A model of merchants

I propose a simple model of merchants who are specialized in buying and selling a homogeneous good. Facing the same frictions as in the buyer-seller direct trades, merchants can make profits with an ability to buy and sell many units of the good. They set the price to compete in the market and provide buyers with a strong likelihood of obtaining the good. This paper establishes a turnover equilibrium where some agents choose to become merchants endogenously. An interesting multiplicity can emerge.     

Can Chinese aid win the hearts and minds of Africa’s local population?

The vast increase in China’s aid projects has raised mounting concerns about the effectiveness of Chinese aid. To assess Chinese development assistance in Africa from the perspective of local residents’ attitude toward Chinese projects, we geographically match Chinese aid projects in Africa from 2000 to 2012 to the respondents of the Afrobarometer survey. By comparing the attitudes toward China reported by individuals who live close to ongoing Chinese projects at the time of the interview to those of individuals who live near sites where Chinese projects will be implemented in the future, this study establishes that the presence of Chinese projects induces a positive view of Chinese aid within the local population. Our mechanism analysis shows that people from all statuses can benefit from economic infrastructure projects, while the advantaged tend to have a better view of Chinese aid. In contrast, social infrastructure aid inspires a more positive view among disadvantaged people. We thus demonstrate that aid can have a differential impact on local attitudes, depending on aid types and statuses of recipients.     

品质管理探究——以上海慧高为例

伴随目前经济增速放缓的趋势,产品质量的保证是企业在竞争激烈的市场环境中保持竞争优势的关键。本文通过对上海慧高品质管理问题的现状,对影响产品质量的关键因素进行了分析,并在此基础上提出了产品质量管理改善的相关对策。     

Does trade stimulate product quality upgrading?

This paper investigates whether increased import competition leads firms to engage in incremental innovation reflected in product quality upgrading using Chilean manufacturing firm‐product data and measuring product quality with unit values (prices). We identify causal effects of import competition using an effective trade barrier measure – transport costs – as instruments for import penetration ratios across industries. Transport costs have a negative and significant effect on product quality. The evidence suggests that estimated unit value increases capture product quality upgrading, imports’ competition effects drive quality upgrading, and benefits depend on firms’ industrial specialization. Easier access to intermediate inputs also fosters quality upgrading.     

Bidirectional technological spillover in the Chinese star-rated hotel sector: An empirical investigation

The star-rated hotel sector has played an increasing role in Chinese economic development. A feature of this sector is the technology-gap between high- and low-end hotels, which may generate spillover through different channels: such as human capital mobility and management systems. High-end hotels are technological leaders with better access to technology, foreign connections, and government policy support, while low-end hotels have better localized knowledge and expertise. Therefore, it is important to see whether there is spillover between high- and low-end hotels. Two contributions of our paper are to model hotels as multi-service decision-makers, and to rely on a nonparametric empirical strategy. The results show that high-end hotels are the major spillover generators moving the star-rated hotel sector to better performance. On the other hand, low-end hotels not only integrate the technological knowledge from high-end hotels, but also share their experience of local knowledge.     

Does home owning smooth the variability of future housing consumption?

We show that the hedging benefit of owning a home reduces the variability of housing consumption after a move. When a current home owner’s house price covaries positively with housing costs in a future city, changes in the future cost of housing are offset by commensurate changes in wealth before the move. Using Census micro-data, we find that the cross-sectional variation in house values subsequent to a move is lower for home owners who moved between more highly covarying cities. Our preferred estimates imply that an increase in covariance of one standard deviation reduces the variance of subsequent housing consumption by about 11%. Households at the top end of the covariance distribution who are likely to have owned large homes before moving get the largest reductions, of up to 40% relative to households at the median.     

Natural capital, subjective well-being, and the new welfare economics of sustainability: Some evidence from cross-country regressions

The measurement of natural capital and its management during the economic development process are important aspects of the capital approach to sustainable development. However, the assessment of social welfare in terms of genuine savings (or changes in total wealth per capita) is arguably too limited. This paper tries to make a case for the incorporation of subjective well-being measures in debates about sustainable development by exploring the macro-level relationship between subjective well-being and natural capital in a cross-country setting. It is tested whether natural capital per capita is correlated with subjective well-being in a sample of fifty-eight developed and developing countries, using natural capital data from the World Bank's Millennium Capital Assessment. Bivariate regressions indicate that it is. When multiple regression models are estimated that include (a) major country-level determinants of subjective well-being (GNI per capita, social capital, income distribution, unemployment, inflation), and (b) regional dummy variables for ex-Soviet Union and Latin American countries, the positive correlation remains. The role of data outliers is carefully explored, and the sensitivity of the results to the use of alternative subjective well-being measures (i.e. life satisfaction, happiness, and a combined life satisfaction and happiness index) is investigated. This does not change the nature of the results. The findings arguably strengthen the case for a ‘new welfare economics of sustainability’ that takes subjective well-being measures into account.     

6NS-4快速试验米机的技术探讨

文章论述了6NS-4快速试验米机在购销稻谷过程中发挥其作用的普遍性、重要性及该机型在稻谷定级中的主要功能及其主要设计要点。     

GIS断路器液压机构油位降低原因排查与施治

国华太仓电厂500 kV SF6全封闭组合电器(GIS)断路器液压操作机构是日本日立公司原装进口设备,主要由工作缸、电磁铁、一、二级阀、油箱、储能器、转换开关、油泵电机及压力开关等组成,运行过程中液压机构可靠性直接关系断路器能否正常分合闸,而全套日本进口液压操作机构运行工况异常的处理在国内一直是技术空白。文章对断路器液压机构油位降低的原因进行分析、排查与施治,并总结全过程,为今后处理同类进口设备液压机构问题提供参考。     

废定影液的综合利用

采用Na2S沉淀法回收废定影液中的银,通过高温灼烧、硝酸溶解、除杂等一系列步骤制备试剂级硝酸银.结果表明,银的回收率达99.92%,制备的硝酸银纯度为99.8%以上,达到分析纯级别.同时,进行了回收银后废定影液处理高浓度六价铬废液的研究,处理后废水中六价铬和三价铬都达到了国家规定的排放标准,实现了以废治废的目的.