The macroeconomic and food security implications of price interventions in the Philippine rice market

The Philippine government has a number of policy interventions in the domestic rice market aimed at promoting national food security. This paper examines the economy-wide and food security implications of three of the main policies: a ceiling on prices paid by rice consumers; a floor on prices received by paddy producers; and a subsidy on prices paid for seeds by paddy farmers. These programmes have been subject to domestic criticism on allocative efficiency and distributional grounds. We examine the effects of removing the programmes using an economy-wide model with detailed treatment of agricultural activity, land use, and food security measures. We find that the programmes make a small contribution to food security, for a modest budgetary outlay. The allocative efficiency gains available from ending the programmes are small, and may be outweighed by the potential for adverse short-run macroeconomic consequences.     

Fertility,Intra‐Generational Redistribution,and Social Security Sustainability

Incorporating heterogeneity in preference to having children into an overlapping generations model of a small open economy, we examine the effects of changes in the size of pay‐as‐you‐go (PAYG) social security on fertility choices of individuals and population growth of the economy. It is shown that PAYG social security will raise population growth by increasing the number of individuals who have children and the number of children parents have if the system involves redistribution between retirees with different contributions, whereas, if it has no redistribution, PAYG social security does not affect the fertility decisions of individuals.     

中国农村社会保障财政支出效率分析

农村社会保障问题已引起中国政府重视,政府不断加大对农村社会保障的财政投入,但农村社会保障财政支出的资金不会无限加大,这就要求提高农村社会保障财政支出的效率。结合中国农村社会保障发展的现状,借用数据包络分析(Data Envelopment Analysis,简称DEA)法,通过对中国农村社会保障支出效率进行分析,发现农村社会保障财政支出问题,并得出相应结论。     

Efficiency in the factoring industry

The efficiency and productivity in the Italian factoring industry between 1993 and 1997 is investigated using DEA. The factoring industry is an important part of many financial systems and it has established itself as a major source of finance and credit management for a growing number of companies. However, as far as the authors are aware no studies have applied frontier methodologies to examine the efficiency and productivity of this industry. This paper focuses on the Italian market, the second largest in the world after the UK. The results suggest that there are substantial cost savings to be had in the Italian factoring industry: the mean cost inefficiency in the Italian factoring industry over the period 1993–1997 ranged between 14% and 22%. These inefficiencies are mainly generated by allocative rather than technical inefficiencies. Scale and technical inefficiencies seem to be similar in magnitude and the supposed importance of the latter typically found in the banking efficiency literature, are not observed in Italian factoring. Firm size does not appear to be related to technical, allocative and economic efficiency and the hypothesis that ownership structure influences factoring firm efficiency could not be rejected. In order to analyse efficiency change over time the Malmquist index is used. Total factor productivity was decomposed into technical change and efficiency change and the latter was further divided into pure efficiency and scale efficiency change. Productivity changes were slight over the period 1993–1996, while a substantial increase in productivity occurred between 1996 and 1997: the latter appears to be the result of a large improvement in the technology and a positive scale efficiency change, however, this was slowed down by a negative pure efficiency change.     

Banking deregulation and allocative efficiency in Pakistan

This article examines the impact of deregulation policies on allocative efficiency of banks in Pakistan. It investigates whether deregulation has impacted the pattern of allocative efficiency of banks and explores which bank ownership segment has been more responsive. It uses data from 1991 to 2005 and explicitly models allocative inefficiency by using the translog shadow cost-share system. Empirical results show that overregulation and imperfect market structure hampers the ability of banks to make competitive decisions. We find evidence of allocative inefficiency leading to over-utilization of labour and deposits vis-à-vis operating cost. Empirical results for time-varying allocative efficiency show declining levels of allocative inefficiency for state-owned and private banks in post-reform period. Deregulation policies induce state-owned banks to decrease over-utilization of labour relative to deposits and operating cost while private banks succeed in using operating cost closer to optimal levels. Hence, policymakers have latitude to introduce more reforms without jeopardizing allocative efficiency.     

Social security and the choice between full-time work,part-time work and retirement

This paper investigates the determinants of retirement decisions in the UK. To deal with the endogeneity bias introduced by the piecemeal linear budget constraint generated by the social security system, it specifies a utility function in income–leisure space and assumes that individuals maximise it over three discrete regimes: full-time work, part-time work, and retirement. Using maximum likelihood techniques, it estimates the utility function and quantifies the influence of pensions, wages and personal characteristics (age, health, status, etc.) on the probability of partial and complete withdrawal from the labour market.     

Public debt and social security: Level of formality matters

This paper presents a contribution to the empirical literature concerning the relationship between social security and public debt in emerging economies. In particular, several economic and social shocks, as income inequality, were considered in the analysis. Based on the Brazilian data from 2004 to 2010, and taking into account the effects of shocks on variables which are essential to the public debt and the social security deficit, two sets of GMM models were considered. Furthermore, with the objective of testing the results, a GMM system model was built. The findings confirmed that the social security deficit significantly contributes to an increase in the public debt. Regarding the effects on social security, it was observed that an increase in the level of formality in the economy reduces the deficit. In contrast, a reduction in income inequality, real increase in the minimum wage, and increase in health benefits imply an increase in the social security deficit. Therefore, these variables play a crucial role in the search for an efficient social security management system and cannot be overlooked in ensuring fiscal sustainability.     

Nationalizations,bailouts and efficiency

ABSTRACT

We develop a theoretical model in which there are public and private firms and a government. When firms become insolvent, the government can intervene with bailouts or nationalizations. The government only intervenes when the bankruptcy of a firm entails social costs. In this setting, we analyze how government interventions affect allocative and productive efficiency. Nationalizations of private firms after unprofitable investments lead to increased allocative efficiency despite private ownership. The effort level chosen by the managers and employees working for a firm is also affected by the possibility of government interventions, reducing the productive efficiency advantage of private firms.     

Testing separability of public consumption in household decisions

In this paper we propose a sequential strategy, based on the microeconomic approach of the demand theory, in order to test for separability between private and public consumption. The aim of the present work is to verify, using a conditional almost ideal demand system, whether the different components of public consumption exert conditioning effects on the allocative structure of private spending. The empirical estimation of the model and the separability tests are developed for both a demand system in five functional categories of private spending, and for a demand system in six categories, where the private expenditures on those goods and services which can also be offered by the public sector are enclosed in a single functional category. The results of the separability tests, obtained using UK data for the 1974–2000 period, show that public individual consumption plays an important role in modifying consumer choices, while public collective consumption does not affect private consumption behaviours. The relationships between the different components of private spending and public individual consumption are both of substitutability and complementarity; in particular, we find that public individual consumption and the corresponding private expenditures on ‘Health, education, recreation and social protection’ are complements.     

On the interaction between education and social security

This paper uses an overlapping generations model with endogenous fertility choices to analyze the quantitative costs and benefits of subsidizing higher education, paying particular attention to the interaction between such policy and the sustainability of the social security system. The paper focuses on the demographic change as the mechanism that link both policies. It is found that an increase in education subsidies changes the educational composition of the population and lowers average fertility. Lower average fertility and higher life expectancy of educated individuals translates into changes in the age structure of the population that requires an increase in the social security tax rate in order to balance the pension budget. Such process reduces the welfare benefits of this educational policy since the rise in social security taxes lowers the after-tax lifetime earnings of almost all individuals born in the period of the policy reform and over.     

THE ECONOMICS OF SOCIAL SENTIMENTS: THE CASE OF ENVY

The widespread externality produced by the sentiment of envy is modelled in this paper. We show its specific structural properties, the conditions of its existence, the various reasons for its normative relevance, the basic tool of its analysis ("envy-free preferences") and its crucial relation with the property of equality of liberty ("equity"). We then show that the envy externality respects the efficiency of classical allocative processes in the relevant conditions (competitive markets with not too unequal incomes, cases with indivisibilities, equal-freedom individual choices, etc.). We in particular derive conditions of consistency between efficiency and the vanishing of the envy externality, as well as the effects of actual envy on "divide and choose" processes, preferences to reassignment, multidimensional maximin, "egalitarian equivalence", degrees of envy in society and the rationality of choices.     

中国粮食生产资源配置效率及其区域差异——基于动态Malmquist指数的经验

提高生活水平是人类社会永恒的主题,而资源配置的有效性是保证这一主题实现的必要手段。文章基于非参数生产前沿面理论,将资源配置效率分解为规模效率、纯技术效率和要素可处置度,分析中国粮食流通体制市场化以来,粮食生产资源配置效率及其时空特征、变化态势以及主要制约因素。结果表明,全国及其三大流域粮食生产资源投入要素并没有得到充分利用;但中国粮食生产资源配置效率的平均水平是上升和改善的;中国及其三大流域制约粮食生产资源配置效率的因素是产出规模效率。因此,政府应该加大力度以提高粮食生产资源配置效率,加快农业剩余劳动力转移,有效消除制约中国粮食生产资源配置效率的因素,最大程度地发挥规模效益;同时还应根据市场化进程中我国粮食生产所表现出来的新特点,适时做出进一步激励粮食生产、最大程度提高资源配置效率的政策安排,同时这也是弥补市场失灵、稳定粮价、促进粮食高产稳产的有效手段。     

风险、社会保障与农村宗教信仰

遵循理性选择研究范式,本文研究了农村社会保障与农村信教行为之间的关系.实证分析结果表明,风险是宗教选择和宗教参与的一个重要决定因素;目前农村社会保障水平对信仰量变有显著影响,但对信仰质变尚不够构成显著影响;"新农合"的开展能够有效地降低农村宗教信仰的增长速度.这些结果可以对农村"宗教热"现象进行解释:世俗社会对于农村居民所面临风险的不作为或者弱作为,是宗教在农村颇具吸引力的一个重要原因.     

Investigating household choice for health and life insurance

The objective of this article is to investigate the joint determination of household choice for health and life insurance. Using the 2008–2009 Consumer Expenditure Survey data, we model household choice for health and life insurance assuming households consider purchasing them to manage financial risks in their life, after accounting for household characteristics, insurance characteristics, health status, and disability status. The model allows assessing the impact of health insurance choice on the choice of life insurance and the correlation between these two choices. The result suggests that health insurance choice positively affects the choice of life insurance and these two choices are positively correlated indicating complementary nature of these insurances in the basket of households’ risk minimising goods.     

退休年龄、教育年限与社会保障

在本文中,我们用养老金的缴纳费率和养老金替代率代表社会保障制度,采用有限生命预期的连续时间状态代际交叠模型作为基本框架,分析了社会保障制度对消费者接受教育的年限、退休年龄、工作年限的选择、GDP增长率和利率的影响。同时,我们还分析了消费者的预期寿命对个体消费者接受教育的年限、退休年龄、工作年限的选择以及对社会保障制度的影响。     

退休年龄、教育年限与社会保障

在本文中，我们用养老金的缴纳费率和养老金替代率代表社会保障制度，采用有限生命预期的连续时间状态代际交叠模型作为基本框架，分析了社会保障制度对消费者接受教育的年限、退休年龄、工作年限的选择、GDP增长率和利率的影响。同时，我们还分析了消费者的预期寿命对个体消费者接受教育的年限、退休年龄、工作年限的选择以及对社会保障制度的影响。     

中国地区工业生产绩效:结构差异、制度冲击及动态表现

本文利用省级面板数据研究转型过程中中国地区工业生产绩效的动态表现。基于Kumbhakar(2000)的方法,我们将TFP增长分解为四个因素的变化。结果发现:(1)自1988年以来各地区工业部门的TFP增长率都出现了增长的趋势,其首要推动力在于技术进步率的不断提高;(2)与此同时,技术效率和要素配置效率出现了恶化,而规模效率则从恶化走向了改善。(3)上世纪90年代末的国企改革对各地区的工业生产绩效的构成造成了普遍的冲击,而民营化程度较高的东部地区受到的冲击最小。(4)通过分析绩效差异的源泉,我们进一步确认90年代末国企改革的制度性冲击促成了工业规模效率的提高,却导致了要素配置效率的短期下降,而劳动力教育水平和非国有经济比重的提高,则有助于促进工业技术进步、改善配置效率。伴随着制度变革的经济整体转型正从多个向度重构着中国地区工业化的版图。     

Determinants of the allocative,cost and scope efficiencies of Indian banks

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the impact of competition on determinants of allocative, scope and cost efficiencies of Indian scheduled commercial banks (SCBs). Specifically, the study, analyzes the impact of the second round of licensing on the efficiency of Indian SCBs. This is the first paper to measure scope efficiency of Indian banks and analyze its determinants. A two-stage analysis is performed on a balanced panel dataset of Indian SCBs for the period 1999–2016. In the first stage, the allocative, cost and scope efficiencies for each bank are estimated following the data envelopment analysis approach. In the second stage, internal determinants of the stated efficiency measures are estimated following the system of the generalized method of moments approach. The findings suggest that competition has not resulted in enhancing the efficiency of Indian SCBs. Among factors that can influence efficiency, it is seen that size does matter. Larger banks can enhance the efficiency of SCBs. It is also seen that having more foreign banks improves the overall efficiency of SCBs. However, before embarking on further rounds of licensing, the study posits that market-driven correction to succeed, it is imperative to address sunspots in the form of investor or borrower repression.     

An efficiency and welfare classification of rationing by waiting in the presence of bribery

Governments often allocate commodities at low prices and on a first-come-first-served basis (rationing by waiting), while bureaucrats who distribute the commodities usually take bribes. A model is developed to classify the efficiency implications of bribery, and socially optimal pricing schemes in rationing by waiting. If the rationed good and individual income spent on other goods (‘other’ income) are ‘complements’, then bribery may enhance allocative efficiency, and a ‘dual pricing’ scheme can augment social welfare. However, if the rationed commodity and ‘other’ income are ‘substitutes’, then bribery may not improve allocative efficiency, and distributing the rationed commodity free is socially optimal.     

基于公平和效率的角度 分析社会保障模式的选择

公平和效率都是社会保障追求的目标。社会保障制度的设计是在尽量不扭曲资源配置的基础上,通过收入和财富的再分配达到当前社会核心价值体系下定义的公平,因此如何实现公平和效率均衡是社会保障模式的重点,本文总结了世界各国的几种典型的社会保障模式,并从公平和效率的角度对这几种模式进行评价,进而对我国社会保障模式的选择提出几点建议。