Measuring resource inequalities: The concepts and methodology for an area-based Gini coefficient

Although inequalities in income and expenditure are relatively well researched, comparatively little attention has been paid, to date, to inequalities in resource use. This is clearly a shortcoming when it comes to developing informed policies for sustainable consumption and social justice. This paper describes an indicator of inequality in resource use called the AR-Gini. The AR-Gini is an area-based measure of resource inequality that estimates inequalities between neighbourhoods with regard to the consumption of specific consumer goods. It is also capable of estimating inequalities in the emissions resulting from resource use, such as carbon dioxide emissions from energy use, and solid waste arisings from material resource use. The indicator is designed to be used as a basis for broadening the discussion concerning ‘food deserts’ to inequalities in other types of resource use. By estimating the AR-Gini for a wide range of goods and services we aim to enhance our understanding of resource inequalities and their drivers, identify which resources have highest inequalities, and to explore trends in inequalities. The paper describes the concepts underlying the construction of the AR-Gini and its methodology. Its use is illustrated by pilot applications (specifically, men's and boys' clothing, carpets, refrigerators/freezers and clothes washer/driers). The results illustrate that different levels of inequality are associated with different commodities. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some possible policy implications of the AR-Gini.     

Sustaining brand loyalty: The moderating role of green consumption values

Environmental issues are massively emerging in the current agendas of governments, businesses and consumers all over the globe. Consumers increasingly adopt a more energetic role in the environmental discussion and employ product consumption to manifest their contribution to the debate. Equally, a growing number of businesses try to affect positive social change, whereas others strategically approach green opportunities; at the same time, they persistently intensify their branding offerings to sustain loyalty. This article brings into discussion green consumption values as the authors aim to shed light into the way the latter moderate the effect of brand related factors, namely, brand experiences and brand personality, on brand loyalty. Based on data received from 413 participants and using the wearable technologies industry as the focal context, the study underscores the significance of green consumption values. Findings are discussed, and implications for managers are provided.     

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。     

Testing separability of public consumption in household decisions

In this paper we propose a sequential strategy, based on the microeconomic approach of the demand theory, in order to test for separability between private and public consumption. The aim of the present work is to verify, using a conditional almost ideal demand system, whether the different components of public consumption exert conditioning effects on the allocative structure of private spending. The empirical estimation of the model and the separability tests are developed for both a demand system in five functional categories of private spending, and for a demand system in six categories, where the private expenditures on those goods and services which can also be offered by the public sector are enclosed in a single functional category. The results of the separability tests, obtained using UK data for the 1974–2000 period, show that public individual consumption plays an important role in modifying consumer choices, while public collective consumption does not affect private consumption behaviours. The relationships between the different components of private spending and public individual consumption are both of substitutability and complementarity; in particular, we find that public individual consumption and the corresponding private expenditures on ‘Health, education, recreation and social protection’ are complements.     

Cross-sectional implications of dynamic asset pricing with stochastic volatility and ambiguity aversion

Building on recent research that highlights the importance of macroeconomic volatility and ambiguity aversion in explaining the dynamics of stock returns, in this paper we propose a dynamic asset pricing model that simultaneously accounts for stochastic macroeconomic volatility and ambiguity, assuming that investors deal with uncertainty about the mechanics of macroeconomic fluctuations using first-release consumption and revisions to aggregate consumption on vintage data. Our results show that the proposed model captures a large fraction of the cross-sectional variation of excess returns for a wide range of market anomaly portfolios. Furthermore, while the price of risk for ambiguity is positive and significant for the vast majority of assets under study, macroeconomic volatility yields ambiguous outcomes, although it significantly increases the explanatory power of the model for specific assets. Our results suggest that macroeconomic volatility and ambiguity complement each other in explaining the cross-sectional behavior of stock returns.     

简论收入分配差距在消费层面的表现

从我国居民消费与分配差距间实证关系、居民的消费倾向、年底人民币储蓄余额和最终消费支出等几个方面,表述了收入分配差距在消费层面存有不"和谐"因素.认为收入分配差距过大,对经济增长的影响主要表现在有效需求上,即当前我们所抓的国内需求上;而有效需求,尤其是有效需求中的消费需求,也从一个侧面体现着收入分配差距状况.     

浅谈对增值税转型的看法

理论上，增值税由生产型改为消费型将可以避免对企业重复征税，从根本上减轻企业税收负担，增强企业扩大投资、进行技术更新改造的动力。但就当前而言，应积极创造有利于向消费型过渡的税收环境，为增值税顺利转型作好准备。     

采油厂能耗质量监督与管理

根据油田能源计量和监督管理的实际，在采油厂范围内全面实施了以建章立制网络化管理为主线的能耗质量监督与管理。主要实施了随机监督和定期监督，以及与之配套的奖罚制度相结合的管理办法，以提高监督水平为目的的技术业务培训和加强现场能耗质量监督运行过程监督，完善配备能耗监测仪器等项措施。     

实行消费启动化解经济风险

我国经济增长一直居于高位，但已有几种伴生现象，主要是商品过剩、资金过剩和失业率上升，正蕴育着一些风险或危机。这三者都是由生产过剩所引起。生产过剩意味着消费相对于生产已严重滞后。因此，要根治生产过剩，化解经济风险，关键是大力促进消费增长，并以消费启动经济运行全过程。坚持以消费带动投资增长，这是消费启动所固有的内涵和基本要求。     

能源消费与经济增长:基于广东省的实证分析

运用协整模型和格兰杰因果关系模型分析广东省1987年以来能源消费与经济增长的关系.结果表明:(1) 广东省能源消费和经济增长关系显著;(2)能源消费是经济增长的单方向格兰杰原因;(3)这种长期关系是稳定的 ,并没有随时间而发生结构性变化.所以,广东经济增长过分地依靠能源消费.