Modelling the inflation process in transition economies: Empirical comparison of Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic

This paper starts from the observation that inflation in transition economies appears to be persistently high and volatile and attempts to provide some empirical characterisation of the inflation process in three such transition economies: Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic. We first consider the role of monetary growth as a major causal factor for inflation in these economies, and argue that the evidence provides rather weak support for the causal relationship. We then propose a transition economy cost-plus model and estimate this using the equilibrium-correction modelling (ECM) strategy augmented by introduction of a number of transitory factors and changes in the internal structure of the real economy which we believe may have had a significant impact on inflation in these economies. We show that this approach enables us to account for long-run inflation in these economies from the early 1980s to the present despite the turbulence of the latter part of the sample period. Our results support wage and exchange rate based inflation policies.     

Welfare paradox in economic restructuring

It can be proved theoretically that, because of the previously existing price and structural distortion, a welfare paradox is possible in the former command economies during the transition period. This paradox refers to a situation in which a welfare gain is accompanied by a fall in the reported GNP figure.     

Trade Union Derecognition in Britain, 1988–1994

Since the initial studies of derecognition, many articles have focused on the issue, by and large pointing to a slow increase in derecognition. However, a small number have indicated it is actually much larger. This paper shows that derecognition is even greater than these suggest and that its nature has changed. The paper looks at the contexts of this rise but argues that derecognition should not yet be seen as a major problem facing the unions.     

国际战略联合的成功之路

世界经济中的种种迹象表明,国际战略联合这一国际化经营的新方式正日益显示出其重要性,并终将成为拓展国际化经营活动的主要方式。作为国际化经营活动主角的跨国公司。     

中国的工业改革与效率变化-方法、数据、文献和现有的结果

全要素生产率是理解经济增长的方式和结构的重要指标之一,中国的工业改革正好为经济学家关注和考察不同所有制的企业形式以及改革政策对生产率变动的不同影响提供了丰富的经验基础。在1978年开始的旨在向市场经济转型的中国经济体制改革正在彻底地改变着它的工业部门面临的市场结构和工业组织,并不断造就着一个与世界经济更加融合的制造业部门。新的和更有竞争力的工业部门在竞争中不断获得了高速增长和扩张的机会,使得中国工业部门的生产率改善主要依赖着非国有企业的成长和它的活力。中国工业改革的成就不是挽救了国有企业,而是收缩了国有企业部门的"战线",诱致了一个非国有的新兴工业部门的崛起。     

与时俱进锐意进取努力开创我校成教工作新局面

我校成人高等教育面临新的机遇与挑战,要想缩小与其他院校的差距,在激烈的市场竞争中崛起,就必须抓住机遇,同心协力,奋起直追,尽快抢占制高点,掌握竞争主动权.     

企业财务危机预警机制在商业银行信贷管理中的应用

近期周正毅事件浮出水面，再一次让我们看到了我国银行业目前信贷管理手段单一、体制落后等诸多弊瑞。其中，至关重要的也是做好信贷管理的最常用的手段——财务分析尤其做得不到位。除大环境因素的影响外，银行自身财务分析手段的落后、分析方法的单一也是很重要的一个方面。为此，我们有必要借鉴国外比较通行的财务危机预警机制，以加强我国银行业的信贷风险管理。     

Prevention versus Treatment under Precautionary Regulation: A Case Study of Groundwater Contamination under Uncertainty

Policy discussions on agricultural pollution problems characterize prevention as more cost effective and precautionary than ex post treatment. We derive conditions under which treatment alone is more cost effective in situations involving multiple sources of emissions, multiple sites affected, and a commonly used precautionary approach to uncertainty. We also show that a greater degree of precaution can result in less reliance on prevention. An empirical case study indicates that treatment alone is the most cost-effective means of dealing with nitrate in most Maryland community water system wells. The use of leaching prevention measures is restricted to the most intensive poultry producing areas. The incremental cost of precaution is substantial.     

Modeling Conditional Yield Densities

Given the increasing interest in agricultural risk, many have sought improved methods to characterize conditional crop-yield densities. While most have postulated the Beta as a flexible alternative to the Normal, others have chosen nonparametric methods. Unfortunately, yield data tends not to be sufficiently abundant to invalidate many reasonable parametric models. This is problematic because conclusions from economic analyses, which require estimated conditional yield densities, tend not to be invariant to the modeling assumption. We propose a semiparametric estimator that, because of its theoretical properties and our simulation results, enables one to empirically proceed with a higher degree of confidence.     

Stochastic Technology, Risk Preferences, and Adoption of Site-Specific Technologies

A model of farmer decision making is developed to determine the extent to which uncertainties about soil fertility and weather affect the value of site-specific technologies (SSTs) using jointly estimated risk and technology parameters. Uncertainty can lead risk-averse farmers to apply more fertilizers and generate more pollution than in the certainty case. Ignoring uncertainty and risk aversion would overestimate the economic and environmental benefits of SSTs and underestimate the subsidy required to induce adoption. Accounting for uncertainties and risk preferences might explain the low observed adoption rates of SSTs. Improving the accuracy of SSTs would increase the incentives for adoption.