Environmental energy efficiency of China's regional economies: A non-oriented slacks-based measure analysis

This paper proposes two environmental energy efficiency indices, the pure energy efficiency and scale efficiency based on the slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA). These two indices are used to measure energy efficiency by incorporating three undesirable outputs—carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and Chemical Oxygen Demand—in China's regional economies between 2001 and 2010. The empirical results show most provinces were not energy efficient, due primarily to pure energy inefficiency. There exists a regional unbalance in terms of the environmental energy efficiency. Results support the Porter hypothesis, which indicates that stricter environmental regulations can improve efficiency and encourage innovation. In addition, undesirable outputs had a significant effect on energy efficiency measurements.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Public investment and growth: Lessons learned from 60-years experience in Southern Italy

This article analyses the contribution of public investment to economic growth in Southern Italy in the second half of the twentieth century (1951–2011). The Bai–Perron tests suggest that economic growth followed three distinct regimes: accelerated growth in the years 1951–1973 (average growth rate 5.3%); low growth in the period 1974–1995 (average growth rate 1.6%); zero growth on average after 1995. Using cointegration analysis, we find a positive effect of public investment on per unit of labour output of the Mezzogiorno in the whole period, 1951–2011. However, the estimates of the model show statistically significant parameters of public investment in the first regime, but not in the second regime, when economic growth is sustained by business investment and technical change. The last phase of growth sees the negative influence of the social and institutional environment on the functioning of the economy. The different impact of public investment on growth over time is ascribed to changes in the quality of institutions.     

Government size,factor accumulation,and economic growth: evidence from OECD countries

This study examines the role of government size in explaining the differences in economic growth rates of the 19 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the 1971–1999 period using a random coefficients model. Our results indicate that, on average, total factor productivity growth, as well as the productivity of capital, are weaker in countries where government size is larger. The advantage of a small government sector, in general, likely reflects the greater efficiencies resulting from fewer policy-induced distortions (such as the burden of taxation), the greater discipline of market forces which fosters efficiency of resource use, and the absence of crowding-out effects that weaken the incentives to create new capital which embodies new technologies. From a policy perspective, this does not mean that the optimal policy is one that minimizes the size of government. Rather, a small as opposed to a large government could potentially be as effective in providing the legal, administrative, and governance infrastructure critical for growth, as well as for offsetting market failures. At the same time, the country-specific results indicate that the nature of country-specific institutions as well as the mix of government activities are as important for growth performance as the aggregate size of government.     

Regional cultures and health outcomes: Implications for performance measurement,public health and policy

The U.S. Medicare program now ties payment to health care providers based on their patients’ outcomes. This change comes as compilations of data on geographic variations in health outcomes and quality of care indicate patterns that appear to be deeply ingrained. This study explores whether cultural characteristics correlate with health outcomes such that quality indicators may be measuring something other than quality of care, and whether regional subcultures have a significant impact on public health. It concludes that two cultural dimensions, social capital and traditional/rational-secularism, which explain a sufficient proportion of outcome variations to cast doubt as to whether outcome measures capture provider quality. Correlations are explored between American regional subcultures identified by Joel Lieske and the variation in health outcomes. In a multidimensional analysis of Lieske's typology, results indicate that certain U.S. subpopulations have cultural advantages or disadvantages relating to health.     

Tunisia after the 2011’s revolution: Economic deterioration should,and could have been avoided

The political instability and social unrest in Tunisia since 2011, generated a short-term foresight of the macroeconomic management which contributed to the deterioration of the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals. The objective of this paper is to provide the policy makers with quantitative arguments showing the importance to undertake the macroeconomic stabilization and the structural reforms that improve the total factor productivity, one of the main engines of a sustained economic growth. To that end, the paper employs a financial dynamic general equilibrium model calibrated using six flow-of-funds accounts representing the Tunisian economy in 2010. In a first stage, I reproduce the main macroeconomic variables observed for the Tunisian economy over 2011–2018. In a second stage, the model is used to compare the impacts of counterfactual policy scenarios on the Tunisian macroeconomic performance. The results show that the economy could perform much better, in relation to a battery of macroeconomic indicators (economic growth, unemployment, public external and domestic debts, current account, fiscal balance) under alternative economic policies. The most insightful results are obtained under the scenario of a total factor productivity’s growth progressing at its average level of 2001–2010. Indeed, this could generate an average yearly gain in terms of GDP growth of 3.45 percentage points and a reduction of the average unemployment rate by 7 percentage points over the same time horizon.     

Inventive productivity and patent quality: Evidence from Italian inventors

This paper examines the inventive performances of a regional set of Italian inventors. After stressing that the distribution of the inventors’ productivity is extremely skewed, we find that patent productivity is not influenced by individual characteristics, but it is higher for the inventors working in teams or in large firms with greater patent portfolios. Instead, patent quality is associated with some individual features such as age, gender and level of education. Accordingly, patented innovations coming from inventors working in small firms or independently can be as valuable as those generated in large companies. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Shadow economy,corruption and public debt in Spain

The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between the shadow economy and corruption as determinants of public debt in the Spanish Autonomous Communities. In addition, we construct a Corruption Perception Index for those regions. Our data constitute panel data for the period 2000–2012. The results show that the volume of the shadow economy has a significant and positive impact on regional public debt. Corruption also shows a direct and significant relationship with public debt in the Autonomous Communities, although its impact is lower than that of the shadow economy. We extract some implications for the public authorities.     

"扩权强县"与地区公共产品供给研究

提供更多的以公共产品为主的公共服务是转型期政府的主要责任和职能,政府为减少行政成本提高行政效率的层级改革同样应考虑公共产品的供给。"扩权强县"是近年来在我国部分省区为促进县域经济发展采取的一种分权措施,这种以扩大县(市)地方政府权力为手段,以提高行政效率,推动地区经济发展为目标的改革,对我国当前地区公共产品的供给产生了一定影响。     

Public sector efficiency in the design of a euro-area social benefit scheme

This study examines the importance of public sector efficiency in the design of a euro area-wide social benefit scheme. Our results reveal large-scale inefficiencies in the use of funds allocated to the scheme during the great recession and euro area sovereign debt crisis that followed, with member states wasting on average 34.6% of funds allocated to it. We therefore propose that to ensure the smooth functioning of the scheme, the fiscal union will first of all have to strengthen it at the national level by improving efficiency in the use of funds by governments. We show that this can be achieved by providing a framework for the transfer of the “critical success factors” in the policies implemented by the most efficient administrations. Furthermore, we show how public sector efficiency considerations can help ameliorate the problem of moral hazard associated with a centralized insurance scheme.     

Urban–rural disparity in the satisfaction with public sports services: Survey-based evidence in China

As part of the national project of advancing citizens’ fitness and developing mass sports in China, public sports services (PSS) have been implemented rapidly throughout the country. However, how citizens of different social backgrounds evaluate PSS is still an open question. Drawing on the survey data from the Study of Community Sports in China collected in 2012, this article detects a significant urban–rural disparity in the satisfaction with PSS. Relative to urbanites, rural residents show a significantly lower level of satisfaction with PSS. This urban–rural difference primarily concentrates on the provision of supporting services such as sports consulting, but least on the availability and price. In terms of regional variations, the rural–urban gap in the satisfaction of PSS is less severe in eastern provinces, relative to either middle or western provinces. Implications of the urban–rural differential in the appraisal of PSS are discussed.     

Role of Various Fault Attributions and Other Factors in Children's Anticipated Response to Hypothetical Peers With Undesirable Characteristics

Two studies examined the role of various fault attributions and other factors in children's anticipated response to hypothetical peers described as having an undesirable characteristic. The children were found to distinguish among various fault attributions (i.e., general, onset, and perpetuation; study 1), and they tended to agree more strongly that the peers were responsible for the perpetuation than the onset of these characteristics (studies 1 and 2). In study 1, perceiving an aggressive or overweight peer as similar to a friend and believing that the overweight peer will overcome this undesirable characteristic were found to be associated with a relatively favorable response to these peers. The more strongly the children agreed that (1) an aggressive peer is generally at fault for his/her undesirable characteristic (study 1) and (2) peers who are aggressive, overweight, shy, or a poor student are at fault for the onset of their undesirable characteristics (study 2), the less favorably they anticipated responding to these peers. Unexpectedly, attributing responsibility to forces ‘outside the peer's control’ (i.e., parents and biology) for his/her undesirable characteristic in study 2 was not found to be associated with a relatively favorable response to any peer with an undesirable characteristic.     

Negotiating the Superfund: Are Environmental Protection Agency regional officials willing to bargain with states?

Negotiation and bargaining are important activities in the implementation of intergovernmental public policies. Given the design of environmental policy, intergovernmental negotiations are an essential part of the interaction of environmental program managers. This study examines the willingness of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional officials to bargain with their state counterparts in the national Superfund program. A model of working relationships is developed to analyze the negotiating behavior of regional EPA officials. The findings of this study indicate that both strategic (trust, involvement) and structural (relations with EPA headquarters, state program capacity, and state political context) factors are associated with whether or not regional officials are willing to negotiate with state-level administrators. The implications of these findings for the national Superfund program, the larger context of intergovernmental management, and larger themes in public administration are discussed in the conclusion of this paper.     

Effective workload management in child welfare: Understanding the relationship between caseload and workload

A common assumption in public social service organizations is that workload may be positively associated with caseload. However, few empirical studies have examined what specific characteristics of caseload affect caseworkers' workloads in the child welfare system. This study attempts to address this gap by identifying specific individual and regional factors that influence both subjective and objective dimensions of workloads. Survey data were collected from 1,244 caseworkers at one public child welfare agency in a Midwestern state in the United States. The data indicated that both perceptions of unmanageable workloads and self‐reported overtime work were significantly higher when caseworkers had a greater number of cases than the state caseload standard for the investigations units and worked with at least two different types of cases simultaneously (e.g., working with both investigation and ongoing service cases). Additionally, sufficient staffing numbers to meet caseload demands at the regional level significantly decreased the odds ratio of having to do overtime work. The major findings suggest that the objective and subjective dimensions of workload vary by individual‐ and regional‐level variables. Practice implications are discussed for effective and efficient workload management in the public child welfare system.     

Inequality aversion and antisocial punishment

Antisocial punishment—punishment of pro-social cooperators—has shown to be detrimental for the efficiency of informal punishment mechanisms in public goods games. The motives behind antisocial punishment acts are not yet well understood. This article shows that inequality aversion predicts antisocial punishment in public goods games with punishment. The model by Fehr and Schmidt (Q J Econ 114(3): 817–868, 1999) allows to derive conditions under which antisocial punishment occurs. With data from three studies on public goods games with punishment I evaluate the predictions. A majority of the observed antisocial punishment acts are not compatible with inequality aversion. These results suggest that the desire to equalize payoffs is not a major determinant of antisocial punishment.     

Macroeconomic effects of public investment in South-East Europe

This paper provides the first cross-country study of the macroeconomic effects of public investment in South-East Europe. For these countries, we construct a unique dataset of exogenous changes in public investment and use them with Jordá (2005) local projections method to estimate their dynamic effects on the main macroeconomic aggregates, the unemployment rate and debt-to-GDP ratio. Our results show significant multiplicative effects of public investment on GDP, delivered primarily through crowding in of private investment. Our analysis confirms that public investment can be seen as a catalyst of positive spillover effects to other sectors of the economy and thus contribute to productivity growth.     

Use of population measures and norms to identify resilient outcomes in young people in care: an exploratory study

The purposes of this study were to derive a new method for identifying resilience (i.e. positive adaptation in spite of serious adversity) among young people in care and to determine the percentage of the latter who experienced resilience on selected outcomes, as conceptualized from within the developmental approach of Looking After Children. The participants comprised two samples of young people who were living in out‐of‐home care (mainly foster care) in the province of Ontario, Canada, 340 aged 10–15 years and 132 aged 5–9 years. Virtually all had experienced severe adversity in their families of origin, such that in most cases the legal custody, care, and control of the young people had been permanently transferred from their parents to a local Children's Aid Society. Corresponding to each in‐care sample was a general‐population sample of the same age range that served as a normative comparison group and was drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). The NLSCY is an ongoing, long‐term social‐policy study of the development of a nationally representative sample of Canadian children into adolescence and early adulthood. The general‐population samples were composed, respectively, of 5539 young people aged 10–15 years and 11 858 children aged 5–9 years. Resilience among the young people in care was operationally defined, on each outcome variable, as average or above‐average functioning relative to that of the general‐population sample of the same age range. The percentage experiencing resilience was relatively high on the outcomes of health, self‐esteem, and pro‐social behaviour, moderate on the outcomes of relationship with friends and anxiety and emotional distress, and low on the outcome of academic performance. The implications of the findings are discussed.