Unlocking the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies

This research examines whether investments in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) such as flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), robotics, etc., are more likely to lead to improved performance if they are supported by improvements in the manufacturing infrastructure of the company. This question is evaluated using data gathered from 202 manufacturing plants chosen from industries generally considered to have relatively high investments in technology.Multiple item scales are developed and adapted from sources in the literature to measure investments in technology, infrastructure, and the performance of the plant. Evidence supporting the reliability and validity of these scales is provided. Hierarchical regression is used to analyze the relationship between technology, infrastructure, and performance. The results suggest that there is an important interaction between the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies and investments in infrastructure. Firms that invest in both AMTs and infrastructure perform better than firms which only invest in one or the other. Separate analyses on sub-samples of firms with the highest and lowest investments in AMTs show that infrastructural investments have a stronger relationship with performance in the high investment group. Thus, the data indicate that infrastructural investments provide a key to unlocking the potential of advanced manufacturing technologies.     

Deregulating Network Industries: Dealing with Price-quality Tradeoffs

This paper examines the effects of introducing competition into monopolized network industries on prices and infrastructure quality. Analyzing a model with reduced-form demand, we first show that deregulating an integrated monopoly cannot simultaneously decrease the retail price and increase infrastructure quality. Second, we derive conditions under which reducing both retail price and infrastructure quality relative to the integrated monopoly outcome increases welfare. Third, we argue that restructuring and setting very low access charges may yield welfare losses, as infrastructure investment is undermined. We provide an extensive analysis of the linear demand model and discuss policy implications.     

天津物流业基础设施及发展水平统计分析

物流业是天津市重点发展的支柱型产业.本文旨在介绍天津物流业的现状,并对物流产业水平进行系统的统计分析,为宏观物流政策的制定提供依据.     

基础设施与制造业发展关系研究

本文从历史与实证的角度 ,以中国改革开放 2 0年的实践为案例 ,用计量分析的方法测算基础设施与制造业发展之间的相互关系及相互影响的方向及程度 ,在此基础上提出了促进基础设施与制造业协调发展的建议     

Texas 9-1-1: Emergency telecommunications and the genesis of surveillance infrastructure

Infrastructures of surveillance—everyday, taken-for-granted, institutionalized and technically mediated practices which identify, observe, and analyze individual actions—permeate society. These infrastructures mediate the production of social knowledge and action toward individuals. This article examines the genesis of one such infrastructure, namely the coordinated practices of identifying and locating mobile phone users during emergency (9-1-1) calls. Implementing this infrastructure has entailed creating and coordinating systems to locate wireless phones, to deliver the emergency calls to the appropriate service agency, and to deliver appropriate services to the emergency event. This implementation has occurred within historically specific regulatory, political, cultural, technological, and economic contexts and has specific implications for general surveillance practice. Focusing primarily on the state of Texas, this article examines the development of systems which store and deliver individuals’ geographic location. It argues that, despite privacy laws tightly restricting the use of information generated in the 9-1-1 process, and despite the special purpose to which the 9-1-1 system is dedicated, the wireless 9-1-1 initiative has created the infrastructure for a general purpose locational surveillance infrastructure capable both of surveilling broad patterns of activities and of responding to particular individuals. Moreover, the infrastructure is more available to police agencies and to well-established and well-funded corporate entities than to grass roots organizations. This trend is driven by the need to coordinate a national emergency response system within a fractured telecommunication industry, by the desire of marketers to understand and address their customers’ habits of mobility, and by an increasing willingness of police agencies to include widespread surveillance under the rubric of “emergency services.” Policy responses such as greater ability to opt out of the surveillance system, public oversight of emergency operations, and greater public access to the infrastructure itself might mitigate the most harmful potential social effects of this infrastructure, while distributing its benefits in a more democratic and egalitarian way.     

我国金融市场基础设施管理:现状、难点和立法路径

随着我国金融市场的纵深化发展,金融市场基础设施因其基础服务、系统性风险管理、辅助监管以及助力金融市场开放和营商环境完善等作用而日益受到重视,并成为现代金融治理和推动金融现代化的重要内容。但我国金融市场基础设施在运行和管理过程中却存在监管分散、制度空白、支持宏观审慎监管不力等情况,各方在相关概念和标准、统筹监管、恢复与处置安排等方面难以形成法律共识。为更好发挥金融市场基础设施作用,完善制度环境,我国应从金融市场基础设施的相关概念入手,明确其稳健运行所需的保障手段,完善统筹监管框架,有效衔接其他相关法律,并通过分步走的方式填补制度空白,提高立法层级。     

基础设施、拥挤性与城市生产率差异——来自中国267个城市市辖区数据的实证研究

针对我国城市空间结构和劳动生产率差异明显的现状,对我国267个地级城市的基础设施情况进行指标评价,并根据评价结果实证分析了基础设施水平、城市拥挤性对城市生产率的影响。研究结果表明,基础设施和就业密度对我国城市生产率的积极作用,同时两者的合力对城市生产率具有较强的驱动作用。     

我国铁路基础设施噪声的边际成本定价方法研究

通过概述国内外学者关于运输外部性内部化政策、运输外部性评估、运输外部成本计算方法等方面的研究成果,阐述了美国及欧盟寻求实现运输外部成本内部化的政策和方法。针对我国铁路基础设施噪声污染问题,在分析铁路噪声的产生、传播及估算的基础上,研究提出利用边际成本定价方法计算铁路噪声边际成本。噪声定价方法还有支付意愿法、冲击路径法等,这些定价方法及其实证量化还有待进一步深入研究。     

规则流变视角下农村基层治水体系建设——以福建省永春县农田水利设施管护改革为例

实施乡村振兴战略以来,各级政府对农村水利的投入不断增加,然而"政府管不到、集体管不好、市场管不了"的现象仍然存在,跨村水利管护机制缺失、基层治水规则与秩序失范问题亟待解决。本文以福建永春县吾峰镇农田水利设施管护改革为例,分析基层村镇场域中治水规则的建立与变革,从边界、身份、选择等7项规则入手剖析其对基层治水有效性的作用机制。研究发现,治水规则深刻影响了吾峰镇水利管护的行动情境:边界规则突破了原有以行政边界划定的资源治理边界,并鼓励企业等新行动主体进入;身份规则、选择规则明晰了管护主体的合约关系,确定了权责监督机制;偿付规则实现了良好的激励作用;信息规则推进了基层治水的公开、透明化运营;聚合规则创新了基层民主的可实现形式;范围规则通过试点选择创造了政策空间。在7项基层治水规则的共同作用下,吾峰镇农田水利设施管护改革摆脱了管护主体缺失困境和跨域治水合作困境,实现了治水行为的规范有序和管护绩效的稳步快速提升,促进了农村基层治水能力的现代化建设。     

Smallholder land ownership in Kenya: distribution between households and through time

This study uses panel data to demonstrate two dimensions of land ownership: the distribution between households at a given time and changes within a household over time. We note that recognizing the latter dimension is only possible when analyzing rare long‐term panel data. We estimate a model for land ownership using a version of the correlated random effects estimator to uniquely identify the determinants of both dimensions amongst Kenyan smallholders. We find life cycle effects are a key determinant of both distributions, and identify important ways in which initial conditions such as inheritance and off‐farm income relate to the dynamics of ownership. We find that population density is a key determinant of differences between households, but also that a given household's land ownership is not affected in the short term as population density increases around them. Controlling for population density, households own more land when they are closer to road networks where the economic value of land is higher. We find important vulnerabilities for the land security of widows, but this vulnerability is geographically heterogeneous.