Forecasting inflation with an uncertain output gap

The output gap is a crucial concept in the monetary policy framework, indicating demand pressure that generates inflation. However, its definition and estimation raise a number of theoretical and empirical questions. This paper evaluates a series of univariate and multivariate methods for extracting the output gap in Norway, and compares their value added in predicting inflation. We find that models including the output gap have better predictive power than models based on alternative indicators, and they forecast significantly better than simple benchmark models. Furthermore multivariate measures of the output gap perform better than the univariate gaps. Comments from two anonymous referees, Q. Farooq Akram, Tommy Sveen, Ken West, Fredrik Wulfsberg and seminar participants in Norges Bank are gratefully acknowledged. All mistakes remain our own. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Norges Bank.     

经济全球化、中国收入分配与“人口红利陷阱”

文章从经济全球化影响中国收入分配的各个层面入手,通过数理推导和实证分析探讨了贸易全球化、生产与投资的全球化、金融深化、科技进步、教育水平等对中国国内收入分配的影响。结果发现,贸易全球化短期内会加剧中国的收入差距,原因可归结为人口红利陷阱,但长期内将有助于缩小中国的收入差距;生产与投资的全球化也会扩大收入差距,而金融发展与深化对中国收入分配差距的影响最大;技术进步、受教育程度提高和劳动力由低阶部门向高阶部门的转移则能在一定程度上缓解收入差距过大。     

Foreign enclaves and economic development: A theoretical analysis

We consider an urban foreign enclave with sector-specific foreign capital in an otherwise mobile-capital Harris-Todaro model. We consider the taxation of foreign capital. A dynamic version of this model is considered. The long-run equilibrium and the comparative steady-state effects are analyzed. We get some interesting effects of reduction in tax rate on foreign capital on the short-run and the long-run equilibrium levels of domestic factor income and national income under some meaningful conditions.     

消费行为、产出变化与经常项目动态

国内吸收法认为,当国内需求没有完全吸收其产出时,就会通过净出口产生贸易顺差.中国持续的经常项目顺差似乎与消费需求不足有关.收入是决定居民消费需求的最基本因素之一.本文通过实证分析我国居民的消费与收入变化的关系来考察我国居民的消费需求,结合国内吸收法的思想来分析我国的经常项目动态.     

Consumption externalities and the effects of international income transfers on the global environment

In this paper, we extend the standard model of private provision of public goods by including consumption externalities to characterize a situation in which economic activities pollute the environment. We consider a case in which there are an industrial country which can afford to invest in the environment and a developing country which cannot. Then, we show that international income transfers in both directions can improve the global environmental quality as well as the welfare of each country. We also show that the results have important implications for policies such as official development assistance or the assignment of tradable emission permits.     

地方财政支出对收入分配差距影响的统计评价——基于辽宁省的分析

在2010年全国"两会"上,"收入分配"再度被空前关注,温总理提到,我国必须改革收入分配制度,以便让全体13亿国民享受到国家改革开放所带来的成果。要实现这个目的,必须研究地方政府在理顺收入分配关系上的作用。一般地讲,财政收入分配职能在很大程度上要由中央政府在全国范围内采取统一的分配政策来执行,地方政府承担收入分配职能的困难比较大。但就我国目前收入分配差距的情况看,中央政府对收入分配的调节力度很有限,地方政府对辖区内的收入分配调节的作用比较大。本文分析了辽宁省收入分配不公平存在的现状、原因,计算了近几年辽宁省的基尼系数,特别对辽宁省财政支出与收入差距的关系进行了统计评价,并以此提出了财税对策的初步建议。     

The Uncertainty of Academic Rent and Income Inequality: The OECD Panel Evidence

The article presents an alternative view on the education—income inequality relationship, which calls into question the neoclassical claim that education increases labor productivity and hence contributes to a higher output, wage and consequently more even income distribution. In the context of public policies, education needs to be seen not only as a factor of income mobility, but also as a “positional good,” which benefits graduates at the expense of non-graduates. Education generates “academic rent,” by which we mean uneven remuneration of workers based on academic signs of distinctions that do not necessarily reflect differences in productivity. Using the robust panel model on a sample of OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) countries from 1980 to 2015, we show that investments in human capital lead to lower inequality, but overinvestments tends to increase income inequality, which may be related to academic rent. In discussing this result, we consider that uncertainty of academic rent under the condition of a rapid transformation of the workplace caused by the fourth industrial revolution.