Trade liberalization and industry performance in Bangladesh

This paper analyzes trade liberalization's impact on Bangladesh's manufacturing sector performance. Using firm level input and output data and employing a nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA), we calculate technical, pure technical and allocative efficiencies for a sample of 82 firms collected over two periods of time: 1993 and 1998. Then, applying a Malmquist index method, we calculate indices of total factor productivity change and decompose them into technological change, technical efficiency change and scale efficiency change. Our results show that the majority of Bangladeshi manufacturing firms experienced a positive total factor productivity growth between 1993 and 1998, averaging 29% over a five-year period. Export-oriented firms have performed better than import-oriented firms in improving their technical efficiency relative to the best-practice firms in their own sub-group. When these results are compared with the official statistics on the output performance of manufacturing firms, we can conclude that trade liberalization in the 1990s did not adversely affect the Bangladeshi manufacturing industry.     

Trends in and determinants of technical efficiency of software companies in India

This paper attempts to discuss the trends in and determinants of technical efficiency of software companies in India during 1999–2008 by applying input-oriented DEA model. Based upon the PROWESS Database of CMIE, the efficiencies were estimated for the old and new companies and also for Indian, multinational and group companies. The estimations were made for a sample of 72 software companies, under VRS assumption, as dataset manifested large magnitude of differences owing to the presence of big and small companies in the sample. The sales revenue is taken as output variable, and employment, expenditure on computers and electronics equipments, operating expenditure, power, fuel, and water charges as the input variables. The results and analyses demonstrate that the mean overall technical efficiency of the software industry in India during 1999–2008 was low suggesting that software firms, on an average, were wasting 35% of their inputs. It was found that the number of companies operating on most productive scale size has declined during the period under reference. The results also suggest that Indian-owned companies were more efficient than the foreign-owned and group-owned companies. Contrary to the expectations, exports were not found to have exercised significant impact on the efficiency of Indian software industry.     

Tax collection efficiency in OECD countries improves via decentralization,simplification, digitalization and education

This paper offers an assessment of tax administration performance and provides evidence of the relationship between fiscal decentralization (and tax structure) and the technical efficiency of tax collection. The initial stage of the investigation consists of a data envelopment analysis (DEA) to obtain technical efficiency estimates for a sample of 28 OECD countries over the period 2004–2017. In a second stage, we explore how technical efficiency is affected by fiscal decentralization and tax structure variables. The results show how the degree of fiscal decentralization has a positive and significant impact on the technical efficiency of tax collection. They also reveal a relevant role of tax structure choices and the ratio of indirect to direct taxes, which can significantly affect tax collection efficiency. Finally, we extract some policy implications.     

China's energy inefficiency: A cross-country comparison

This paper constructs a total-factor energy technical efficiency index using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method following the total factor productivity framework. We then compare energy technical efficiency across 156 countries from 1980 to 2007. The results show that China's energy efficiency considerably trails other countries’ although it has made significant gains within the last 28 years. Further analysis indicates that scale inefficiency rather than pure technical efficiency contributes to China's energy inefficiency.     

The efficiency of government spending on health: Evidence from Europe and Central Asia

This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate health expenditures to demonstrate how productivity has changed over time for 46 selected countries in Europe and Central Asia. Our results show that countries could have increased output by 1.2% given the existing level of inputs. The patterns of efficiency change for the observed countries are further analyzed using the Malmquist productivity index (MPI). Decreased productivity growth is related to technical change. Finally, we regress efficiency scores on a set of environmental variables using a Tobit model. The positive influence of hospital beds and primary schooling on efficiency scores demonstrates that countries with better medical environments and a greater number of educational years may enjoy increased efficiency. In addition, there exists a regional effect between Europe and Central Asia.     

Productivity,efficiency, and non-performing loans in the Chinese banking industry

In this paper, the directional distance function and the metafrontier-Luenberger productivity indicator are used to measure the efficiency and the total factor productivity in 25 Chinese commercial banks over the period between 2004 and 2010. It is found that the pure technical efficiency of the state-owned commercial banks is better than that of the joint-stock commercial banks and the city commercial banks, while non-interest income is the major source of inefficiency. In total, the Chinese banking industry performs well in terms of overall productivity. The technological scale change indicating the change of return to scale in technology is the driving force for overall productivity growth. However, the pure technical efficiency change and the pure technologic change are not significant, and the scale efficiency change has a negative effect to productivity. The potential technological relative change for the three groups is greater than zero.     

Crime,deterrence and unemployment in Greece: A panel data approach

This study empirically examines the relationship among crime, deterrence and unemployment in Greece. A regional dataset over the period 1991–1998 was collected and analysed. Our econometric methodology follows the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator applied to dynamic models of panel data. The results show that property crimes are significantly deterred by higher clear-up rates and that unemployment increases crime. For violent crimes, however, the effect of the clear-up rate and unemployment are found to be generally insignificant. Finally, our results may provide support to policy makers in forecasting criminal activity in the current economic downturn under a wave of harsh austerity measures, budget cuts and increased unemployment.     

激励性规制理论与实践研究新进展

激励性规制尤其是价格上限规制是当今西方国家运用最为普遍的的规制方法.虽然传统的规制理论在定价等方面取得较大发展,但是并没有直接的涉及激励问题.规制目的在于激励企业降低成本、提高效率,并促进社会福利的最大化.激励性规制理论下的价格上限规制取代了传统规制理论下的回报率规制,从生产效率、成本效率、投资三个角度归纳总结激励性规制的实践效果,尤其在激励企业降低成本方面取得明显的成效.     

A Transactional Model of Temperamental Development: Evidence of a Relationship between Child Temperament and Maternal Stress over Five Years

Although there is growing consensus that parental stress is a risk factor in child development, longitudinal studies of its effects are few. This study tested a sample of 231 mother–child dyads in terms of whether the relations between the global experience of stress in mothers (perceived stress scale) and child temperamental characteristics (infant behavior questionnaire and child behavior questionnaire) could be conceptualized through transactional models of development. The assumption was that higher negative emotionality and lower positive affectivity in the infants would contribute to an increase in maternal stress over a five‐year period, beginning in infancy, and that higher maternal stress would contribute to an increase in child negative affectivity and a decrease in positive affectivity and self‐regulation over the same period. Evidence was found for both hypotheses, but not within the same models: the effect of maternal stress on child temperamental development was greater. The results are discussed with reference to bidirectional models of temperamental development.     

基于DEA的我国循环经济宏观效率初探

为了更好地发展循环经济，有必要对循环经济发展状况进行评价及研究。在界定循环经济效率内涵的基础上。采用数据包络分析法对我国1995－2008年这14年来的循环经济宏观效率进行实证分析和综合评价，可以发现，目前我国循环经济宏观效率总体呈现不断提高的良好趋势，但各地区发展不平衡，发展循环经济仍需长期努力。     

Transitions to employment from labour market enterprises in Norway

In this article we analyse a labour market programme for partially disabled workers that involves the transition from labour market enterprises to a job in the ordinary labour market. We found that the percentage of these people who found jobs after a maximum two-year programme period increased over time. In 1995, 28 per cent became employed in the ordinary job market after leaving the programme. Exit rates to employment increased to 36 per cent in 1998 and to 39 per cent in 1999. We also found heterogeneity in the job transitions. Employment ratios for men were relatively stable over time, varying between 30 and 40 per cent over the period 1995–1999. For women, however, we found a significant change in employment ratios, with 21 per cent finding a job in 1995 and 40 per cent in 1999. In 1995, employment ratios for female participants were below those of male participants, although there was no difference over the whole period studied (1995–1999). In 1999, the average transition rate to employment was higher for female than for male participants.     

A Test of the Relationship between Monetary Growth Uncertainty and Economic Growth in China： 1980-2008

我国货币增长不确定性的根源可以划分为货币政策冲击和宏观经济冲击两个层面,通过检验我国货币增长不确定性与经济增长之间的关系,结果显示：货币增长不确定性主要由宏观经济冲击所引致;1998年以前的货币增长不确定性比较剧烈,1998之后的货币增长不确定性明显减弱;由货币政策冲击导致的货币增长不确定性能够有效地促进经济增长,这意味着货币政策调控的有效性;但2003年以来,由宏观经济冲击导致的货币增长不确定性对经济增长起到了抑制作用,这说明以国际金融危机为代表的经济冲击对我国经济稳定增长产生了显著的消极影响,需对此进行积极的国家经济风险预警和防范。     

An econometric model of the agricultural sector of the Indian economy

The interrelationships between production, consumption, and stocks are studied in an interdependent framework for two groups of agricultural commodities, namely foodgrains and nonfoodgrains, with a view to obtain policy guidelines for agricultural growth. The model is formulated with aggregate information over the period 1951–1975 and both static and dynamic simulation along with multiplier analysis are carried out to assess the performance of the model. The study reveals that if there had been no PL 480 aid from the U.S. imports, foodgrain prices would have been higher than observed prices. Ex-ante forecasts to 1985 suggest some need for adequate planning with regard to stockbuilding.     

An assessment of the performance of Italian public historical archives: Preservation vs utilisation

Economists have paid an increasing attention to the estimation of efficiency in the public sector. Archives constitute an exception notwithstanding their cultural and historical relevance. This paper is, to the best of our knowledge, the first attempt to fill this lacuna. The analysis of the performance of archives raises theoretical issues because their outputs have characteristics of a pure public good (preservation) and of a private service (utilisation). Moreover, the trade-off between the long and short-run goals of, respectively, preservation and utilisation is central in most public policies concerning heritage. We address this issue by studying the efficiency of public historical archives (PHAs) in Italy, over the period 2011–2012. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and implement one-stage and two-stage approaches to investigate PHAs’ performance in the management of their different and potentially conflicting functions. Our analysis shows that PHAs perform better in the preservation function, considering the objectives and constraints they face.     

The Rules of the Game: The Politics of National Pensions in Korea

This article explores the conditions in which policy changes occur over time. It studies the institutional pathways taken by national pensions in Korea over an extended period by identifying the key moments which have pushed through their development: initiation (1973), implementation (1988) and reform (1998). Public pensions have developed over time in an incremental fashion, bringing an ever‐growing proportion of the population under their umbrella. What accounts for this development? A number of factors may be at work. The elderly population has rapidly increased; the traditional extended family has increasingly become a nuclear one, meaning that what used simply to be a family issue of protecting the elderly has become a social matter; urbanization and industrialization have resulted in an ever‐growing number of life‐time contingencies such as unexpected income losses. Convincing as these socio‐economic accounts may seem, however, they offer only a snapshot, underscoring the politics of national pensions which stretch over long periods. This article seeks to answer how and in whose interest national pensions come on to the political agenda; how they are framed and defined; and how political actors respond to pressures for national pension reform. In each of the three stages, it is suggested, somewhat different institutional rules have operated. Defining institutional rules as ‘the process of who gets represented in the decision‐making processes’, this article identifies the different institutional rules which have played a pivotal role in the social policy‐making processes.     

基于DEA的中国制造业产业R＆D效率评价分析

数据包络分析（DEA）是采用数学规划方法,以相对效率概念为基础,利用观察到的数据样本,对投入和产业指标的权重为变量进行评价运算。以此方法评估2006--2007年中国制造业的28个产业的R＆D投入产业效率和科技竞争能力,结果显示,我国各产业大中型制造业企业R＆D活动不仅存在规模上的差异,而且利用效率也有较大的差距,制造业各产业的科技产出普遍不足。     

The Influence of Goal Value on Persistence in Exuberant Chinese Children

With regard to the study of temperament and motivation in young children, exuberance, an important temperamental characteristic of the approach motivational system, has been relatively understudied in comparison with behavioral inhibition. However, due to the relationship between exuberance and behavioral regulation (e.g., problem behavior, task persistence), it is an important topic of study. Accordingly, this study examined whether the incentive value of goals moderated the relationship between exuberance and persistence in 109 Chinese preschoolers. Children's temperamental exuberance was assessed by behavioral observation and parental report. Their persistence was measured in two goal‐blocked contexts (tower‐building [TB] and locked box [LB]). In each task, children were randomly assigned to either a high‐ or low‐incentive condition designed to vary the incentive value of a given goal. Results suggested that exuberance was positively associated with persistence in the high‐incentive condition of TB and in both conditions of LB. The results highlight the incentive value of goals as an important factor for behavioral regulation development in exuberant Chinese children.     

Some employment,income, and occupational effects of microelectronic-based technical change: A multisectoral simulation for Canada

This paper computes some potential employment and income effects of microelectronic-based technical change (MTC) in Canada. The probable upper and lower bounds of the predicted outcomes are determined by simulating alternative scenarios, and by computing the range of feasible post technical change transition paths for each scenario. The occupational shifts required to accommodate the technical change are decomposed into those originating from the supply side (labor productivity and materail input changes) versus those induced by final demand changes. These results are presented for an historical period, for the reference or counterfactual (no MTC) path to 1990, and for a 1990 post-technical-change solution. The aggregate results for a plausible scenario indicate that the microelectronic-based technical change modelled in this paper initiates a one-half percent average yearly increase in labor productivity and consequently results in a cumulative displacement of 5 to 6 percent of the (1990) required labor force from 1981 to 1990. Of course, when/if the appropriate structural adjustments take place, those workers will be re-employed and national income will improve correspondingly. An increase in Canada's rate of diffusion (especially vis-à-vis our trading partners) implies more initial displacement, but again the even higher productivity gains (plus the potential for export gains) should ultimately improve national welfare. This conclusion highlights the importance of facilitating the required structural adjustments.     

Getting low educated and older people into work: The role of fiscal policy

Raising employment, in particular employment among older individuals and low educated individuals, stands high on the agenda of policy makers in many OECD countries. Increased sensitivity in recent years to rising inequality has made the challenge only larger. In this paper we evaluate alternative fiscal policy scenarios to face this challenge. We construct and use an overlapping generations model for an open economy where individuals differ not only by age, but also by innate ability and human capital. The model allows us to study effects on aggregate employment, per capita income and welfare, as well as effects for specific age and ability groups. We show that well-considered fiscal policy changes can significantly improve macroeconomic productive efficiency, without increasing intergenerational or intragenerational welfare inequality. Our results strongly prefer a reduction in the labor tax rate on older workers and on all low-wage earners, financed by an overall reduction in non-employment benefits. An alternative financing option is to raise the consumption tax rate. These results are to be seen as long-run effects for economies at potential output.     

基于超效率DEA模型的中国省际碳排放效率研究

以中国30个省市为研究对象,在全要素框架下运用超效率DEA模型测算各省市样本期内的碳排放效率,进行地区差异分析。基于我国省际面板数据采用多种回归方法,研究影响全国碳排放效率的主要因素。研究发现样本期内中国各省碳排放效率水平存在差异且呈阶段性特征。处在效率前沿面的基本为北京、上海、广东等东部地区,而碳排放效率较低的为陕西、贵州、内蒙古等西部地区,其中北京、天津、广东、云南、陕西等省的碳排放效率在样本期内随着时间的推移明显改善。较高的初始碳排放效率、产业结构的优化、城市化水平的提高、对外贸易结构的改善及能源结构的调整均对未来碳排放效率的改善有积极意义,重型化的工业结构对碳排放效率的提高却有明显的负面影响。因此,要在通盘考虑全局利益最大化的基础上,协调我国各地区的碳排放规模;采取引导和治理同步推进、＂双管齐下＂的措施;根据中国的经济发展阶段、产业结构特征以及企业竞争能力确定碳减排的步骤和进度,避免过快过强的措施使经济付出难以承受的代价。