Basic needs macroeconomics: Is it manageable in the case of Egypt

Models are proposed to assess quantitatively the allocation of product to basic needs consumption, surplus consumption, and investment uses along a steady growth pash that guarantees all workers (and their families) their basic needs. Ways to estimate the inflationary consequences of shifting to such a growth path are also proposed. The models are applied with data from Egypt, and suggest that attainment of basic needs for the population of that country will be a difficult task.     

Simulation of a debtor country: The example of Colombia

A dynamic model, illustrated on Colombian data, simulates the functioning of an open economy under specified parametric conditions and selected policy scenarios. Unlike the usual two-sector models, the rate of growth of GDP is generated endogenously. Whereas related models perform sensitivity analysis for variations in parameters our procedure makes n possible to simulate policy alternatives under balance-of-payments pressure. The simulations explore the implications of policy options when debt services on inherited and new foreign indebtedness act as constraints on the debtor's growth, especially when new external borrowing is limited.     

中国国有经济规模与经济增长条件收敛——基于1978—2008年省际面板数据的实证研究

文章揭示了中国国有经济规模对区域经济增长条件收敛的影响。在研究过程中,文章扩展了Mankiw、Romer和Weil(1992)等修正的附加人力资本的新古典增长模型,将国有经济规模等制度性变量纳入其中,使用中国省级面板数据,运用动态面板数据一阶差分GMM估计方法。实证结果显示,在控制了其他影响因素之后,如果用"国有经济单位职工人数占各地区职工总人数的比重"和"国有经济单位固定资产投资占全社会固定资产投资的比重"这两个变量来衡量国有经济规模,那么国有经济规模在全国和东部地区都是经济增长条件收敛的一个影响因素,并对经济增长产生负面影响;在中部,国有经济规模不是经济增长条件收敛的影响因素;在西部,国有经济规模可能是经济增长的一个促进因素,并且影响区域经济增长条件收敛。     

Three models of OPEC leadership and policy in the aftermath of Iran

Collapse of the Shah's regime has transformed Iran's attitude regarding oil production policy. The nature of OPEC leadership is changing as well. Three models examine the nature of this leadership inside OPEC: (1) the conventional price leadership model, (2) a model emphasizing a concept of egalitarian leadership, and (3) a team model composed of coalitions. The three models establish the limits within which OPEC leadership is exercised. A composite model drawing upon all three sets of results suggests that Saudi Arabia shapes cartel policy not by itself, but through a dominant coalition of states. For most of the period 1969–1978 this coalition has been stable. Following the unsettling changes of 1973, cooptation of Iran into the dominant coalition in 1974 was an important step in achieving a new level of stability. But during the turbulence of regime transformation in Iran, the nature of the governing coalition appears to have changed. One consequence may be that in the future Saudi Arabia will yield more willingly to arguments heard within OPEC on behalf of upwards price pressure, especially in an atmosphere of growing political isolation and overall tight supply.     

The economics of the nonprofit sector: Insights from the institutionalism of John R. Commons

While modern nonprofit economics is dominated by the neoclassical and new institutional economic paradigms, this paper develops an economic explanation of the nonprofit sector from the perspective of the original institutionalism of John R. Commons. Instead of focusing on the neoclassical conception of market optimality, John R. Commons’ theory of reasonable value draws attention to the nonprofit sector's role in attaining a reasonable quality of community life. In contrast to the new institutional economics conception of the superiority of full private property rights, John R. Commons’ theory of scarcity, efficiency, and transactions shows the specific property rights structure of the nonprofit organizational form to be well-suited for precisely that purpose. This argument is illustrated on the example of agricultural and rural nonprofit organizations, which make an important contribution to attaining a more reasonable quality of community life in rural areas worldwide.     

A family income distribution model for regional (Massachusetts) policy analysis

An earned family income distribution model for Massachussets is described. This model could be estimated and used for other national or subnational regions for which the micro data required to generate earned family income distribution at working period rates are available. The model is distinguished by its explicit inclusion of male- and female-headed families without earnings and by its attention to employment structure, labor market conditions, and wage acceleration. There is presented a policy simulation that shows the effects on earned family income distribution of cutting the Massachusetts corporate profits tax and offsetting the lost revenue with a luxury goods sales tax.     

Aspects of a new world development strategy II: Factors affecting the long-term prospects of developing nations

This paper explores some quantitative dimensions of the interdependence of rich and poor regions in the context of the United Nations World Model. It extends the original work on that model in three ways: (1) by updating some of the key parameters and exogenous variables in the light of recent data; (2) by developing a “control” solution to be used as a point of reference in policy simulations; and (3) by exploring the sensitivities of each of two groups of regions— developed and developing—to changes in one another's growth rates. Goals of closing the income gap between developed and developing regions and of increasing income levels in the latter are discussed.     

Protectionism and real wage rigidity: A discussion of the macroeconomic literature

The paper discusses the macroeconomic literature on the relationship between real wage rigidity and the case for protectionism. First, it gives an account of the analytical arguments that lie behind the protectionist position of the Cambridge Economic Policy Group (CEPG). Then, it provides a critical appraisal of the model of the CEPG; the discussion is focused on its supply side, on the role it assigns to financial markets as well as on the issue of retaliation. Finally, the paper considers and evaluates the subsequent work by Eichengreen, which incorporates aggregate supply and wealth effects into the CEPG analysis.     

A general equilibrium model of domestic commerce in Mexico

In this paper we develop a general equilibrium model of the Mexican economy that focuses on the commercial sector, particularly retailing. Consumers purchase goods in different retail establishments, that sell differentiated goods at different prices. Where each consumer decides to make purchases depends on various price and locational considerations. The model has been calibrated to replicate the Mexican economy in 1977, the latest year for which a complete data set is available. We use it to analyze both the impact of the 1980 fiscal reform, a major policy charge for the economy as a whole, and that of a hypothetical development project aimed specifically at the commercial sector. Although our model was conceived and developed well prior to the current period of highly inflationary policies of the debt crisis, the latter was taken into consideration during both the simulations and their policy evaluation.     

Fiscal harmonization in view of the Euro adoption: Economic implications for Poland

In this paper, we investigate the ex ante effects of fiscal policy harmonization that might be necessary for the adoption of the common currency on economic growth in Poland using a neoclassical dynamic two-sector general equilibrium model. We study two fiscal policy scenarios. In the first one, we adjust all taxes to German and EU-27 levels, respectively, while in the second one, we change only consumption taxes to German and EU-27 levels. We find that in the first scenario, the current Polish taxes yield the highest rate of growth due to lower capital taxation. However, in the second scenario, German and EU-27 taxes yield the highest rate of growth due to the lower consumption tax on capital-intensive good. From a policy perspective, our results suggest that fiscal policy with lower taxes on capital and capital-intensive goods can generate a higher rate of growth in the long-run. In the case of fiscal harmonization, our findings propose adopting only German or EU-27 consumption tax structure into the Polish tax system.     

Policy modeling of foreign exchange rates

This paper is neither a complete survey of empirical work on exchange rate determination, nor a review of the ballooning volume of theoretical models. It is instead an attempt to classify the main alternative approaches to modeling exchange rates. I shall concentrate on approaches that can be used to assess the effects of alternative policies. There will be four further sections in the paper. The first three sections will each deal withthe structure, empirical support, and policy consequences of three main types of model: purchasing power parity models emphasizing the close and immediate relation of goods markets; interest rate parity models emphasizing the close and immediate international linkage of markets for financial assets; and structural balance-of-payments models that do not assume either of the above linkages to be so strong and immediate as to eliminate the other, and that hence require separate (but interdependent) modeling of trade and capital linkages in the determination of exchange rates. Each of these main categories has many rather distinct models within it, and some models are not easily classified into one of the three categories; I hope that the three-way split will nevertheless serve to make some distinctions that are important for policy modeling.In the final section I shall try to summarize the available model results that pertain to national and international policy choices under a system of more flexible exchange rates, and then to suggest where more or better model building might usefully increase the amount of information available to guide policy decisions.     

Europe’s lack of structural transformation and necessary policy changes of EMU

Primary goal of stabilisation policy in the Treaty of European Union is price stability. That goal may be in conflict with the goal of full employment in the member states, particularly, then the union is hit by an asymmetric shock. Assuming perfect capital mobility an initial adverse shock [Lessons of Massachusetts for EMU, in: F. Torres, F. Giavazzi (Eds.), Adjustment and Growth in the European Monetary Union, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge] may have permanent effects by releasing a self-reinforcing process, which will result in lower relative growth. Given the specification of a model that captures the crucial element of efficient structural transformation it is easy to conclude the lack of necessary structural transformation within European Monetary Union (EMU). In addition, the basic foundation of economic policy by EMU, as manifested by the Treaty of European Union, is by latter research put into question. Therefore this paper suggest, it is necessary that the Treaty of European Union must be supplemented, changed, or both.     

The Evolution of Coding in Signaling Games

Signaling games with reinforcement learning have been used to model the evolution of term languages (Lewis 1969, Convention. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; Skyrms 2006, “Signals” Presidential Address. Philosophy of Science Association for PSA). In this article, syntactic games, extensions of David Lewis’s original sender–receiver game, are used to illustrate how a language that exploits available syntactic structure might evolve to code for states of the world. The evolution of a language occurs in the context of available vocabulary and syntax—the role played by each component is compared in the context of simple reinforcement learning.     

A computable prototype model of economic development

Economic development models need to advance beyond the two-gap type capital-output models of growth. This paper presents a prototype model of economic development where development is defined more broadly than aggregative output growth in terms of four objectives, namely, income, consumption, distribution, and employment. It is in keeping with the basic needs approach recently developed by the World Bank and other international organizations.The model formulation is based on the dualistic theory of capital formation and structural change. The specification is on the supply side. A novel aspect of the model is that it incorporates the role of education, health, and nutrition in economic development. Further it makes use of cross section data, which is unusual in model building.The model is put to illustrative use to generate dynamic policy multipliers of education and health expenditure. The results do not support the Malthusian fears that increased health expenditure would cause massive unemployment and reduce the standard of living in LDCs.     

Commodity prices and the world distribution of income

Some advocates of a new international economic order recommend raising prices of commodities exported by developing countries as a means of reducing the inequality of world income distribution. A simulation model using commodity trade data and income distribution data for 68 industrial and developing countries examines this policy alternative. Initial data compilation reveals that internal inequality is as important as international: The world income share of the poorest 40% of people would be twice as high in the absence of intracountry inequality. Calculations using actual price experience in the “great inflation” of 1972–1975 show that despite the large relative price changes for some commodities (especially oil), these changes left the world size distribution of income virtually unchanged. Separate policy simulations show that even a quadrupling of the price of ali “equalizing” commodities (those mainly exported by LDCs) would leave the size distribution of world income practically unaltered (even under optimistic assumptions about intracountry distributional incidence), although some individual LDCs would gain. Increasing commodity prices therefore appears to be an ineffective means of increasing international equity, quite apart from questions about the feasibility of cartels or commodity agreements.     

Food and Conflict in Europe in the Age of the Two World Wars

John Walter and Roger Schofield (eds), Famine, Disease and the Social Order in Early Modern Society (1989), xiv + 335(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £35.00).

Peter Borsay, The English Urban Renaissance: Culture and Society in the Provincial Town 1660–1770 (1989), xxii + 416 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, £37.50).

William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (1989), xi + 466, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, £17.50).

E. A. Wrigley, Continuity, Chance and Change: The Character of the Industrial Revolution in England (1988), vii + 146 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £17.50).

Pat Hudson, Regions and Industries: A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain (1989), xiii + 277 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £30.00).

Mary Poovey, Uneven Developments. The Ideological Work of Gender in Mid‐Victorian England (1989), xi + 282 (Virago Press, £12.99).

Gerald D. Surh, 1905 in St Petersburg: Labor, Society and Revolution (1989), xvii + 456 (Stanford University Press, Stanford, $45.00).

Geoffrey Swain

Bristol Polytechnic

Avner Offer, The First World War: An Agrarian Interpretation (1989), xx + 449 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, £25.00).

Arthur Marwick (ed.), Total War and Social Change (1988), 160 (Macmillan, £29.50, paperback £8.95).

Vladimir Andrle, Workers in Stalin's Russia: Industrialization and Social Change in a Planned Economy (1988), xii + 243 (Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, £40.00).

Hiroaki Kuromiya, Stalin's Industrial Revolution: Politics and Workers, 1928–1932 (1988), xviii + 364 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £27.50).

Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Stakhanovism and the Politics of Productivity in the USSR, 1935–1941 (1988), xv + 325 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £25.00).

Peter Duus (ed.), The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century (1988) xviii + 866 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £60.00).

Morag Shiach, Discourse on Popular Culture (1989), viii + 238 (Polity Press, Cambridge, £25.00).     

Approaches to conflict modeling: A study of a possible USA-USSR nuclear confrontation

A possible nuclear confrontation between the USA and USSR is analyzed using five different models from game theory in order to compare the various approaches that can be taken in the analysis of conflicts. Of particular importance is an improved metagame analysis model that provides a comprehensive procedure for analyzing not only the nuclear conflict but also any other type of real world conflict that can arise in practice. When the improved metagame analysis model is linked with a new state transition model, the dynamics of the game can be thoroughly studied.     

A simulation model of infant feeding and family economics in developing countries

Malnutrition is one of the major problems in the Third World. Rooted in mass poverty. It has implications that seriously hamper the ability of poor countries to reach higher standards of living Malnutrition affects the biological development of human beings, which limits intellectual growth and therefore hampers social and economic betterment. At the same time the cultural fabric in many countries has been badly torn, with an increasingly large share of population moving into grossly underemployed and gravely underpriviledged communities within urban areas. This change has altered most traditional life styles: one of its major consequences has been the marked decline in the breast-feeding of infants. The nutrition and welfare of the family affected by new infant feeding practices, not only interact with the household economy, but affect and are affected by social forces and external conditions.This paper presents a model to address these issues and measure the extent by which the above mentioned interaction threatens economic growth and standards of living encouraging a vicious circle of worsening quality of life and declining economic potential. The model is applied to the economy of Malaysia on the basis of statistical information generated by random sampling techniques. The model is designed to provide a simulation mechanism which although bared on expectations and known input conditions takes into consideration random determination events within predetermined probable patterns. The basis of the procedure is a profile of areas occuring within a single family over a span of 10 years.     

How did divorced women fare in the 1990s?: Analysis of work and hourly earnings

This paper presents evidence of changes in employment and real wages in the population of divorced single women during the 1990s. Using data from the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS) for 1989 and 1999, the paper estimates multivariate models of labor force participation and hourly wages for each year. Differences between years in employment and wages are decomposed into portions attributable to changes in measured characteristics and changes in coefficients of the models. Estimates indicate that full time employment remained virtually unchanged during the decade, and real wages increased by less than 2%. Decomposition of the regression models shows that measured characteristics in this population changed in a direction that would have lead to higher wage growth, but those changes were offset by changes in the model’s coefficients. The result is that earnings experienced only modest growth. In the labor force participation model, changes in measured characteristics worked in the direction of a modest decrease in full time employment, but again coefficient changes provided an offsetting effect.