加入WTO后的中国经济及日本的对策

虽然东亚产业分布正从"一极集中"到"多极分散",中国东部沿海也在迅速崛起,但笔者依然反对"中国威胁论",认为中国实行的是"非完全、彻底的"市场化,且沿海地区的迅速发展不能代替说明整个中国的发展。与此同时,加入WTO之后会对中国经济和世界经济产生深远的影响,并将成为日本及其国民真正迈向国际化的契机。日本要想有效地利用好中国的优势,一方面应与中国地方政府合作,支持本地中小企业的对外发展,另一方面必须大力推进内部国际化。     

"BUMPING", LAYOFFS, AND WORKSHARING

This paper deals with an interesting but often-neglected labor practice prevalent in large North American firms with well-developed internal labor markets. Large North American firms typically respond to a decline in demand for their products by first reducing the number of hours worked (or worksharing). As the demand continues to fall, however, they begin to make skilled workers "bump onto" unskilled jobs, displacing unskilled workers. Skilled workers are laid off only after a considerable number have bumped. I develop an implicit contract model and explain the practice.     

THAT'S NEWS TO ME! INFORMATION REVELATION IN PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION MARKETS

Using sportscard grading as an example, we employ field experiments to investigate the informational role of professional certifiers. Empirical results suggest three patterns: first, the grading certification provided by the first professional certifier offers new information to inexperienced traders but adds little information to experienced dealers. This implies that the certification may reduce the information asymmetry between informed and uninformed parties. Second, compared with the incumbent, new entrants adopt more precise signals and use finer grading cutoffs to differentiate from the incumbent. Third, our measured differentiated grading cutoffs map consistently into prevailing market prices, suggesting that the market recognizes differences across multiple grading criteria. ( JEL D8, C93)