SONG CHINA'S WATER TRANSPORT REVISITED: A STUDY OF THE 1077 COMMERCIAL TAX DATA

This paper provides an overall assessment of water transport in Song China based on the 1077 commercial tax data. The analysis demonstrates that the extension of waterway networks, especially the major waterways that linked the north and the south, greatly reduced transportation costs. Development of 11th century water transportation was due to two reasons: the emergence of a national market during the Tang–Song transition and the massive construction of canals by the government.     

Ideas, Civil Servants and Keynes

Sir John Hoskyns has joined Anthony Wedgwood Benn in condemning Civil Service obstruction to the implementation of government policy. William Kingston examines the changes in the Civil Service that have made bureaucratic stubbornness all too predictable.     

Tests of Two Models for Valuing Call Options on Stocks with Dividends

Roll has recently formulated an option pricing model which allows dividend payments on the underlying stock. This paper compares the performance of the exact Roll model with a modified, but inexact, Black-Scholes model. The results indicate that the Roll model prices are significantly closer to actual market prices.     

The Effects of Employer Matching in 401(k) Plans

This paper uses data from the April 1993 pension supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS) to investigate the impact of employer matching and employee tenure on participation levels in 401(k) plans. While earlier studies examine similar issues, this study makes several advances. First, consistent with the theory that employers may use matching contributions to satisfy nondiscrimination rules, the study shows that correcting for the endogeneity of employer matching substantially increases the estimated effect of matching on participation levels. Second, the study provides evidence that the large positive association between employee tenure and 401(k) participation is because "stayers" tend to be "savers."     

POLITICS AND THE NEW RESOURCE ECONOMICS

Two competing theories generally used, at least implicitly, to justify and analyze public resource management are scientific management and pluralism. We briefly review these theories and compare them to the new resource economics, an emerging body of theory which revises resource economics by introducing concepts from Austrian economics, property rights theory, and public choice. We argue that the new resource economics is superior to these traditional theories and then present specific policy proposals for the national forests, wilderness areas, and the public grazing lands. We also criticize new resource economists for not clearly distinguishing ideology from science, for emphasizing efficiency as a criterion for policy analysis, and for lacking political strategies for implementing their proposals     

DETERMINATION OF ECONOMIC VALUE ADDED FOR A PROPOSED INVESTMENT IN NEW MANUFACTURING

This paper discusses a measure for estimating the wealth creation potential of capital investments in manufacturing. The measure, called “Economic Value Added,” has recently become popular in the United States and can be derived from an after-tax analysis of cash flows generated by a capital investment. A proposed investment in manufacturing capacity is analyzed to illustrate the after-tax cash flow calculations required to determine its EVA potential.     

Stuart London's standard of living: re‐examining the Settlement of Tithes of 1638 for rents,income, and poverty

The Settlement of Tithes of 1638 can be tested for biases in its London rents. Even so, it proves to be a relatively good source for seventeenth‐century London, and for calculating associated median and mean rents, as well as a Gini coefficient of inequality for the distribution of resources. Through other evidence in the Settlement, rent/income ratios for London can be approximated, and from them estimates made of London's median income. Median rents and income also allow estimates of the percentage of Londoners in poverty. Though the last is inevitably disputable, the estimate holds up well to testing by other evidence.