Scientific and technical planning in the People's Republic of China

At a time when Western market economies are struggling with ways of directing and stimulating technological innovation, China, with a highly centralized system for the planning and coordination of science and technology, offers an unusual perspective on the feasibility and operations of a large-scale, national organization of scientific and technical resources. This paper describes the mechanics of the science and technology planning process in the Chinese system and then draws conclusions on a variety of pertinent issues, such as: whether or not planning is actually conducted at a macrolevel; what are the useful sources of information for scientific and technical decision making within the system; what are the motivations for doing research in China's planned economy and how do they affect the research that is done; and, in summation, does the Chinese attempt at macroscience and technology planning really work?     

Environmental Taxation and Induced Structural Change in an Open Economy: The Role of Market Structure

Abstract. Studies of structural change induced by environmental taxation usually proceed in a perfect-competition framework and typically find structural change to be quite moderate under realistic emission reduction scenarios. By observing that some of the industries affected are likely to operate under imperfect rather than perfect competition, additional mechanisms emerge which may amplify structural change beyond the extent identified as yet. Especially, changes in economies of scale may arise which weaken or strengthen the competitive position of industries over and above the initial cost effect. Using a computable general equilibrium model for Germany to examine the effects of a unilaterally introduced carbon tax, we find that induced structural change is more pronounced under imperfect competition than under perfect competition. At the macroeconomic level, we find that aggregate losses in economies of scale are larger than aggregate gains, implying that the total costs of environmental regulation are higher under imperfect competition than under perfect competition.     

Heinz-Werner Stuiber 65 Jahre

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

On externalities related to the use of exhaustible resources

We are grateful to our colleague Friedel Bolle and two anonymous referees for useful comments on earlier versions of the paper. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Trend changes on raw materials markets

1987 saw a change in trends on many international raw materials markets. Prices, which had been under pressure for several years, began to rise again. This trend cannot be expected to continue everywhere in 1988, however.     

Raw materials price rise easing off

Due to the slow-down in the worldwide increase in business activity, the growth of demand for raw materials is expected to decelerate. Production, on the other hand, will continue to increase rapidly.