ARE EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNMENT TRANSFER POLICIES SELF-DEFEATING IN POLITICAL EQUILIBRIUM?*

This paper studies an election game between two politicians, in which each provides income transfers to special-interest groups in return for political contributions. It is shown that a move to a more inefficient form of transfers may lower the total excess burden created by these transfers, because the politicians are induced to reduce their provision of transfers. For the case in which the income transfers are indirectly provided as trade protection to import-competing industries, a switch from production subsidies to tariffs as the form of protection reduces the equilibrium level of excess burden and makes both politicians better off.     

Incomplete markets and incentives to set up an options exchange

Traditional analyses with incomplete markets take the securities that are traded as exogenous. In this paper we endogenize the market structure by considering incentives to introduce (costly) options exchanges which issue derivative securities. The method of financing the exchange is critical in determining whether the market structure is socially efficient. If the exchange can charge fees to all agents and make every agent's participation a necessary condition for establishing the exchange then the market structure chosen in equilibrium is efficient. However, if either of these conditions is not satisfied then an inefficient market structure may be chosen.We would like to thank the editor, Herakles Polemarchakis, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments and suggestions. Financial support from the NSF (Grant nos. SES-8813719 and SES-8720589 for the two authors respectively) is gratefully acknowledged.     

Total factor productivity growth and the productivity slowdown in the west german industrial sector, 1970-1981

Zusammenfassung Das Wachstum der Totalfaktorproduktivit?t und die Produktivit?tsverlangsamung in der westdeutschen Industrie 1970-1981. -Die Produktivit?tsentwicklung der westdeutschen Industrie in den 70er Jahren wird im Rahmen einer einfachen Wachstumszerlegung untersucht. Für das Jahrzehnt insgesamt zeigt sich, da? die Totalfaktorproduktivit?t oder das “esidual”chstum und die Substitution zwischen Kapital und Arbeit zu ungef?hr gleichen Teilen zur Erh?hung der Pro-Kopf-Produktion beigetragen haben. W?hrend die Totalfaktorproduktivit?t mit einer durchschnittlichen Jahresrate von 2,5 vH zunahm, verringerte sich die Kapitalproduktivit?t im Laufe der gesamten Periode. Hinzu kommt, da? die Kapitalausstattung pro Kopf weiterhin anstieg, w?hrend die Besch?ftigung im Industriesektor zurückging. Mit anderen Worten: Die Faktorsubstitution hat keine Gewinne in Form zus?tzlicher Besch?ftigung erbracht.

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Résumé Croissance de la productivité totale des facteurs et l’affaiblissement de la productivité dans le secteur industriel ouest-allemand dans la période 1970-1981. -La performance productive du secteur industriel ouest-allemand pendant les années soixante-dix est analysée dans le cadre simple de ?growth accounting?. Pour la décade entière, l’auteur argue que la productivité totale des facteurs ou la croissance ?résiduelle? et la substitution capital/main-d’oeuvre expliquent la croissance d’output par tête plus ou moins à parts égales. Pendant que la productivité totale des facteurs s’augmenta au taux annuel de 2,5 p.c., la productivité du capital tomba pendant la période entière. De plus, le capital par tête continua d’augmenter pendant que l’emploi industriel tomba. En d’autres mots, la substitution des facteurs n’a pas généré des gains mesurés en termes d’emploi additionnel.

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Resumen El crecimiento de la productividad total de los factures y la aminoración de la productividad en el sector industrial de Alemania Occidental, 1970-1981. -El rendimiento productivo del sector industrial de Alemania Occidental en los anos setenta es analizado en el marco de ?growth accounting?. Tomando la década entera la sugerencia que se dériva es que a la productividad total de los factures o crecimiento ?residual? y a la sustitución de capital y trabajo se les atribuye el crecimiento per capita en proporciones casi iguales. Mientras que la productividad total de los factores aumentó a una tasa anual media del 2,5 %, la productividad del capital disminuyó durante todo el período. Además, el capital per cápita continuó aumentando mientras que el empleo industrial disminuyó. En otras palabras, la sustitución de factores no generó beneficios en términos de empleo adicional.

     

Diversity in product symbolism: The case of female executive clothing

Many social roles are associated with and identified by product symbols. Yet, frequently, there is much ambiguity among consumers regarding which products denote a given role, and the specific products which communicate desired role attributes. The study examines factors influencing the diversity of clothing symbols associated with the female executive role. A conceptual framework focusing on role-related variables, aesthetic versus instrumental attitudes towards clothing, and information sources consulted in relation to clothing choice is developed and tested on data from a national survey of female executives.     

The Dynamics of Agricultural Biotechnology Adoption: Lessons from series rBST Use in Wisconsin, 1994–2001

This article exploits panel data from Wisconsin dairy farmers to examine the dynamics of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) adoption and to identify the characteristics that distinguish among nonadopters, disadopters, and early and late adopters. Panel methods are used to control for omitted variables and endogenous regressors that call into question coefficient estimates derived from cross-section adoption models. The results, however, confirm previous findings that larger farms with complementary feeding technologies are more likely to adopt rBST, nonadopters appear quite unlikely to become adopters, and rBST adoption will remain at rather moderate levels in Wisconsin.     

Identifying feelings elicited by advertising

This study attempts to identify feelings that are precipitated by advertising. A total of 655 feelings were reduced to set of 180 that were judged by respondents to be most likely to be stimulated by advertising. This group was clustered on the basis of similarity between feeling judgements. Two nested sets of feeling clusters emerged: one of size 22 and the other of size 31.