Utilization of fixed capital and Soviet industrial growth

Growth rates of output and factor productivity in Soviet industry fluctuate around a long-term downward trend. These fluctuations can be partially explained by fluctuations in the growth of services of capital. The capacity utilization rate is taken as a proxy for the extent of utilization of capital stock. Variations in the capacity utilization rate explain a significant part of the changes in the rate of growth of total factor productivity between 1970–1983. Declines in the capacity utilization rate are caused by errors in the allocation of investment, which create an imbalance of capacities between raw-materials and manufacturing sectors.Useful suggestions by Emil Bej, Robert Cambell, Richard Harmstone, Kenneth Gray, and Josef Brada are grateful acknowledged     

有助于开发新的失效分析方法

介绍复杂设备采用失效分析新方法（FMEA），找出可能发生的潜在失效原因，减少或消除失效风险，提高设备可靠性，并以有轨电车为例来说明。     

Measuring potential gains from reallocation of resources

In this work we consider the case when efficient operation of individual economic units does not necessarily imply efficiency for a group of these units. Merging theoretical findings of Li and Ng (Int Adv Econ Res, 1995, 1, 377.) and Färe and Zelenyuk (Eur J Oper Res, 2003, 146, 615), we develop new group-wise efficiency indexes that measure the extent to which the performance of a group of economic units can be enhanced, even if all these units are individually efficient. The existence of such potential improvement is attributed to non-optimal allocation of inputs across the individual economic units from the point of view of a group of these units.     

The Federal Reserve and the 2007–2009 Financial Crisis: Treating a Virus with Antibiotics? Evidence from the Commercial Paper Market

The two main explanations for the crisis in the commercial paper (CP) market are credit concerns and liquidity issues. The CP market is not homogeneous in terms of credit quality, maturities and types of issues. We find that lower credit‐quality CP suffered more during the crisis. Additionally, we find little evidence that Federal Reserve (Fed) liquidity facilities reduced the impact of the crisis, but that when the Fed became a lender in the CP market, the crisis pressures were dramatically reduced. We conclude that the crisis in the money markets is related more to increases in credit risk. Liquidity is a secondary issue.     

Where are miners’ unions going? trade unions in Vorkuta,Russia

The emergence of alternative unions in the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, suggested that new forms of unionism were developing. However, in the coalfields, the Independent Miners’ Union was unable to realise its initial promise, while the successors of the official unions began a complicated process of union renewal. This has laid the foundation for some form of reunification between the two types of unions.     

AN EMPIRICAL ESTIMATE OF THE RELATION BETWEEN TWO MEASURES OF ECONOMIC WELFARE*

The main objective of this paper is to explore and quantify the difference between two measures of comparative economic welfare: (a) the more or less conventional measure of per capita national income, and (b) the capitalized value of expected future income per capita. The paper begins with a brief summary of the argument in favor of the present value of expected future income per capita as a measure of economic welfare. This is followed by an examination of the empirical relationship of the ratio of the suggested alternative measure to per capita income and an analysis of the variables used to compute the present value of expected income per capita. The main conclusion drawn from the calculations is that very substantial differences occur in the measurement of relative economic well-being depending on which measure is used. A final section discusses the implications of this finding for international comparisons of economic welfare.     

Institutional ownership,analyst following,and share prices

We study the mutual relationships between institutional ownership, analyst following and share prices. We show that the pressure on firms to set lower share prices to attract analysts is attenuated by institutional monitoring. Our theory refutes the assumed causal relation between share price and institutional ownership, attributed to the share price–liquidity relation, and we show empirically that share prices and institutional ownership are positively related after controlling for liquidity. Our study provides a rationale for why better firms generally maintain higher share price levels, and offers new insights into the puzzling empirical linkages observed between nominal share price levels and firm fundamentals.     

The determinants of market-wide issue cycles for initial public offerings

This paper identifies the determinants of market-wide issue cycles for initial public offerings (IPOs) using an autoregressive conditional count model. We consider whether IPO volume is related to business conditions, investor sentiment, and time variation in adverse selection costs caused by asymmetric information between managers and investors. We provide evidence indicating that time variation in business conditions and investor sentiment are important determinants of monthly issue activity. By contrast, time variation in adverse selection costs does not significantly affect IPO volume.