Measuring the Effect of Food Safety Standards on China’s Agricultural Exports

According to China’s recent experiences in agricultural trade disputes with the developed countries, China’s exports might be constrained by nontariff barriers. The significance of these barriers is assessed in regression analyses by using a gravity model of agricultural product trade to test the effect of the residue standards on China’s export of vegetables (Chlorpyrifos MRL) and aquatic products (Oxytetracycline MRL). The results show that food safety standards imposed by importing countries have a negative and statistically significant effect on China’s export of agricultural products. The trade effect of food safety standards is much larger than that of the import tariff. JEL no. F13, F14     

The relationship between wage growth and wage levels

We estimate the covariance between the permanent component of wages and a random coefficient on experience in models both with potential experience and with actual experience. Actual experience is allowed to be arbitrarily correlated with both the permanent component of wages and the random component on experience. We find no evidence that workers of higher ability experience faster wage growth. Our point estimates suggest that a worker with a one standard deviation higher level of permanent ability would have a return to annual potential experience that is 0.61 of a percentage point lower. The analogous point estimate for actual experience is 0.87 of a point lower. Contrary to the popular perception, wage growth among low‐skill workers appears to be at least as high as that for a medium‐skilled worker. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

China trade: Busting gravity's bounds

Since China's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, annual growth rates of its imports and exports have increased, and raised tensions between China and some of its major trading partners. Using a gravity model of trade, we find that China's orientation toward foreign trade is much greater than expected for an economy of its size and level of development. Our analysis shows that China's excessive orientation toward foreign trade (“over-trading”) varies substantially across countries and we consider various explanations for the over-trading. A comparison of China's export boom with the earlier export booms of more market-based East and Southeast Asian economies shows that China's export boom has exceeded earlier booms in magnitude but not in duration. We conclude with a discussion of the likely scale of future export and import flows from and to China.     

ASSET PRICES,OUTPUT AND MONETARY POLICY IN A SMALL OPEN ECONOMY

We formulate a macro‐model of a small open economy in order to investigate the relative performance of rules that respond to asset prices and those that do not. Our model consists of three asset prices: the stock price, the long‐term interest rate and the exchange rate. These asset prices interact with nominal wage and price Phillips curves, a law of motion for the labour share, a dynamic IS curve that describes output adjustment and a Taylor‐type interest rate policy rule. Estimations of the model show that policy rules that respond to asset price movements dominate rules that do not.     

Enabling ‘managed activism’: the adoption of call centres in Australian,British and US trade unions

This article examines how trade unions in different country settings have utilised call centre technologies. Rather than viewing union call centres as simply a means of service delivery, our research suggests they can also enable a more strategic approach to workplace organising. We explore the implications of union call centres for debates on servicing and organising models of trade unionism.     

Capturing the time dynamics of central bank intervention

We estimate central bank reaction functions using the autoregressive conditional hazard model and the autoregressive conditional binomial model. We find that the Federal Reserve and Bundesbank intervened when the market was calmer, and the Bundesbank intervened in response to exchange rates being out-of-line with fundamentals. Japan intervened in response to changes in the nominal exchange rate, and intervention differed before and after Eisuke Sakakibara became Director General of the International Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Finance in Japan. We argue that these results are consistent with central bank policy goals and the effect of intervention on the exchange rate.     

Relative consumption, relative wealth and growth

In a growth model where individuals care about their social status measured both by consumption and wealth comparisons, we show that status comparison in wealth heightens economic growth, while status comparison in consumption may affect negatively economic growth.     

Further progress in the desegregation of South African towns and cities, 1996–2001

Between 1996 and 2001 South African towns and cities have continued the slow process of residential desegregation which was first noted in the previous inter-census period. The changes have been group-specific and place-specific, and the experiences of different groups and regions have differed substantially. The key African–White index of dissimilarity remains exceptionally high throughout the country, although it has now shown some evidence of decline. The Free State stands out as being significantly more segregated than the rest of the country. KwaZulu-Natal continues to be the most desegregated province and significant changes are evident in this respect for most inter-group indices. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the urban population continues to live in highly segregated suburbs.