A multiproduct Symmetric Generalized McFadden cost function

This paper introduces a flexible multiproduct cost function that permits zero values of one or more of the outputs and can impose restrictions quite easily, if not automatically satisfied, to ensure global concavity property. It satisfies linear homogeneity (in prices) property and is flexible in the output space. Thus the function is ideal for estimating, for example, economies of scope, cost complementarity, product-specific returns to scale, etc., without worrying about zero values of output(s) and extrapolations to points far from the point of approximation. As an empirical application, we use panel data (1978–1985) on 12 Finnish foundry plants to estimate technical progress, overall returns to scale, product-specific returns to scale and economies of scope.     

现代国际贸易理论对中国对外贸易发展的启示

萨缪尔森认为在全球化进程中,中国在美国原来具有比较优势的领域里的技术进步,会导致美国贸易条件的恶化和福利的下降。但从现实数据看,中国在劳动密集型产品的出口扩大恶化了中国的贸易条件。从长远看,中国基于廉价劳动力为基础的纵向对外贸易的比重将逐步下降,而基于规模经济为基础的横向贸易的地位将逐渐上升。     

基于聚集经济的产业集群理论模型

为了扩大产业集群规模,我国地方政府竞相出台各种优惠政策,极力降低企业的准入门槛.从理论上看,上述政策的作用是有限的.本文在分析集群企业成本和市场均衡的基础上提出了扩大集群规模的两种方法,认为提高聚集经济才是最根本的方法.     

我国能源强度的最优规模实证研究

我国能源现状与经济增长的高能源依赖性表明．经济增长需要最优能源强度。最优能源强度及其存在性，可通过实证得出，实际能源强度与最优值的差距也可进行测算。研究结果表明，近年来我国实际能源强度高于最优值，处于不断上升的趋势，最终会实现能源强度最优规模。     

Industrial development in the inland region of China: A case study of the motorcycle industry

Although the inland region of China has generally been left behind in economic development compared with the coastal region, the motorcycle industry in Chongqing has recorded remarkable growth due to the meteoric rise of private enterprises over the last decade. Based on panel data of enterprises, we attempt to identify the factors behind the dynamic development of this industry. We conclude that the success of the motorcycle industry in Chongqing is attributable to a combination of positive features from the Wenzhou model in the 1990s, in which industrial development is based on clustering of private enterprises, and the Sunan model in the 1980s, in which industrial development is based on the effective use of human resources recruited from existing state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Learning by collective enterprises from SOEs in Chongqing coupled with the growth of the private enterprise sector fostered cluster-based industrial development. Journal of Comparative Economics 34 (4) (2006) 818–838.     

Feminist Ecological Economics and Sustainability

Synopsis New developments in feminist ecological economics and ecofeminist economics are contributing to the search for theories and policy approaches to move economies toward sustainability. This paper summarizes work by ecofeminists and feminist ecological economists which is relevant to the sustainability challenge and its implications for the discipline of economics. Both democracy and lower material throughputs are generally seen as basic principles of economic sustainability. Feminist theorists and feminist ecological economists offer many important insights into the conundrum of how to make a democratic and equity-enhancing transition to an economy based on less material throughput. These flow from feminist research on unpaid work and caring labor, provisioning, development, valuation, social reproduction, non-monetized exchange relationships, local economies, redistribution, citizenship, equity-enhancing political institutions, and labor time, as well as creative modeling approaches and activism-based theorizing.      

Agglomeration economies and university program creation in the knowledge economy

Existing academic literature on the relationship between agglomeration economies and university activities is both under-theorized and relatively sparse in terms of empirical examination. This paper addresses each of these voids by contributing and analyzing a market model of pro-revenue education program creation such as graduate-level executive business education (e.g. EMBA) that reveals some intriguing characteristics. For instance, it shows that demand for these pro-revenue programs is inelastic and therefore uniquely determines their availability. More specifically, we show that through agglomeration economies these types of education programs are more likely to emanate from universities located in metropolitan areas and from less academically prestigious universities. Regression analysis of a cross-section of national public universities lends support to important facets of our formal model by suggesting that agglomeration economies continue to increase the probability of offering EMBA programs through a city size of approximately 2.12 million and that the probability that a given business school will offer an EMBA is negatively related to the academic prestige of the institution to which it is affiliated.     

Five scale challenges in Ecuadorian forest and landscape restoration governance

The forest and landscape restoration (FLR) targets set as part of the Bonn Challenge draw attention to the governance arrangements required to translate national FLR targets into local action. To achieve the targets, actors at multiple levels of the governance scale aim to influence relevant processes on the ecological scale. In this article, we focus on the scale challenges relating to the implementation of Ecuador’s restoration targets, by analysing the implementation of the 2014–2017 National Forest Restoration Plan in the montane Chocó Andino and Bosque Seco landscapes. From 54 semi-structured interviews, a document review, and geographical data analysis, we identified two temporal (i, ii) and three spatial scale challenges (iii, iv, v): i) Political cycles mismatch with FLR timelines; ii) Planning horizons mismatch with FLR timelines; iii) National restoration objectives mismatch with decentralised land use planning realities; iv) The governance level of existing FLR efforts mismatches with the level receiving restoration funds; and v) Tensions exist between the spatial dimensions of biodiversity and water-related restoration efforts. The findings highlight that more attention must be given to scale-sensitive governance to make the process in which national FLR targets are translated into local action more effective.     

A multivariate time series analysis of energy consumption,real output and pollutant emissions in a developing economy: New evidence from Nepal

Mountain economies will have to play a central role in attaining the global pursuit of green economic growth as crucial bearers of ecosystems goods and services. However, these economies are not adequately represented in the development policy debates in spite of their fundamental importance towards global sustainable development. This study examines the inter relationships between energy consumption, output and carbon emissions in a developing mountainous economy using an augmented Vector Autoregression model. Time-series data over the period 1975–2013 is studied applying a multivariate framework using population and gross fixed capital formation as additional variables for Nepal. Testing for Granger causality between integrated variables based on asymptotic theory reveals a long-run unidirectional Granger causality running from GDP to energy consumption, and a unidirectional Granger causality running from carbon emissions to GDP. We suggest that the government of Nepal can address energy poverty by accelerating the adoption energy conservation policies such as rationing energy consumption and energy efficiency improvements to narrow the energy supply-demand gap. The opportunity to promote the uptake of decentralised off-grid renewable technologies in remote areas and the large scale development of hydropower at the national level also needs to be prioritized. Our results remain robust across different estimators and contributes to an emerging literature on the nexus relationships between energy consumption, income and carbon emissions in mountainous developing economies.     

财政支出差异性对创业活动的激励效应分析

经济新常态下,创业是推动中国经济发展、改善民生的重要途径。创业过程的风险性、不确定性及正外部性需要政府给予积极支持。基于2007-2015年中国内地30个省市（除西藏外）数据,运用动态面板模型,考察地区财政支出和创业活动的关系。研究结果表明：财政支出规模对创业活动数量及创业活动质量具有滞后的积极作用;财政支出规模的滞后效应源于财政支出结构的滞后效应,不同财政支出结构对创业活动质量影响的差异较大;同时,创新是提升创业活动质量的重要手段。因此,政府应积极支持“大众创业、万众创新”,各地区财政创业扶持资金应该从规模和结构上进行调整,重点优化有利于创新的支出结构,为创业提供良好的公共环境。