Choice and design of regulatory instruments in the presence of green consumers

Using a vertically differentiated product model, this paper examines welfare implications of various government policies in a situation where consumers are environmentally discerning. It studies ad valorem taxes/subsidies and emission taxes. The optimal policy depends on the magnitude of damage parameter associated with environmental externality. For a given distribution of tastes and preferences, as the damage parameter increases from a low to a high value, the optimal policy shifts from an ad valorem tax to an ad valorem subsidy. It also shows that for a sufficiently low damage parameter, an ad valorem tax dominates an emission tax.     

Liberalisation,competition and ownership in the presence of vertical relations

This contribution analyses a market with an upstream bottleneck monopoly and a downstream activity that may either be vertically integrated or separated. Separation always reduces the consumer surplus, and the total surplus unless there are large cost reductions. Downstream competition from a public or private network monopoly would crowd out other firms, also when public ownership is associated with more modest objectives than welfare-maximisation. A market is therefore less likely to remain a mixed oligopoly than without vertical relations. However, private firms would survive in a moderately welfare-improving mixed oligopoly with cross-subsidisation and access charges equal to marginal costs.

Vertical Innovation and Catching-Up: Implications of EU Integration for CEECs-5

We analyze the role of vertical innovation in trade patterns for developing economies trading with technologically advanced countries. A model is presented where the international diffusion of knowledge, promoted by economic integration, is the source of a technological catching up and leads to a convergence in the quality of traded goods, with a positive effect on exports. We then turn our attention on the evolution of trade between the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs-5) and their European Union partner countries, assessing whether economic integration has increase the quality of the goods produced. For the period 1995–2005, we find evidence of the increasing role of intra-industry trade and vertical differentiation and a process of specialization in higher quality products, especially in the medium- and high-skill sectors.

河北省制造业研究与开发活动的动态综合评价

针对河北省制造业28个大类行业的研究与开发活动,运用"纵横向"拉开档次评价法进行动态综合评价分析表明,总体来看,河北省制造业大多数行业研究与开发活动比较稳定,但各行业研究与开发投入不够,缺乏持久性和稳定性.在重视传统优势行业的发展的同时应关注高技术行业.     

Competition and open source with perfect software compatibility

In this paper we study duopolistic competition between closed and open source software. Inspired by recent contributions on open source, we propose a two-stage game with perfect information and product differentiation, in which producers first set software quality and then determine prices (the price is zero for open source programs). We assume perfect software compatibility and model lock-in effects, a network externality component of software quality, and accumulation of experience in software use and implementation. In comparison to the monopolistic benchmark case, we argue that, in a duopoly created by the emergence of an open source program, the proprietary software producer will reduce its selling price if: (i) its network of users is larger than the open source network and its consumers are largely familiar with its program, (ii) it has a small network of unskilled consumers. On the other hand, the price of proprietary software will increase if its users form a large, but poorly-skilled network. Furthermore, we show that, in all of the above cases, the hedonic quality of proprietary software increases. Finally, by modeling experience accumulation processes through difference equations, we show that the ratio between the closed and open source programs’ opportunity costs for software learning and deployment plays a crucial role in shaping market outcomes. If open source software remains too complex and technical for unskilled or time-pressed users, a shared market solution, in which both programs are adopted, is likely to emerge. However, if opportunity costs in learning and understanding open source programs are particularly low, or at least equal to the opportunity costs of a closed-source program, then open source dominance emerges (i.e. markets tip to open source).     

汇率与中美贸易不平衡关系的研究——基于垂直专业化的视角

自汇改以来,人民币对美元累计升值超过20%,而中国对美国的贸易顺差仍然大幅上升。人民币升值为什么没有导致中美贸易不平衡的减少?本文在垂直专业分工的背景下检验了汇率与贸易的关系。结果发现,垂直专业化程度高的行业,汇率的变化对于贸易没有影响,而对于垂直专业化程度低的行业,人民币的升值对于出口和贸易顺差产生了显著的负面影响。中国对美国出口的整体垂直专业化程度非常高,由此决定了人民币升值没有导致中美贸易不平衡的减少。     

Do Agglomeration and Technology Affect Vertical Integration? Evidence from Italian Business Groups

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of technology and spatial agglomeration in decisions about vertical integration. It starts from the hypothesis that the business group, defined as a set of firms under common ownership and control, is the appropriate unit to delimit the firm’s boundary. We use information drawn from input–output tables to detect the presence of positive inter‐industry exchanges and whether or not activities in a group are vertically related. Accounting for endogeneity problems, we estimate Probit and Linear Probability models to investigate the role of technology and spatial agglomeration on vertical integration decisions empirically. Consistent with property rights theory, our results show that the technology intensity of acquirers matters for backward integration choices and, moreover, that agglomeration plays a role in vertical integration only when it operates jointly with technology.     

电子商务中消费者的权益保护研究

电子商务改变了传统商务手段,开拓了新的市场,产生了巨大的效应,同时也为消费者的权益保护带来了新的挑战。本文旨在对这些问题进行分析并提出相应的对策,以保护消费者在电子商务环境下的合法权益。     

A market-level model of relationship regulation

This research examines the moderating effects public policy has on relationship strength in a relationship marketing context. Prior research suggests that many positive outcomes emerge from forming inter-firm relationships, yet few examine potential negative outcomes such as anti-competitive behavior. This paper examines what happens to both positive and negative outcomes, when close inter-firm relationships are regulated directly by public policy. It is found that regulations intended to protect consumers and small retailers from anti-competitive behavior are effective in reducing the negative outcomes of such behavior, yet they simultaneously have an unintended effect of dampening the positive outcomes that close inter-firm relationships provide.     

电子商务的发展与传统经济的新视角

电子商务的浪潮及其广阔的应用前景冲击着社会,给传统经济带来严峻挑战的同时,也融入传统产业并催生了新的产业,给传统企业提供了无限的生机和发展机遇。中国企业电子商务的应用与发展也经过了多个阶段。文章就此进行讨论。