Local public expenditure in Sweden a model where the median voter is not necessarily decisive

This paper deals with local public expenditures, and the analysis is based on cross-section data for the Swedish municipalities. Two models are estimated; one is the basic median voter model where the decisive voter is assumed to be the voter with median income, while the other is a more general statistical alternative. The statistical alternative nests the basic median voter model as a special case, which makes it easy to test the null hypothesis that the basic median voter model is the correct model, given that the alternative is the true general structure. Although our results indicate a rejection of the null hypothesis, the estimation results are, nevertheless, similar for the two models.     

Economies of scale and trade policy: The median voter model revisited

Why do some political economy models perform so poorly in predicting actual trade policy? Do scale economies provide the missing puzzle to our understanding of the anti-trade bias? By integrating economies of scale in production, this paper theoretically reinstates the median voter model as in Mayer [Mayer, W. (1984). Endogenous tariff formation. The American Economic Review, 74, 970–985] as a suitable political economy model in predicting trade policy. The modified model generates the scope for the anti-trade bias and predicts that sometimes economic, rather than political, considerations may lead to restrictive trade.     

Heterogeneous Dynasties and the Political Economy of Public Debt

We consider a small open overlapping generations economy with descending altruism. Heterogeneity is introduced by assuming that each parent procreates a fixed proportion of selfish children. Altruistic parents can recognize the type of each child. There is no Ricardian equivalence and an active public intergenerational transfer policy is attractive to altruistic dynasty members, although there may be no unanimity among them. We display reasonable conditions for indirect preferences to be single-peaked and we apply the median voter theorem. We then describe political equilibrium paths and discuss their compatibility with the steady path of an underlying closed economy with autonomous labor productivity growth.
JEL classification : D 31; D 64; D 72; D 91; H 63     

为什么不同时期不同国家提供的公共产品不同?——兼论中西公共财政的异同

本对不同时期不同国家公共产品（Public Goods)提供的不同状况的原因作了分析,认为公共产品提供的差异是公共选择的结果。并在个人理性与集体理性的一致性的前提下,从技术、传统化等角度对公共产品提供这一制度变迁过程进行了探讨。最后,本指出公共产品提供的差异性对我国建立公共财政框架的启示意义。     

Median‐voter Equilibria in the Neoclassical Growth Model under Aggregation*

We study a dynamic version of Meltzer and Richard's median‐voter model where agents differ in wealth. Taxes are proportional to income and are redistributed as equal lump‐sum transfers. Voting occurs every period and each consumer votes for the tax that maximizes his welfare. We characterize time‐consistent Markov‐perfect equilibria twofold. First, restricting utility classes, we show that the economy's aggregate state is mean and median wealth. Second, we derive the median‐voter's first‐order condition interpreting it as a tradeoff between distortions and net wealth transfers. Our method for solving the steady state relies on a polynomial expansion around the steady state.     

Inequality,public good provision and the composition of trade

This paper investigates the effect of trade liberalization on the provision of public goods and shows that inequality also plays a vital role here. Public goods help enhance the productivity of firms, lower prices and raise profitability. The provision of public goods has different effects in closed and open economies. In an open economy, the impact of productive spending on increasing profit is stronger. Consequently, the opening up of the economy shifts the benefits of productive public goods from consumers to firms. As the median voters’, share of the firm’s profit rises, public goods become more appealing and flourish. Consequently, the manufacturing export is boosted by a rise in productivity.     

改善农村人居环境的公共财政引导问题

农村人居环境的构成要素主要属于社区性、集体性的准公共物品,在当前总体的农村公共品供给不足情况下,这类公共品如何提供,其政策思路和解决方案最不清楚,成为盲点.本文在分析考察了其现状、进展与困难之后,提出了今后公共财政支持、引导农村人居环境改善的基本思路与六个方面的对策建议.     

中国农村公共品供给与农村财政制度创新

近年来我国以农业发展缓慢、农民负担沉重、农村社会问题突出为主要表象的“三农”问题,虽然原因是多方面的,但是农村公共品供给不力是其中最重要的方面。这就要求我们从公共财政学的角度科学地安排农村公共品的供给,进行农村财政制度创新。     

Estimates of optimal public capital stocks in Japan using a public investment discount rate framework

The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the optimality of the level of public capital in Japan. We use a methodological approach based on Burgess's (1988) procedure for calculating the public discount rate. This approach involves estimating a production function, but does not necessarily require utility function estimation. The results indicate that, although the Japanese economy experienced a public capital deficiency over the period 1960–1982, public capital moved toward optimal levels throughout the period. First version received: March 1997/final version received: June 1998     

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.     

The Italian approach to the theory of public goods *

Abstract

The subject of needs is the centre of attention of Italian public finance scholars. The financial activity of the State is justified by the existence of collective or public needs to whose satisfaction collective or public goods and services are linked. Italian economists have studied the problems of public goods in a general context, taking into consideration concurrently both taxes and public expenditure and giving prominence to positive analysis. Italian theorists have always been far removed from the classical approach, which denies the productivity of public services, and have deemed it necessary to take into account the political context in which fiscal structures operate. Their models include the State as a major factor. Herein lies the main value of the Italian tradition in public finance, which puts in coercion into the market mechanism via State intervention.     

A comparison between qualitative and quantitative histories: the example of the efficient market hypothesis

ABSTRACT

This paper uses the example of the history of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) and citation analysis in order to investigate some differences between qualitative history and a quantitative history. The history of the EMH provides a telling example of the way quantitative analyses can supply different perspectives on the qualitative history of this hypothesis or complement it. For instance, since the EMH was proposed, several criticisms emerged. In addition, the definition and the scope of this hypothesis have been modified several times. Although the qualitative history of the EMH refers to these criticisms and these alternative definitions and scopes, qualitative tools cannot provide a clear measure of the impact of these criticisms and these modifications among economists. By studying the dissemination of the EMH, its major criticisms, and the answers economists provided, citation analysis sheds a different light on the history of the EMH.     

为什么要加强对"国有资本财政"的研究

从近几年来的研究动态看,无论是财政理论界还是政府财政职能部门,关注的热点大多集中在如何建立“公共财政”上,把单一的“公共财政”作为与我国社会主义市场经济相适应的唯一目标模式。我国是以公有制为主体的国家,存在着面广量大的国有资产,这就决定了国有资产总量中除了非市场赢利性的部分外,还包含了巨额的经营性国有资产,因而我国在市场赢利性的国有经济基础上就必然相应产生“国有资本财政”。因此,由公共财政与国有资本财政所构成的国家财政必然要实行“双重(元)结构财政”模式,这是适应我国经济体制转轨特征和需要的财政运行模式。作为其重要组成部分的国有资本财政是社会主义市场经济的必然选择。加强对国有资本财政问题的研究有利于“双重(元)结构财政”模式的理论建构;有利于巩固我国公有制的主体地位;有利于矫正国有资本财政“越位”与公共财政“缺位”并存的格局;有利于澄清国有资本在市场竞争领域进与退的理论误区。     

On the Empirics of Market Integration in ECOWAS

Abstract

This paper uses the gravity model to investigate the market implications of unilateral and preferential economic reforms in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The results show that the traditional explanatory variables of the gravity model are the significant determinants of trade flows in the ECOWAS region, and that belonging to this grouping fosters trade. Hence policy advice should focus on strengthening these factors, which are likely to enhance the possibility of greater intra‐regional trade. This can contribute to drawing foreign direct investment to the region, enhancing policy credibility, and bringing greater economic and political stability.     

农村义务教育到底由谁来"埋单"

目前的农村义务教育问题,一是国家的教育经费投入严重不足;二是这不足的经费配置又严重不公平,“重城轻乡”,使农村普遍存在“上学难”;三是应试教育的偏差和教育费用的暴涨挫伤了农民子弟上学的积极性,农村又出现新的“读书无用论”。缓解农村义务教育的困难,从资金保障的角度来看,必须尽快由目前以县乡为主的资金供给机制改变为以中央或省为主的资金供给机制,对于这一改变本文从理论与实践两方面作了较深入的分析,并对农村义务教育属于地方公共品的传统观点以及对“分税制改革”中央集中财力的非难提出了质疑。     

政府生命周期模型--对公共政策理论基础的重新阐释

文章以财政的视角,在一个契约的框架内通过对穷人、富人以及代理人集团博弈的财政过程的描述建立了政府生命周期模型.在此基础上对公共政策的理论基础进行了重新阐释,得出了公共政策的实质是权利分配、政府通常偏好短期政策操作、公共政策多是"穷则思变"的结果、权威在公共政策施行中起着独特作用的结论.本模型在还政府行为本来面目的同时,可以扩展到对企业家生命周期和对经济史上制度变迁的研究中.     

The determinants of efficiency: the case of the Spanish industry

The aim of this paper is to analyse the factors explaining the technical efficiency of Spanish industrial sectors during the period 1991–1994 using the Survey of Business Strategies (SBE) of the Ministry of Industry and Energy. It analyses whether efficiency can be explained by factors external to the firm such as the degree of competition in the markets in which it operates, characteristics of the firm (size, organization, advantages of location, participation of public capital, etc.), as well as the effects of dynamic disturbances that may affect the degree of utilization of the productive capacity.     

城市公园供给方式的模型分析

本文建立了一个可以描述各类公共品的理论模型,提出了公共品供给的目标——社会福利和社会公平最大化之间的权衡,并在模型框架下以具体数值例子演示了具有受益排他性和消费竞争性的混和公共品如何达到最优供给,从理论上为城市公园供给方式的研究提供了一个新的视角。     

Testing for the Presence of a Tremble in Economic Experiments

The classical trinity of tests is used to check for the presence of a tremble in economic experiments in which the response variable is binary. A tremble is said to occur when an agent makes a decision completely at random, without regard to the values taken by the explanatory variables. The properties of the tests are discussed, and an extension of the methodology is used to test for the presence of a tremble in binary panel data from a well-known economic experiment.     

The participation decision versus the level of participation in an environmental treaty: a spatial probit analysis

This paper represents treaty participation as a two-stage game, for which nations first decide whether or not to participate and then they choose their level of participation. The resulting subgame perfect equilibrium is used to derive a reduced-form equation for estimating and separating the influences of the variables at the two decision stages. This spatial probit equation forms the basis for a full-information maximum likelihood estimator that accounts for the simultaneity bias associated with public good spillins at both stages. When the procedure is applied to the Helsinki Protocol, we find that the strategic influence of a variable may drastically differ depending upon which stage is scrutinized.