Globalization: Country and company interests in conflict

Globalization has brought about fundamental change. But, the same theory that shows that free trade is beneficial also shows that globalization can be harmful to at least one of the trading countries. Moreover, with globalization, the interests of a country and its companies may diverge. In this paper, we examine free trade in a globalizing world and identify the key policy issues that economists and industrial leaders, alike, must address in today's interdependent world.     

日美对外贸易政策的取向及启示

日本和美国的对外贸易政策是随着国内外经济环境的变化而不断地进行调整和完善的。一方面,对外贸易政策在总体趋势上呈现自由化;另一方面,又根据各自经济贸易发展的实际大力推行管理贸易。中国在对外贸易政策的选择上,既要将贸易自由化作为对外贸易政策的基本取向,更要适应国际贸易发展趋势,加大实施管理贸易的力度。     

Federal research spending and innovation in the U.S. economy

This paper provides a better understanding of federal funding and its impact on the production process of patentable ideas in the U.S. economy. In this study, I develop an expansion of the Marshallian Macroeconomic Model (Ngoie and Zellner, 2012, forthcoming), which is applied to the U.S. science sector and, among other things, compare the return of federal spending on the three components of research activities mainly (1) basic research, (2) applied research, and (3) development research. The findings presented in this study clearly outline that federal funding channeled toward applied research carries a much larger return than research funding assigned to basic or development research. The return on research spending is measured using the number of patents awarded. Furthermore, this study investigates the transformation of patented ideas into new products and the related implications on sectoral economic growth.     

Free trade,food-processing,and migration: An analysis of Mexican immigration in the U.S. Great Plains Region

This paper empirically identifies the factors driving Mexican immigration into the U.S. Great Plains region, focusing especially on the role of work in the Mexican and U.S. food-processing sectors, which in the context of NAFTA-induced foreign direct investments, opens up paths for migration along occupational lines into the U.S. from Mexico. Using a unique dataset on Mexican migration, the study addresses three related questions in a series of multivariate logistic regression analyses. First, is employment in the U.S. food-processing sector associated with Mexican migration into the Great Plains region? Second, does employment in the Mexican food-processing sector predict employment in the Great Plains food-processing sector? Finally, is the political–economic context linking Mexico and the U.S. related to the formation of occupational channels linking the food-processing sectors in Mexico and the U.S.? The findings demonstrate that the U.S. food-processing sector is a strong predictor of Mexican migration to the Great Plains region; Mexican migration is strongly channeled along occupational lines from Mexico to the U.S.; and the implementation of NAFTA, a period of intensive political–economic integration, strengthens the occupational channel between the food-processing sectors.     

中巴自贸区服务贸易开放水平评估、提升方向及对策建议

借鉴卡尔斯坦·菲恩克和马丁·莫林尤沃的研究方法,本文对中巴自贸区服务贸易开放水平进行了测度,结果显示中巴服务贸易协定分别是中、巴对外服务开放程度最高的区域服务贸易安排。在中巴服务贸易协定中,中巴给予彼此的＂GATS＋＂承诺相对集中于＂商业＂、＂通讯＂和＂运输＂部门,且＂GATS＋＂承诺多表现于在服务提供模式3（多以＂允许外资拥有更多股权＂的形式出现）。从中巴服务部门竞争力对比状况和各自服务贸易开放实践视角出发,本文对中巴服务贸易协定下,中巴服务贸易进一步深入开放方向进行了研判,结果表明中方会在＂建筑＂、＂金融＂、＂旅游＂和＂商业＂部门,巴方会在＂通讯＂、＂商业＂和＂运输＂部门优先做出更深入承诺。最后,本文给出了一系列对策建议。     

美国与印度的反恐合作：内容、问题与前景

九一一事件后美国和印度加强了在反恐方面的合作。双方的合作在一系列机制的基础上取得了进展,充实了美印战略伙伴关系。但是,美印反恐合作仍然存在诸多制约因素,主要表现为：双方在反恐问题上的利益和战略不同;双方对一些安全问题的看法不同以及印度国内反恐体系存在弊端等。2008年11月的孟买恐怖袭击案发生后,虽然美印双方都表示应加强反恐合作,但仍有一些不确定性因素将会影响合作的有效开展。     

Price controls, trade protectionism and political business cycles in the U.S. steel industry

The U.S. steel industry is subject to a microeconomic political business cycle resulting from U.S. Presidents designing protectionist policies on behalf of the steel industry; experiencing complaints from consumers and foreign producers as a result of the policy; modifying the policy which results in complaints from the steel industry; and finally, maneuvering policy back in favor of the industry to achieve re-election. Using a cointegrating vector error correction framework, this paper tests the hypothesized political business cycle for its effect on steel prices. We find that trade protectionism does not seem to have succeeded in its primary objective of supporting prices. By expending so much political capital on ineffective trade protection, the steel industry may have lost the opportunity to focus on more substantive issues that might have restrained factor cost and enhanced its competitive ability. The devolution of the steel industry, ironically, may have resulted from it's persistent pleas for protection. Political business cycles in the steel industry, with all its attendant negative consequences, would not occur if the steel industry did not continually lobby for protection.     

美国核政策调整与国际核不扩散机制的前景

国际核不扩散机制是美国防止核扩散,限制对手核力量以实现自身利益的重要手段,是美国维系其主导的世界核秩序的重要干预变量;而核不扩散机制的内在运行逻辑,也使得美国核政策成为决定该机制发展方向的最主要变量。因此,奥巴马政府核政策的调整,势必对核不扩散机制的维持和发展产生深刻影响。中国是现行核不扩散机制的重要参与方,美国核政策的调整必将通过国际核不扩散机制这一干预变量给中国造成直接或间接影响。     

The economic consequences of an import surcharge: Theory and empirical evidence for the U.S. economy

This paper analyzes the impact of a 20 percent import surcharge on all U.S. imports and on imports from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Brazil. The analytical framework is based upon the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade. We also discuss the methodology and results of two recent papers on the effects of an import surcharge. The empirical results indicate that, while the macroeconomic consequences of an import surcharge would be limited, significant intersectoral trade and employment adjustments would take place. The competitive position of U.S. tradable industries may improve or deteriorate depending on whether the dollar depreciates or appreciates in response to the import surcharge.     

Trade liberalization and factor prices: An application to the U.S. manufacturing sector

The effects of a trade policy on the prices of productive factors have important policy implications, particularly with regard to trade liberalization and protection. This paper examines the empirical evidence of the Stolper-Samuelson theorem for 16 major U.S. manufacturing industries. The theorem asserts that international trade reduces the prices of scarce productive factors and hence decreases their shares of income. The elasticities of prices of finished goods with respect to factor prices are estimated and then rearranged in the form of the row stochastic P-matrix in accordance with the proposition of Uekawa. The inverse of this matrix seems to confirm the weak version of the Stolper-Samuelson theorem.     

Effects of fiscal policy on the U.S. economy: Empirical estimates of crowding out

This study examines the short-and intermediate-run effects of a permanent reduction in U.S. personal income taxes on interest rates, output, prices, exchange rates, and the current account, holding government spending and money growth fixed. The theoretical analysis suggests that interest rates and domestic consumption will rise but that net exports and interest-sensitive expenditures will fall. Also, the foreign currency value of the dollar will rise except possibly when output increases due to positive supply-side effects or to elimination of unemployment. These theoretical conclusions are essentially confirmed by simulations using the Federal Reserve Board's MPS quarterly econometric model and its multicountry model.     

美国族群问题及其破解对策

美国是一个多族群的国家,族群之间的矛盾和斗争充斥着整个美国历史发展过程。"二战"之后,特别是20世纪80年代以来,由于白人至上主义和极右思潮的抬头,美国族群关系更趋于紧张。然而,在前苏联、南斯拉夫这些多族群国家解体的后冷战时代,美国却能够保持相对稳定的族群关系。这主要得益于其不断完善的法律制度、多元与一体的相对平衡,以及不断改进的社会保障制度等因素。由于美国族群政策是建立在资本主义私有制基础之上的,具有不可避免的局限性,因而对美国的族群政策应重于研究、分析,慎于借鉴。     

Globalization,financial development and economic growth: Perils on the environmental sustainability of an emerging economy

The study examines the effects of globalization, financial development, economic growth, and energy consumption on environmental sustainability in India over the period 1980–2015. The novelty of the study is the assessment of environmental sustainability in a single framework encompassing globalization, financial development, and growth effects. Findings reveal that an increased level of globalization and financial development while improving economic performance are inimical to the sustainability of the environment. In the short-run, globalization, economic growth, and increased energy consumption are contributing directly to environmental degradation, while banking sector development is impacting environmental sustainability adversely through the economic growth channel. Given the severity of the findings amidst India’s tryst with economic growth, proactive policies are warranted to encourage adaptation of greener and cleaner technologies in environmentally sustainable areas. This necessitates improved institutional quality encompassing stringent environmental standards, legal systems, property rights, corruption, financial information quality, etc., alongside the provision of incentives and subsidies to manufacturing firms undertaking technological innovations and complying with the environmental standards.     

Modeling U.S. monetary policy during the global financial crisis and lessons for Covid-19

The paper formulates the modeling of unconventional monetary policy and critically evaluates its effectiveness to address the Global Financial Crisis. We begin with certain principles guiding general scientific modeling and focus on Milton Friedman's 1968 Presidential Address that delineates the strengths and limitations of monetary policy to pursue certain goals. The modeling of monetary policy with its novelty of quantitative easing to target unusually high unemployment is evaluated by a Markov switching econometric model using monthly data for the period 2002–2015. We conclude by relating the lessons learned from unconventional monetary policy during the Global Financial Crisis to the recent bold initiatives of the Fed to mitigate the economic and financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on U.S. households and businesses.     

Policy innovation and policy realisation: the example of children future education and development accounts in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The Children Future Education and the Development Accounts (CFEDAs) are the first anti-poverty policy in Taiwan developed to provide incentives for the poor to accumulate assets for their future. Using CFEDAs as an example, this article analyses the process of developing and implementing an asset-based policy. It begins with an introduction to the policy structure. It then reviews the history of how the innovative idea of building assets for the poor became a policy proposal before presenting the convergence of three policy streams driving the prioritisation of CFEDAs in Taiwan’s policy agenda. It concludes with challenges facing the policy implementation.     

Trade frictions and productivity performance—Technological, Price, and cost competitiveness of Japan and U.S. exports

Over the last two decades Japanese industry has increased its share of world exports, and hence their competitiveness, while U.S. industry has declined in shares and competitive position. Focusing on cost competitiveness of Japanese and U.S. manufacturing exports, a model was developed to explain relative export performace of the two countries by relative technological progress and the resulting cost advantage. It is shown that technological progress and cost factors are important in determining relative exports of the two countries. It is also indicated, however, that problems for U.S. export industries in particular are not only their slower productivity growth, relative to Japanese industries, but also the lack of association of their productivity growth and cost factors with their export growth.