Subjective Well-Being: The Constructionist Point of View. A Longitudinal Study to Verify The Predictive Power of Top-Down Effects and Bottom-Up Processes

Based on the constructionist point of view applied to Subjective Well-Being (SWB), five hypotheses were advanced about the predictive power of the top-down effects and bottom-up processes over a five years period. The sample consisted of 297 respondents, which represent the Italian sample of a European longitudinal survey; the first phase was conducted in 1995 and the follow-up in 2000. Satisfaction judgments were collected on Overall Life Satisfaction (OLS) and on seven Life Facet Satisfaction (LFS) domains. The top-down effects were measured using a method derived from the constructionist point of view. Life conditions, which represent the bottom-up processes, were gathered by structured questionnaire and were optimized by a factor analyses. A stepwise regression was performed in each satisfaction judgment to test the five hypotheses, which were confirmedwith only few exceptions. The results revealed that the top-down effects were a significant predictor in all satisfaction judgments, especially in OLS, where it was the strongest predictor. Life conditions (bottom-up factors) were less strong predictors than the top-down effects, but they became strong predictors if they were gathered at the same time as satisfaction judgments.     

Interregional migration and labor market imbalances

This paper investigates the effects of internal migration in developed countries on widening wage inequality and high unemployment, and it addresses the geographical dimension of both problems. A two-region dynamic model is developed, which accounts for the skill composition of recent internal migration flows; it also innovates on the existing literature on migration by introducing capital-skill complementarity in the production function. The main conclusion is that migration can actually aggravate labor market imbalances. In a competitive set-up, migration temporarily amplifies the geographical dispersion of unskilled workers wages and raises the average wage premium of the economy. When wage rigidities are introduced, labor mobility increases regional dispersion of unskilled workers employment. In the short-run it may even reduce the total employment of the economy.A previous version of this paper circulated with the title Migration Flows and Interregional Labor Market Disequilibrium. I would like to thank Samuel Bentolila, Federico Biagi, Fabio Canova, Alessandra Casarico, Rosa Maria Fernandez, Juan Francisco Jimeno, Adriana Kugler, Javier Ortega, Ferdinando Regalia, Gilles Saint-Paul, Etsuro Shioji, Marco Vannini, two anonymous referees, participants at UPF Macro Workshop, 1997 ASSET meeting, Marseille, 1998 ESPE Annual Conference, Amsterdam, and 1999 Winter Meeting of the European Econometric Society, Rotterdam, for helpful comments and suggestions; Alix Beith for her friendly help. The usual disclaimer applies. Responsible editor: Allessandro Cigno.     

Hidden information problems in the design of family allowances

We consider the optimal determination of family allowances in a model where some of the parents have higher ability to raise children than others. First-best policy gives both types of parents the same level of utility. If neither parental ability nor parental actions are fully observable, however, the policy maker has to take into account the incentive-compatibility constraint that more able parents should not find it profitable to mis-represent their true ability by investing less in their children, and having a lower number of children. The second-best policy induces more able parents to have the first-best number of children, and to invest in each child at the first-best level. Less able parents are induced to have fewer children than in first best, and will underinvest in each child. Whether the government should subsidize more the more able parents, or the less able ones, depends on the properties of the cost function. In second best, however, less able parents will end up with lower utility than more able parents whatever the cost function.All correspondence to Annalisa Luporini. The paper has benefitted from comments by three anonymous referees. Responsible editor: Junsen Zhang.     

黄河上游梯级电站水域资源综合开发利用构想

随着青海省境内沿黄河河谷一大批梯级电站的逐一建成并运营,为全省乃至全国经济社会发展注入了强大的动力,同时也极大地改善了该流域的自然环境,形成了具有多方面可开发和利用价值的巨大的水域资源。文章就这一水域资源的综合开发利用开展分析和论证,在阐述其开发利用的战略意义和基础条件的基础上,提出了着手付诸实施的具体构想与对策建议。     

Choices Under Ambiguity With Familiar And Unfamiliar Outcomes

This paper considers a decision-making process under ambiguity in which the decision-maker is supposed to split outcomes between familiar and unfamiliar ones. She is assumed to behave differently with respect to unfamiliar gains, unfamiliar losses and customary (familiar) outcomes. In particular, she is supposed to be pessimistic on gains, optimistic on losses and ambiguity neutral on the familiar outcomes. A generalization of the usual Choquet Integral is formalized when the decision maker holds capacities and probabilities. A characterization of the decision-maker’s behavior is provided for a specific subset of capacities, in which it is shown that the decision-maker underestimates the unfamiliar outcomes while is linear in probabilities on customary ones.     

A new nonlinear unit root test with Fourier function

Abstract

Traditional unit root tests display a tendency to be nonstationary in the case of structural breaks and nonlinearity. To eliminate this problem this paper proposes a new flexible Fourier form nonlinear unit root test. This test eliminates this problem to add structural breaks and nonlinearity together to the test procedure. In this test procedure, structural breaks are modeled by means of a Fourier function and nonlinear adjustment is modeled by means of an exponential smooth threshold autoregressive (ESTAR) model. The simulation results indicate that the proposed unit root test is more powerful than the Kruse and KSS tests.