Analysis on CO2 Emissions Transferred from Developed Economies to China through Trade

Based on a global input–output model, this paper investigates the CO₂ emission transfer between China and developed economies through trade. The results show that approximately 15–23 percent of China's production‐based emissions during 1995–2009 were induced by the production of goods and services satisfying final demand in developed economies. Decomposition of emission transfers shows that trade of intermediate products played a significant role in emission transfer from developed economies to China. Most developed economies have consumption‐based emission responsibilities that are higher than their production‐based responsibilities, whereas China's consumption‐based responsibility is significantly lower than its production‐based responsibility. We argue that a fair and efficient carbon accounting approach should take CO emission transfers from developed economies to developing economies into consideration. It is important that China and its developed trade partners cooperate in reducing emission transfers.     

Income Distribution across Ethnic Groups in Malaysia: Results from a New Social Accounting Matrix

A new social accounting matrix is constructed for Malaysia for the year 2000 to analyze sources of income inequality among ethnic groups in Malaysia. The analysis reveals that income inequality can be decomposed into the interaction of: (i) hourly wages; (ii) working hours per week; and (iii) number of dependents per household. The results of the analysis suggest that occupational differences are the main factor contributing to wage inequality in Malaysia. Ethnic Malays tend to work in low‐wage industries while ethnic Chinese and Indians are more likely to work in higher‐wage industries.     

Production Costs,Scale Economies,and Technical Change in U.S. Textile and Apparel Industries

The elimination of quotas in textiles and apparel poses new threats from import competition. To survive, the sectors need to find least-cost methods of production. The production–cost structure of the U.S. textile and apparel industries is examined using a dual cost framework. A translog cost function is used to measure substitution elasticities between inputs, scale economies, and the nature of technical change. The scope for factor substitution in textiles remains limited with all substitution elasticities being less than unity. Labor and materials are complements in apparel production, but there is evidence of substitution between capital and labor. The rate of technical change is higher in textiles than in apparel. Given the intense import competition from low wage countries, in both industries, technical progress is labor saving. Overall, economies of scale are larger in apparel; however, scale economies have continued to increase in textiles.This research was supported by a grant from the National Textile Center.     

Free trade or protection? belgian textile and clothing firms’ trade preferences

Free Trade or Protection? Belgian Textile and Clothing Firms' Trade Preferences. -This paper examines the positions of Belgian textile and clothing firms on trade policies. Observations on positions are generated by a survey. Along the lines of the political economy of protection and anti-protection we test whether firm-specific characteristics influence textile and clothing firms' trade policy preferences. The results show that international competition and having foreign establishments significantly determine firms' positions, but that product differentiation does not. A Chow test indicates no significant difference between firms' sensitivities in the textile and clothing industries. This suggests that the two professional organizations should co-operate on trade issues.     

Modeling input–output impacts with substitutions in the household sector: A numerical example

Although there have been many elaborations of the basic input–output approach, including multi-regional models, dynamic models, models with variable coefficients, supply-side models, etc., these approaches all have the same limitation. The fixed-coefficients production function assumptions ignore substitutions in response to price changes that can be expected to accompany most shocks— skipping over the heart and soul of market economics. This research note suggests a simple approach to estimating new technical coefficients matrices after a shock so that the consequences of short-term substitution effects can be studied. Given a reduction in income (as reflected in the value added row), households are likely to make substitutions, reducing their final demand by less than the application of base-year I–O coefficients would indicate. But if ex post changed income and consumption can be observed, the application of RAS procedures can generate an appropriately modified A matrix. The resulting set of interdependent substitutions that occurred can be identified. Due to some well known limits in applying the traditional RAS approach, we reformatted it and suggest a new economic model that can link coefficient adjustments to degrees of a priori substitutability and complementarity. Based on this resolution, we look forward to detailed studies of specific coefficients and how they evolve over the short term.     

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN THE INDIAN TEXTILES INDUSTRY: A NON‐PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF FIRM‐LEVEL DATA

The Indian textiles industry is now at the crossroads with the phasing out of the quota regime that prevailed under the Multi‐Fiber Agreement until the end of 2004. In the face of a full integration of the textiles sector in the WTO, maintaining and enhancing productive efficiency is a precondition for competitiveness of the Indian firms in the new liberalized world market. In this paper, we use data obtained from the Annual Survey of Industries for a number of years to measure the levels of technical efficiency in the Indian textiles industry at the firm level. We use both a grand frontier applicable to all firms and a group frontier specific to firms from any individual state, ownership or organization type in order to evaluate their efficiencies. This permits us to separately identify how locational, proprietary and organizational characteristics of a firm affect its performance.     

Quest for appropriate overcapacity in the fisheries industry

The effective management of natural resources is a critical issue that concerns many people with differing interests. This paper examines aspects of overcapacity and optimal capacity within fisheries by accounting for multiple objectives. Overcapacity arises when a fishing fleet is capable of producing more than what is demanded at the industry level, or allowed by a regulatory framework. The presence of multiple objectives within fisheries management is most often an unavoidable reality, where the objectives determine what level of overcapacity is considered optimal. A two-stage model is suggested that can produce information for management in terms of tradeoffs, policy frontiers, objective values and optimal fleet structure. In the first stage, an output-based Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is applied. Efficiency is evaluated and production units transformed such that they use technologically efficient inputs and produce at their full potential. In the second stage, these transformed units are included in an aggregate industry model formulated as a multi-objective optimization program. The model provides information for managers in terms of tradeoffs, policy frontiers, objective values, and optimal fleet structure (by generating Pareto optimal solutions). The proposed model has then been applied to the Danish commercial fishing fleet.     

Ex-ante evaluation of a targeted job program: Hypothetical integration in a social accounting matrix of South Africa

To analyze policy impacts of a targeted employment program calls for a new approach of estimation. This study proposes a simple modification to a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) in order to analyze the multiplier effects of a new sector. A different input composition, or technology, of the sector with targeted job provision makes a conventional analysis of final-demand injections on existing sectors invalid. Instead of a costly full-scale rebalancing, we apply the modification—so-called hypothetical integration—into a SAM to assess a proposed expansion of social care sector within the Expanded Public Works Program in South Africa.     

AUSTRALIA'S SMOKE CITY: AIR POLLUTION IN NEWCASTLE

The City of Newcastle has been viewed as marginal to the main narratives of Australian history, despite its contribution to industrial development being likened in importance to that of a Pittsburgh or Birmingham. A focus on visible air pollution makes it possible to reposition Newcastle as the centre of environmental innovation, largely because of the knowledge gathered by Novocastrians about smoke abatement in the Anglo-American industrial cities upon which it modelled itself. The reduction of smoke in Newcastle since World War II is attributed partially to the City Council activities, but also to the displacement of pollution elsewhere, both within Australia and to the Asian cities to which coal is exported.