Productivity Growth, Efficiency and Outsourcing in Manufacturing and Service Industries

This paper is a survey of recent contributions to, and developments of, the relationship between outsourcing, efficiency and productivity growth in manufacturing and services. The objective is to provide a thorough and up–to–date survey that provides a significant discussion on data, as well as on the core methods of measuring efficiency and productivity. First, the readers are introduced to the measurement of partial and total factor productivity growth. Different parametric and non–parametric approaches to the productivity measurement in the context of static, dynamic and firm–specific modelling are discussed. Second, we survey the econometric approach to efficiency analysis. The issues of modelling, distributional assumptions and estimation methods are discussed assuming that cross–sectional or panel data are available. Third, the relationship between outsourcing and productivity growth in manufacturing and services is discussed. The correspondence between a number of hypotheses and empirical findings are examined. Examples of varieties of relevant empirical applications, their findings and implications are presented. Fourth, measurement of inputs and outputs in manufacturing and services are discussed. Finally, to promote useful research, a number of factors important to the analysis of outsourcing, efficiency and productivity growth in the service sector are summarised.     

企业规模边界的系统审视——基于马克思主义协作系统观的视角

新制度主义从交换关系出发,认为企业规模扩展的界限是企业的边际组织成本与市场的边际交易成本相等之点;而古典主义则从企业核心的生产功能出发,认为企业规模扩展的界限也就在于企业的边际协调收益与市场的边际协调收益相等之点。文章借鉴马克思的协作观对新制度主义企业理论进行了修补,并进而探究了体现协作系统这一企业本质的社会合理规模界限:企业的净边际协调收益与企业的净边际组织成本相等之点;同时,又借鉴马克思的异化观考察了企业组织发生异化后所衍生出来的收益转移效应以及相应企业规模。在此基础上,文章得出了两个基本结论:企业的现实规模通常要大于企业的社会合理规模;并且,随着企业形态偏离协作系统这一本质的程度不同,企业规模也存在明显的差异。     

The Optimal Timing of Adoption of a Green Technology

We study the optimal timing of adoption of a cleaner technology and its effects on the rate of growth of an economy in the context of an AK endogenous growth model. We show that the results depend upon the behavior of the marginal utility of environmental quality with respect to consumption. When it is increasing, we derive the capital level at the optimal timing of adoption. We show that this capital threshold is independent of the initial conditions on the stock of capital, implying that capital-poor countries tend to take longer to adopt. Also, country-specific characteristics, as the existence of high barriers to adoption, may lead to different capital thresholds for different countries. If the marginal utility of environmental quality decreases with consumption, a country should never delay adoption; the optimal policy is either to adopt immediately or, if adoption costs are “too high”, to never adopt. The policy implications of these results are discussed in the context of the international debate surrounding the environmental political agenda.      

经济地理学研究中的尺度问题

分析了地理学中的尺度概念及其类型,强调尺度在经济地理学研究框架/范式中具有重要意义。经济地理学中的尺度变化,具有从早期微观尺度研究转向宏观微观结合以及宏观精细化研究的特征。中国经济地理学的宏观研究传统应该继续发扬,但同时应加强其微观研究。其微观研究可沿着三个层面展开:①在研究对象的空间尺度上从小区域或点位入手;②对研究对象进行分解,抓住其中最基本的单元,借助微观研究解释、揭示宏观现象;③对宏观(中观)对象的研究中,注意微观视角,即利用相关技术,构造精细的宏观模型。     

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.     

规模、路径与动因:发展中国家企业的FDI行为探析

发展中国家的企业不仅关心如何通过FDI将利润最大化,也关心提高一般性经营资源的收益。本文应用二阶段理论,综合考虑两个市场、两个阶段和两种状态等因素,对优势企业和弱势企业的决策背景进行了比较,分析了制度学习效应、资源转移效应和国内市场竞争效应等发展中国家企业FDI动因,建立了弱势企业FDI规模的决策模型,该模型也可以用于发展中国家企业FDI行为的路径选择。     

金融发展对城市化的影响分析—基于省际面板数据的分析

对我国城市化发展水平缓慢的解释主要来自人口流动以及产业和城市经济发展方面,但是,目前我国的城市化水平提高明显受制于城市最佳人口规模的扩大,即城市的容纳能力。通过对31个省（直辖市、自治区）2000-2006年共计7年的数据进行面板分析的结果表明,金融业发展水平对城市化水平有很显著的促进作用。金融业发展水平的不足将抑制企业创造就业的能力和城市基础设施建设进度,进而减缓了城市化步伐。为促进我国城市化水平的提高,应加强对劳动密集型行业和中小企业的金融扶持;加大城市公共支出方面的金融创新力度以及完善我国金融法律体系。     

基于规模和位序差异的陕西入境旅游研究

为科学、准确研究陕西入境旅游发展的区域差异,文章借鉴研究区域经济规模和位序差异的成熟方法,选取2001--2010年国家和陕西省统计年鉴中陕西省7个重点城市的相关数据（2003年由于非典原因除外）,对陕西入境旅游的区域差异进行了研究。发现陕西入境旅游业发展空间差异较大,但有逐渐缩小的趋势,7个重点城市入境旅游发展不平衡且不平衡格局相对稳定等问题。在此基础上,分析了影响陕西入境旅游规模位序差异化的原因。     

“刘易斯拐点”是否来临--基于四次农村社会调查资料的分析

本文利用2007—2013年间的四次农村社会调查资料,对农村劳动力及外出劳动力规模和结构变动趋势、农村外出劳动力工资价格和农业劳动力收入变动趋势等进行了统计分析。结果表明：农村劳动力规模下降和老化趋势明显,外出劳动力占农村劳动力总数的比例不断下降且回流比例不断提高,在外出劳动力工资价格大幅持续上涨的同时,农业劳动力收入水平也有了较大幅度的提高。这些条件基本可以印证我国已进入“刘易斯拐点”的判断。     

中国基本养老保险最优财政支出规模测算——基于柯布-道格拉斯生产函数的一项研究

以内生增长理论为基础,运用巴罗的财政支出自然效率条件和改进的柯布-道格拉斯生产函数分别对中国城镇职工基本养老保险和城乡居民基本养老保险的最优财政支出规模进行测算,发现中国城镇职工基本养老保险和城乡居民基本养老保险的最优财政支出规模分别为2.33%和0.81%,目前两项养老保险的财政支出皆已超过了最优财政支出规模。为缓解养老保险的财政补贴压力,保证养老保险制度的良性运行,建议落实划转国有资本充实全国社会保障基金政策,实施基础养老金全国统筹,激发城镇职工和城乡居民缴费的积极性。