Equilibrium Unemployment Rate and Customs Union

This paper utilizes the macroeconomics concept of the equilibrium rate of unemployment for theorems on free trade and the formation of customs union. The notion of an equilibrium rate of unemployment appears in the literature on labour, macroeconomics, business cycles and trade theory. Such an equilibrium rate can be derived in a number of ways, for example, by introducing labor–leisure choice in the utility functions of the workers; a labor turnover model and/or by introducing shirking. We extend the two sector-two factor Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson model for a small open economy by relaxing the assumption of inelastic labor supply. Specifically, we consider the classical labor supply function obtained from the representative consumer's utility maximisation problem. This consideration allows for the existence of unemployment and we analyse the effects trade policies have on the equilibrium unemployment rate. Given the movement towards free trade (either via the implementation of GATT and/or formation of customs union) it is important to examine its implications for the equilibrium rate of unemployment.     

Pareto-improving Immigration in an Economy with Equilibrium Unemployment

A dynamic two-country labour matching economy is presented. Workers decide whether to search in their native country or look for a job abroad (bearing an additional cost). The number of vacancies posted by firms in each country depends on the average characteristics of the workers searching inside that country. Wages are determined in an individual Nash bargain. We show the existence of multiple steady-state equilibria: one no-migration equilibrium and two migration equilibria. The multiplicity of equilibria is due to a self-fulfilling prophecy phenomenon linking average wages and incentives to migrate. The equilibria are Pareto-ranked, with migration-equilibria dominating no-migration.     

International Outsourcing and Unemployment in a Minimum‐wage Economy

To explore the impact of international outsourcing on unemployment and social welfare, the conventional trade model is extended by including both economies of scale and a minimum‐wage constraint in the unskilled‐labor market. In the paper, the scale economies are linked with the production of the most skill‐intensive good. It is shown that within such a framework, there is a trade‐off between a more socially desirable endowment allocation and a greater level of employment. Therefore, even though outsourcing could raise aggregate employment, this benefit is at the cost of further exacerbating the resource misallocation. In this way, the extensions to the traditional framework explored in the paper generate new insights as to why outsourcing may cause a net welfare loss to the home country.     

Unemployment of Skilled and Unskilled Labor in an Open Economy: International Trade,Migration, and Outsourcing

We show how international trade, migration, and outsourcing affect unemployment of skilled and unskilled labor, in a framework that integrates the Heckscher–Ohlin model of trade with the Shapiro–Stiglitz model of unemployment. Our approach allows us to analyze changes in not only aggregate unemployment, but also the distribution of unemployment between skilled and unskilled labor. As the analysis demonstrates, the unemployment rates of these two types of labor often move in opposite directions, thereby dampening the change in aggregate unemployment. Results depend on the source of comparative advantage, based on international differences in (for example) unemployment insurance or production technology.     

International Borrowing, Specialization, and Unemployment in a Small Open Economy

The authors show that an increase in international borrowing increases specialization and unemployment in a small open economy that is subject to terms‐of‐trade risks. The economy has a production advantage in the export sector. However, the size of the export sector is limited by the available funds. To insure workers against income fluctuations arising from terms‐of‐trade risks, firms in the export sector offer workers a stable wage rate with the possibility of unemployment. An increase in international borrowing increases specialization in the export sector, which leads to higher unemployment when the terms‐of‐trade shock is bad. A state‐contingent price subsidy can reduce unemployment without inefficiently reducing specialization. The results are robust to the introduction of risk‐averse firms.     

进出口贸易增长、人民币汇率波动与贸易均衡汇率决定——基于两国模型的理论与政策分析

非市场化商品和劳务、技术进步与人口增长速度差异等因素的存在,使得准确计算人民币均衡汇率面临诸多困难;只有当两国的技术进步增长率与人口增长率之和相等且两国的贸易量为零增长速度时,才会出现零波动幅度的贸易均衡汇率;在两国或者多国构成的国际经济体系中,在一定条件下可能存在贸易汇率波动均衡,但会表现出不同的特征;应根据我国贸易汇率波动均衡特征制订和实施更具灵活性和弹性的贸易政策和汇率政策.     

竞争力平价与人民币均衡汇率研究

传统的汇率决定理论认为，一国货币汇率的衡水平是由购买力平价、利率平价和货币相对供求等决定的。大多数实证研究表明，这些均衡汇率理论只是强调单一因素，同现实相距甚远。本文构建了多因素国际竞争力平价模型，认为均衡实际汇率随着国际竞争力的相对变化而变化，国际竞争力相对提高，该国货币升值，反之则反之。本文利用主成分分析法，从影响人民币汇率的多因素中构造国际竞争力这个指标，实证研究表明人民币实际有效汇率与国际竞争力之间存在协整关系，然后再基于这个协整关系式计算人民币的均衡实际有效汇率，并据以判断人民币汇率偏离均衡水平的程度。     

Equilibrium Growth in a Small Economy Facing an Imperfect World Capital Market

A growth model of a developing economy facing an upward-sloping curve of debt is analyzed. Equilibrium is characterized by transitional dynamics in which consumption, capital, and debt converge to a common growth rate. The adjustment is through the debt-capital ratio, which drives the borrowing rate to a level at which growth rates are equalized. The economy is subject to two externalities: a production externality associated with government expenditure, and a financial externality associated with the upward-sloping supply of debt. The tax structure that enables the decentalized economy to attain the first-best equilibrium is characterized.     

South-South Trade in Manufactures: A Modified Heckscher-Ohlin Model of Bilateral Trade and Some Preliminary Estimates

This paper attempts to interpret the recent growth of south-south trade in manufactures, with a view to highlight the Key factors that propel its growth, and to examine its implications for north-south trade. This is done in the framework of a modified Heckscher-Ohlin model of bilateral trade between three tiers of countries, viz., the developed countries of the OECD, the Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs), and the Less Developed Countries (LDCs). The paper also provides empirical estimates from trade data for the years 1970–1982 in order to illustrate a key proposition of the model. [420]     

利率与经济增长率的价值平衡关系在经济运行中的表现

本文首先建立了经济增长和利息率之间价值平衡关系 ,即“Gy(经济增长率 ) =s(收入的跨时储蓄率 )·r(利息率 )” ,从理论上分析了这种价值平衡关系在实际经济运行中的表现方式 ;然后 ,论文用美国的经济增长率和联邦基金利率 ,中国的工业增加值和同业拆借利率的数据对这种关系进行了实证展示 ;最后 ,基于上面这些分析 ,作者主要在经济波动与货币政策操作等问题上提出了一些推论性结论。     

Inflation and Unemployment in General Equilibrium*

When labor is indivisible, there exist efficient outcomes with some agents randomly unemployed, as in Rogerson (1988) . We integrate this idea into the modern theory of monetary exchange, where some trade occurs in centralized markets and some in decentralized markets, as in Lagos and Wright (2005) . This delivers a general equilibrium model of unemployment and money, with explicit microeconomic foundations. We show that the implied relation between inflation and unemployment can be positive or negative, depending on simple preference conditions. Our Phillips curve provides a long‐run, exploitable, trade‐off for monetary policy; it turns out, however, that the optimal policy is the Friedman rule.     

International Trade,Budget Deficits,and the Interest Rate

In a keynote address to the Joint Council on Economic Education, the author pointed out that a tight money policy, budget deficits, and greater after-tax profitability of investment in the United States have contributed to the strength of the dollar and to the flow of funds into this country. The consequence and implication of this are examined, both with respect to the past and the near future.     

国际碳排放贸易与循环经济的协调

环境保护通过影响成本对国际碳贸易产生影响，这对于经济的可持续发展是有效的。我国循环经济的发展要求必须处理：好国际产业转移与国家能源结构调整的关系，并合理利用市场机制与政府作为的双效作用，为《京都议定书》第三轮承诺期谈判做好准备。     

A Behavioral Model of Unemployment,Sociotropic Concerns,and the Political Economy of Trade Policy

We present a behavioral model in which agents are concerned about the scarring effects from unemployment for themselves and others and explore the manner in which unemployment matters for trade policy. We derive three policy implications: the government has an incentive to increase employment in sectors characterized by “good jobs,” where the good job/bad job characterization depends on an industry's job creation and destruction rates; the government has an incentive to pursue this policy in a gradual fashion by channeling new and unemployed workers into the appropriate sector; and opposition to trade liberalization can be reduced by welfare state policies.     

Endogenous Growth and Equilibrium Unemployment in a North–South Model

A North–South model is developed which incorporates an endogenous rate of equilibrium unemployment in the North in the context of long-run growth. It is shown how increases in the size of public debt and unemployment compensation financed by payroll taxation, all measured relative to productivity, raise the Northern natural rate of unemployment and, consequently, reduce the global rate of long-run growth. The effect of the shocks is also to drive down the rate of employment expansion in the South. A set of the fundamental determinants of the world terms of trade is obtained, which includes policy parameters.     

Unemployment and the Rental Rate of Capital

This paper introduces a standard neoclassical production function in an equilibrium search model of the labour market, in order to analyse the effects that changes in the (exogenous) rental rate of capital have on the unemployment rate. When the number of firms is kept fixed, an increase in the rental rate affects unemployment only through its impact on selectivity, with the direction of the change depending on the size of the worker's unemployment benefits relative to the firm's search costs. Regardless of the behaviour of selectivity, when the number of firms is determined endogenously, an increase in the rental rate always increases unemployment through a process of job destruction.     

汇率决定、国际贸易与劳动力市场

中国经济发展带来许多理论上的挑战.随着人民币的升值,出口未受抑制反而大幅增长;劳动力价格的逐步上升也未引起不少人担心的产业转移.本文分析了1994年汇率决定机制改革以来进出口贸易与汇率变动之间的关系,讨论了劳动力成本上升对于出口企业的影响,以及在汇率不确定性增大的情况下,中国金融市场发展的机遇.认为人民币有升值压力是中国经济发展的最为良好的外部条件之一.