Henry George and Europe: As Dissident Economist and Path-breaking Philosopher, He was a Catalyst for British Social Reform

Abstract . Henry George's influence was greater in the United Kingdom than in the United States. The 80s and 90s there were particularly favorable for the reception of his revolutionary ideas. Though, thanks to such thinkers as Alfred Russell Wallace and James and John Stuart Mill, a land reform movement already existed, its sudden rise to national significance was due to George. George's writing and speaking skills and his dedication moved many serious citizens into the political Left and heavily influenced men and women who became leaders of British non-Marxian socialism, at the formation and consolidation of their movement. While George's followers broke with both the Wallace and socialist movements, George's rhetorical talents awakened the broad circles of thinking people to a consciousness of the full range of the social question.     

Alternative sources of technology: An analysis of induced innovations

This paper considers why firms differ in the degree to which they rely on their internal R&D organization for generating new technologies (induced innovations) rather than on existing external technology markets (purchased innovations). An empirical model is suggested to explan inter-firm differences in the percentage of new technology induced through R&D efforts. The analysis suggests that such differences are systematically related to the firm's size, its competative environment, and its degree of diversification.     

Expected inflation and the optimal number of nominal wage rate revisions

A neglected aspect of wage contracts, namely the number of times that the nominal wage rate will be revised during the course of a non-indexed contract, is considered. Theory and evidence suggest that the optimal number of revisions depends on the cost of each revision, expected inflation and contract length.     

Random coefficient regression and the long-run phillips curve for the U.S.

This research suggests that a random coefficient regression model is well-suited for analyzing long-run versus short-run movements in wages and unemployment and is an improvement over some empirical techniques typically used.     

Seasonal decomposition and forecasting of telecommunication data: A comparative case study

In this paper, forecasting models for the monthly outgoing telephone calls in a University Campus are presented. The data have been separated in the categories of international and national calls as well as calls to mobile phones. The total number of calls has also been analyzed. Three different methods, namely the Seasonal Decomposition, Exponential Smoothing Method and SARIMA Method, have been used. Forecasts with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each method and compared with the actual data. The outcome of this work can be used to predict future demands for the telecommunications network of the University.     

Asymptotic confidence bands for the estimated autocovariance and autocorrelation functions of vector autoregressive models

This paper provides closed-form formulae for computing the asymptotic covariance matrices of the estimated autocovariance and autocorrelation functions of stable VAR models by means of the delta method. These covariance matrices can be used to construct asymptotic confidence bands for the estimated autocovariance and autocorrelation functions to assess the underlying estimation uncertainty. The usefulness of the formulae for empirical work is illustrated by an application to inflation and output gap data for the U.S. economy indicating the existence of a significant short-run Phillips-curve tradeoff.First version received: November 2002/Final version received: September 2003     

The effect of income taxation on the labor supply of married men in Sweden

This paper presents labor supply functions estimated on a sample of prime age Swedish males. The model used takes account of the nonlinear character of individuals' budget sets caused by the progressive income tax. It also allows preferences to vary between individuals. Calculations with the estimated functions, using a partial equilibrium framework, indicate a sizeable effect of the income tax on hours of work. The average expected deadweight loss of the income tax is found to be approximately 20 percent of tax revenue.     

The effect of annual changes in automobile fuel economy standards

Since 1978 the Federal government has regulated the fuel economy of new cars sold in the United States. The purpose of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards is to lessen the national dependence on foreign oil. Through the use of theoretical and empirical models this paper examines the impact of CAFE standards on the automobile industry and on energy consumption. It is shown that CAFE standards may or may not save energy. If CAFE does save energy, it does so at a prohibitive cost to the economy. CAFE standards are also shown to have a number of perverse impacts on the automobile industry as well as consumers.