The merits of new pollutants and how to get them when patents are granted

The performance of market based environmental regulation is affected by patents and vice versa. This interaction is studied for a type of innovation where a new technology reduces emissions of a specific pollutant but at the same time causes a new type of damage. If the new pollutant associated with this technology is sufficiently different from existing ones such that marginal damage is increasing in each of them but additive across pollutants, a diversification of the pollution portfolio is socially desirable. In a situation where the incentives to develop such a technology are created by patents, the efficiency of permits is affected by monopoly pricing of the patent-holding firm. This result carries over to other types of innovation. The performance of taxes is limited by either the inability to implement specific pollution mixes or monopoly pricing. For constant returns to scale at the industry level the combined use of taxes and permits ensures the first best mix of technologies and provides positive research incentives.      

The number and type of long-term equilibria

We consider a balanced-growth model with finitely many processes, a uniform rate of profits, and a given composition of final demand. Two types of equilibria are distinguished, black and white: the color of an equilibrium is defined by the relative sign of two determinants associated with the operated methods, and can be interpreted as a local property of a cross-dual dynamic process. Under standard economic assumptions, and flukes apart, the number of white equilibria exceeds that of black equilibria by one. In particular the total number of long-term equilibria is odd.     

‘Regular’ choice and the weak axiom of stochastic revealed preference

We explore the relation between two ‘rationality conditions’ for stochastic choice behavior: regularity and the weak axiom of stochastic revealed preference (WASRP). We show that WASRP implies regularity, but the converse is not true. We identify a restriction on the domain of the stochastic choice function, which suffices for regularity to imply WASRP. When the universal set of alternatives is finite, this restriction is also necessary for regularity to imply WASRP. Furthermore, we identify necessary and sufficient domain restrictions for regularity to imply WASRP, when the universal set of alternatives is finite and stochastic choice functions are all degenerate. Results in the traditional, deterministic, framework regarding the relation between Chernoff’s condition and the weak axiom of revealed preference follow as special cases. Thus, general conditions are established, under which regularity can substitute for WASRP as the axiomatic foundation for a theory of choice behavior.     

The determinants of FDI location choice in China: a discrete-choice analysis

This study addresses two questions: What are the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) location choice in China? What are the factors that determine investors’ choice between ‘Economic zones’ in China on one hand, and ‘other cities’ of China on the other hand? This study shows that FDI location choice is sensitive both on the endowment conditions in different regions/cities/economic zones in China as well as on the country of origin of the FDI. Based on a data set of 1218 observations, the results of the binary logit regressions indicate that the protection of intellectual rights, agglomeration economies, investments in education and gross regional product affect the location choice of FDI in China. This choices, however, varies depending on the origin of the FDI. Policy makers can use these findings to channel FDI to targeted regions/ cities.     

The game analyses to price the target enterprise of merger and acquisition based on the perspective of real options under stochastic surroundings

Although several approaches have been developed to evaluate the target enterprise of merger and acquisition (M&A) such as classical net present value (NPV) evaluation model and real options techniques, the logic of pricing processes in all these approaches is still faulty. The classical approach of NPV perspective to price the target enterprise of M&A has been replaced by integration of contemporary perspectives such as NPV perspective, real options perspective, game perspective, and so on. In this paper, the dynamic analyses model to price the target enterprise of M&A is developed from the perspective of real options integrated with game theory under stochastic surroundings. The synergy multiplication coefficient is introduced into the evaluation model to reflect the synergy management process of M&A, and the equilibrium price formula is proposed by applying the famous offer-counteroffer Rubinstein theorem, which is improved to fit for the stochastic surroundings. The price formula is further discussed on condition that the operating cost is more than or less than profit flow, which is assumed to follow geometric Brownian motion process. The numeric simulations show that the proposed formulas in this paper can perfectly well reflect the realistic practice of M&A.     

How the purpose of the inter-firm relationships influences the choice of the governance form: evidence from the machine tool and the pharmaceutical industries

In today's competitive landscape, the choice of the appropriate mode to govern an inter-firm relationship is a critical factor for companies. In the literature several theoretical strands have examined the impact of the purpose of inter-firm relationships on the forms of governance. Building on a robust literature review on the topic, this study focuses on a specific issue influencing the choice of the form of governance in inter-firm relationships, i.e. the purpose of inter-firm relationships with relation to partner's resources. We gather in a unique framework three typologies of partner's resources, i.e. production, R&D and marketing, and through two empirical analyses in two different Italian industries, machine tool and pharmaceutical, we show how differently these purposes shape the choice of the governance mode.     

Herding behaviour and the declining value relevance of accounting information: evidence from an emerging stock market

This article sheds light on the underlying mechanisms behind the changes in the value relevance of accounting information in the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) during the 1999–2010 period. We find that neither changes in earnings quality nor the earnings lack of timeliness hypothesis can explain the decline in the value relevance of accounting information in the KSE. Based on the stylized facts associated with the growth of the KSE and the broader economics literature, we argue that the reduction in the explanatory power of accounting information vis-à-vis stock returns was caused by herding behaviour. Empirical estimates from state-space model of herding behaviour confirm the existence of herding, and we find that the value relevance of accounting information is significantly lower in periods characterized by herding behaviour. This article is also amongst the first attempts to empirically demonstrate that an expansionary monetary policy and increases in foreign portfolio investment lead to increased levels of herding.     

Combining stated and revealed choice research to simulate the neighbor effect: The case of hybrid-electric vehicles

According to intuition and theories of diffusion, consumer preferences develop along with technological change. However, most economic models designed for policy simulation unrealistically assume static preferences. To improve the behavioral realism of an energy–economy policy model, this study investigates the “neighbor effect,” where a new technology becomes more desirable as its adoption becomes more widespread in the market. We measure this effect as a change in aggregated willingness to pay under different levels of technology penetration. Focusing on hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs), an online survey experiment collected stated preference (SP) data from 535 Canadian and 408 Californian vehicle owners under different hypothetical market conditions.Revealed preference (RP) data was collected from the same respondents by eliciting the year, make and model of recent vehicle purchases from regions with different degrees of HEV popularity: Canada with 0.17% new market share, and California with 3.0% new market share. We compare choice models estimated from RP data only with three joint SP–RP estimation techniques, each assigning a different weight to the influence of SP and RP data in coefficient estimates. Statistically, models allowing more RP influence outperform SP influenced models. However, results suggest that because the RP data in this study is afflicted by multicollinearity, techniques that allow more SP influence in the beta estimates while maintaining RP data for calibrating vehicle class constraints produce more realistic estimates of willingness to pay. Furthermore, SP influenced coefficient estimates also translate to more realistic behavioral parameters for CIMS, allowing more sensitivity to policy simulations.     

The shading and distancing of commerce: When internalization is not enough

A political economy of degradation and of sustainability should account not only for the full range of production costs but the sources of those costs. It should consider how the pursuit of wealth can, deliberately or not, lead to uncounted costs and unaccountable actors. This article explores the conditions of cost generation and externalization, especially those that are largely unintended and inadvertent. It shows how the pursuit of wealth, the expansion of markets, the mobility of capital, and the entanglements of production processes can lead to the unwitting generation and displacement of costs. It analyzes competitive business strategy and patterns of production and consumption for their contribution to such costs. Business strategy and state policy tend to create a never-ending search for frontiers, however simulated and however unecological they may be. The costs generated in those frontiers are a function of shading, that is, obscuring of costs, and distancing, the separation of production and consumption decisions, both of which impede ecological and social feedback and create cognitive, institutional, and ethical lags between initial benefits and eventual full costs. As distance increases along dimensions of geography, culture, bargaining power, or agency, negative feedback loops are severed, stakeholders expand while decision making contracts, environmental problems are displaced, and shading and cost externalization increase. The likelihood of sustainable resource use increases as distance is lowered, as institutions locate decision authority in those who receive negative ecological feedback and who have the capacity and incentives to act on that feedback, and as the burden of proof for economic interventions shifts to the interveners.     

The organizational evolution of innovative activity in the US semiconductor industry: Technological specialization and diversification

This article analyzes the organizational evolution of innovative activity in the contemporary high-tech industry. It has been argued that by showing illuminating examples and proposing theoretical explanations, the innovation process has been fragmented and distributed among several organizations. In other words, ‘division of innovative labor’ emerges. However, one of the problems of this argument lies in its lack of systematic empirical analysis. Using the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent database, this article analyzes the organization of innovative activity in the US semiconductor industry. It is shown that ‘technological specialization’ has not occurred in this industry as a whole. In addition, it is also shown that there are two distinct modes of development of technology, namely, ‘specialized development of technology’ and ‘diversified development of technology’, in which the share of the latter has been steadily increasing. These results imply that contrary to the earlier conventional arguments, division of labor is not a common phenomenon in the production of technological knowledge.     

The core ideology of Ecological Marxism：Marx is the pioneer of internal factors theory of ecological environment

This paper from the unified visual angle of philosophy and economics has observed Marx＇s theory of ecological economics, clarified the misunderstanding on Marx＇s theory of nature and ecological environmental thought at home and abroad for a long time, studied systematically and deeply the Marx＇s thought that natural and ecological environment is external condition and internal elements of human social economic growth, confirmed firstly Marx is the forerunner who established the theory of internal cause of natural ecological environment. It is of far-reaching academic and practical significance.     

Biased valuations, damage assessments, and policy choices: The choice of measure matters

Damages from, for example, an oil spill can be measured by how much people are willing to pay to avoid them, or by the minimum compensation they demand to accept them; and decisions to clean up can be justified by the willingness to pay to do it or by the compensation necessary to forgo it. Contrary to the usual official and unofficial conventions that the choice of measure is of no matter, the empirical evidence and intuitions of most people strongly suggest otherwise. The appropriate choice of measure appears to turn, not on legal entitlements, but on the reference state people use to judge negative and positive changes — a criteria that is likely to call into question most estimates of the damages of increased health risks and the value of environmental mitigation efforts.     

不能把马克思、恩格斯局限于“劳动价值论”一元论--从方法论角度再论马克思、恩格斯价值理论本相及其它

马克思、恩格斯共识于“价值时对效用和劳动花费的衡量”,因为它与生产力与生产关系矛盾统一的唯物史观原理相适应：“价值”与“生产力”同义。但是,这种价值理论在《资本论》各卷中的展述却是按照“从抽象上升到具体”的方法,从抽象的“劳动价值论”出发,一步一步上升为“具体”的。细读之,可以发现,每向“具体”前进一步,都靠使劳动价值论与某种突现使用价值决定性的理论相结合而完成,其理论实质是使劳动价值论被纳入唯物史观框架。显然,马克思、恩格斯的价值理论不限于劳动价值论,它是由抽象劳动价值论上升为具体的宏观“效用/劳动价值论”的理论体系。西方学关于第一第三卷彼此矛盾的说法,以及一些马克思主义针对的反击,虽名有些合理之处,但也均陷入了对马克思、恩格斯劳动价值论的绝对化和形式主式误解。     

The effect of distance on willingness to pay values: a case study of wetlands and salmon in California

Most contingent valuation studies in the literature utilized a pre-determined geographic market area for their sample frame. In other words, they did not include variables that would measure the extent of the geographic areas over which to aggregate willingness to pay. These studies implicitly assumed that the effects of geographic distance were moot; an assumption that could have led to an understatement of the aggregate benefit values computed in these studies. The overall goal of this study was to determine if distance affects willingness to pay for public goods with large non-use values. The data used came from a contingent valuation study regarding the San Joaquin Valley, CA. Respondents were asked about their willingness to pay (WTP) for three proposed programs designed to reduce various environmental problems in the Valley. A logit model was used to examine the effects of geographic distance on respondents' willingness to pay for each of the three programs. Results indicate that distance affected WTP for two of the three programs (wetlands habitat and wildlife, and the wildlife contamination control programs). We calculate the underestimate in benefits if the geographic extent of the public good market is arbitrarily limited to one political jurisdiction.     

管理学流派的融合：可能性与必要性

任何学科的发展必然面临“实践-经验-理论”的学科演进路径,而管理理论的发展仍旧没有能够走出“实践-经验”混同的管理理论“丛林”时代。本文通过分析认为,在理论研究中实践和理论混为一谈是管理学陷入“丛林”状态的根本原因;而解决这一“丛林”状态的路径即在于对公理化方法的引入,使现代管理学中经验研究和理论研究实现分工,让现代管理学走向综合,从而走出不断的“重新制造轮子”的丛林状态。     

Complementarity between water pricing, water rights and local water governance: A Bayesian analysis of choice behaviour of farmers in the Krishna river basin, India

To ensure efficient water allocation and use, policy designers have adopted various strategies, including price setting, decentralising irrigation water management or improving water rights. Most of these strategies have been applied individually, without considering the complementary relationships between them. This paper uses a discrete choice model to analyse the scope for combinations of tools for irrigation water demand management and farmers' acceptance of these. In terms of local irrigation water governance, the presence or absence of collective irrigation water management, in the form of a Water Users Association, is considered. Water rights are specified in terms of the duration and quality of the entitlement and its transferability. Finally, four types of water pricing methods (area, crop, block and volumetric pricing) are considered. Using a choice experiment, we elicit the most preferred water pricing method, under different water rights situations, at different price levels and under various contexts for local irrigation water governance. Our results indicated that under conditions of improved water rights, preference for volumetric pricing increases, whilst the presence of a Water Users Association reduces this preference. Furthermore, it was found that using an appropriate combination of water demand management tools considerably increases the willingness to pay for a change in scenario.     

The legal theory of finance and the financial instability hypothesis: Convergences and possible integration

This article presents the legal theory of finance (LTF) and compares it with the financial instability hypothesis (FIH), identifying points of convergence and divergence. The study aims to contribute to the literature by connecting these theories and provides the following main conclusions. First, the LTF incorporates aspects of the FIH, as the theories share several key elements, particularly the presence of fundamental uncertainty, the constraint of liquidity, and the necessity for governments to act as lenders of last resort. Second, the liquidity concept used in the LTF can be better comprehended with the use of Keynesian and post Keynesian literature on the topic. Third, the LTF aims to advance and update certain aspects of Minsky’s theory, particularly with regard to the globalization of markets, power relations, and the interdependencies of the political economy of finance. The study concludes that the theories are more complementary than divergent and future studies should create an analytical framework that integrates the theories’ most insightful aspects.     

制度变迁中土地产权的性质与合约选择:一个有关合作经济的案例分析

This paper discusses an evolutionary process of rural collective property rights or agricultural cooperation economy in detail. We convince that both the evolution of the household contract system and the rural cooperation economy in the market elaborate the key position of property rights’ multi-attribute in the formation of contract structure and organization shape. If there were strong externality between several elements of household, the collective property rights should be chosen. __________ Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2008, (6): 61–67, 94     

The relationship between wealth or income and time preference is empirical, not apodictic: a critique of Rothbard and Hoppe

There is no doubt that when income or wealth increases, impatience for present goods declines. When time preference for the present falls, interest rates decline as well. But is this phenomenon a necessary condition of human action as Rothbard and Hoppe contend? This is widely thought to be true when a man is on the very verge of death. There is an aphorism according to which “a drowning man will grasp even at the blade of a sword.” In this view, someone who is starving will not postpone the consumption of food for tomorrow that is necessary to keep him alive today. But we disagree. And what is the situation under more ordinary circumstances far removed from starvation? We argue in this paper that, contrary to Rothbard and Hoppe, under these conditions it is a reliable but only a broad empirical generalization that time preferences and interest rates are inversely related to wealth or income, it is not a matter of praxeology.