Hard times in 19th-century Sweden: A comment

An alternative interpretation, the growth/workload hypothesis, is given to counter the recent argument by Sandberg and Steckel (1988, Explorations in Economic History 25, 1–19) on overpopulation and malnutrition in Sweden around the mid-19th century. This explains the joint behavior of agrarian growth and labor demand, poverty, side employment, and nutrition within a regional framework. The mid-19th century is seen as a transitional period which succeeded remarkably well in avoiding pauperization despite strong population growth.     

Trade effects of silver price fluctuations in 19th-century China: A macro approach

We assess the role of silver price fluctuations in Chinese trade and GDP during the late Qing dynasty, when China still had a bimetallic (silver/copper) monetary system, in which silver was mostly used for international trade. Using a structural VAR (SVAR) with blockwise recursive identification, we identify the impact of silver price shocks on the Chinese economy from 1867, when trade data became available, to 1910, one year before the Qing dynasty collapsed. We find that silver price shocks had a sizable impact on both imports and exports but only a very minor effect on the trade balance, only a marginal impact on growth, and almost no effect on domestic prices. Stronger effects were partly mitigated by inelastic export quantities. Generally, the effect of silver price shocks, while considerable, was only short-lived, displaying no persistence in either direction. We find that the bimetallic system in Qing China might have mitigated a potential positive effect of silver depreciation but did not reverse the effect, which – contrary to claims made in the previous literature – was responsible for neither the worsening trade balance nor the inflation and the quickly increasing imports that occurred during our sample period.     

Where are the missing girls? Gender discrimination in 19th-century Spain

This article shows that average (male-to-female) infant and child sex ratios were abnormally high in late 18th- and 19th-century Spain, thus pointing to some sort of unexplained excess female mortality early in life. This pattern, which is also shared by other countries in Southern Europe, disappeared at the turn of the 20th century. Rather than female infanticide or other type of extreme violence against girls, these results might be explained by gender discrimination in terms of an unequal allocation of food, care and/or workload within the household. In high-mortality environments, this type of discrimination easily resulted in higher female mortality rates.     

公共经济学视角下的会展经济现象分析

当前,会展经济现象引起了越来越多的人关注,但人们对它还存在一些模糊认识。会展经济不等同于会展业,它是一种经济现象和经济行为。从公共经济学视角看,与会展经济相关的设施和服务属混合产品。应科学界定会展经济参与主体特别是政府的职能范围,引导会展经济健康有序发展。     

农村公共品供给现状及经济学分析

现阶段农村公共品供给的现状是总量供给不足,供给结构失调。其原因是农村基层政权的“事权”不断扩大,所承担的事务越来越多,而它的“财权”却很有限,受到农村经济本身的制约,导致总量供给不足;乡镇政府官员为了追求政绩,导致供给结构失调。“事权”与“财权”的严重失衡,在“自上而下”的官僚体制和农村民主政治尚不完善的条件下,必然导致农村基层政权将负担以各种形式转移到农民头上,而农民数量众多难以产生一致的集体行动抵抗这种行为,农民负担不断加重难以避免。     

The incentive limits of firms: A comparative institutional assessment of bureaucracy

Zusammenfassung Die Anreiz-Grenzen für Unternehmen: Eine vergleichende institutionelle Bewertung der Bürokratie. - Das Grundargument dieses Aufsatzes lautet: Selektive Interventionen, durch die eine Kombination von zun?chst unabh?ngigen Unternehmen nur Anpassungsgewinne, aber keine Verluste realisiert, sind nicht durchführbar. Vielmehr werden dann, wenn eine Transaktion aus dem Bereich des Marktes in den Bereich des Unternehmens überführt wird, unweigerlich Leistungsanreize vermindert. Dies ist dann besonders schwerwiegend, wenn es auf Innovationen und deren Ertr?ge ankommt. Diese Anreize erscheinen bei allen Transaktionen, die unter Unsicherheit durchgeführt werden und für die Preise und Kosten von Zeit zu Zeit angepaΒt werden müssen.

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Résumé Les limites aux incitations des entreprises: une analyse comparative institutionnelle de la bureaucratie. — L’argument essentiel de cet article est le suivant: une intervention sélective par laquelle l’intégration réalise des gains adaptifs mais pas de pertes, n’est pas viable. Au contraire, le transfert d’une transaction hors du marché dans l’entreprise est inévitablement associé avec une perte d’incitations. Elles sont particulièrement sérieuses si l’innovation et leur rendement sont importantes. Mais ils apparaissent dans toutes les transactions qui sont faites sous des conditions de l’incertitude et pour lesquelles il faut périodiquement actualiser les prix et les co?ts.

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Resumen Los límites de los incentivos empresariales: un análisis institucional comparado de la burocracia. — El argumenta básico de esta ponencia es que no es posible una intervenci?n selectiva en la cual la integración génère beneficios adaptivos sin sufrir pérdidas. El transferir una transaction del mercado a la empresa, en cambio, significa destruir incentivos. Esto es particularmente severo en circumstancias donde la innovación (y el beneficio de la misma) es importante, pero también para transacciones llevadas a cabo bajo condiciones de inseguridad que exigen una actualizaci?n periódica de precios y costos.

     

Hitting the Great Wall: Structural change and China's growth slowdown

China is facing slowing growth rates, slowing rates of rural to urban migration and resistance to reforms that would liberalize internal migration restrictions (Hukou). We use a two sector Ramsey growth model and show that, allowing for endogenous capital accumulation, labour reallocation has accounted for approximately one fifth of China's per capita GDP growth over the last 30 years, and that Hukou reform could generate a significant boost to China's per capita GDP growth over the next decade. Our results contrast with conclusions drawn from the traditional growth accounting literature on labour reallocation effects in China because our simulation method allows for endogenous capital accumulation dynamics.     

Underdevelopment and the economics of corruption: A game theory approach

Previous attempts to treat corruption are surveyed critically. A game theory approach is preferred on the grounds that it can most effectively explain the basis for decisions of reasonable men to be corrupt. A simple model is presented showing how bribery might be a dominant strategy. A prisoner's dilemma type of situation emerges with the added complication that the judge and jailer may be corrupt. Other conclusions are that one official will not accept bribes from more than one firm. It is impossible to predict which firm will win the contract. No obvious solution emerges and legal remedies are discounted. This paper then reviews the principal general equilibrium effects and concludes that their likely effect on economic development is negative.     

Residential renovation in the low income public housing sector: A case study in Merebank

Housing, an important research theme in development studies in recent years, is currently a central focus of concern in South Africa. Largely as a result of the inadequate supply of suitable housing the present trend among Indian households in the public sector in the Durban region is to renovate existing dwellings to suit their residential preferences and aspirations. This paper examines the nature of residential renovation in the public housing sector in order to identify and explain the processes that produce its occurrence, and to determine those factors which can be considered in policy formulation. The study was conducted in Merebank, a low income public housing scheme inhabited by Indians, and situated 15 km south of Durban. Changes in family size and composition, and a shortage of suitable housing, influenced the decision to renovate. The main concern was the addition of more space, especially bedrooms. Most of the renovations were undertaken on a self‐help basis, and financed from personal savings. Some of the problems experienced by renovators included: features of the original dwelling; building regulations; lack of loans; high interest rates; and shortage of materials. Access to finance, encouragement of self‐help improvement efforts, and flexibility in the design of low cost dwellings will help facilitate the residential renovation process.     

TFP growth slowdown and the Japanese labor market in the 1990s

Unemployment in Japan nearly tripled during the 1990s. Underlying this upsurge lie an increase in the probability of workers to lose their jobs and a decrease in the probability that the unemployed find jobs. This paper analyzes the sources responsible for these labor market changes in Japan in the decade of the 1990s. We build, calibrate, and simulate a neo-classical growth model with search frictions in the labor market. Using actual TFP data, the model is able to reproduce the path of unemployment and the job flows, as well as that of output. We find it to be the decrease in productivity, coupled with the reduction in hours worked, which curtails the profits of firms, inducing a drop in employment and an increase in unemployment.