Strategic R&D policy under multiproduct duopoly and quality-price competition

This paper analyses strategic R&D policy in a third-country trade model where multiproduct firms with different production technologies compete in a vertically differentiated market. I show that the optimal R&D policies for both countries are subsidies when the product market is under price competition.     

渔船燃油补贴的金融效应——以赣榆县下口村为例

我国渔船燃油补贴依据我国国情提出,有其自己的特殊性。油补发挥作用的基础是"双控"政策,即渔船船数和功率指标实行总额控制,在这一政策背景下,实施油补,不会造成出海捕鱼的数量增加,更深一步,不会造成渔船过多以至于造成过度捕捞。燃油补贴的发放,使得功率指标转化成渔民的一项可支配资产,可进行买卖,同时也为渔民的融资提供了一个新的途径。除此之外,目前渔民的运营模式也变得金融化,使得渔村金融的繁荣,充满活力。因此,燃油补贴在改善渔民生活水平的同时,也改善着渔民的运营态势。     

Revisiting wage subsidies: How pro-poor is a South African wage subsidy likely to be?

Wage subsidies have been used in both developed and developing countries to raise employment. After a decade of deliberation, the South African Government recently announced the introduction of a wage subsidy scheme. Given the intrinsic link between unemployment and poverty in South Africa, the belief is that a wage subsidy programme sufficient in scope will also make inroads into poverty. However, the way in which jobs are distributed among poor and non-poor jobseekers is crucial. Our general equilibrium microsimulation model confirms the expectation that a higher wage elasticity of labour demand is associated with larger reductions in poverty. We also find that a greater proportion of new jobs accrue to poor jobseekers when the elasticity is high. While youth-targeting does not improve the poverty-reducing effect of the policy, sectors such as textiles, accommodation, and construction services with their pro-poor employment profiles are good candidates for targeting.     

Inefficiencies in Public Environmental Services

The paper discusses efficiency issues in the public provision of environmental services, in particular waste water treatment. It is shown that in the face of increasing, respectively decreasing returns to scale the zero profit constraint of a cost minimizing public firm induces underinvestment, respectively overinvestment in public capacity compared with efficient allocation between public purification and effluent control by private polluters. X-inefficiency of the public firm counter-acts the inefficiency in allocation arising from overinvestment, and it reinforces the inefficiency in allocation in case of underinvestment in public purification capacity. As subsidy can bring down the user's charge imposed on sources, but it will also increase X-inefficiency. The subsidy counteracts underinvestment but reinforces overinvestment in public capacity.     

Measuring the Foreign Exchange Premium and the Premium for Non‐Tradable Outlays for 20 Countries in Africa

In this paper, we develop an analytical general equilibrium framework to measure the foreign exchange premium and the premium for non‐tradable outlays for a country. The framework allows us to capture in a consistent manner the impacts of the sourcing of funds and their expenditure on tradable and non‐tradable goods and services of investment projects. An application of the model is carried out for 20 countries in Africa. The results show that the foreign exchange premiums range from 2.4% to 9.0% and the premium for non‐tradable outlays from ?0.7% to 2.9%. The empirical values depend on a number of factors, including the indirect taxes, production subsidies and international trade distortions of a country. These premiums should be incorporated into the economic evaluation of investment projects.     

中美铜版纸反补贴案的分析与启示

随着WTO五年过渡期的结束,国外要求中国市场进一步开放的呼声高涨,而利用各种名目对中国出口产品实施限制乃至制裁的案例也越来越多.往年多以中方企业倾销为由向中国企业征收反倾销税的状况在近日发生了一些变化,2007年3月30日美国商务部决定对中国适用反补贴法,结束了其23年来不对所谓"非市场经济地位"国家征收反补贴税的惯例,从而为其向中国征收反补贴税的进程扫清了法律上的障碍.文章主要探讨美方选择铜版纸个案作为起征反补贴税的原因,美方对华征收反补贴税的深层次目的以及此案引发的对中国如何在WTO框架下维护正当权益的思考与启示.     

住房消费因素在工资收入中的比重分析

在住房分配货币化实施过程中,住房补贴额度的确定问题是其难点之一。在职工收入中已经包含的住房消费因素,包括工资收入、住房公积金以及房租补贴等。同时,对住房补贴额度的两种测算方法要进行比较分析,用实例来验证两种测算方法的差异,其中有一种测算方法是有错误的。     

邹议江西农民增收路径

本文针对对江西省粮食生产的特点,阐述了江西农民收入增长深层次因素,并提出了相应的对策建议,以期提高粮食主产区粮食产量和农民收入。     

Fat taxes and thin subsidies: Prices, diet, and health outcomes

“Fat taxes” have been proposed as a way of addressing food-related health concerns. In this paper, we investigate the possible effects of “thin subsidies”, consumption subsidies for healthier foods. Empirical simulations, based on data from the Continuing Study of Food Intake by Individuals, are used to calculate the potential health benefits of subsidies on certain classes of fruits and vegetables in the United States. Estimates of the cost per statistical life saved through such subsidies compare favorably with existing U.S. government programs.     

Organized crime and business subsidies: Where does the money go?

Business support policies are widespread in advanced countries, to foster employment and productivity. This paper analyses the role of organized crime in the allocation of public subsidies to businesses. We assemble an innovative data set on the Italian mafia at municipality level and test whether mafia-ridden municipalities receive a disproportionally higher amount of funds. We exploit exogenous variation at municipality level to instrument mafia activity and show that the presence of organized crime positively affects the probability of obtaining funding and the amount of public funds. Organized crime is also found to lead to episodes of corruption in the public administration sector. A series of robustness checks confirms the above findings.