On the foundation of agricultural policy research in the United States

This paper identifies three scientific research programs in agricultural economics. The farm management approach (1870-1933), the farm problem approach (1933-1982) and the domestic and global welfare approach (1982-). In respect to agricultural policy research two competitive research programs developed out of the farm crisis of the 1920s. One program argued for government intervention in agriculture. The other argued for stability in the general economy. The former program degenerated during the 1970s because of countervailing empirical evidence and a change in the understanding of positive economics. The latter program stayed progressive by adding the international dimension and by applying welfare economic analysis. Two other important factors influenced the development of agricultural policy. First, the unique institutional set up of the land grant system in which agricultural economics was founded as an applied science with a bias to help farmers. Second, the convergence of agricultural economics towards general economics that shifted the approach from applied to basic.     

Econometric evaluation of asset pricing models

In this article we provide econometric tools for the evaluationof intertemporal asset pricing models using specification-errorand volatility bounds. We formulate analog estimators of thesebounds, give conditions for consistency, and derive the limitingdistribution of these estimators. The analysis incorporatesmarket frictions such as short-sale constraints and proportionaltransactions costs. Among several applications we show how touse the methods to assess specific asset pricing models andto provide non-parametric characterizations of asset pricinganomalies.     

Monetary Policy Cooperation May Not Be Counterproductive

This paper qualifies Rogoff's famous (1985) result that international monetary policy cooperation is counterproductive. In a model similar to his, it is shown that if wage-setters are non-atomistic and inflation averse — as policymakers are — cooperation leads to higher employment and possibly lower inflation.     

The Value of a Utilitarian Curriculum: The Case of Technological Education

The position taken in this paper is that narrow conceptions of human development and the purposes of schooling have tended to displace rather than situate subjects like technology in the curriculum. Arguments which support this position, however, are only possible when the paradigm through which schooling is operationalized, is inverted. Viewing classic school subjects as abstractions which perpetuate narrow conceptions of pedagogy is a contentious position to take. But taking it and understanding how a utilitarian curriculum spawns real human development and learning gives a whole new perspective to curriculum theory and practice.     

ON THE BIASES IN FOREIGN TRADE INDICES*

Starting out from the observation that both imports and exports may be viewed as the difference between domestic consumption (use) and production, static standard theory of biases in consumption and production indices is brought to bear upon trade indices: Laspeyres tends to overrate when applied to imports and to underrate when applied to exports; for Paasche, the opposite holds true. Hence, terms of trade tend to be underrated (exaggerated) when based upon Laspeyres (Paasche) price indices. The problem of extending these conclusions to the case of changes in production frontiers and preference maps is discussed. When homotheticity is absent, correlation between price and quantity relatives may upset the simple conclusions. This is of special importance in the large-country situation. Dynamics further complicate the situation. A cobweb mechanism in exports may thus reverse the static results.     

Results-Oriented Trade Policy

We construct a model of economic policy determination by an executive who controls a domestic policy instrument and who can influence, but not completely control, the conduct of trade policy. The executive exploits a polictical linkage between the policies. These circumstances can motivate implementation of a results-oriented trade policy by the government of a trading partner. We analyze the implications of such a policy under alternative situations.     

Innovation,firm size,and firm age

This paper uses a new data set on innovation output to assess the degree to which the level of innovation in manufacturing firms is influenced by firm size and firm age. Indicators of innovation output used are the number of new products introduced as a function of firm sales and the proportion of firm sales obtained from products first introduced in the previous five years. While the evidence is mixed, the results tend to indicate that it is possible to separate the effects of age and size in assessing the level of innovation. Both firm size and firm age tend to be inversely related to innovative output.     

Outcomes of voting and planning: Condorcet,Weber and Rawls locations

The paper is concerned with the comparison of the locations of a facility resulting from voting and planning procedures. It is shown that a voting location exists and coincides with that minimizing the total distance covered by the users to go to the facility when the transportation network contains no cycles. For a general network, least upper bounds on the ratio of the social values of the voting and planning locations are given in the cases where the total or the maximal travelled distance is minimized.