The Economics of Health and Health Policy: An Introduction

This article provides an introductory overview of the Policy Forum and a discussion of research needs in the economics of health and health policy.     

The State,Public Policy and Heterodox Economics: An Introduction

While most heterodox economists endorse some amount of policy activism, there is no unified conception of the state and public policy in heterodox economics. To help clarify the similarities and differences within heterodoxy – and between heterodox and mainstream economics – a panel addressing this subject was convened in 2007 at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Institutional Thought. This article introduces the essays prepared for that symposium. They include an examination of the position of Marx and Engels, a clarification of the institutionalist views of Veblen and Commons, an outline of the perspective of Post Keynesian Institutionalism, and an account of some essential contributions of Classical Pragmatism (a major school of thought within the philosophy of science). The collection advances what Robert Heilbroner called “the worldly philosophy” by seeking to understand the role of the state in a world where institutions, defined broadly as social habits, adjust to other institutions.

Australian Bond Excess Returns: An Asset Allocation Perspective

We examine the out‐of‐sample predictability of excess returns in the Australian government bond market. Our results confirm previous findings that a linear combination of forward rates provides a statistically significant prediction of bond excess returns on 1‐ to 5‐year maturity bonds. However, from an asset allocation perspective, our predictive model fails to obtain positive economic utility against the no‐predictability benchmark. Our results are robust to the sample period and different parameter assumptions.     

政策工具视角的物联网产业发展政策研究

物联网被称为第三次信息技术革命,政府的政策工具选择对物联网发展具有重要意义。我国政府高度重视物联网产业,先后出台多项政策措施促进物联网产业的发展。从政策工具角度,采用统计分析等方法具体分析我国物联网产业发展的政策特点,发现现有政策工具存在结构性问题：环境型政策工具应用过溢,需求型政策工具不足,政策工具内部结构性问题以及政策缺乏系统性和针对性。为此应进行政策工具的整体优化,注重政策的系统性、针对性和配套性。     

独立审计质量的经济学透视

本文从需求和供给两方面分析了独立审计市场中的审计质量均衡状况及其成因,研究发现:一方面,由我国公司治理不完善而引发的对独立审计的代理需求不足,以及特定融资制度下对低质量审计的融资需求强劲,使得我国独立审计的自愿性需求严重匮乏,从而审计师缺乏提高审计质量的内在经济动机;另一方面,现有法规对审计师的激励不足、约束不够,因此目前审计师提供的审计服务质量难于达到社会公众的期望-《独立审计准则》的要求.最后,笔者针对出现的问题提出相应的政策建议.     

On the Economics and Scope of Implicit Pension Debt: An International Perspective

This paper examines the concept and scope of unfunded public pension liabilities, or implicit pension debt (IPD), from an international perspective. First, the paper discusses the importance and public finance background of IPD. Second, it presents and compares different methods for estimating IPD. Third, it provides international estimates of IPD based on accrued-to-date or termination liability methods with consistent assumptions across all countries using the World Bank's ``Pension Reform Options Simulation Toolkit' (PROST) computer model. The policy conclusions stress the need for standardized international reporting of this indicator.     

An Economic and Policy Analysis of Australian Export Concession Schemes

This paper examines the relationship between the implementation of industry policy instruments known as export concession schemes and the growth in Australian value-added exports.     

论澳大利亚能源政策:比较与启示

能源资源国情的相似性、能源法律政策的共通性和全球能源政策的趋同化奠定了中澳两国能源政策相互借鉴的基石。澳大利亚能源法律体系所确立的五大法律制度为我国能源法律制度的完善提供了宝贵的经验。     

对外经济政策的国内政治影响因素——国际政治经济学的视角

作为西方主流经济学的国际经济学,忽视了国内政治因素尤其是政治制度在对外经济政策中的重要作用。国际政治经济学作为一门新兴学科,将政治因素纳入了经济学的分析框架,从政治与经济相互结合的视角探讨影响对外经济政策的因素。在实行代议民主制的国家,作为政治制度主要行为体的利益集团和左右翼政党的政策偏好,以及不同的民主模式,对贸易政策、汇率政策和资本流动政策的选择都具有十分重要的影响。     

Economics Teaching in Australian Universities: Rewards and Outcomes

This paper presents evidence from two surveys to help explain the poor ratings consistently given to the teaching of economics at Australian universities. The evidence suggests that the poor ratings of economics teaching can be attributed to two related factors: inappropriate pedagogical practices and lack of rewards for allocating additional time to teaching. The survey data on pedagogy in economics consist of 205 responses from graduates from two Queensland universities. The time elapsed since graduation ranges from 1 to 10 years. The survey data on academics' time allocation consist of 290 responses from academic economists across a wide range of Australian universities.     

Complexity Economics as Heterodoxy: Theory and Policy

Complexity economics has quickly become a powerful research program for real-world economics in recent years. This article provides an overview of complexity economics, and argues that it is incompatible with the “equilibrium” and “optimality” conceptions of the mainstream and its “market economy.” Instead, it develops older heterodox — including evolutionary-institutional — issues like self-organization, emergence, path?dependence, idiosyncrasies, lock-ins, or skewed power distributions. Also, the space for emergent institutions through the “intentionality” of agents, including their improving collective performance, reducing complexity, and others, is investigated. This article considers complex adaptive systems through “games on networks” in an “evolution-of-cooperation” perspective. Moreover, a surge in policy implications of economic complexity has emerged, even if still rather general. With some more specific implications derived, the article again reveals the close similarities with long-standing heterodoxies: namely, pragmatist policy conceptions in this respect.     

What Australian Economics Professors Think

In this article we present the results of a recent survey of economics professors in Australia. We found that there is a comfortable measure of consensus in many areas of economic science, including several contentious issues which currently worry policymakers and the general public alike. We show that there is good evidence to suggest that Australian academic economists share a world economic culture with their western European and (to an even greater extent) their American colleagues.
We also asked the professors to share their thoughts on university economics education. There was good consensus that the professors wanted a rigorous classical economics education for their students, but they were not willing to sacrifice breadth: the ideal student, it appears, is one technically competent in economics with a head for the social and political dimensions of the profession. Overwhelmingly, the professors voted the economics department of the Australian National University as the best place for such an education, with those of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, and Monash, close behind.
Finally, the professors gave their opinions on the understanding of economics by government agencies, business and community groups.     

The Economics and Politics of Trade Policy: An Empirical Analysis of ITC Decision Making

The paper studies the determinants of trade policy decisions, focusing specifically on antidumping and countervailing duty statutes administered by the International Trade Commission (ITC). Using detailed industry, import, and political pressure data, ITC decision making is modeled, weighing the relative impact of economic and political factors in predicting policy outcomes. It is found that the ITC's decision making is significantly influenced by both economic and political factors. However, because an industry has much greater ability to create political pressure than induce economic injury, the results highlight the strategic importance of oversight representation and PAC contributions in an industry's bid for protection.