Human–capital investment and the wage gap

Summary. According to empirical studies, the wage differential by skills evolved non–monotonically in the past decades although the relative supply of skilled labor steadily increased. The present paper provides a theoretical explanation for this finding. In our setting, technological change intertemporally alters the human–capital investment incentives of heterogeneous individuals. As a consequence of changing incentives, the time path of the relative wage is U–shaped while there is a rise in the share of skilled workers. Received: November 28, 2000; revised version: January 30, 2001     

Economic liberalization and welfare in a model with an informal sector

The paper reexamines the conventional results relating to inflow of foreign capital, removal of protectionism and structural reform programmes, in a small open economy in terms of a two-sector general equilibrium model with an informal sector. The paper shows that in the presence of labour market distortion and a protectionist policy, inflow of foreign capital may be desirable irrespective of the pattern of trade of the economy due to its favourable impact on welfare. But the welfare implications of tariff reductions and/or structural adjustment programmes, such as deregulating the formal sector labour market, depend crucially on the economy's trade pattern. The paper provides an answer to the question as to whether in a developing economy labour market reform and tariff reform should go hand-in-hand or whether one should precede the other for welfare improvement.
JEL classification: F10, F13, F21, O17.     

Endogenous human capital accumulation, comparative advantage and direct vs. indirect redistribution

Recently, several papers have reexamined the so-called production efficiency theorem and the Atkinson and Stiglitz theorem on commodity taxes in the optimal taxation literature. Naito [J. Public Econ. 71 (1999) 65] showed that indirect redistribution through production distortion or consumption distortion can Pareto-improve welfare and that the two theorems do not necessarily hold when different factors are imperfect substitutes and factor prices are endogenous. On the other hand, Saez J. Public Econ. (2002) forthcoming argued that in the long run, where human capital accumulation is endogenous, the two theorems are still valid. This paper develops reasonable alternative models where individuals accumulate human capital based on their comparative advantage. The present paper shows that the production efficiency theorem is not necessarily valid and that indirect redistribution from the able to the less able such as tariffs and production subsidies can increase efficiency even when skill accumulation is endogenous.     

Optimization of Harvesting Return from Age-Structured Population

Synopsis Maximization of the net profit from harvesting in a one-species age-structured population is analyzed. One of the control functions is the age of harvested individuals. The constructed mathematical model is similar to vintage capital models used in economics for optimal capital replacement. The optimization technique developed by authors for the capital replacement is disseminated to the formulated problem. A qualitative analysis of the problem is provided and the interpretation of results is given. Such economic topics as a zero-investment period, optimal balanced growth, and turnpike properties are discussed.     

振兴东北老工业基地资本运营效益研究

现阶段,东北老工业基地存在着高消耗、低性能、低附加值、产品生产能力过剩等问题,因而,在市场经济的大潮中,造成了竞争力减弱、经济效益下滑的局面.发达国家的实践告诉我们,传统产业高科技化能改变这种局面,但高科技需要大量投入资本,故而需要研究传统产业高科技化资本运营的模式,从而降低高风险,实现高效益.     

开放资本市场与国家金融安全

要成为一个经济强国，其资本市场一定要开放。资本市场一开放，将对该国的金融安全产生威胁。资本市场开放使国家减弱了对汇率、利率的调节能力。我国的国民经济高速发展，国际收支状况良好，人民币汇率稳定，证券市场有了一定的发展，因此具有一定的抗冲击能力。但目前，我国在资本市场抗冲击能力上仍存在不少问题。要提高资本市场抗冲击能力，就要选择有限制的直接开放模式。     

Coping with Technological Change: The Role of Ability in Making Inequality so Persistent

This study provides an explanation to the evolution of wage inequality over the last 30 years and supports this explanation with evidence. A faster rate of technological progress introduces new unknown elements at the workplace. The need to cope with the unknown accentuates the role of ability and thus increases wage inequality within and between education groups. Inasmuch as education is an irreversible investment project the rise in within group inequality BOOSTS UP the rise of between group inequality. Guided by this theory we turn to the PSID for evidence. Using parents' education to approximate child's ability we show the following set of results: (a) Controlling for education of the child, parents' education contributed much more in the 1980s to his wage growth than in the 1970s. (b) The correlation between the parents' and the child's education increases from the 1970s to the 1980s. (c) The return to college education for an individual with no ability rents did not change—it remains steady at the 23 percent. (d) Facts (a)–(c) CANNOT be attributed to the impact of parent's income. It is parents' education and not parents' income that is more relevant for son's economic outcomes in the 1980s.     

经济增长、结构调整的累积效应与资本形成——当前经济增长态势分析

1990年以来 ,特别是 2 0世纪 90年代中后期 ,中国的经济结构发生了重大调整 :基础设施的投入奠定了城市化的基础 ,工业化在消费和出口的拉动下逐步升级。中国经济增长开始由工业化单引擎发展到工业化与城市化的双引擎。由低价工业化到高价城市化的转化以及与之相应的资金流程与资本形成方式的变化 ,一方面引起近年来中国经济的快速发展 ,另一方面也对未来中国经济的持续增长形成挑战。通过政府体制、金融体系和财税体制的进一步改革 ,完善资源配置方式 ,将是应对挑战、保持中国经济持续增长的保证。     

中小企业技术创新的制约因素及其对策研究

中小企业作为推广使用高新技术的第一阵地 ,在技术创新过程中扮演着极其重要的角色。但目前 ,中国中小企业在技术创新活动中却受到诸多因素的制约 ,因此 ,本文在具体剖析了中小企业技术创新障碍的基础上 ,提出了提升其技术创新能力及优化其创新环境的若干对策。     

资金时间价值解读--关于资金时间价值计算的归纳分析

资金时间价值是现代财务管理的重要价值观念,因此,个人和公司的大部分财务决策都要考虑资金的时间价值。对于资金时间价值的计算,在财务管理教科书中虽然已作了讲解,但作进一步归纳分析仍有必要。本文正是在上述基础上,结合对财务管理的学习,尽可能地利用标有相关现金流量的时间轴对资金时间价值的计算予以归纳分析,描述虽不够完整,但希望对财务管理初学者有一点帮助。