Does Gravity Matter in a Service Economy?

This paper estimates gravity equations for bilateral services trade in a sample of 28 countries. It finds that the standard gravity variables of economic size and geographic proximity are significant factors in services trade. It also reveals positive effects of linguistic ties on services trade. There is evidence of a positive link between regional trade arrangements and services trade. Much of that effect appears to reflect the impact of bilateral goods trade on services trade. This implies that efforts to enhance goods trade—bilateral or multilateral—should lead to more services trade as well. JEL no. F13, F15, L80     

A random coefficient autoregressive Markov regime switching model for dynamic futures hedging

The random coefficient autoregressive Markov regime switching model (RCARRS) for estimating optimal hedge ratios, which generalizes the random coefficient autoregressive (RCAR) and Markov regime switching (MRS) models, is introduced. RCARRS, RCAR, MRS, BEKK‐GARCH, CC‐GARCH, and OLS are compared with the use of aluminum and lead futures data. RCARRS outperforms all models out‐of‐sample for lead and is second only to BEKK‐GARCH for aluminum in terms of variancereduction point estimates. White's data‐snooping reality check null hypothesis of no superiority is rejected for BEKK‐GARCH and RCARRS for aluminum, but not for lead. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:103–129, 2006     

Convergence or divergence? Corporatism and the dynamics of European wage bargaining

Against the backdrop of the debate on European pay bargaining, this article investigates the central claims of the literature on national pay policies and critically evaluates the macroeconomic studies of bargaining structure and economic performance. It is argued that structural changes in the world economy, including the slowdown in productivity growth, the process of internationalization and sectoral shifts in employment, threaten to destabilize industrial relations systems characterized by highly centralized mechanisms of pay-fixing, and that policy proposals that favour a concerted shift towards more corporatist arrangements are unlikely to be feasible.     

A multivariate statistical analysis of the characteristics of problem firms in Hong Kong

This paper presents a two-group discriminant analysis of the characteristics of problem firms in Hong Kong. The purpose of this study is to identify and describe the common financial characteristics which distinguish problem firms from nonproblem firms.Benjamin Y.K. Tai is a Professor at the Department of Accountancy, California State University, Fresno. Lawrence S.T. Tai is a Lecturer at the Department of Accounting & Finance, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.     

Estimates of the demand for medical care under different functional forms

We estimate price and income elasticities from a linear, log-linear, and the almost ideal demand model (with and without an adjustment for selectivity bias) in an effort to show that special attention should be paid to the underlying assumptions of consumer behaviour when estimating a medical care demand model. The literature on medical care utilization is extended by incorporating two major components of spending as separate demands in a system of medical care spending. We find that estimates of elasticities vary depending on the functional form of the estimating equation, thus questioning the usefulness for policy purposes of single estimates of elasticities.     

我国农民工平等就业权的法律保障

法律面前人人平等是我国宪法赋予每个公民的基本权利,平等就业权也是宪法和法律所保护的基本权利。我国农民工平等就业权还存在如地方政府政策歧视、工时报酬违规突出、社会保障严重缺乏、就业培训相当有限、事实劳动关系普遍等问题。要确实保障我国农民工的平等就业权就必须改革现有的户籍制度、严格执行《劳动合同法》和《就业促进法》、建立城乡统一的劳动力市场和社会保障制度、完善农民工的表达机制和救济制度。