State Trading and Tariff Rate Quotas: The Case of Korea's Rice Imports

This paper analyzes the effects of trade liberalization of tariff‐rate quotas under import “state trading enterprises” (STEs) in agriculture. An analytical framework is provided to determine the importance of which instrument is binding under competition (the in‐quota or out‐of‐quota tariff or the quota) and under the initial STE equilibrium. It also depends on whether or not the STE controls both the domestic market prices and owns/controls the import quota (and whether it is obligated to fill the quota or not). An empirical example of the rice STE in South Korea has simulations showing that an increase in imports can be achieved through a moderate expansion of the quota or a decrease in the out‐of‐quota tariff to the level where it becomes binding. However, a significant level of quota expansion induces the STE to switch to the autarky solution and social welfare declines.     

An Extension of the J‐Test to a Spatial Panel Data Framework

Kelejian (Letters in Spatial and Resources Sciences; 1 : 3–11) extended the J‐test procedure to a spatial framework. Although his suggested test was computationally simple and intuitive, it did not use the available information in an efficient manner. Kelejian and Piras (Regional Science and Urban Economics; 41 : 281–292) generalized and modified Kelejian's test to account for all the available information. However, neither Kelejian ( 2008 ) nor Kelejian & Piras ( 2011 ) considered a panel data framework. In this paper we generalize these earlier works to a panel data framework with fixed effects and additional endogenous variables. We give theoretical as well as Monte Carlo results relating to our suggested tests. An empirical application on a crime model for North Carolina is also estimated. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Program of the 1995 Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory

Program of the 1995 Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory     

Bivariate and multivariate scaled association models. An application to homogamy of social origin and education in Hungary between 1930 and 1979

In this article we compare bivariate and multivariate models for homogamy of social origin and education to test whether bivariate models of homogamy lead to biased results. We use data on Hungarian couples married between 1930 and 1979 and loglinear models of scaled association. The results indicate some differences between bivariate and multivariate analyses. At each point of time bivariate models overestimate homogamy, both with respect to education and social origin. However, results on trends in time do not differ much between the two analyses. The exception is the period 1940–1959, in which bivariate analysis showed decreasing educational homogamy, and multivariate analysis showed an increasing trend. The latter finding can be explained by declining homogamy of social origin, as well as the weaker reproduction and cross-effects in this period.     

SENSITIVITY AND UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS IN MRIO MODELLING; SOME EMPIRICAL RESULTS WITH REGARD TO THE DUTCH CARBON FOOTPRINT

Environmental multi-regional input–output (MRIO) models require large amounts of data that all have their specific uncertainties. This paper presents a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis in order to gain an understanding of the directions in which efforts should be made to reduce these uncertainties. The analyses were carried out for an MRIO model to calculate the Dutch carbon footprint. A sensitivity analysis of the technical coefficients showed that changes in the coefficients in the domestic blocks and in the Dutch import blocks had the largest effects on the calculated footprint. The uncertainty analysis consisting of a Monte Carlo simulation based on probability distributions around the model coefficients showed a relatively low degree of uncertainty in the total Dutch carbon footprint; uncertainties in the carbon emissions allocated to regions, sectors and products were larger. Both analyses showed that, in certain cases, it is justified to apply a partial MRIO analysis.     

International Competition and the Degree of Monopoly in Australian Manufacturing

Pricing behaviour in open economies is examined by adapting Kalecki's analysis of pricing in closed economies. The parameters of the resulting pricing equation are estimated using data for a sample of Australian manufacturing industries. These estimates are then used to calculate measures reflecting the degree of monopoly for an open economy, which are compared with the ratio of aggregate proceeds to aggregate direct costs as a measure reflecting the degree of monopoly for a closed economy.     

Monetary and Fiscal Policy Rules in the EMU

Abstract. This paper studies the design and effects of monetary and fiscal policy in the euro area. To do so, a stylized two‐region model of monetary and fiscal policy rules in the EMU is built. We analyse how monetary and fiscal rules affect the adjustment dynamics in the model. Both the effects on the individual countries and on the EMU aggregate economy are studied. Three aspects play an important role in the analysis: (i) the consequences of alternative monetary and fiscal policy rules, (ii) the consequences of asymmetries between EMU countries (asymmetries in macroeconomic shocks and macroeconomic structures), and (iii) the role of alternative degrees of backward‐ and forward‐looking behaviour in consumer decisions and inflation expectations.     

How Would One Extra Year of High School Affect Academic Performance in University? Evidence from an Educational Policy Change

This paper uses a unique policy change in Ontario, Canada, to provide direct evidence on how reducing the length of high school would impact student performance in university. After a five‐year educational program was eliminated from Ontario high schools and replaced with a four‐year program, two graduating cohorts with different amounts of high school education simultaneously entered university. The results demonstrate that students who receive one less year of high school education perform significantly worse than their counterparts in all subjects, even after the age difference between the cohorts is accounted for.     

Some Economics of Safe Injecting Rooms

Provision of safe injecting rooms (SIRs), needle exchanges and other harm minimisation schemes reduce mortality and other health risks that illicit drug users experience. However, SIRs diminish incentives to refrain from the use of drugs by reducing the risk of a key harmful consequence of use, namely the user's death. Moreover, such harm minimisation efforts are socially costly. Economic approaches to drug management balance benefits from harm minimisation against policy costs and the costs associated with a failure of community drug abstinence. This article shows that the economic case for SIRs disappears with conservative assumptions about adverse incentive effects of reduced mortality risks even when only modest weight is placed on drug abstinence objectives.