Globalization and real wages in New Zealand 1873-1913

This paper reports annual real wage indexes for laborers and for workers more generally in New Zealand, adjusted for purchasing power parity, for the years 1873-1913. These data are used to include New Zealand in the debates surrounding international wage convergence. On the basis of time series tests we find evidence of an integrated trans-Tasman labor market. Productivity, the terms of trade, and swings in labor’s income share, rather than immigration, shaped New Zealand’s wage growth.     

A Comparative static analysis of the optimum town

A simplified form of the standard model of a factory town is used to obtain some results in the comparative static analysis of the optimum town. The opportunity cost of land, the time taken for a worker to travel unit distance, and the (constant) population density in the residential zone are used as shift parameters. It is found that in only a few cases can the sign of the induced changes in the structure of the town be determined unambiguously. These results contrast sharply with those obtained by [3.]] using an equilibrium model.     

WHAT MAKES A GREAT JOURNAL GREAT IN ECONOMICS? THE SINGER NOT THE SONG

Abstract This paper analyses what makes a great journal great in economics. Alternative research assessment measures (RAM) are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science database. ISI RAM that are calculated annually or updated daily are defined, including the classic 2‐year impact factor (2YIF), 5‐year impact factor (5YIF), immediacy (zero‐year impact factor (0YIF)), eigenfactor score, article influence, citation performance per paper online, h‐index, Zinfluence, PI‐BETA (papers ignored ‐ by even the authors) and two new RAM measures, self‐citation threshold approval rating and impact factor inflation. The data are analysed for the most highly cited journals in economics, management, business and business–finance on the basis of 2YIF. In addition to evaluating research in the most highly cited journals in economics, management, business and business–finance, the paper evaluates alternative RAM, highlights similarities and differences in RAM criteria, finds that several RAM capture similar performance characteristics, and finds that immediacy and PI‐BETA are not highly correlated with other RAM. Harmonic mean rankings of the 12 RAM criteria are also presented. Emphasizing 2YIF to the exclusion of other useful RAM criteria can lead to a distorted evaluation of journal performance and influence.     

THE AGEING POPULATION: CRUNCH TIME FOR GOVERNMENT REFORMS

Current discussions about reforms to health and long‐term care miss the most important trends that should be influencing debate. With an ageing population that includes a higher proportion of people with manageable illnesses, health and care costs will rise. Reforms must ensure that existing government spending is used more efficiently and that it harnesses – rather than works against – private financing.     

The emergence of convergent price clusters in China

This paper reports new evidence on the existence of both large and small price divergent clusters for China's energy markets, 2000–2009. The largest convergent price clusters suggest that the coal and gasoline markets are well integrated, however, small convergent price clusters suggest that electricity and diesel markets are proving harder to integrate. The paper argues that the traditional approach to price convergence analysis should be applied with caution, especially in a transitional economy such as China where questions to be asked should relate to the ‘degree of market‐orientation’ and not simply whether it is a market‐based economy or not.     

Patenting,intellectual property rights and sectoral outputs in Industrial Revolution Britain, 1780–1851

Patenting rose sharply during the British Industrial Revolution. Utilizing time series methods, we investigate the causal relationships between 16 industries and patented inventions. The results show that increased patenting was essentially a consequence of fast growth in the cotton, iron, and mining sectors, which increased the value of protecting intellectual property. Conversely, protecting intellectual property was not a cause of the Industrial Revolution.     

Real Wages in Australia and Canada, 1870–1913: Globalization versus Productivity

Australia's and Canada's real wage experiences between 1870 and 1913 were distinctive. Faster productivity growth underpinned Canada's overtaking of Australia's wage levels. The globalization forces of migration and trade also shaped their comparative wages, principally by reducing wage growth in Canada. Immigration increased slightly Australia's real wages, but reduced wage levels in Canada, and tempered there the beneficial effects of rising productivity and improving terms of trade. In contrast, wage earners' share of national income rose after 1890 in Australia, with the productivity slowdown hitting chiefly rents and profits. Distributional shifts favouring wage earners in Australia, and the depressing effects of mass immigration on wages in Canada, limited Canada's wage lead before 1914, despite her faster productivity growth.     

Geographical Information Systems, Spatial Analysis and Public Policy: the British Experience

Geographic information systems (GIS) have received considerable academic and practitioner attention in the last ten years. It is our view that these tools have been considerably oversold to public sector organisations-particularly local government-many of whom have failed to achieve the benefits they expected. In our paper, we attempt to develop a broad definition of GIS and discuss the relationship between GIS and policy analysis, spatial decision support systems, spatial analysis and spatial modelling. We also seek to explore how GIS fits into the management information systems and information architectures of public sector organisations and examine some of the human and organisational tensions which GIS adoption and use have brought about. Where possible, we have used examples of how GIS has been used to inform public development in several areas though these have generally been in academic settings and not in public sector organisations.     

Cost‐ and Income‐based Measures of Human Capital

Human capital is increasingly believed to play an important role in the growth process, however, adequately measuring its stock remains controversial. In this paper three general approaches to measurement are identified; cost‐based, income‐based and educational stock‐based. This survey focuses on the first two approaches and provides a critical review of the theories and their applications to data from a range of countries. Particular emphasis is placed upon the work of Jorgenson and Fraumeni (1989, 1992) and some new results for New Zealand based upon their approach are also presented.