Automobile prices and protection: The U.S.-Japan trade restraint

We examine the effects of the U.S.-Japan trade restraint on automobile prices and quality upgrading, for both Japanese imports and American small cars. From April 1981 to April 1984 the suggested retail price of all Japanese models increased by 15.8 percent, or 5.3 percent per year. We find that nearly the entire amount of this rise can be explained by the upgrading of individual models. This upgrading may benefit consumers who would purchase a luxury import in any case, but harms those who desire the basic imports. In addition to upgrading, we conclude that a second cost of the trade restraint has been to prevent the yen depreciation from being passed onto American consumers, in terms of lower imported auto prices. For U.S. small cars we find a 9.1 percent rise in the suggested retail price, or 3 percent per year, with a fraction of this amount due to model upgrading. If the yen depreciation had led to lower import prices without the trade restraint, then we expect that U.S. auto prices would have been lower, too.     

从经济学视角谈科学育才之路

在现阶段高校毕业生面临着社会对他们的有效需求不足的问题,从而必须面对社会对高素质人才的需求同高校毕业生供给相对过剩这一结构性供需矛盾。本文从经济学角度分析产生这种矛盾的原因,进而提出只要高校学生工作措施得当,政策有针对性,就有可能缓解上述供需矛盾。     

研究生导师队伍建设的重要环节——学术论文量化评估

本文从研究生导师队伍科研成果的结构入手 ,认为对导师科研工作评估重点应是对学术论文的量化 ,并提出学术论文量化评估的指标设置、权重系数及其数学模型。     

西方经济伦理思想述略

面对现代经济学淡化伦理和中国经济伦理失范的现状 ,对古典经济学、凯恩斯主义、新自由主义学派、新制度经济学派 ,以及诺贝尔经济学奖获得者对经济的伦理关怀进行评述。     

如何定义“大国”？

 摘　　要:本文通过对各种关于“大国”定义的总结和分析，根据经济学原理给出了关于经济学意义的“大国”的定义。并分析了这种定义的优势，以及在该定义下进一步研究“大国”问题的方向     

历届诺贝尔经济学奖得主评介

举世瞩目的诺贝尔经济学奖得主及其学术成就 ,对我国“入世”后市场经济的发展及其与世界经济的接轨 ,都具有十分重要的指导作用     

Summary of the Workshop on Issues in Risk Assessment: Quantitative Methods for Developmental Toxicology

This report summarizes the proceedings of a conference on quantitative methods for assessing the risks of developmental toxicants. The conference was planned by a subcommittee of the National Research Council's Committee on Risk Assessment Methodology ⁴ in conjunction with staff from several federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, and Health and Welfare Canada. Issues discussed at the workshop included computerized techniques for hazard identification, use of human and animal data for defining risks in a clinical setting, relationships between end points in developmental toxicity testing, reference dose calculations for developmental toxicology, analysis of quantitative dose-response data, mechanisms of developmental toxicity, physiologically based pharmacokinetic models, and structure-activity relationships. Although a formal consensus was not sought, many participants favored the evolution of quantitative techniques for developmental toxicology risk assessment, including the replacement of lowest observed adverse effect levels (LOAELs) and no observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) with the benchmark dose methodology.     

胸腺素含量的ELISA测定法

用胸腺素免疫新西兰免,获得抗胸腺素抗体,建立了胸腺素ELISA定量测定法．该法检测灵敏度为3．2ng/ml,测定范围3．2～50000ng/ml,批内和批间变异系数分别为4．4％和8．9％,方法特异性鉴定显示与另外七种激素无明显交叉反应．     

The efficacy of using judgmental versus quantitative forecasting methods in practice

In an era where forecasts drive entire supply chains forecasting is seen as an increasingly critical organizational capability. However, business forecasting continues to rely on judgmental methods despite large advancements in information technology and quantitative method capability, prompting calls for research to help understand the reasons behind this practice. Our study is designed to contribute to this knowledge by profiling differences between firms identified as primary users of either judgmental or quantitative forecasting methods. Relying on survey data from 240 firms we statistically analyzed differences between these categories of users based on a range of organizational and forecasting issues. Our study finds large differences in forecast error rates between the two groups, with users of quantitative methods significantly outperforming users of judgmental methods. The former are found to be equally prevalent regardless of industry, firm size, and product positioning strategy, documenting the benefits of quantitative method use in a variety of settings. By contrast, the latter are found to have significantly lower access to quantifiable data and to use information and technology to a lesser degree.     

Quality and Reliability in Top-event Estimation: Quantitative Fault Tree Analysis in Case of Dependent Events

This article deals with the quantitative Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and the estimation method of the top-event in case of dependent events. It aims at addressing two main issues: (1) the decomposition of variability for the top-event according to several error components linked to the estimation of the top-event and sources of internal and external variations for a complex system; and (2) the definition of a Performance Measure Independent of Adjustment in order to set the quality of the top-event as a complex measure of the system failure. A simulated study applied to the health system is also carried out.