A computational general equilibrium model with vintage capital

This paper presents a vintage capital model assuming putty–clay investment and perfect foresight. The model is written in discrete time and is simulated by using a second order relaxation algorithm. By computing the eigenvalues of the dynamic system, we have checked the conditions of existence and uniqueness of a solution (Blanchard and Kahn's conditions) and identified the echo effect that characterizes vintage capital models and the related dynamics of creation and destruction. By calibrating the model on French data, it has been proved useful to explain the medium-term movements in the distribution of income in France during the last three decades.     

防御性现实主义:进攻性现实主义时代的悲剧

作者旨在回答一个重要的问题:防御性现实主义在进攻性现实主义时代的命运如何?这个问题可以分解为两个小问题:进攻性现实主义时代下的防御性现实主义国家面临哪些生存压力?这些生存压力对防御性现实主义国家会造成哪些影响?作者认为,在进攻性现实主义时代,防御性现实主义国家面临五种生存压力:防御性现实主义国家是进攻性现实主义国家进攻的诱因;防御性现实主义国家经常遭遇进攻性现实主义国家的攻击;防御性现实主义国家被进攻性现实主义国家包围;防御性现实主义国家几乎无法和进攻性现实主义国家合作;防御性现实主义国家的军力通常在整体上或在关键指标上落后于进攻性现实主义国家。在这些生存压力之下,防御性现实主义国家的生存质量堪忧,在重要的物质利益和国家的自主性两项指标上的表现难如人意。作者采取了案例分析的方法,以中国宋朝和波兰为例,论证了进攻性现实主义时代的防御性现实主义困境。     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF PEDAGOGIC INTERVENTIONS IN FIRST-YEAR ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT AND MAINSTREAM COURSES IN MICROECONOMICS

This paper analyses the impact of pedagogic interventions in first-year academic development and mainstream courses in microeconomics on students' performance in the final examination. The data for six cohorts, covering the years 1999 and 2001-2005, are pooled, and the Heckman two-part procedure is used to account for those students who started the course but did not write the final examination. The results suggest that the pedagogic interventions have a positive impact on the performance of academic development students relative to the mainstream cohort and on the performance of mainstream students.     

Mixed up? that’s good for motivation

We show that career concerns can arise in the absence of ex ante uncertainty about an agent’s type, if his unobservable actions influence future productivity. Implementing effort in mixed strategies allows the principal to endogenously introduce uncertainty about the agent’s ex post productivity and generate reputational incentives. Creating such ambiguity can be optimal for the principal, even though this exposes the agent to additional risk and reduces output. This finding for an environment with imperfect commitment contrasts with standard agency models, where implementing mixed strategy actions typically is not optimal if pure strategies can also be implemented.     

Vom Kundenvorteil über die Value Proposition zum KKV

Im Marketing wird eine Reihe von theoretischen Konstrukten diskutiert, die die Interpretation des Marketings als Konzept der marktorientierten Unternehmensführung operationalisieren soll. Nettonutzenvorteil, Kundenvorteil, Komparativer Konkurrenzvorteil (KKV) oder Unique Selling Proposition (USP) sind Beispiele für solche Konstrukte. In neuerer Zeit hat der Value-Ansatz ein neues Konstrukt hervorgebracht: die Value Proposition. Der Beitrag diskutiert, in welchem Zusammenhang das Konstrukt der Value Proposition zu den oben genannten Konstrukten steht. Dabei wird deutlich, dass die Value Proposition vor allem die monet?re Bewertung von Kundenvorteilen herausstellt.     

ANTI-DUMPING AND MARKET ACCESS: A NOTE

For the duration of the currently stalled round of trade negotiations (the Doha Development Round) attention focused on the plight of developing countries under the current trade rules. One of the aspects under discussion is market access, and in particular the (ab)use of anti‐dumping measures to limit market access so that the progress made towards trade liberalisation is eroded. A popular assertion is that developed countries use anti‐dumping measures to protect their own industries against competition from developing countries. Part I of this short research note briefly takes stock of developments in this regard since the inception of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995. How has the use of anti‐dumping (AD) measures evolved? Who are the most active initiators of AD investigations and who are the victims? What is the spread between initiations of AD investigations and the actual imposition of AD measures? In Part II we consider selected AD issues, such as the determination of dumping margins and injury, administrative discretion, and the longevity of AD decrees.