Spatial and economic patterns in life expectancy among US States

This study investigates the determinants of gender-specific life expectancy across US states over the period 1995–2007. We employ a production function specification where life expectancy depends on health expenditure, income, education and lifestyle variables, allowing for spatial effects. Empirical results suggest that education attainment and health expenditure are the main factors behind improving longevity, whereas smoking bears a strong negative influence. For robustness purposes, we also use health spending as well as education criteria, apart from geographical ones to model interstate spillovers. In the former case, states with similar health expenditure are ‘neighbors’ and affect positively the life expectancy process. If education is applied instead of health spending together with geographic proximity, the spatial correlation is insignificant, i.e. education ‘neighbors’ do not affect life expectancy. Our findings do not imply significant gender differences regarding health production. The results suggest that health care policy will have to focus on wider economic and social considerations, like education and lifestyle changes, except medical care provision in order to exploit the full potential for life expectancy improvements of the US population.     

The Thrifty Food Plan and low-income households in the United States: What food groups are being neglected?

Food assistance programs in the United States provide low-income households with the resources to purchase a healthy, nutritious, and palatable diet, if they buy the market baskets of food outlined in the Thrifty Food Plan. This study compares the cost of these baskets with actual spending on food at home by low-income households. Simulations reveal at-home food spending by low-income households to represent only 86% of what is needed to follow the Thrifty Food Plan. Married couples with children and female-headed households with children spend only 73% and 82%, respectively, and just 43% and 50% for at-home fruits and vegetables.     

国防支出与经济增长的关系研究——基于中国、日本、韩国的实证分析

文章使用Enders-Siklos不对称门槛共整合模型,检定中国、日本及韩国的经济增长与国防支出之间不对称的长期均衡关系,并以门槛误差修正模型(T-ECM)探讨三国的经济增长与国防支出之间领先-落后的因果关系,以及长期均衡关系调整的不对称性。经研究发现:第一,采用Enders-Siklos不对称门槛共整合检定,发现中国、韩国的经济增长与国防支出之间存在不对称的共整合关系,日本的经济增长与国防支出之间具有对称的共整合关系;第二,由Granger因果关系检定,发现韩国、中国的经济增长与其国防支出之间存在有不对称的长期性领先-落后关系,日本的经济增长与国防支出不存在长期性因果关系;第三,由Granger因果关系检定,发现中国的经济增长与国防支出之间存在短期的双向因果互动关系,而日本、韩国则是经济增长单向领先其国防支出。     

转轨国家经济绩效的动态比较分析

作为经济转轨的两种方式,渐进式改革和激进式改革孰优孰劣,一直是转轨经济学理论争论的焦点之一,围绕此形成了两种截然不同的学术观点.那么,到底哪种观点更能得到实践的支持,针对该研究问题,以24个转轨国家作为研究样本,运用整体比较和分阶段比较的研究方法,从整体上和分阶段两个方面对渐进式改革的国家和激进式改革的国家的经济绩效进行评价和比较,研究结论基本支持渐进式改革方式从整体上更有利于经济发展的观点.但是作为对现有研究的补充和发展,发现个别激进式改革的苏东国家在转轨后的第四个阶段其经济绩效水平要高于渐进式改革的国家.     

技术进步与医疗卫生费用的增长

医疗费用的快速上涨是各国面临的共同问题与挑战。而医疗技术的进步是推动费用上涨最主要的动力。对技术推动型费用增长的评价要借助成本效益的分析。各国在制定费用控制政策时,不可避免地将面临技术进步与费用控制的两难选择。     

The Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy Over the Business Cycle: A CEE Perspective

In this article we analyze the effectiveness of fiscal policy—for a group of four Central and Eastern European countries. The recent literature shows that fiscal multipliers in the developed economies are higher during recession than expansion. So far, similar empirical analyses have been lacking for CEE countries. The results presented in this article show that fiscal multipliers in CEE countries differ with respect to the phase of the business cycle. Based on the SVAR methodology in which we allow for deterministic regime switching, we show that the government spending multipliers are significantly higher when the output gap is negative.     

Effects of government spending shocks in China,Japan, and Korea

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the effects of government spending shocks on various key macro variables in China, Korea, and Japan using structural VAR models. The main empirical findings are as follows. Government spending multipliers of all three countries are far larger than 1 in recent years. The effectiveness of fiscal expansion has not changed markedly in China but substantially increased in Korea (after the Asian financial crisis) and Japan (during zero lower bound period). Increases in the effectiveness of fiscal expansion are associated with changes in the monetary and exchange rate policy regimes and institutions of these countries. Among the three countries, the government spending multiplier is relatively large in China but relatively small in Japan in recent years. Although the effects on exchange rate and trade balance vary across countries and sample periods, real exchange rate tends to depreciate, whereas trade balance tends to improve under flexible exchange rate regimes. Some empirical findings are consistent with standard theory, but others are not.

Abbreviations: NK: New Keynesian VAR: Vector Autoregressive ZLB: Zero Lower Bound