The impact of embodied and disembodied technical progress on productivity gaps—An applied general equilibrium analysis for Germany and Spain

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of disembodied and of capital embodied technical progress on the closing of international productivity gaps. Within the framework of a partial equilibrium model the direct effect of technical progress on the change of productivity gaps can be calculated directly. However, since the two types of technical progress affect unit costs of industries differently, and hence the system of relative prices, an applied general equilibrium model is required in order to measure the indirect effect of technical progress on the change in productivity gaps. We employ variable cost functions with quasi-fixed effective capital, depending on the rate of embodied technical change, in order to generate a system of prices. Based on similarly structured applied general equilibrium models for Spain and Germany, we quantify the effects of sectoral embodied or disembodied technical change on reduction in national inflation as well as the effect on closing productivity gaps.     

Strategy and Value in Commodity Organizations: Oklahoma Wheat in the 21st Century

The Oklahoma Wheat Commission is the generic promotion organization for Oklahoma wheat. As agricultural marketing systems change, the value provided may need to adjust. This case illustrates the strategic challenges faced by producer organizations and many agricultural industries. Overall an opportunity to use strategic management tools is provided with a focus on balancing efforts to accomplish program activities with efforts to increase funding levels.     

Kausale und funktionale Zusammenhänge im Wirtschaftsmechanismus

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Asymmetric predictability of conditional variances

We show that there is an asymmetry in the predictability ofthe volatilities of large versus small firms. Using both univariateand multivariate ARMA - GARCH-M parameterziations, we find thatvolatility surprises to large market value firms are importantto the future dynamics of their own returns as well as the returnsof small firms. Conversely, however, shocks to smaller firmshave no impact on the behavior of either the mean or the varianceof the returns of larger capitalization companies.     

Self-organized criticality in evolutionary systems with local interaction

This paper studies a stylized model of local interaction where agents choose from an ever increasing set of vertically ranked actions, e.g. technologies. The driving forces of the model are infrequent upward shifts (‘updates’), followed by a rapid process of local imitation (‘diffusion’). Our main focus is on the regularities displayed by the long-run distribution of diffusion waves and their implication on the performance of the system. By integrating analytical techniques and numerical simulations, we come to the following two main conclusions. (1) If non-coordination costs are sufficiently high, the system behaves critically, in the sense customarily used in physics. (2) The performance of the system is optimal at the frontier of the critical region. Heuristically, this may be interpreted as an indication that (performance-sensitive) evolutionary forces induce the system to be placed ‘at the edge of order and chaos’.     

Resource taxation with heterogeneous quality and endogenous reserves

This paper analyzes the impact of mining taxation on the intertemporal extraction profile for a heterogeneous ore body. The extraction profile specifies both quantities and qualities extracted in each period. Total extraction is thus endogenously determined. The taxes explicitly considered are severance taxes (ad valorem or per unit; on metal or on ore), property taxes, and profits taxes (with depletion allowance). The intertemporal framework integrates economic and geological factors, generating new results on extraction distortions and providing qualification or reconciliation of previous diverse results in this area.