On Welfare Criteria and Optimality in an Endogenous Growth Model

In this paper, we explore the consequences for optimality of a social planner adopting two different welfare criteria. The framework of analysis is an overlapping generations model with physical and human capital. We first show that, when the social welfare function is a discounted sum of individual utilities defined over consumption per unit of natural labor, the precise cardinalization of the individual utility function becomes crucial for both the characterization of the social optimum and the policies that support it. Also, decentralizing the social optimum requires an education subsidy that is definitely positive, but its size depends in a determinant way on the aforementioned cardinalization. In contrast, when the social welfare function is a discounted sum of individual utilities defined over consumption per unit of efficient labor, the precise cardinalization of preferences becomes irrelevant. More strikingly, along the optimal growth path, the education subsidy is negative, i.e., the planner should tax rather than subsidize investments in human capital.     

The Effect of Information on Willingness to Pay for Canned Tuna Fish with Different Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Certification: A Pilot Study

The objective of this study was to assess the role of information in consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for food products with corporate social responsibility (CSR) certification. The item used for the experimental design was canned tuna fish, a product on the market that is already exhibiting various kinds of certification related to social and environmental attributes. Two different kinds of certifications were examined, namely Friend of the Sea, which involves environmental aspects, and SA8000, related to workers' rights and more general social attributes. We implemented experimental auctions, taking into account three information treatments. The initial findings show that the WTP for both CSR labels is higher than the WTP for tuna fish without any CSR certification. Nevertheless, the information provided on CSR certification did not change consumers' WTP among the certification schemes. Our findings could also serve to fine‐tune marketing strategies to consumer preferences and determine which CSR activities are worth undertaking.     

PROFIT MAXIMISATION—CAN IT BE JUSTIFIED?

IN THE TRADITIONAL theory the firm's raison d'être is represented by just one single goal, viz. profit maximisation as an explanation and, in support of this, exact quantitative models by means of marginal analysis were developed indicating under which conditions profit maximisation was achieved. In fact, the models served "as a wonderful key which opens all doors to the understanding of entrepreneurial behaviour.¹     

MEASURING POVERTY ACCOUNTING FOR TIME

In this paper we make a methodological proposal to measure poverty accounting for time by proposing a new family of intertemporal poverty indexes that aims at reconciling the way poverty is measured in a static and a dynamic framework. Our index is able to consider the duration of the poverty spell and the social preference for equality in well‐being given that, in contrast with others that have been previously proposed, it is sensitive to the level of inequality between individual complete poverty experiences over time. Moreover, other indices in the literature can be interpreted as special cases of our more general measure. An empirical illustration shows the relevance of considering the distribution of poverty experiences among the population in an international analysis.     

Mutual Fund Performance and the Incentive to Generate Alpha

To rationalize the well‐known underperformance of the average actively managed mutual fund, we exploit the fact that retail funds in different market segments compete for different types of investors. Within the segment of funds marketed directly to retail investors, we show that flows chase risk‐adjusted returns, and that funds respond by investing more in active management. Importantly, within this direct‐sold segment, we find no evidence that actively managed funds underperform index funds. In contrast, we show that actively managed funds sold through brokers face a weaker incentive to generate alpha and significantly underperform index funds.     

Job Duration over the Business Cycle

Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) suggests that the cyclicality of job duration depends on the worker's prior and future employment status. For example, among matches formed with previously nonemployed workers, those that end with the worker returning to nonemployment display procyclical duration. In contrast, matches that end because the worker switches to another job have countercyclical duration. Moreover, differences in starting wages do not account for these patterns.     

中国与厄瓜多尔石油贸易简析

<正>一、导言厄瓜多尔的经济基础是主要满足国内需求的石油产品以及供国内消费和出口的农产品。2008年,原油与精炼石油产品占出口收入的63%。厄瓜多尔经济年平均增长率为4.6%。促进经济增长的因素主要有石油价格居高不下,国内消费需求旺盛,非传统产品出口的增长和居住国外的厄瓜多尔人的汇款持续增加等因素。人均收入在2000年为1,296美元,2008年增长到3,961美元,贫困人口比例     

An Investigation of Returns to Different Shopping Strategies

This paper investigates five alternative shopping strategies for acquiring various shopping goods. Both transportation costs and time requirements are examined. The alternative strategies that are examined are based upon random search, minimum travel search, perceived low price, telephone search, and combinations of the above.     

The Extent of Occupational Segregation in the United States: Differences by Race,Ethnicity, and Gender

This paper studies occupational segregation by ethnicity/race and gender by following a new approach that facilitates multigroup comparisons and econometric analyses to take into account group characteristics. The analysis shows that segregation is particularly intense in the Hispanic and Asian populations (the situation being more severe for the former given its higher concentration in low‐paid jobs). A distinctive characteristic of Hispanics is that segregation is higher for men than for women although females are more concentrated in low‐paid jobs. Segregation neither for women nor for African and Native Americans is reduced by taking human capital variables into account.