Wachstum und umwelt: Ein modell optimaler kontrolle

Summary Growth and Environment: A Model of Optimal Control. — Agrowth-cum-environment model is analyzed assuming reproducible factors of production subject only to economic constraints, fund factors like exhaustible or energy resources subject to environmental and economic constraints, and environmental services subject to the constraint of the assimilative capacity of the environment. The formal set-up of the model is severely aggregated, but particular attention is given to the admissable economic specification of the model framework. It is assumed that by investing capital (that may embody technical progress) into the environment, it may be possible to overcome any limits to growth. Restrictions to the growth path are imposed by the specification of the production function, the waste function, and a function describing the interdependency of the environment and the economic process. The model is set up as a control problem. An analytical solution is provided, and an elementary example is given to illustrate how the solution might be applied.

---

Résumé La croissance et l’environnement. -Un modèle de contróle optimal. — L’auteur analyse un modèle de croissance y compris l’environnement qui est aussi flexible que possible à l’égard des limites de la croissance. Les conditions de production sont classifiées en trois groupes: des facteurs de production reproductibles qui ne sont soumis qu’aux contraintes économiques, des facteurs épuisables comme des ressources naturelles qui sont de plus soumis aux contraintes de l’environnement, des services de l’environnement qui sont soumis à la contrainte de la capacité assimilative de l’environnement. Tandis que les deux premières conditions apparaissent expressément comme des facteurs de production, la troisième condition n’est introduite dans le modèle que par la consommation. Quoique l’exposé du modèle soit limité sur la structure principale, les implications économiques sont accentuées. Il est supposé que le potentiel de ressources peut être régénéré et aggrandi par des investissements dans l’environnement y compris le progrès technique. Les paramètres décisifs pour la voie de croissance sont préfixés par la spécification de la fonction de production, de la fonction de déchets et d’une fonction qui décrit l’interdépendance entre l’environnement et le processus économique. Le modèle suit les lignes dessinées par les problèmes du contróle optimal. Une solution analytique est donnée ainsi qu’un exemple élémentaire pour illustrer comment la solution peut être appliquée.

---

Resumen Crecimiento y medio ambiente: un modelo de control óptimo. — Se analiza un modelo de crecimiento que envuelve al medio ambiente, pero que en lo posible se comporta en forma flexible ante cualquier barrera para el crecimiento. Además se dividen las condiciones de producción en tres grupos: factores de producción reproducibles, para los cuales solamente tienen validez restricciones de tipo económico, factores de fondo, como los recursos agotables, sujetos a restricciones económicas y de tipo medio-ambiental y, los llamados servicios medio-ambientales, para los cuales el límite lo constituye la capacidad de asimilación del medio ambiente. Las primeras dos condiciones aparecen explícitamente como factores de producción y la tercera condición se introduce al modelo a traves del consumo. La representación del modelo queda limitada a la estructura de fondo, mas las implicaciones económicas son acentuadas. Se asume, que a traves de inversiones de capital (las que deben incluir el adelanto técnico), se puede regenerar el potencial de recursos y aún aumentarlo. Restricciones a la trayectoria de crecimiento del modelo se imponen mediante la especificación de la función de producción, la función de desechos y una función que describe la interdependencia entre medio ambiente y proceso económico. El modelo está constituido sobre la base de un problema de control. Se provee una solución analítica y se muestra un ejemplo elemental para ilustrar la forma de aplicación.

     

Prolonged gestation: Energy efficiency and renewable energy businesses

Life cycle theories suggest that businesses evolve through a number of stages: from an embryonic stage of introduction to growth, maturity, and decline. The force that propels their development is consumer acceptance. Industries pass through life cycles as well. However, not all industries pass through each stage of the life cycle, and the duration of stages varies across industries. Some industries skip the slow introductory phase; others avoid the decline stage and are continually revitalised through technological innovation. Still others continue to show substantial promise, but fail to take-off. It is this industry condition, persistent promise without corresponding growth, that we characterise as extended gestation. We believe that energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE) businesses in Minnesota face the challenge of extended gestation. In this paper, we review the literature on the traditional stages of industry development, explore some of the factors that may lead an industry to remain in a state of extended gestation, and report the results of a study undertaken to better understand the factors that affect the growth of EERE businesses.     

Stil und Ordnung des europäischen Wirtschaftsraumes

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Messung und Klassifikation destechnischen Fortschritts Eine Antwort an A. Heertje

Ohne ZusammenfassungA. Heertje: Zur Ottschen Klassifikation des technischen Fortschritts. In dieser Zeitschrift, S. 227 f.     

The Austrian Phillips Curve reconsidered

Zusammenfassung Den Ausgangspunkt für diese Arbeit bildet die manchmal behauptete Stabilität der österreichischen Phillipskurve. In dieser Arbeit wird nun zu zeigen versucht, daß diese Stabilität auf den Umstand zurückzuführen ist, daß bei den bisherigen Untersuchungen stets implizit angenommen wurde, die gleichgewichtige (natürliche) Arbeitslosenrate habe sich im Zeitablauf nicht verändert.Wird diese Annahme fallengelassen und ein trendmäßiges Sinken der gleichgewichtigen Arbeislosenrate zugelassen, so weist dann eine auf dieser Grundlage geschätzte Phillipskurve einen signifikanten Strukturbruch zwischen sechziger und siebziger Jahren auf; die Phillipskurve hat sich nun nach oben verschoben.Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, ob die beobachteten Inflationszyklen mit der entsprechenden Standardtheorie vonGrossman (1974) nachvollziehbar sind. Dies kann mit Einschränkungen bejaht werden.

---

---

I am grateful to H. Otruba, H. Duda, H. Klausinger, M. Winkler, R. Neck and A. Wörgötter for many valuable comments. I remain responsible for any error.     

The dialectics of competency acquisition: pollution prevention in electric generation

Strategy researchers now recognize that distinctive competencies are critically important for sustained competitive advantage. The processes by which such competencies are acquired, however, has only started to be examined. Connections between macro-industrial system level properties and micro-developments in proprietary technology at the firm level need to be made. This paper argues that system-wide properties, such as long-standing elementary and opposing logics in societal forces like governments and markets, and micro-developments, such as the firm's capacity to search for talent, technology, and ideas and to harmonize what it learns internally, can contribute in significant ways to the creation and acquisition of new competencies. Based on the case of pollution prevention in electric generation, it shows how the system-wide properties channel and direct the paths that the acquisition of new competencies take and how they interact with micro-developments at the firm level. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shifting the goal posts for design management in capital goods projects: 'design for maintainability'

Two case studies of capital goods projects, both of which were faced with new forms of demand for their products, are reported in this paper. In both cases, the contracting organisations involved were adjusting to new customer requirements for the long-term provision of the services associated with the capital goods they normally produced, rather than for the capital goods themselves. While both contracting organisations recognised the need to re-focus their equipment design efforts, to reflect the need for long-term service reliability (both contracting organisations were tied to penalties associated with agreed service levels), they nevertheless responded differently to this challenge, and their differing responses reflected the differing natures of the extended networks which comprised both projects and the organisational architectures in which the projects were themselves embedded. The paper explores the differing opportunities and barriers to the management of design in complex projects presented by these two case studies. In so doing it points to the conclusion that successful design management in complex projects can depend upon the successful management of the (multiple) contexts in which design takes place.     

Thinking about predation — A personal diary

Special Consultant, National Economic Research Associates. Inc.     

Über die Berechnung der Leibrente bei Veränderung des Zinsfusses.

Abstract

Herr K. A. POUKKA hat in einer unter dem gleichem Titel erschienenen Arbeit¹ fü die zum Zinsfuss i+h zu berechnende Leibrente eine Näherungsformel. abgeleitet, welche sehr zufriedenstellende Resultate gibt. Die Formel wird aus der Reihenentwicklung gewonnen, für welche Herr POUKKA eine Ableitung mitteilt.