Technological Capability and Firm Efficiency in Taiwan (China)

This article highlights the importance of firms' own investmentsin technological capability. Recent research on the nature andextent of technical change in developing countries shows thatthe accumulation of technological capability should be treatednot as a by-product of some other activity but as an activityin its own right. This research also points to the criticalrole of firms and indicates that firm-level efforts to obtaininternational knowledge may have higher payoffs when accompaniedby complementary investments in the development of in-housetechnological capabilities. Using micro data from Taiwan (China), the authors estimate thetechnical efficiency of firms. They proxy firm-level effortsat modifying or adapting technology by expenditures on researchand development and on-the-job training. They then use a stochasticproduction frontier model to estimate the correlation of a firm'sefficiency both with investments in training and research anddevelopment and with international linkages (such as exporting,direct foreign investment, and foreign technology licenses).The evidence from manufacturing firms in Taiwan suggests thatefficiency is positively correlated with the firm's investmentsin training and research and development and with its informalcontacts with foreign purchasers through export sales.     

Unemployment,tariffs and the theory of international trade

In this paper, we introduce diminishing returns to scale in Brecher's model of international trade with unemployment and then investigate some issues embodied in the theory of international trade. Our principal results are that tariffs need not improve a country's terms of trade and that capital accumulation also need not result in a predictable change in the terms of trade.     

Optimal pollution control in a mixed oligopoly with research spillovers

We study optimal pollution abatement under a mixed oligopoly when firms engage in emissions‐reducing research and development (R&D) with imperfect appropriation. The regulator uses a tax to curb emissions. Results show that in a mixed oligopoly, the public firm has positive emissions reduction in equilibrium; however, emissions reductions of the private firm could be positive or zero. Under certain conditions, the optimal pollution tax is positive; otherwise, the tax reverts to a subsidy. Comparing mixed and private duopolies, privatisation leads to reductions in R&D and output, but to an increase in overall emissions, so privatisation tends to make the environment worse.     

Medical professionals and health care fraud: Do they aid or check abuse?

This paper examines the role of health care professionals in combating health care fraud. It is not overall clear whether the share of the health professionals help control abuse. Using data across U.S. states, our econometric results show that greater employment of nurses consistently reduced health fraud, whereas more physicians did not have a significant impact. Further, more urbanized states and states with a greater proportion of the elderly experienced greater health scams. Identity thefts facilitated health care fraud, whereas different dimensions of health insurance (including the share of the population with Medicare, managed care, and no insurance) and hospital occupancy rates did not matter.     

Design versus utility innovation: Is corruption sanding or greasing the wheels of innovation?

This paper studies whether corruption has a greasing or a sanding effect on the production of innovation. The main novelty lies in comparing the relative impacts on design versus utility innovation. On the one hand, corruption can undermine (sand) the expected returns from patents, whereas on the other hand, patent holders might be able to increase (grease) the scope and applicability of their patents. Using U.S. state-level data and controlling for bidirectional causality, results show the sanding effect of corruption with regard to utility patents, with the negative effect on design patents occurring only with a time lag.     

State tax changes and quasi-experimental price elasticities of U.S. cigarette demand: An update

This paper uses 336 state tax changes across the U.S. spanning 42 years (1956–1997) to provide an updated look at the quasi-experimental price elasticities of cigarette demand. It also studies the sensitivity of these elasticity estimates to changes in the cigarette market over time as well as their sensitivity to border-effect purchases. Besides replicating earlier findings, the results show a downward trend in these elasticities over time and sensitivity to border effect purchases. Policy implications are discussed. We dedicate this article to the memory of Julian Simon.     

Do existing corruption levels matter in controlling corruption? : Cross-country quantile regression estimates

We examine the determinants of corruption using recent cross-sectional data for nearly one hundred countries. While the causes of corruption have drawn economists' interest in recent years, our main contribution is to examine the corruption determinants throughout the conditional distribution of corruption across nations. Are there different causes of corruption in highly corrupt nations compared to the least corrupt countries? For instance, we examine whether greater democracy and more economic freedom consistently reduce corruption among the most and the least corrupt. Our results for the significant determinants support some findings in the literature, but also provide new conclusions. In many cases, quantile regression estimates are quite different from those from OLS regressions. Among the most corrupt nations, larger governments and greater economic freedom do not appear to reduce corruption, but greater democracy seems to alleviate it. Our results suggest that some current corruption control policies may be reconsidered, especially among the most corrupt and least corrupt nations.     

An IT professional’s dilemma: be an entrepreneur or a consultant?

Using a simple model, this paper examines the behavior of an IT professional who faces the choice between becoming an entrepreneur or an employee. To our knowledge, this is the first formal study of the dilemma facing an IT professional. IT professionals are somewhat unique in that they embody enough labor input/intellectual property that even a single professional can deliver a viable product/service. An incentive contract is auctioned to attract the highest bid in return for partial ownership from venture capitalists. Failure to raise venture finance results in the professional seeking employment. Both venture finance and employment are uncertain. The comparative-static effects of changes in project size and VC competition are determined. We find that under certain conditions a larger project is associated with a cost-plus contract, while greater VC competition results in a fixed-price contract being offered. The agent’s effort is lower in a larger project, but non-negative under greater VC competition.     

The Game Academics Play: Comment

A recent paper by Faria (Bulletin of Economic Research, 57 (2005), pp. 1–12) deals with the interplay between editors and authors. This research is a welcome addition to the literature on formal analyses of academic markets. This note points out a potential discrepancy in Faria's derivation of the equilibrium journal quality and clarifies the conditions under which journal quality responds to changes in editor's impatience and in author's impatience. Specifically, the effect of a change in author's impatience on journal quality is shown to be not unambiguous. Some implications of these findings are discussed.