The Economic Growth Impacts of Sugarcane Expansion in Brazil: An Inter‐regional Analysis

Since 2001, Brazil has experienced a sharp increase in sugarcane production due to the upsurge in demand for sugar and ethanol, two products derived from sugarcane. This study analyses the impacts of these sugarcane expansions on economic growth. The effects are examined at the municipality level in Brazil as a whole and in the main sugarcane producing regions, the North‐Northeast (NE) and the Centre‐South (CS). In this latter region, an additional distinction is made between the state of São Paulo (SP) and the Centre‐South region excluding São Paulo (CSex) since the bulk of the recent expansion took place in SP while most of the future expansions are planned in CSex. Estimators based on the propensity score are used to construct two types of counterfactual scenarios. The estimations in the first scenario show that municipalities in NE and CSex that expanded sugarcane production experienced economic growth as a result. No significant effect was found in SP. The second scenario focuses on CSex and establishes that sugarcane non‐expanding municipalities in this region would have had higher economic growth if they had increased sugarcane production. The results of this study suggest that future sugarcane plantations should indeed be located in CSex because they contribute to economic growth.     

中国木质家具出口与国际市场需求结构匹配性研究

用指数分析的方法对2002—2010年的中国木质家具出口匹配性进行了研究。研究表明:中国木质家具出口市场结构与世界木质家具进口市场结构匹配性较差,但是出口变动方向与世界需求变动方向基本一致,中国木质家具出口市场结构呈不断优化的趋势。     

面向服务供应链的知识共享机制与模型研究

客户需求的个性化和服务产品的同质化矛盾日益凸显,使得服务企业纷纷寻求更科学的服务供应链运作模式去获取竞争优势.服务供应链中的服务资源在供应链上具有多重属性,不同运作主体在服务供应链上处于不同的运作级别,因而对供应链运作流程的理解存在较大的差异性,导致服务供应链在知识管理过程中难以产生面向供应链整体的、紧密结合流程的服务运作知识.针对服务供应链资源管理的复杂性和共享知识的异构性,提出了基于网格管理的服务供应链资源与知识集成框架,旨在实现服务供应链中知识与资源要素的有机结合,并在此框架基础上提出了服务供应链知识共享模型,该模型从服务供应链的资源匹配和知识要素整合两方面提出并揭示服务供应链知识共享的关键流程和环节.     

Non‐travel by Hong Kong residents

The study examined non‐travel by Hong Kong residents. Cluster analysis was used to segment the non‐travelling population into five groups. Overall, two‐thirds of non‐travellers indicated that taking a pleasure trip each year is unimportant to them. Yet, when asked to identify barriers to travel, lack of interest is cited rarely. Instead, intrapersonal barriers were identified as the most critical barriers by elderly singles and couples with low incomes. Affordability, work and family commitments were identified by all other groups. Non‐travellers simply do not have the travel bug and often have to rely on socially acceptable barriers to rationalise their lack of interest. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Multiple Imputation to Integrate and Disseminate Confidential Microdata

In data integration contexts, two statistical agencies seek to merge their separate databases into one file. The agencies also may seek to disseminate data to the public based on the integrated file. These goals may be complicated by the agencies' need to protect the confidentiality of database subjects, which could be at risk during the integration or dissemination stage. This article proposes several approaches based on multiple imputation for disclosure limitation, usually called synthetic data, that could be used to facilitate data integration and dissemination while protecting data confidentiality. It reviews existing methods for obtaining inferences from synthetic data and points out where new methods are needed to implement the data integration proposals.     

The effects of match uncertainty and bargaining on labor market outcomes: evidence from firm and worker specific estimates

In this paper we examine wage dispersion in labor markets across currently employed workers. We argue that differences in the potential productivity of a match (typically assumed to be known in the previous literature) generates a surplus between the minimum wage the worker is willing to accept and the maximum wage the firm is willing to offer for the job. Existence of this surplus leads to wage dispersion due to negotiating over the amounts extracted by each agent. Our objective is to estimate the surplus extracted by each firm-worker pair and the effect of the net extracted surplus on the wage, for each firm-worker pair using the two-tier stochastic frontier model. An empirical application finds that, on average, firms paid workers less than their expected productivity. More specifically, at the mean, the net effect of productivity uncertainty leads to equilibrium wages which are 3.33% below the expected productivity of matches.

平衡计分卡在企业R&D绩效评价中的应用

R&D绩效评价是企业R&D管理中的一个重要环节,各种评价方法都有其局限性。平衡计分卡引入到R&D绩效评价活动中,重视R&D活动对企业长期发展的战略影响,建立平衡计分卡绩效评价体系,科学地分析R&D部门的优势与不足,适时调整和修正战略。     

Assessing the Impact of Agricultural Technology Adoption on Farmers' Well‐being Using Propensity‐Score Matching Analysis in Rural China

The present paper assesses the impact of improved upland rice technology on farmers' well‐being. The study uses propensity‐score matching to address the problem of ‘self‐selection,’ because technology adoption is not randomly assigned. It applies this procedure to household survey data collected in Yunnan, China in 2000, 2002 and 2004. The findings indicate that improved upland rice technology has a robust and positive effect on farmers' well‐being, as measured by income levels and the incidence of poverty. The effect of technology on well‐being shows a diminishing impact on producers' incomes. This implies that newer innovations are continuously needed to replace older technologies that have reached their saturation points.     

Performance pay and assortative matching

We show that couples sort on performance pay with dual receipt couples much more likely than predicted by random. In addition, we show that the return to performance pay appears largely invariant to whether one's spouse earns performance pay. The major exception is that among the college educated, the return to performance pay is larger for women when their spouse also receives performance pay. Thus, dual receipt households concentrate the returns to performance pay hinting that performance pay may influence the distribution of household income.     

单线铁路隧道机械化配套及经济性分析

隧道施工采用大型机械化配套作业是发展趋势,单线铁路小断面隧道机械化作业空间受限,各工序配套机械设备系统性差,小断面大型机械化作业经济性指标不明确。通过分析制约隧道施工机械化配套水平的主要问题,提出了小断面隧道与工程地质相匹配的施工方法、施工组织和机械化配套标准。综合测算得出了单线铁路小断面隧道正洞、斜井的开挖和喷射混凝土经济性指标。以期为类似工程施工提供参考和借鉴,更好的推动隧道工程机械化作业。