Choosing for others

Experiments conducted in the US and France were used to study how individuals make trade-offs between health and taste for themselves and others. When someone receives a choice made for them that differs from their preference, they experience a welfare loss; at least in the short-term. We measure the empirical magnitude of this loss, and suggest it play a role in assessing the desirability of paternalistic policies motivated by behavioural economics. We show that the welfare loss changes with the provision of new information and the impact of this information differs for the two countries.     

Estimating the impacts of rising food prices on nutrient intake in urban China

The nutritional impacts of rising food prices on urban households across income classes are assessed using the 2004 NBS urban household survey data for Jiangsu province of China. Empirical results from this study suggest that the across-the-board food price increase is expected to have a substantial adverse impact on nutritional well-being of urban households and in particular, the poor. Moreover, an increase in the price of food grains alone will have the largest adverse impact on calorie and protein intakes, whereas an increase in price of oils and fats only will induce the largest reduction in fat intake.     

An Empirical Investigation into the Excessive-Choice Effect

Recent marketing and psychological studies have shown that more choice does not always benefit consumers. This excessive-choice effect (ECE) is examined empirically using food items in four experiments. The first experiment investigates whether people would voluntarily reduce their choice-set size. The second seeks to replicate previous experimental results. The third and fourth experiments employ nonhypothetical Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) soda auctions and hypothetical ground beef choice experiments to further detect the prevalence of the ECE in alternative settings and explore the role of personality in decision tasks. Results suggest the ECE exists, but is less prevalent than previous studies suggest.     

关于我国社会结构调整的几点思考

在经济发展的基础上形成合理的社会结构,是国家实现现代化的重要目标。改革开放以来,中国的社会结构发生了深刻变化。这种变化主要是在经济结构调整和经济发展的推动下自然形成的,与中国社会主义现代化建设的要求还不相适应。应当通过社会体制的改革与社会政策的调整和创新,自觉推进社会结构的调整,培育形成一个合理的社会阶层结构,这是构建社会主义和谐社会的重要基础。     

The labor force of the future.

In the decades ahead, the US labor force will reflect changes in the industrial structure, with declines in some manufacturing industries and expansion in service industries. The services sector is so diverse that the jobs within it cannot be categorized as either high wage or low wage. The service-producing sector employs 85% of professional specialty workers in the US. In general, information on compensation trends indicates that greater increases in compensation have occurred for workers in service-producing as opposed to goods-producing industries. The increase in service sector jobs has created opportunities for women to enter the labor force and, at present, 5 out of 6 women work in this sector compared to fewer than 2 out of 3 men. Productivity growth rates in the service-producing industries vary substantially and are strongly affected by the business cycle. Central to employment opportunities in the years ahead will be the effect of new technology. To date, the aggregate effect of new technology has been increased employment and higher living standards. Although retraining programs should be in place, the scenario of a huge technology-created labor surplus seems unlikely. In fact, a more likely problem is a shortage of labor resulting from earlier labor force withdrawal and demographic aging of the population. Those in the 25-54-year age group will represent a larger share of the labor force in the years ahead. In addition, blacks are expected to account for 20% of the labor force growth in the next decade. Finally, given increasing labor force participation rates among mothers, employers may have to provide more flexible work schedules, assistance with day care, and more attractive benefits packages.     

贸易自由化、劳动流动与就业结构调整

就业结构的适时调整对于中国加快转变经济发展方式有积极意义。本文借助就业结构调整指数的构建,将劳动流动的因素纳入到贸易自由化对中国就业结构调整的影响之中,定量分析了二者对就业结构调整的影响。研究结果表明,贸易自由化程度和劳动流动自由程度的提高对中国就业结构调整有正向影响,但这种影响具有区域差异。     

Show Me the Money! The Value of College Graduate Attributes as Expressed by Employers and Perceived by Students

Employers of agricultural undergraduates are presented with hypothetical job candidates with different attributes and salaries, and are asked which candidate, if any, they would hire. The employer choices are then used to estimate the additional salary they will pay for undergraduates with certain attributes. Students are administered similar surveys where they indicate which hypothetical candidate they think will be hired, which can be used to estimate students' perceived salary increase associated with each attribute. Employers' stated values are then compared to students' perceived values to identify any misperceptions regarding the monetary return of select attributes.     

金融同业活动与实体企业经营风险——来自地区层面同业存单业务的证据

本文研究了地区层面金融同业活动对实体企业经营风险的影响。基于各省份金融机构开启同业存单业务的研究表明,地区层面金融同业活动显著提升了当地上市企业股价大幅下跌的风险。进一步研究表明,随着同业存单业务的发展,当地上市企业债务融资成本和风险水平有所上升,而业绩表现和市场价值有所下降。上述发现表明,企业融资链条变长后,信贷市场道德风险上升,部分企业因风险偏好增强导致经营风险上升,更容易突然出现负面事件而导致股价大幅下跌。本文的发现揭示了金融同业活动存在监管规避的可能性及其影响实体企业的潜在路径,凸显了完善金融监管以更好服务实体经济发展的重要现实意义。