Intended electoral participation in transition countries

This paper examines the determinants of intended electoral participation. We analyze attitudes to both referenda and voting in national elections. Sample survey data are obtained from the Eurobarometer survey of transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The empirical results suggest that intended electoral participation increases with age, income and education. But attitudinal variables are also important and in particular confidence in the free market economy and satisfaction with the general development of the country impact positively on intended electoral participation. Received: Received: April 2003 / Accepted: August 2004, Accepted: Received: April 2003 / Accepted: August 2004, JEL Classification: H26, K42 We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of CERGE-EI. We are also grateful for the helpful comments of three anonymous referees, the journal editor and R. Filer and L. Squires.     

Sources of Sectoral Growth in an Economy Wide Context: The Case of U.S. Agriculture

Growth in U.S. agriculture is linked to the non-farm economy through domestic terms of trade and factor market adjustments. With almost stable input growth, the relatively large contributions from growth in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) are passed on to intermediate and final consumers in the form of declining real prices for primary farm products. The resulting net growth in the real value of farm output (GDP) is relatively low (0.25% per annum). The decomposition of TFP suggests that public agricultural stock of knowledge and infrastructure are robustly associated with TFP growth, while spill-overs from private agricultural and economy wide research and development (R and D) are positive but, relatively small.     

Input- and Output-Oriented Technical Efficiency of Ukrainian Collective Farms, 1989–1992: Bayesian Analysis of a Stochastic Production Frontier Model

We propose estimation of a stochastic production frontier model within a Bayesian framework to obtain the posterior distribution of single-input-oriented technical efficiency at the firm level. All computations are carried out using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The approach is illustrated by applying it to production data obtained from a survey of Ukrainian collective farms. We show that looking at the changes in single-input-oriented technical efficiency in addition to the changes in output-oriented technical efficiency improves the understanding of the dynamics of technical efficiency over the first years of transition in the former Soviet Union.     

公共投资建设项目决策建立听证制度探讨

公共投资建设项目的投入源自公共资源，项目的建设与公众利益息息相关，在项目决策中建立听证制度来广泛征求社会公众的意见具有重大的现实意义。本文分析了在公共投资建设项目决策中建立听证制度的作用，并从制定依据、制度形式、制订主体等八个方面对听证制度做了详细的探讨。     

监督:民主政治建设的关键

防止公共权力滥用的有效途径是建设民主政治,加强监督。监督是民主政治制度的关键所在,没有监督就没有民主。     

美国贸易逆差:增长惯性与可持续性

美国的经常项目逆差特别是贸易逆差“历史悠久”，尤其是近年来高速增长，已引起人们广泛的关注。1990年代来的美国贸易逆差，已很难单从汇率、贸易政策及产品竞争力等单个变量来加以解释。通过运用滞后一年的时间数列回归分析及相关分析，本文得出的结论是：当期美国贸易逆差是前期美国贸易逆差的惯性增长，并且只要美国能够维持强势美元，资本与金融账户的盈余足够冲抵贸易逆差，美国的贸易逆差便具有可持续性。在本文的最后一部分，作者针对近期美国人制造的“人民币升值论”，结合近10年来中美双边贸易现实，说明美国贸易逆差与人民币汇率之间没有必然联系，人民币升值不可能改善美国的贸易收支状况。     

行政文化与电子政务相互影响方式研究

在社会转型、加入WTO以及电子政务推行环境下,如何推进行政文化创新、提高电子政务实施效果成为许多政府部门遇到的关键问题。既往的研究忽视了电子政务对于行政文化的影响方式,本文结合Dorothy提出的IT-文化冲突理论,给出了电子政务与行政文化在系统冲突、远景冲突以及贡献冲突作用下相互影响、促进改变的模式。这种作用方式的揭示有助于在电子政务与行政文化变革过程中,针对不同阶段,设计对应措施,提高实施的成功率。     

关于构建和谐社会政府公关能力的思考

政府公关是政府的重要职能,提高政府公关能力是提高执政党的执政能力的具体体现,是构建和谐社会的客观要求,本文仅就提高政府公关能力的现实意义和措施进行了论述.     

公共经济视角下的国有企业改革分析

国有企业的发展状况表明,单纯从产权方面进行国有企业改革的理论研究和实践是有很大缺陷的,需要从新的视角去探索国有企业的改革思路。之所以从公共经济学的角度去分析国有企业问题,是因为国有企业或多或少具有公共产品的性质,政府对国有企业改革的态度及其行为反映了市场配置资源的能力和国有企业改革所引起的福利改变。     

政府或有负债的产生及其风险防范

现阶段我国政府或有负债的产生既有客观原因如公共风险的存在,也有主观原因如财政调整过程中的政府机会主义行为。不仅如此,政府或有负债的产生还受制于政府的内部财政能力约束和外部财政压力约束,而预算编制中的收付实现制为政府或有负债的产生大开制度之门,使得政府能够以政府担保为主要载体来进行间接融资,导致政府或有负债的过度积累。