Openness to trade as a determinant of the macroeconomic elasticity of substitution

Several theoretical and empirical studies on economic growth consider the macroeconomic elasticity of substitution between capital and labor as a measure of economic flexibility that depends on technological as well as institutional aspects. One institutional aspect of economic flexibility is openness to trade. I examine in a Heckscher–Ohlin model with two large countries trading intermediate goods how openness affects the elasticity of substitution. If the technology has a constant elasticity of substitution in a closed economy, opening up to trade raises the elasticity of substitution only in the country that accumulates capital at a faster rate.     

Consumer durables and the marginal propensity to consume out of permanent income shocks

This paper derives and estimates a model in which the utility of durable and non-durable consumption is allowed to be non-separable and individuals face a convex adjustment cost for the purchase of a new durable good. Panel data on subjective expectations allow us to identify income shocks and estimate the marginal propensity to consume out of permanent income shocks.     

Fuzzy Chronic Poverty: A Proposed Response to Measurement Error for Intertemporal Poverty Measurement

A number of chronic poverty measures are now empirically applied to quantify the prevalence and intensity of chronic poverty, vis‐à‐vis transient experiences, using panel data. Welfare trajectories over time are assessed in order to identify the chronically poor and distinguish them from the non‐poor, or the transiently poor, and assess the extent and intensity of intertemporal poverty. We examine the implications of measurement error in the welfare outcome for some popular discontinuous chronic poverty measures, and propose corrections to these measures that seeks to minimize the consequences of measurement error. The approach is based on a novel criterion for the identification of chronic poverty that draws on fuzzy set theory. We illustrate the empirical relevance of the approach with a panel dataset from rural Ethiopia and some simulations.     

论"物料代用"

本文主要对组织生产经营过程中的物料分类、物料代用原则、物料代用和禁止代用情况、代用方式、代用程序及流程以及代用效果评价和信息反馈等进行了探讨，以适应信息化物料管理系统的需要，确保物料使用的经济性、易得性及产品质量的满足。     

非农投资总量、结构和要素替代对就业的影响

将影响非农产业就业量的增长因素分解为:投资总量效应、结构变化效应和要素替代效应;投资总量的增长是拉动非农就业增长的主要力量,投资的行业结构变化效应以及要素替代效应导致了非农就业的下降。     

Elasticity of substitution and technical efficiency: evidence from the US electricity generation

ABSTRACT

The implications of national or regional energy policies for technical efficiency and environmental outcomes in electricity generation depend on fossil fuel input substitution. This study uses state level data to examine fossil fuel (coal and natural gas) substitution in electricity generation under increased availability of natural gas in the United States. We observe that changes in elasticities of substitution from pre-2009 to post-2009 differ across states suggesting that the effects of increased availability of inexpensive natural gas on electricity generation have been spatially heterogeneous. We rely on the observed heterogeneity to assess the effects of fossil fuel input substitution on technical efficiency and CO₂ emissions. The results reveal that state level elasticity of substitution between natural gas and coal has a positive effect on technical efficiency and a negative effect on CO₂ emissions. Therefore, future policy design and analyses should reflect the implications for regional elasticities of fossil fuel substitution and associated environmental outcomes.     

Intertemporal Equity and Efficient Allocation of Resources

Competitive paths which are efficient are shown to satisfy a terminal cost minimization condition, thereby providing a continuous-time counterpart to the discrete-time result due to Malinvaud. Using this result, competitive paths which are equitable and efficient are shown to satisfy Hartwick's investment rule, which states that the value of net investment is zero at each date. Our result indicates that Hartwick's rule can help to signal inefficiency of competitive equitable paths. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C61, D90, O41.     

人民币区域接受程度： 指数构建与影响因子计量 ——以东盟及中国香港为例

金融危机以来,改革现有的国际货币体系,逐步推进“去美元化”进程,已是国际社会共识。周边化及区域化是人民币国际化进程中的重要阶段,建立人民币区域接受程度监测指标体系,具有重要意义。本文基于对东盟及中国香港人民币使用情况的分析,提出人民币区域接受程度指数的构建框架并进行影响因子的计量分析,实证结果表明：(1)在政策推动及市场需求双重作用下,未来东盟人民币接受程度将持续提升,但短期内受经济政治影响会出现较大反复;(2)受政策推动、存款规模较小以及贬值预期影响,中国香港人民币贸易接受程度的提升快于金融接受程度,提高人民币存款占比有助于提升人民币接受程度;(3)中国香港经济状况对人民币接受程度的影响力要高于内地,反映出货币国际化是市场自发选择的过程;(4)由于货币替代影响双边货币政策效果,中国香港通胀水平、利率以及内地通胀水平会受中国香港人民币接受程度的反向影响。     

Learning-by-doing and input demand of a rate-of-return regulated firm

The significance of learning by doing to input demand of a cost-minimizing rate-of-return-regulated firm is examined. Using a panel data, the results indicate that the firm's cost and input demand decisions are both influenced by learning-by-doing. The firm's cost and the rate-base (capital) input requirements decline as learning-by-doing measured by cumulative production expands. However, LBD may have different effects on the non-rate-base inputs (labor and fuel) considered in this study. While LBD ambiguously reduces fuel usage, it moderately increases labor employment. In addition to changing input intensity, LBD also influences returns to scale and elasticity of substitution.     

供求冲击与我国经济外部失衡——基于DSGE两国模型的模拟分析

文章为分析我国经济外部失衡问题,运用当前国际经济学领域先进的动态随机一般均衡(DSGE)两国模型研究方法,模拟了在不同消费替代弹性下以技术冲击为代表的供给冲击和以货币冲击为代表的需求冲击对一国经济外部失衡的影响。研究结果表明这两种冲击发生后该国的外部资产和汇率水平会从初始的0均衡状态偏离,而到最终收敛大约需要10年到15年的时间。这可以很好地解释当前我国的经济外部失衡,文章也依此提出了相应的政策建议。