Factors of trade in Europe

We analyze how a set of determinants affect trade among European countries over the period 1992–2008. The factors encompass variables from the areas of geography, culture, institutions, infrastructure, and trade direction. Trade is analyzed for four types of goods: primary goods, parts and components, capital goods, and consumer goods. For each type of good we also distinguish its definition in terms of flows, intensive margin, and extensive margin. Methodologically, we first derive country-pair fixed effects over all possible pairs of export–import partners, and in the second stage we relate fixed effects with a set of influential factors. We show (i) the intuitive and varying effects of geographical, cultural, and institutional factors; (ii) the beneficial effects of soft and hard infrastructure; and (iii) the key importance of trade between old and new EU members.     

Positive welfare effects of trade barriers in a dynamic partial equilibrium model

We develop a simple two-region, cobweb-type dynamic partial equilibrium model to demonstrate the existence of optimal, possibly non-zero, trade barriers. A pure comparative statics analysis of our model suggests that a reduction of trade barriers, modeled as small but positive import tariffs, always enhances welfare. However, taking a dynamic perspective reveals that nonlinear trade interactions between two regions may generate endogenous price fluctuations which can hamper welfare. Finally, we allow special interest groups, such as consumers or producers from these two regions, to lobby for a particular level of trade barriers. Our model predicts that time-varying trade barriers may be another channel for market instability.     

Are rules and boundaries sufficient to limit harmful central bank discretion? Lessons from Europe

Marvin Goodfriend׳s (2014) insightful, informative and provocative work explains concisely and convincingly why the Fed needs rules and boundaries. This paper reviews the broader institutional design problem regarding the effectiveness of the central bank in practice and confirms the need for rules and boundaries. The framework proposed for improving the Fed incorporates key elements that have already been adopted in the European Union. The case of ELA provision by the ECB and the Central Bank of Cyprus to Marfin-Laiki Bank during the crisis, however, suggests that the existence of rules and boundaries may not be enough to limit harmful discretion. During a crisis, novel interpretations of the legal authority of the central bank may be introduced to create a grey area that might be exploited to justify harmful discretionary decisions even in the presence of rules and boundaries. This raises the question how to ensure that rules and boundaries are respected in practice.     

On the (non-)equivalence of IRR and NPV

The internal rate of return (IRR) is generally considered inferior to the net present value (NPV) as a tool for evaluating and ranking projects, despite its inherently useful comparability to the cost of capital and the return of other investment opportunities. We introduce the “selective IRR”, a return criterion which, as a selection of an extended set of possible IRRs, is NPV-consistent. The selective IRR always exists, is unique, easy to compute, and does not suffer from drawbacks that befall the project investment rate, the only other known NPV-consistent return criterion.     

Constructive and computable Hahn–Banach theorems for the (second) fundamental theorem of welfare economics

The Hahn–Banach Theorem plays a crucial role in the second fundamental theorem of welfare economics. To date, all mathematical economics and advanced general equilibrium textbooks concentrate on using non-constructive or incomputable versions of this celebrated theorem. In this paper we argue for the introduction of constructive or computable Hahn–Banach theorems in mathematical economics and advanced general equilibrium theory. The suggested modification would make applied and policy-oriented economics intrinsically computational.     

Factor substitution and taxation in a finance constrained economy

In this paper, we examine the effects of constant-rate factor taxation on macroeconomic stability in the Woodford (1986) model. Our focus is on how the degree of factor substitution, as measured by the elasticity of factor substitution (EOS) in production, affects different balanced-budget tax rules. Analytically, we show that indeterminacy can occur under capital income taxation only when the EOS is very low, whereas indeterminacy under labor income taxation is not subject to the EOS restriction. This finding is robust when we tax all of the factor incomes with equal rates. Thus, in terms of macroeconomic stability, taxing capital income is preferred to taxing labor income.     

Distribution of stock ratings and analyst recommendation revision

With the implementation of NASD Rule 2711 in 2002, each brokerage firm is now required to publicly disseminate the distribution of stock ratings in each research report. Hence, this paper investigates the relationship between the percentage of buy recommendations and probability of deciding to downgrade or drop coverage of stocks. Our findings suggest that the percentage of buy recommendations can enhance the probability of deciding to downgrade stock ratings and drop coverage of stocks. Furthermore, we find that analysts tend to revise their recommendations downward to hold instead of an unfavorable level. In addition, we find the market tends to heed downgrade decisions of analysts with a higher percentage of buy ratings. This finding is consistent with Barber, Lehavy, McNichols, and Trueman (2006) by applying data at the broker level.This study further investigates the changing dynamic in buy ratio of analysts by partitioning pre and post regulatory reform period. We show that analysts are more likely to revise their ratings to hold and less likely to revise their ratings to sell; in particular after post regulatory reform. Moreover, we observe one key coefficient in the post-Rule period with superior performance in contrast to the pre-Rule period. Compared to the results in the pre-Rule period, the results show that analysts are more likely to revise their ratings to hold and less likely to revise ratings to sell, and more likely to drop coverage of stocks in the post-Rule period. Overall, our findings suggest that the implementation of Rule 2711 will contribute to reduce analysts’ optimistic stock ratings.     

首都城市功能定位与产业发展互动关系研究

城市功能与城市产业发展相辅相承。北京作为国家首都,其自身的特殊功能定位对首都产业选择与发展提出了更高的要求。文章在回顾北京城市功能演变与产业发展互动历程的基础上,进一步明确新时期首都城市功能定位对产业发展的需求和实际影响,提出基于新时期首都城市功能定位的现代产业体系,并对加速推进首都现代产业发展提出了针对性的政策建议。     

10kV配电网馈线自动化发展与现状分析

文章结合配电自动化的概况,对馈线自动化以及电压型馈线自动化设备的实现进行了分析与介绍,并对10 kV配电网馈线自动化的现状以及改造目的做了阐述。     

论征收补偿协议的行政法效力

房屋征收系政府行为,征收补偿协议系政府职能部门与被征收入签订的、解决征收补偿问题的法律行为。《国有土地上房屋征收与补偿条例》（以下简称《征收条例》）第25条规定：“房屋征收部门与被征收入依照本条例的规定,就补偿方式、补偿金额和支付期限、用于产权调换房屋的地点和面积、搬迁费、临时安置费或者周转用房、