The sceptic as an economist's philosopher? Humean utility as a positive principle

Whereas in philosophy David Hume was long regarded as a negative thinker to be criticized rather than read, many thinkers interested in social and economic theory from Adam Smith onwards found key concepts, distinctions and problems as developed by Hume useful and inspiring. This applies not only to his seminal contributions to technical problems in economics. It is argued that the way in which Hume employed ‘utility as a positive principle’ (most notably in his ‘experimental’ moral theory) is of pivotal importance in this context. It allows for:

a. distinguishing between internal motifs and external circumstances and constraints; and for

b. making explicit the abstract logic of social interaction structures, mechanisms and processes.

Both are necessary conditions for employing the logic of social situations and mechanisms in the explanation of social institutions and economic processes. It moreover prepares the ground for the use of simplified or cartoon-like models of individual agency in economic and social theory, but also for its critique. On this basis, Hume's influence on various strands of social and economic thought, but also the specific differences with regard to more ‘rationalistic’ approaches (such as Hobbesianism or important versions of neoclassical economics) can be assessed more clearly.     

第三方支付企业间的竞争和发展分析

随着电子商务在国内的快速发展,电子商务对电子支付的需求增强,第三方支付平台市场规模增长极其迅速。随着第三方支付平台市场规模的迅速增长,第三方支付企业之间的竞争日趋激烈,第三方支付企业与银行之间、第三方支付企业与企业之间及在我国目前面临的政策环境下第三方支付企业如何生存和发展显得尤为重要。     

“十二五”时期广东节能潜力与实现途径研究

“十二五”时期,广东的节能潜力即单位GDP能耗下降率的潜在空间在13．3％～19．2％之间,为实现国家下达的5年单位GDP能耗下降18％的节能目标,需在全省范围内建立合理的能源消费增量补偿与调节机制。     

Agricultural disaster payments in the southeastern US: do weather and climate variability matter?

Governments around the world are forced to react to disasters caused by weather. The agricultural sector is particularly susceptible to weather extremes and adverse climate conditions. In the US, agricultural disaster payments account for a significant part of total agricultural subsidies. The payments, and their distribution, are more important in the areas most affected by disastrous weather events, usually coinciding with areas of pronounced impact of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In this article, the impact of weather and climate, as well as some economic variables, on disaster payments is analysed using county level data from four states in the southeastern United States. The results suggest that weather and climate variables explain most of the crop disaster payments at the county level while socioeconomic variables do not, suggesting that advancements in weather and climate forecasts could be helpful in planning for disaster compensation.     

Productivity and technical change: the case of Taiwan

This paper analyses productivity growth in 16 of Taiwan's manufacturing industries during the period 1978–1992. The non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis approach is used to compute Malmquist productivity indexes. These are decomposed into efficiency change and technical change. The latter is further decomposed into an output bias, an input bias and a magnitude component. In addition, the direction of input bias is identified. Empirical results indicate that the sector's TFP increased at a rate of 2.89% per annum, which could be ascribed to a technical progress (2.56%) and an efficiency improvement (0.33%).     

Idea Competitions under scrutiny: Acquisition,intelligence or public relations mechanism?

Idea Competitions (ICs) are becoming a popular mechanism chosen by firms to perform Open Innovation. They are a way to engage with external sources of knowledge such as individual entrepreneurs and small firms who are asked to submit ideas and compete for a prize. However, little is known about the success of ICs as acquisition mechanisms. The researchers conducted interviews in five multinational companies to evaluate the effects of using ICs as an acquisition mechanism. Although still preliminary, the results of this study show that the success of ICs as an acquisition mechanism remains uncertain because their output (i.e. the number of ideas acquired) is often low compared to the input (i.e. the number of ideas submitted) and effort required to run them (e.g. to vet ideas). Across the cases observed, ICs appear to be more successful at identifying and acquiring early-stage ideas, particularly those outside the current business focus. The study shows that ICs deliver other functional benefits such as improved intelligence and public relations and that these need to be considered as part of the evaluation of the IC's success. The paper concludes by discussing the conditions in which ICs are implemented and the implications for Open Innovation theory.     

Textbook Treatments of the Financial Market in the IS-LM Model

Intermediate macroeconomics textbooks introduce financial markets into the IS-LM analysis but typically as a beginning-of-period consideration. Here the financial market is introduced in an end-of-period model.     

基于碳排放的闭环供应链政府奖惩机制研究

温室气体的排放问题已成为国际社会亟待解决的问题,解决这一问题的必由之路就是通过降低产品碳排量实现从源头上减排。本文研究由一个制造商和一个零售商组成的逆向供应链系统,建立了政府实施回收奖惩机制的动态博弈模型,比较分析了有无政府回收奖惩机制两种情形下零售商的回收比例、供应链参与方的期望利润和产品的碳排放总量。研究结果表明,政府回收奖惩机制提高了回收比例和碳减排水平;当再制造减排程度较小时,政府回收奖惩机制降低了碳排放总量;基于消费者低碳偏好的政府回收奖惩机制提高了制造商和零售商的利润,更大程度的降低了产品总碳排放量;政府回收奖惩机制下较小的目标回收率能够最大化零售商利润。     

杭州特色商业街形成与扩张机理研究

特色商业街具有同类商品集聚、丰富的文化内涵、多元化的休闲旅游功能等核心特征.研究表明:特色的形成、规模的扩张、空间的扩散是特色商业街形成扩张的三个层次.特色的形成是特色商业街赖以生存发展的源动力,受到产业集聚、文化积淀、休闲旅游三个因素的共同刺激与推动,形成了商贸型、文化型、休闲型三种特色类型;规模扩张是市场要素与市场配置的结果,受到居民和旅游者共同创造的需求总量和购买力影响;空间扩散主要受政府因素、消费因素、城市扩张的共同影响,与城市发展战略和城市化拓展方向一致.研究开创了特色商业街独立于商业街之外的理论研究,对特色商业街的理论研究和实践操作具有较强的指导意义.