrary to the common belief that labor unions tend to be weakened during the globalization process observed after 1980s in many developed economies.     

Market‐specific Sunk Export Costs: The Impact of Learning and Spillovers

Firms may face sunk costs when entering an export market. Previous studies have focused on global or country‐specific sunk export costs. This study analyses the importance of market‐specific sunk export costs (defining ‘market’ as a product–country combination). We also study how market‐specific export costs can be affected by various kinds of learning and spillover effects. We use firm‐level panel data for Norwegian seafood exports distributed on products and countries. The results lend support to the hypothesis of market‐specific sunk costs. We also find evidence of learning and spillover effects, particularly within the same product group.