Price rigidity and market-clearing: a conceptual clarification

This article tests the view (derived from Hicks and Patinkin)that non-market clearance may be caused by slow adjustment (‘processrigidity’). There are models where market-rationing ispresent and derives from some form of rigidity, but this rigiditycannot be considered as process rigidity. It is similarly possibleto accommodate the idea of process rigidity within the Marshallianresearch programme. What is missing is that market-rationingmight be its corollary. The reason such a causal link is oftenbelieved to exist lies in a generic use of the concept of rigidity,used to designate alternative and incompatible phenomena: ‘exogenousend-state rigidity’ and ‘equilibrium end-state rigidity’,as well as process rigidity. It is true that these first twoforms of rigidity create market rationing. The belief that slowadjustment also generates market rationing results from theunwarranted extension to process rigidity of conclusions whichare only valid for the first two.     

Specialisation,localisation, and trade value in the wake of cross-border production sharing. The Central Eastern European Countries' case

We focus on five among the sectors in which most of the CEECs’ trade in middle products with EU-15 is concentrated. Over the second half of the 1990s, we observe remarkable changes in both production and trade specialization as well as a significant relocation of industries within CEECs. Using jointly trade and production data we outline co-movements in the adjustment of specialisation patterns. We also show that the redistribution of activities at the regional level reflects the relocation of industries at the global level. Finally, we try to detect the scope of fragmentation of production characterizing each industry and the ways in which CEECs are moving along the “internationally sliced-up value chain”. (JEL: F10, F14, F15)     

Fundamentals versus external shocks: Brazil's growing exposure to currency crises

While financial globalization does not lack theoretical economic merit, the more far-reaching practical consequences of this phenomenon are often not fully appreciated from the vantage point of North America or the European Union. In particular, globalization can make it more difficult for emerging economies to achieve macroeconomic stabilization. This is especially true if the countries in question have chosen the vehicle of pegged exchange rates as an important element of domestic anti-inflation policy. The chief macroeconomic difficulties for emerging economies in a world of volatile capital flows can include a loss of monetary control, a real appreciation of the domestic currency, and a worsening of economic fundamentals leading to damaging currency crises. This paper concentrates on the recent experience of Brazil as illustrative of the abject plight faced by many developing countries attempting to secure economic stabilization against the background of the present globalized international economy.This paper has benefitted from discussion with participants of the Forty-Sixth International Atlantic Economic Conference, Boston, MA, October 8–11, 1998.     

Editors’ note

Portuguese Economic Journal -     

第三方仓储物流企业盈利模式探讨

文中主要论述了第三方仓储物流企业三大类共四种不同类型的盈利模式,包括空间仓储服务模式、增值服务模式和基于供需管理平台的服务模式,其中基于供需管理平台的服务模式可分为作为初级阶段管理增值模式和高级阶段的供需网控模式。文中最后还提出了模式转换的建议措施。认为,前两种模式是过去和当前第三方仓储物流企业的主要盈利模式,后两种模式则代表着企业未来的发展方向。     

International portfolio reallocation: Diversification benefits and European monetary union

We investigate the determinants of bilateral international equity and bond portfolio reallocation across a large cross-section of countries spanning over two sample periods: 1997-2001 and 1997-2005. We find that the strongest drivers are the marginal diversification benefits arising from the pure asset component and the initial degree of underweight. This evidence suggests that global portfolio reallocations over the asset boom and bust period were determined by optimal diversification considerations. We also find that due to economic and monetary union (EMU) the weight assigned by euro area investors to investment in euro area countries increased significantly in equity and fixed income portfolios, with a trade diverting effect against the British bond market.     

Inflation Stabilisation and the Consumption of Durable Goods

Exchange rate-based stabilisations in chronic-inflation countries have often been characterised by an initial consumption boom (which is most evident in the behaviour of durable goods) followed by a later contraction. This paper provides an explanation for such a boom-recession cycle based on the timing of purchases of durable goods. The initial fall in inflation results in a wealth effect which induces many consumers to bring forward their purchases of durable goods, thus generating an aggregate consumption boom. Since most consumers replenish their stock of durable goods at the beginning of the programme, a later slowdown follows.     

The Discovery of the Third World

Corporatism in the academy continues to invite controversy just as it did nearly a century ago. Thorstein Veblen articulated many of the early concerns in Higher Learning in America ([1918] 1965). Many current commentaries on the subject echo Veblen's sentiments but appear to be oblivious of his tremendous intellectual legacy. This sad state of affairs may be a product of the severe reaction of early critics to Higher Learning followed by years of scholarly indifference. Nevertheless, the modern critiques of corporatism in the academy attest to the remarkable prescience of Veblen and his unique evolutionary perspective. Furthermore, critical opinion to the contrary, Higher Learning lacks neither logical consistency nor methodological integrity. Instead, Veblen's thoughts on the limits of pragmatic utilitarianism offer valuable insight into the ongoing controversy surrounding corporatism and higher learning.     

内部控制体系建设中的几点体会——以中国石油股份公司内控建设为例

本文介绍了内部控制体系的内容,从领导、环境、业务流程、制度建设、信息系统建设、内部控制的过程、员工素质、内部控制工作成果八个角度对内部控制体系的建设谈了自己的体会。     

On wage- and profit-led demand regimes: learning from the evidence

Abstract

This paper contributes to the empirical research around the “wage-led” or “profit-led” demand regimes. It first reviews how Kalecki, and then Steindl, approached the relationship between economic growth and income distribution. Then, empirical analysis carried out under the probabilistic approach to econometric modeling shows statistical evidence, estimated through cointegration analysis, that in the long run, in three very open economies—Mexico, France, and Korea—the wage share is positively associated with demand and output. It finally discusses the macroeconomic dilemma that almost all countries have to face, i.e., a positive effect of a high-wage policy on demand and employment may diverge from a negative effect on output compatible with external equilibrium.