Potron and the Perron–Frobenius Theorem

Maurice Potron is an important precursor of the study of linear models of production and, in particular, of input–output analysis. We show that, contrary to Abraham-Frois and Lendjel's interpretation which we consider as unfaithful to Potron's model, there is a clear connection between his theory and the Perron-Frobenius theorem.     

Prices and factor demand in an endogenized input–output model

This paper combines factor demand functions (for intermediate input and labour) and price equations (derived from a Generalized Leontief cost function) with the traditional input–output price model. The cost functions determine factor demands for materials and labour as well as output prices at given input prices. At the second level of aggregation, the intermediate demand as a single input is split proportional to the elements in the column of the technical coefficients matrix. The emphasis in this endogenization of technical coefficients is on two features. First, the repercussion of output on input prices, and, second, the link between the econometric model for the supply side and the input–output demand model.     

Labour values and energy values: some developments on the common substance of value since 1867

Abstract

Marx’s Das Kapital (1867) singled out labour as the common substance of value in all commodities. Costanza (1980 Costanza, Robert. 1980. “Embodied Energy and Economic Valuation.” Science 210 (4475): 1219–1224. doi:10.1126/science.210.4475.1219[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) in Science chose energy and propagated energy values (a century after Engels criticised Podolinsky on energy). Mainstream economists quickly questioned Marx’s logic. Pareto advocated simultaneous equations, unaware of their use by Mühlpfordt and Dmitriev. Contributions by Charasoff and Potron were also overlooked. Already in 1927, Leontief and Sraffa knew how to replace labour values by other commodity values. Generalising Sraffa’s subsystems and using “percentage formulas” for price-value deviations, I discuss some empirical results for labour or energy theories of value.     

The Impacts of Technology, Trade and Outsourcing on Employment and Labor Composition

Empirical studies of skill-biased technological change are typically based on a simple production or cost function framework and limited information on technology and labor composition. In contrast, we simultaneously assess the impacts of trade, technology, and outsourcing on shifts in labor demand using a dynamic cost function framework and comprehensive measures of workforce composition and investment in technology. Our findings indicate that technological change has had the largest impact on changes in labor composition. However, the indirect impact of trade on shifts in employment augments its direct impact because trade stimulates computerization, which further exacerbates skill-biased technological change.     

A Turnpike Theorem in the Closed Dynamic Leontief Model with a Singular Matrix of Capital Coefficients

The paper refers to the well-known Tsukui turnpike theorem on convergence of optimal growth trajectories in the closed dynamic Leontief model to the maximum balanced growth trajectory, called turnpike. In the original proof of this theorem, the assumption that the matrix B of capital coefficients is non-singular plays an essential role. For many reasons this assumption, very convenient for theoretical analysis, is not always satisfied in input-output systems built for empirical purposes. This paper fills the gap between theory and empirical studies, presenting a proof that convergence of optimal trajectories towards the turnpike is also a characteristic feature of the closed Leontief model in the case when matrix B is singular. The general idea of the proof is based on the approximation of a singular matrix B by an infinite sequence of non-singular matrices.     

河南物流业产业波及效果现状分析

针对河南省物流业产业波及效果动态分析,可以探求物流业同国民经济体系中相关产业的技术经济联系,进而找出物流业发展的一般规律,认清物流业同其他产业的关联度,这对产业结构优化和产业政策的制定是非常重要的。     

What (really) accounts for the fall in hours after a technology shock?

The paper asks how state of the art DSGE models that account for the conditional response of hours following a positive neutral technology shock compare in a marginal likelihood race. To that end we construct and estimate several competing small-scale DSGE models that extend the standard real business cycle model. In particular, we identify from the literature six different hypotheses that generate the empirically observed decline in hours worked after a positive technology shock. These models alternatively exhibit (i) sticky prices; (ii) firm entry and exit with time to build; (iii) habit in consumption and costly adjustment of investment; (iv) persistence in the permanent technology shocks; (v) labor market friction with procyclical hiring costs; and (vi) Leontief production function with labor-saving technology shocks. In terms of model posterior probabilities, impulse responses, and autocorrelations, the model favored is the one that exhibits habit formation in consumption and investment adjustment costs. A robustness test shows that the sticky price model becomes as competitive as the habit formation and costly adjustment of investment model when sticky wages are included.     

The Dynamic Leontief Model and the Theory of Endogenous Growth

This paper shows that the dynamic Leontief model can be interpreted as a linear model of endogenous growth. The long-term rate of growth is determined within the economic system - either as the outcome of the saving and investment behaviour of agents or as the outcome of some planner's maximization of some objective function.     

中国基础产业供给不足时的总供给--基于里昂惕夫生产函数的总供给曲线的构建

中国基础产业与其他产业资源配置的方式不同，以及二元结构的存在使西方经济学中的总供给曲线在中国缺乏适用性。本文在中国经济的实际背景下，基于里昂惕夫生产函数，构建了基础产业供给不足时的总供给模型，并对供给曲线做了实证检验。本文提出了基础产业产出的价格效应和产出效应的概念，并认为这两个效应是构建中国的总供给曲线的关键。     

A note on distortions from estimating the regional impacts of exogenous changes in output

This paper demonstrates both theoretically and empirically that when outputs instead of final demands are exogenously predetermined, the traditional Leontief final demand model overestimates economic impact, and even more so in a multiregional context. We assess this premise vis-à-vis the Leontief output model using the 2013 interregional input–output table of the Republic of Korea. We find that from a multiregional perspective the standard Leontief final demand model yields substantially biased output multipliers for Chungbuk Province.