Moving from the lab to the field: Exploring scrutiny and duration effects in lab experiments

The most important issue facing experimental economists is the generalizability of lab results. This letter examines more than 1200 doctor/patient consultations, in which scrutiny and duration of treatment were varied. We show that scrutiny has an important but short-lived effect.     

The Nonparametric Approach to Applied Welfare Analysis

Changes in total surplus are traditional measures of economic welfare. We propose necessary and sufficient conditions for rationalizing individual and aggregate consumer demand data with individual quasilinear and homothetic utility functions. Under these conditions, consumer surplus is a valid measure of consumer welfare. For nonmarketed goods, we propose necessary and sufficient conditions on input market data for efficient production, i.e. production at minimum cost. Under these conditions we derive a cost function for the nonmarketed good, where producer surplus is the area above the marginal cost curve. We are greatful to helpful remarks and comments of the referees and the editor. The work is partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, through Grant BEC2002-2130, the Generalitat de Catlaunya, through Grant 2005SGR-00454 and the Barcelona Economics Program (CREA).     

明清晋商“学而优则贾”价值取向探析

学而优则仕是隋唐以来中国知识分子理所当然的价值诉求。然而,明清晋商却断然提出秀才学生意——改邪归正,令子弟之俊秀者,多入贸易一途。学而优则贾的价值取向促进了知识与经济的内在结合,工具理性与价值理性的契合统一,使得明清晋商能够用儒意以通积贮之理,最终执商界之牛耳,在获得道德肯定的同时创造了商业奇迹。     

Globalization with a human face

This paper has six parts. The first part defines globalization. The second discusses globalization eras. The third discusses the irreversibility and inevitability of globalization. The fourth section discusses the benefits and costs of globalization. The fifth section asks what is to be done. The sixth section contains my conclusions.     

Reappraising Austrian Economics' Basic Tenets in the Light of Aristotelian Ideas

This paper sustains that reappraising Austrian economics in the light of Aristotelian ideas is not only possible but also fruitful. First, I draw a sketch of the essential features of Austrian economics. Next, I argue about the necessity for a thorough analysis of the notion of freedom, and I analyze Mises' conception. Next, I expose Aristotle's social, epistemological and economic thought related to Austrian main traits. An account of how the exercise of Aristotelian virtues may be synergic with economic coordination and a sketch of the consequences of the proposal on the teaching of economics are then provided. Finally, the conclusion shortly sums up the content and relevance of Aristotle's contribution.     

Quantal Response Equilibria for Extensive Form Games

This article investigates the use of standard econometric models for quantal choice to study equilibria of extensive form games. Players make choices based on a quantal-choice model and assume other players do so as well. We define an agent quantal response equilibrium (AQRE), which applies QRE to the agent normal form of an extensive form game and imposes a statistical version of sequential rationality. We also define a parametric specification, called logit-AQRE, in which quantal-choice probabilities are given by logit response functions. AQRE makes predictions that contradict the invariance principle in systematic ways. We show that these predictions match up with some experimental findings by Schotter et al. (1994) about the play of games that differ only with respect to inessential transformations of the extensive form. The logit-AQRE also implies a unique selection from the set of sequential equilibria in generic extensive form games. We examine data from signaling game experiments by Banks et al. (1994) and Brandts and Holt (1993). We find that the logit-AQRE selection applied to these games succeeds in predicting patterns of behavior observed in these experiments, even when our prediction conflicts with more standard equilibrium refinements, such as the intuitive criterion. We also reexamine data from the McKelvey and Palfrey (1992) centipede experiment and find that the AQRE model can account for behavior that had previously been explained in terms of altruistic behavior. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

跨国公司总部经济对区域经济的影响分析

跨国公司总部经济是经济全球化和区域经济一体化发展到一定阶段的产物,其效应不仅促进了跨国公司的加速发展,更促进了所在区域的发展。跨国公司总部经济在中国大中城市的迅速发展,推动了区域经济的良性发展,促进产业集群的形成,并加快区域经济融入国际化的进程。     

异质机构、企业性质与关联交易

基于2007-2009年3618家A股上市公司数据,本文从关联交易密度和关联交易频率两个维度对机构持股、企业性质和关联交易之间的关系进行了实证研究。结果发现：机构持股对企业关联交易的抑制作用并不显著,这种不显著性主要归因于证券投资基金;不同性质的机构对企业关联交易的抑制作用不同,其中证券投资基金对企业关联交易基本不存在抑制作用,而险资和合格的境外机构投资者则相反;企业性质对异质机构和关联交易间的关系有显著的调节作用,民营上市公司中机构投资者的抑制作用要强于国有上市公司。     

A Proposed Methodological Synthesis of Post-Keynesian and Institutional Economics

Post-Keynesian and institutionalist writers have commented on the theoretical and conceptual commonalities between the two schools. Some have suggested a theoretical synthesis based on these commonalities. In spite of these theoretical and conceptual commonalities each tradition has developed significantly different methods of analysis. Instead of theoretical or conceptual synthesis we seek here to present a methodological synthesis.

Institutionalist methods have yielded "plausible" explanations, but these have been too "vague and suggestive" to be consistently used for economic policy. Post-Keynesian methods have policy necessary "rigor," but the similarity to neoclassical methods has exposed post-Keynesian theories to unwarranted synthesis with incompatible traditions.

This essay presents a synthesis of post-Keynesian and institutionalist methodology, one of "plausible rigor," combining elements of "institutional dynamics" with a heuristic framework based on John Dewey's "instrumental logic," and proposes that the resulting approach overcomes weaknesses in the methods of analysis of both schools.