Trade liberalization in textiles: Policy effects in an import-competing industry

I trace the dynamic impact of removal of textile quotas in the US on output, employment and plant closure in that industry. A dynamic theoretical model of firm-level decision-making is estimated with US Census manufacturing data and with industry-level demand-side data. Simulations performed with the estimated model provide a decomposition of the historical record into parts attributable to import competition, to technological progress, and to a secular real-wage increase. Plant closure and a fall in domestic prices are largely associated with technological progress, while downsizing, layoffs and reduction in domestic market share are associated with trade liberalization. The market-clearing domestic price of textiles is identified as a crucial channel in transmitting technology or import price shocks to layoffs and plant closure.     

Short run responses to foreign exchange crises

This paper constructs a short-run general equilibrium model for an LDC-type economy. Some key features are the possibility of excess capacity and the presence of quantitative restrictions on exports and imports. A rich variety of pricing possibilities for tradeable goods is allowed for, including “water in the tariff” as well as domestic prices exceeding world prices with binding import quotas.The model is used to analyze alternative responses to a foreign-exchange crisis. Import controls, devaluation and cuts in government expenditures are compared. We find that: i) import quotas can worsen the balance of trade, ii) rationing foreign exchange for noncompetitive imports is stagflationary, increasing prices even under excess capacity, iii) a devaluation has strong effects on income distribution, although output and employment expand, and iv) cuts in government spending are deflationary but the income distribution effects are neutral.     

The impact of US fresh milk production standards on dairy trade

We examine the impact of proposed changes in US legislation to allow greater use of concentrated dairy products when producing fresh milk commodities. Although this change will allow dairy producers to partially circumvent high tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for fresh milk products, changes in dairy production and trade are small, reflecting limited use of concentrated dairy products as inputs to fresh milk products. We also show that, at the global level, high trade barriers on other dairy commodities do not have a significant impact on trade in concentrated milk products. We conclude that trade negotiations should focus on the removal of tariffs and TRQs.     

The role of individual agents in promoting peace processes: business people and policy entrepreneurship in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Are individual businesspeople who operate as policy entrepreneurs willing and able to influence peace processes in conflict areas? The literature on businesspeople as policy agents shifts when talking about peace processes, focusing on group level activities and ignoring the effect of individual agents. We argue that rather than regarding businesspeople as a traditional interest group, we should consider the approaches to promoting change that strongly motivated individuals adopt as policy entrepreneurs. Based on interviews with senior Israeli businesspeople and decision-makers, we demonstrate how strongly motivated Israeli businesspeople promote peace as policy entrepreneurs. We identify their motivations, goals, challenges, and the strategies they use. The findings indicate that although motivated by economic profits, businesspeople undertake activities that may prove very beneficial to both themselves and society as a whole.     

Black‐market Medicine and Public Opinion Towards the Welfare State: Evidence from Israel

Based on a survey and interviews, this article presents and analyses Israeli public opinion toward black‐market medicine (BMM) and the welfare state. In addition to providing quantitative and qualitative evidence of the existence of under‐the‐table payments in Israel, we suggest various insights into this phenomenon. While most citizens admit that they would consider making under‐the‐table payments in order to receive preferential medical treatment, when the questions mention words such as ‘illegal’ or ‘bribe’, respondents tend to be less tolerant of such activities. We find that, first, there is a basic willingness among Israeli citizens to use BMM. Second, despite this predilection, Israeli citizens are reluctant to articulate their willingness to engage in such illegal activities. This reluctance implies the existence of a moral barrier among the population as far as identifying themselves with illegal behaviour is concerned. We may infer the existence of a gap between declared attitudes and behaviour. Third, the fact that people's willingness to engage in BMM is greater than their willingness to adopt black‐market strategies in other areas signifies the special nature of health care. Finally, by connecting the phenomenon of BMM to public opinion regarding the welfare state, we point to a possible gap between normative attitudes and preferences produced by structural conditions.     

The role of the welfare state in supporting economic transitions following family bereavement: Comparing Britain and Israel

Despite its centrality to the experience of death and grief, it is only in recent years that the economic burden following family bereavement has been recognized by social care professionals and scholars. Based on the realization that death and bereavement are grounded in social context, and assuming this economic burden is a multifaceted phenomenon, the present study compares the British and Israeli welfare systems in three policy settings: social security, funeral services, and bereavement leave. The findings suggest that while in both systems bereavement and especially widowhood is considered a deserving category, recent pressures for restructuring the British welfare state have been successful in shifting provision from the state to the market. The findings also show that in both cases, albeit to a lesser extent in Israel, current policy measures are not fully aligned with critical scholarship on bereavement and its financial consequences, nor with socio‐economic and demographic trends. These disparities are addressed using the notion of disenfranchised grief and by emphasizing the pivotal, although often overlooked role of the welfare state in constituting it. Lastly, the differences between the two cases are discussed in terms of the powerful role of Judaism in shaping Israeli policy.     

Applied general equilibrium analysis of trade liberalisation on land-based sectors in Malaysia and Indonesia

This paper presents general equilibrium evaluations of forest sector trade for Southeast Asian exporters. The four scenarios examined range from the 1994 Uruguay Round tariff reductions to a complete liberalisation of forest and agricultural products trade. We find that simultaneous reductions in forest and agricultural sector tariffs make Indonesia and Malaysia worse off. For Indonesia, this is due to the fall in forest rent and agricultural tariff revenues. Malaysia has the highest ratio of agricultural imports to total land-based sector imports, the rise in agricultural prices thus hits Malaysian consumers the hardest.We find that terms of trade effect omitted from the partial equilibrium framework may reduce the welfare calculations for Malaysia and Indonesia in the forest sector trade by as much as 106 and 58%, respectively. This points to the importance of general equilibrium modelling in the logging industry. The same applies to other sector specific analyses where trade is concentrated between few countries.     

Free riders and the redistributive effects of international commodity agreements: The Case of Coffeee

Most studies on the redistributive effects of international commodity agreements neglect the existence of free riders. This article shows, however, that incentives for a free rider behavior may exist under various systems of commodity control. The International Coffee Agreement includes an export quota scheme that is faced with free riders on the import side. The factors that determine the impacts of such a scheme on prices, trade, earnings, and expenditures on the world market and on welfare of importing nonmember countries are elaborated theoretically. An econometric model of the world coffee market is then used to measure the effects of coffee export quotas on different variables of the world market. By use of estimated national import demand functions for coffee, the national welfare gains of importing nonmember countries due to the quota policy of the International Coffee Agreement are also computed.     

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.     

The Saving for Every Child Program in Israel: an overview of a universal asset-building policy

ABSTRACT

In 2017, the Israeli government implemented a universal child development account programme – the Saving for Every Child Program (SECP) – which establishes a personal savings account for every Israeli child and provides monthly deposits until the child turns 18. The SECP has the potential to provide substantial assets when children reach adulthood, but the benefits depend on parents’ investment choices. The unique programme’s nature presents opportunities to learn from its implementation. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the SECP, its legislative history, early findings from its implementation, and recommendations that may improve programme participation and outcomes across population groups.     

Agricultural policy modelling under imperfect competition

This study evaluates the role of imperfect competition in determining the agri-food policies impact assessment outcomes. In most impact studies, the supply chain between agricultural production and final consumption is modelled in a perfectly competitive framework. However, there is a growing attention of stakeholders for the presence of imperfectly competitive markets, with the retail sector often being under investigation. This issue is empirically analysed with an application to the dairy industry. First, the degree of market power is estimated using a multi-output demand and price transmission equation system. Then, this model is used for policy simulation with the perfect competition outcome taken as a benchmark to evaluate the impact of imperfect competition. Results show a significant degree of market power in the dairy industry with implications on the projected policy scenarios. Moreover, the imperfect competition model alters the price transmission mechanisms, generating more flexible price trends.     

A computational general equilibrium approach to the shadow pricing of trade restrictions and the adjustment of the exchange rate, with an application to Argentina

A general equilibrium model of an open economy in which there are ad valorem texes on domestic production and export activities, and import activities are subject to both tariffs and quotas is constructed. A domestic monetary asset, foreign exchange, and a corresponding nominal exchange rate are introduced and a numerical example of the model is constructed. The example is solved via the Scarf fixed point algorithm, first with taut quotas and then after having relaxed quotas. Various price indices are then used to guide programs designed to stabilize the trade balance against the quota liberalization. An empirical example, using Argentine data, is carried out to find the quota equivalent of a particular tariff.     

二战后美国华人的就业特征及成因

二战后美国移民政策的调整特别是《1965年移民法》的实施为华人移民美国提供了良好的条件,美国华人社会也发生了深刻变化:学历构成有所提高,来源结构更加丰富,性别比例日趋平衡;在就业市场上,职业层次空前提升,地域上的分散化趋势有所加强,华人社会内部就业的多样性特点也日趋明显。但作为外来移民,华人仍面临种族歧视、语言障碍等诸多困难。     

Economic,social and environmental effects of reducing dairy methane emissions through market-based policies: An application of the Livestock Policy Simulation Model

Several technological approaches to mitigate methane dairy emissions are available; however, assuming that technological change alone generates the necessary incentives to accelerate emissions reduction is risky. Without adequate market signals, producers might choose not to use the technologies available or to the desired extent. Addressing this economic problem requires altering producers’ and consumers’ behaviour by introducing incentives or constraints. Employing the livestock policy simulation model, we examine the effects of reducing methane emissions in the dairy sector under different market-based policy instruments. We used the primary dairy sector in Uruguay as a case study. The results show that a policy mix combining a set of market-based instruments can be more effective than a single policy instrument alone.     

北京与国内重点城市文化产业政策比较研究

文化产业政策的完善关系到文化产业的健康、稳定、持续发展,需要针对本地区文化资源特点和产业发展现状制定适合本地区的政策,以此调动发展文化产业的积极性和自主性。近几年,我国文化产业发展迅速,北京市作为中国的文化中心,在制定文化产业政策方面起到了一定的引领作用。但是包括上海、广州、深圳、杭州、南京等在内的重点城市也都把文化产业的发展放在了重要地位,颁布了一系列政策措施。本文选取上述几个重点城市,与北京进行文化产业政策的比较研究,从财政专项资金、税收、投融资、人才和集聚区等五个方面,剖析北京文化产业政策的优劣势所在,并为北京文化产业政策的优化完善提供建议。     

Public attitudes toward policies related to labor migrants in Israel

This paper focuses on determinants of public attitudes in Israel toward two policy questions. First, should immigration policy measures be more restrictive toward overseas labor migrants? Secondly, should overseas labor migrants be replaced with Palestinian workers? Based on an attitudinal survey administered to a representative sample of the Israeli population, the findings indicate that support for a restrictive immigration policy is quite prevalent among Israelis. However, the survey reveals only moderate consent for replacing overseas labor migrants with Palestinian commuters. Attitudes toward a restrictive immigration policy are explained by the perceived threat posed by overseas labor migrants to social and economic interests. This threat is explained by the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics. Attitudes toward the replacement policy are partially explained by the sense of threat to the Jewish character of the state posed by overseas migrants, but are also attributed to several personal characteristics. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

South African quotas on textile imports from China: A policy error?

In August 2006 the South African government announced quotas on the imports of clothing and textile products from China. Three questions arise. What are these expected benefits? What will be the most likely impact of the import quotas on the South African economy? And what are the policy implications? In this paper we answer these questions by using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. We find that, contrary to the motivations apparently underlying the quota implementation, the macro-economic, sector and household effects are negative and result in greater inequality between poorer and richer households. We refer to modeling results elsewhere in the literature which report results consistent to ours. The policy implications are that the imposition of these quotas could come to be seen as a policy mistake, and that South Africa may benefit more from considering a free trade agreement with China.     

我国药价虚高的形成机制分析及其治理途径

药价虚高是我国民生建设的一个大难题。国家多次推出降价政策措施,实行药品招标政策,但成效见微。究其成因,主要是公共卫生支出不足、政策利益冲突、药品监管不力、药价制度漏洞、委托代理扭曲,这五大层面形成了药价虚高的路径依赖。因此,从体制上彻底切断药价虚高的生存路径,才是根本的治理途径。其关键在于完善制度设计：实行医药分业,加大政府公共卫生支出,强化药品体制监督管理。     

Economy-wide effects of cross-border labor mobility: The case of Palestinian employment in Israel

This paper investigates the economy-wide effects of cross-border movements of Palestinian labor for employment in Israel. The integration of Palestinian and Israeli labor markets is unique, as it differs from international labor migration and associated remittances described in the literature. Especially, it departs from the cultural and social dimensions associated with international migration because there is no shift in residence. We find based on an economy-wide model calibrated to a newly developed database of the West Bank economy that increasing Palestinian labor demand in Israel negatively affects the West Bank economy by bidding up domestic wages, reallocating labor away from tradable activities and reducing competitiveness of the Palestinian export sector. However, increasing labor income from Israel has positive welfare effects for Palestinian households. Considering these results, the paper identifies policy options for the Palestinian National Authority.     

媒介融合与中国传媒产业规制变革

媒介融合对媒介分立格局的改变,使传统的传媒产业规制遭遇冲击和挑战,规制变革成为各国应对媒介融合的必然选择。在多数国家对传媒产业放松管制的大背景下,中国传媒产业规制变革也呈渐进式发展,但总体上仍未能顺应媒介融合的发展潮流和内在逻辑。正确的规制变革乃是媒介融合的必要前提,未来中国传媒产业规制应体现下列趋势：抑制垄断和放松管制同步;内容监管与传输经营分开;规制机构由分立走向统一。