Intermediate Macroeconomics without the IS-LM Model

The IS-LM model is the primary model of economic fluctuations taught in intermediate-level undergraduate macroeconomics. Recent works by Taylor and Romer make a strong case for an alternative model, known as the aggregate demand-price adjustment (AD-PA) or the aggregate demand-inflation adjustment (AD-IA) model, as a better model of economic fluctuations. The author argues that the AD-PA model is superior to the IS-LM model for teaching about economic fluctuations in intermediate macroeconomics. He compares the perfomance of the two models in teaching about two important issues in current macroeconomics: the ineffectiveness of monetary policy in stimulating the 1990s Japanese economy and the rapid switch of the U.S. Federal Reserve from contractionary policy to expansionary policy in 2001.     

Women and Work: A Survey of Textbooks

The third Marshall–Hicks–Allen rule of elasticity of derived demand purports to show that labor demand is less elastic when labor is a smaller share of total costs. As Hicks, Allen, and then Bronfenbrenner showed, this rule is not quite correct, and actually is complicated by an unexpected negative relationship involving labor's share of total costs and the elasticity of substitution. The standard intuitive explanation for the exception to the rule presented by Stigler and referenced in many textbooks describes a situation rather different than the one described in the rule. The author presents an example that illustrates the peculiar negative impact of labor's share operating via the elasticity of substitution and then explains why the unexpected relationship between labor's share of total cost, the elasticity of substitution, and the elasticity of labor demand holds.     

The Institutional Economics of Karl Polanyi

Economists tend to see the market as a default option for social order and a role for government only when markets fail. Developing a convincing analysis of the role of government in economic processes, however, needs to start by considering government failure in its own terms. Drawing on insights from institutional economics, law and economics and the philosophy of law, emphasizing the necessity of rules for the economy, this paper develops the concept of government failure. The paper identifies and develops four different types of government failure. Government can set rules for economic processes and actors that are (1) too specific, (2) too broad, (3) that are arbitrary, or (4) that conflict with other rules it has set out to address other, related issues (possibly primarily non-economic). Government failure is illustrated in the context of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) law as it relates to Anti-Trust law.     

The Doctoral Origins of Economics Faculty and the Education of New Economics Doctorates

For the open economy, the workhorse model in intermediate textbooks still is the Mundell-Fleming model, which basically extends the investment and savings, liquidity preference and money supply (IS-LM) model to open economy problems. The authors present a simple New Keynesian model of the open economy that introduces open economy considerations into the closed economy consensus version and that still allows for a simple and comprehensible analytical and graphical treatment. Above all, their model provides an efficient tool kit for the discussion of the costs and benefits of fixed and flexible exchange rates, which also was at the core of the Mundell-Fleming model.     

International supply chains and trade agreements

There is a growing literature that examines the role of trade agreements on the formation of international supply chains. The evidence indicates that in general countries that share trade agreements are more likely to develope cross-border supply chains. In this analysis, we argue that in order to examine the effects of trade agreements on the formation of supply chains between two countries, it is not enough to analyse the impact of the trade agreements that the two countries share but it is also important to assess the impact of the trade agreements that they share with third countries. Using data on trade in value added for 129 countries, we show empirically that about 40% of the potential increase in trade in value added induced by a trade agreement between an importing country and a sourcing partner is wiped out by each additional trade agreement signed by the importing country with third nations in which the sourcing partner is not a member. The result has important implications for regions seeking to develop international supply chains but in which the process of integration is highly fragmented.     

A model-based decision support system for solving vehicle routing and driver scheduling problems under hours of service regulations

In principle, hours-of-service (HOS) regulations are intended to help ensure truck drivers get adequate rest and perform safe operations. The new HOS regulations, however, may lead to substantial cost increases for regional common carriers which have already been hit hard by rising fuel prices and declining shipping demands. In addition, the new HOS regulations complicate driver schedules by not only restricting the driver's consecutive driving hours, but also expanding off-duty hours. To deal with this complex challenge, we propose a model-based decision support system (DSS) that helps determine the truck driver's working hours, rest periods, and his/her assigned truck's schedules and routes under HOS regulations. As a core of this model-based DSS, we developed a mixed-integer programming model and a simulated annealing metaheuristic for solving it. This model was also integrated with a geographical information system and relational database management system to enhance interfaces between the model and its parametric data using spatial, graphical displays.     

C语言位运算中鲜为人知的事

在很多系统程序中常要求在位（bit）一级进行运算或处理。C语言提供了位运算的功能,这使得C语言也能像汇编语言一样用来编写系统程序。位运算说的简单一些,就是直接对整数在内存中的二进制位进行操作。希望通过本文让大家了解位运算中鲜为人知的事情。     

物流系统中面向数据分析的路径规划算法研究

提出了一种新型数据挖掘路径规划算法,该算法通过扫描物流路径信息数据库,进行初始筛选,得到初步的路径序列,然后生成有针对性的候选过度路径序列,对候选路径序列进行优化处理,进而得到物流过程中的有用路径序列,试验表明该路径规划算法可有效减少所需扫描的物流路径信息数据库的次数,同时缩小了候选路径集合,其时间成本得到有效控制.     

数据权限管理的研究和设计

本文对数据权限进行逐步深入的分析,提出了利用定义数据对象对系统数据资源进行分类管理,通过定义数据对象的权限规则确定该数据对象的权限,把数据分为工作流数据和非工作流数据得出动态和静态权限控制方式,最后建立了数据权限管理模型。针对该模型的系统实现,对其数据库进行了设计,对模型内的类以及类之间的关系进行了初步的设计。     

Public infrastructure investment,output dynamics,and balanced budget fiscal rules

We study the dynamic macroeconomic effects of public infrastructure investment under a balanced budget fiscal rule, using an overlapping generations model of a small open economy. The government finances public investment by employing distortionary labor taxes. The balanced budget rule implies a negative short-run output multiplier that exceeds (in absolute terms) the positive long-run output multiplier. Larger public capital spillovers sharpen the intertemporal output tradeoff. In contrast to conventional results regarding public investment shocks, we obtain dampened cyclical responses for plausible parameter values. The cyclical dynamics arise from the interaction between the labor tax rate, the tax base, and the intergenerational spillover effects. We show that financing scenarios involving public debt creation can substantially reduce the short-run output contraction and the transitional macroeconomic fluctuations induced by public investment.