Conditional Cooperation and Voluntary Contributions to Public Goods

We compare a partners condition , where the same small group of subjects plays a repeated public good game, to a strangers condition , where subjects play this game in changing group formations. From the first period onward, subjects in the partners condition contribute significantly more to the public good than subjects in the strangers condition. Strangers' contributions show continual decay, while partners' contributions fluctuate on a high level prior to decreasing in the final periods. We interpret subjects' behaviour in terms of conditional cooperation which is characterized by both future-oriented and reactive behaviour.
JEL classifications: C 91; C 92; H 41     

Getting the Ball Rolling: Voluntary Contributions to a Large-Scale Public Project

This paper examines dynamic voluntary contributions to a large‐scale project. In equilibrium, contributions are influenced by the interplay of two opposing incentives. While agents prefer to free ride on others for contributions, they also prefer to encourage others to contribute by increasing their own. Main findings of the paper are that (1) agents increase their contributions as the project moves forward; (2) as additional agents join the group, existing agents increase their contributions in the initial stages of the project while reducing them in the stages close to completion; (3) groups that are formed by more patient agents and that undertake larger projects tend to be larger; and (4) groups that rely on voluntary contributions tend to be too small compared to the social optimum. The empirical evidence on contributions to open‐source software projects provides partial support for these findings.     

Efficient Equilibria in the Voluntary Contributions Mechanism with Private Information

We characterize generally the Bayesian Nash equilibria of a voluntary contributions public goods game for two consumers with private information.The two consumers simultaneously make voluntary contributions to the public good, and the contributions are refunded if the total falls short of the cost of the public good. Several families of equilibria (step‐function, regular and semi‐regular) are studied. Necessary and sufficient conditions for regular and semi‐regular equilibrium allocations to be interim incentive efficient are derived. In the uniform distribution case we prove (i) the existence of an open set of incentive efficient regular equilibria when the cost of production is large enough and (ii) the existence of an open set of incentive efficient semi‐regular equilibria when the cost of production is low enough. Step‐function equilibra are proved to be interim incentive inefficient.     

Voluntary Contributions with Risky and Uncertain Marginal Returns: The Importance of the Parameter Values

Previous research indicates that risky and uncertain marginal returns from a public good lower contributions significantly. This paper presents experimental results showing that this effect depends on the employed parameterization.     

Japanese Contributions to the Theory of International Trade

This paper outlines a number of significant Japanese contributions to the theory of international trade in the postwar period, and identifies some of their characteristic topics and methods. It then seeks to explain these characteristics, with reference to Japan's intellectual and cultural heritage, its pressing national priorities, and the situation of the Japanese economist within Japanese society and the economics profession internationally. It is argued that despite these common characteristics we cannot speak meaningfully of a Japanese school of trade theory, although there is a characteristically Japanese approach to trade policy. Finally, some reasons for the neglect of Japanese contributions are explored.
JEL Classification Numbers: B20, F19.     

Accounting for Fertility Decline During the Transition to Growth

In every developed country, the economic transition from pre-industrial stagnation to modern growth was accompanied by a demographic transition from high to low fertility. Even though the overall pattern is repeated, there are large cross-country variations in the timing and speed of the demographic transition. What accounts for falling fertility during the transition to growth? To answer this question, this paper develops a unified growth model that delivers a transition from stagnation to growth, accompanied by declining fertility. The model is used to determine whether government policies that affect the opportunity cost of education can account for cross-country variations in fertility decline. Among the policies considered, education subsidies are found to have only minor effects, while accounting for child labor regulation is crucial. Apart from influencing fertility, the policies also determine the evolution of the income distribution in the course of development.     

中国基础设施超常规发展的土地支持研究

过去20多年,中国基础设施获得超常规发展,现有文献主要强调政治激励影响。而本文发现,土地制度结构变迁是一个重要线索,中国基础设施超常规发展是土地制度结构变迁的一个可以解释的结果。本文在理论上证明,在一个政治集权经济分权以及土地公有制的经济体,除政治经济激励外,地方官员通过调控土地出让价格所形成的自我融资机制是影响一个地区基础设施最优供给量的主要因素,而该机制能否形成取决于一国的土地制度结构,这有助于从理论上解释中国与其他发展中国家存在的基础设施差别。在实证上,我们采用省级面板数据发现,土地支持假说成立。本文的工作意味着,中国基础设施的"以地谋发展"模式确实为其超常规发展贡献了主要力量,但由于该模式自身的一些缺陷,目前正面临着重要转型,出路是土地制度改革和新型城镇化建设。此外,在"一带一路"战略下,中国基础设施建设的经验具有复制推广以及帮助发展中国家消除基础设施瓶颈的更广泛意义。     

Contributions Feminist Economics Can Make to the Quality of Life Movement

This article articulates how and why feminist economists can move the quality of life literature forward and help it become a solid part of the social sciences rather than a subject whose perceived value fluctuates with political winds. Readers are challenged to consider and critique a proposed set of expectations to clearly define the field and set standards of excellence. Examples of this approach are provided from the experiences of an economic research firm striving to build on these guidelines in its work with nonprofit and for-profit organizations that design, fund, evaluate, and/or deliver programs that impact quality of life.     

Does the Commercialization of Voluntary Organizations ‘Crowd out’ Voluntary Work?

This article examines the relationship among voluntary labour supply and commercial income for Norwegian sport voluntary organizations. Empirical results using cross–sectional data on voluntary sport organizations in Norway and on their members show a decrease in voluntary work from an increase in commercial income. Voluntary work and commercial income appear as substitutable resources. Nevertheless, the results have to be differentiated according to the professional situation of the volunteers.
A crowding out effect between voluntary work and commercial resources is at play for non–professionally active individuals whereas professionally active individuals seem to be indifferent to the level of commercial resources in deciding whether to volunteer or not.     

Understanding the Decline of China's State Sector

MOCT-MOST: Economic Policy in Transitional Economies -     

德商与领导德行力开发

德商和德行力是当前领导力开发研究的热点问题之一。本文在相关文献研究的基础上．详细介绍了德商定义、德商对智商和情商的导向作用,说明了如何将德商分解成领导德行力,并提出了领导德行力开发的几点建议。     

Maintaining the Common Pool: Voluntary Water Conservation in Response to Varying Scarcity

Studies of voluntary conservation response to changing information about an environmental problem have traditionally been synonymous with studies of information campaign effectiveness. As such, they have not been able to capture the response to actual changes in the environment. This paper takes a novel approach to identifying voluntary conservation by studying the impact of changing storage levels on urban water usage in the context of a prolonged drought and a highly ’water aware’ community. Our results suggest that voluntary conservation increases substantially when water is scarce and the public value of the savings is greatest. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of environmental information campaigns in general, and urban water demand management in particular.     

知识型员工的柔性激励模式研究

知识型员工(Knowledge Worker)所拥有的知识是一个组织得以发展的关键。建立科学的激励模式,挖掘知识型员工的知识潜力成为一个至关重要的问题。通过对知识型员工心理需求特点进行分析,论述了柔性激励在知识型员工管理中的适用性。指出应实现由操纵型的刚性激励模式向契约型的柔性激励模式转变,并设计了知识型员工的成本契约型和心理契约性激励模式。