THE ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY: SOME LESSONS FROM THE U.S. AND ABROAD

The accelerating United States trade deficit has again focused widespread political attention on industrial policy issues. However, given the breadth and complexity of the industrial policy issues, we can be confident that strengthening the U.S. international trade position will not be sufficient to quell concern over this area of economic policy.     

AGRICULTURAL POLICY AT THE CROSSROADS—AGAIN

American agriculture is suffering from severe structural adjustments and from its worst financial depression since landmark price and income policies were legislated more than half a century ago. As much as one-third of the $220 billion in agricultural debt is now delinquent, nonaccrual, or subject to renegotiation. Land values have fallen precipitously in the past few years. Farm foreclosures are near 1930 Depression levels. The congressional debate over programs that could determine the course of U.S. agriculture for the remainder of the century began in the summer of 1985.     

Exchange Rate Regimes and Foreign Direct Investment Flows to Developing Countries

Drawing on recent advances in exchange rate regime classifications, the paper examines empirically the effect of exchange rate regimes on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to developing countries. Using system generalized methods of moments estimation on a panel of 70 developing countries for the period 1985–2004, we find that developing countries adopting de facto fixed or intermediate regimes significantly outperform those opting for a flexible exchange rate system in attracting FDI flows. No statistically significant differences in the FDI‐inducing properties of fixes, intermediates and floats are found using the International Monetary Fund official classification.     

Factors influencing organizational participation in the Clinical Nurse Leader project

When the American Association of Colleges of Nursing introduced the Clinical Nurse Leader"s (CNL) pilot project in 2004, it was the first time in more than 40 years that an attempt was made to introduce a new role to the profession. This new role was designed to address many challenges related to patient care in the current health care delivery system including a need for more effective clinical problem solving, better coordination at the point of care, stronger interdisciplinary relationships, and more rapid implementation of evidenced-based practice findings at the patient-provider interface. Critics from both academic and practice settings have questioned the need and wisdom of introducing a new role to the profession at this time. The factors that led some nursing leaders in early stages of this project to be proactive and involve their organizations as early adopters of the CNL role were examined in this study. Five major factors were identified from the research to form a framework designed to explain organizational participation: organizational needs, a desire to improve patient care, an opportunity to redesign care delivery, the promotion of the professional development of nursing staff, and the potential to enhance physician-nurse relationships. The ability of academic and service partners to forge the types of relationships and promote best practices as is occurring in the CNL project may be a critical success factor in confronting the current and impending nursing shortage.     

Impact of off-farm income on food security and nutrition in Nigeria

While the poverty implications of off-farm income have been analyzed in different developing countries, much less is known about the impact of off-farm income on household food security and nutrition. Here, this research gap is addressed by using farm survey data from Nigeria. Econometric analyses are employed to examine the mechanisms through which off-farm income affects household calorie and micronutrient supply, dietary quality, and child anthropometry. We find that off-farm income has a positive net effect on food security and nutrition. The prevalence of child stunting, underweight, and wasting is lower in households with off-farm income than in households without. Using a structural model, we also show that off-farm income contributes to higher food production and farm income by easing capital constraints, thus improving household welfare in multiple ways.     

Vertical syndication-proof competitive prices in multilateral assignment markets

We consider a market comprising a number of perfectly complementary and homogeneous commodities. We concentrate on the incentives for firms producing these commodities to merge and form a vertical syndicate. The main result establishes that the nucleolus of the associated market game corresponds to the unique vector of prices with the following properties: (i) they are vertical syndication-proof, (ii) they are competitive, (iii) they yield the average of the buyers- and the sellers-optimal allocations in bilateral markets, and (iv) they depend on the traders’ bargaining power but not on their identity. The proof uses an isomorphism between our class of market games and the entire class of bankruptcy games.     

Controlling utilization through a selective participation PPO

A selective participation PPO, which blends the fee-for-service payment system with the HMO concept, may offer an effective approach to controlling dental care costs.     

东盟自由贸易区的发展和政策转向探析

成立东盟的初衷,旨在缓和东盟内部的紧张关系,减少外部因素对该地区的影响,促进其经济的健康发展和政权的 巩固。金融危机之后,东盟国家一改政府直接干预经济的政策,致力干多方引吸外资,以巩固其国际地位。     

Trading cost expectations: Evidence from S&P 500 index replacement stock announcements

This paper tests the effect on stock value of an expected change in future trading costs. The capitalized value of a reduction in trading costs is hypothesized to increase the stock value, a trading cost effect. Improved liquidity reduces trading costs. Inclusion as an S&P 500 Index replacement stock is an event hypothesized to increase liquidity. We use 114 observations between January 1, 1983 and October 12, 1989 of stocks added to the Index as replacements for stocks removed. The abnormal return of each stock is regressed against the ratio of the bidask spread to the price of the stock, the change in trading volume of the stock, and the open interest in the Index futures contracts at the close of the month prior to the replacement announcement. We find that the positive abnormal returns for replacement stocks are related to increased daily trading volume after inclusion in the Index. Further, the trading cost effect is proportional to percentage bid-ask spreads prior to inclusion. The trading cost effect increases as trading in derivatives of the Index increases. The volume and stock price changes after replacement are not transitory, indicating an improvement in liquidity. Three alternate hypotheses suggested in prior research to explain the abnormal returns for replacement stocks are tested. Testing each of the three models previously considered: price pressure, inelastic demand curves, and information, we find that none can be accepted with statistical confidence. The abnormal returns of Index replacement stocks are consistent with rational pricing of an anticipated reduction in future transaction costs. This anticipated reduction is capitalized in the value of the stock at the time of the replacement announcement. These results are consistent with a trading cost effect.