bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The philosopher and the Fly Bottle
Authors: Dilman İlham
Published: March 2003

Wittgenstein said that what he does in philosophy is ‘to show the fly out of the fly bottle’ (Philosophical Investigations¶309). He is, himself, both the fly, his alter‐ego, and the philosopher who turns the fly around. This is a transformation in his vision of and perspective on those matters which tempted him, through the questions it posed for him, into the bottle, there to be trapped – trapped into a form of scepticism, realism, or one of its many reductionist satellites, for instance. The transformation which releases him into the open takes philosophical work which unearths unspoken assumptions and subjects them to criticism. As for the movement into and out of the bottle, this is the philosophical journey in the course of which the philosopher comes to a new understanding of the matters he questioned in a way that led him into the bottle.

To come to such a better understanding, therefore, the philosopher has to have the courage of his temptations and not be afraid to give up what he holds on to. What he learns in coming out of the bottle belongs to the work that frees him from the compelling pictures that held him captive within the space of opposed theories held together by common assumptions. It cannot be acquired or conveyed independently of such work. It is in this sense that philosophy is a struggle with difficulties which each philosopher has to face and work through himself. The difficulties are not in him, but they are his– they are difficulties for him. He has to work on them. That is why, while he can learn from others, he cannot borrow from them, build on or go on from what they have established.

In the first section of the paper I put on some flesh on this. But what I provide is still a thumb‐nail sketch. The question ‘what is philosophy?’ is itself a philosophical question, like any other, and can only be ‘answered’ like them. It is only that with which we are familiar – in our mastery of the language we speak or in our experience of life –that can raise philosophical questions for us. Thus contrast ‘what is knowledge?’, ‘what is thinking?’ with ‘what is cancer?’, ‘what is osmosis?’. The question ‘what is philosophy?’ similarly can only be asked by a philosopher, someone who has asked and struggled with its questions. Otherwise it is a request for information to which the full answer is: you have to study philosophy if you really want to find out.

It follows that what I say about the way philosophical questions are to be answered applies equally to the question about the nature of philosophy. Hence I can do no other than provide a thumb‐nail sketch for those who have themselves struggled with philosophical questions.

As for what I provide in the following three sections, they are no more than illustrations of a way of working on those sample questions – questions on which hopefully the reader will have thought himself. I am able to offer such illustrations only because I have myself been caught up by these questions and have worked on them and discussed them more fully elsewhere (see Bibliography).
Merleau–Ponty on the Body
Authors: Kelly Sean Dorrance
Published: March 2003

The French philosopher Maurice Merleau–Ponty claims that there are two distinct ways in which we can understand the place of an object when we are visually apprehending it. The first involves an intentional relation to the object that is essentially cognitive or can serve as the input to cognitive processes; the second irreducibly involves a bodily set or preparation to deal with the object. Because of its essential bodily component, Merleau–Ponty calls this second kind of understanding ‘motor intentional’. In this paper I consider some phenomenological, conceptual, and cognitive neuro–scientific results that help to elucidate and defend the distinction between intentional and motor intentional activity. I go on to argue that motor intentional activity has a logical structure that is essentially distinct from that of the more canonical kinds of intentional states. In particular, the characteristic logical distinction between the content and the attitude of an intentional state does not carry over to the motor intentional case.
The Analysis of Rights
Authors: Penner J. E.
Published: March 2003

The author argues that the interest theory of rights is clearly preferable to the choice theory of rights and that this is due in large part to the work of Raz and MacCormick. Critical scrutiny of their views, however, reveals a flawed conception of the way that rights reflect interests. The author contends that a superior relation between rights and interests can be formulated, in which rights are identified with a constellation of norms within a normative system which reflect the interests which justify them, but wherein rights are not coextensive with interests conceived as reasons for the imposition of duties.
Reflections on Habermas on Democracy
Authors: Cohen Joshua
Published: March 2003

Jürgen Habermas is a radical democrat. The source of that self‐designation is that his conception of democracy—what he calls “discursive democracy”—is founded on the ideal of “a self‐organizing community of free and equal citizens,” coordinating their collective affairs through their common reason. The author discusses three large challenges to this radical‐democratic ideal of collective self‐regulation: 1) What is the role of private autonomy in a radical‐democratic view? 2) What role does reason play in collective self‐regulation? 3) What relevance might a radical‐democratic outlook have for contemporary democracies? The author addresses these questions by considering Habermas' answers, and then presenting alternative responses to them. The alternatives are also radical‐democratic in inspiration, but they draw on a richer set of normative‐political ideas than Habermas wants to rely on, and are more ambitious in their hopes for democratic practice.
Justification as a Process of Discovery
Authors: Halttunen Rauno
Published: March 2003

Legal decision‐making interests theoreticians in our discipline largely in terms of how a legal decision is justified. In his book, Bruce Anderson (1996) has posited a distinction between how a decision is arrived at, on one hand, and how it is justified, on the other. Anderson seems to be suggesting that legal theory should set out to continue the work of the American realists, that is, to develop legal decision‐making as a process of discovery towards a solution. In my presentation, I will be looking at legal decision‐making as a process of finding or discovering knowledge. What I mean by “discovery,” however, is the discovery of new scientific knowledge. (The theory of science draws a distinction between proving and discovering knowledge.) I submit that for a justification to be valid the arguments comprising it ought to fulfill the logical conditions stipulated for the discovery of knowledge. In the present paper, I also hope to share with you the main ideas of a book I am currently writing on the subject.
Judicial Hegemony: Dworkin’s Freedom’s Law and the Spectrum of Constitutional Democracies
Authors: Donohue Brian
Published: March 2003

Ronald Dworkin’s Freedom’s Law offers a solution to a thorny problem in American constitutional law. He argues that the authority of the American Supreme Court to make the final determination on constitutional questions is consistent with democratic principles. In this paper, I try to show that his solution is unsatisfactory because it permits the possibility of a judicial usurpation of authority that is inconsistent with his characterization of democratic principles. Freedom’s Law is also a bold attempt to offer prescriptions for constitutional democracies generally. By drawing a distinction between two concepts of authority, I object to this effort. I argue that Dworkin’s analysis assumes the operation of a conception of authority that I label the pyramid model. I also introduce a bipolar model of authority and try to show its application to the Canadian constitutional scheme. On this basis, I conclude that his prescriptions are relevant only for a portion of the spectrum of constitutional democracies.
Minimalism and Normative Reasoning: A Reply to Sean Coyle
Authors: Volpe Giorgio
Published: March 2003

This paper defends the “minimalist” solution to Jørgensen’s dilemma against the objections raised by Coyle (2002). As most of these objections stem from a misconstrual of the account of truth that underlies the minimalist solution, the paper is largely an attempt to provide a clearer statement of the “minimal theory of truth,” a sharper characterization of the features that distinguish it from other deflationary views, and a careful presentation of the minimalist account of the logical role of truth–ascriptions. The rejoinder includes also a brief discussion of what one may reasonably expect from a successful solution of Jørgensen’s dilemma.
Attitudes to reading: what can stories tell us?
Authors: Davis Pauline
Published: March 2003

Children’s attitudes to reading clearly influence their success in it and, while teachers have known this for some while, they have lacked easy ways of establishing what these attitudes are. Here Pauline Davis suggests one approach to this through story‐telling.
Choreography of Characters: Movement and Posture in Illustrated Texts for Children
Authors: Happonen Sirke
Published: March 2003

This paper begins with the premise that very often, in analysing or just talking about illustrated books, one uses the word ‘movement’, or ‘motion’, to express the characteristics of a picture or a series of them. In the research literature, remarks on movement link with the dynamics of a story, depicting action, alternating situations, and the liveliness and diversity of the book as a whole. In regard to both pictures and texts, however, the concept of movement remains rather abstract and vague; we mostly talk about an illusion, whose origin is difficult to express precisely. This article discusses the concept of movement first in the broader sense and then seeks an alternative viewpoint on analysing movement in illustrated children’s literature. It particularly emphasises movement in relation to the characters, inspired by ideas from modern dance. Examples are drawn from the illustrations and texts of the Moomin books by Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson.
Learning through collaborative writing
Authors: Cliff Hodges Gabrielle
Published: March 2003

This article looks again at the dynamics of reading, writing and telling stories. It argues that working collaboratively can motivate writers in ways which encourage them to redraft their work purposefully and explicitly in pursuit of particular creative effects. It exemplifies ways in which knowledge about language at word, sentence and whole text level can effectively be brought to bear as part of a holistic approach to writing.
Macroeconomic Crises and Poverty Monitoring: A Case Study for India
Authors: Datt Gaurav , Ravallion Martin
Published: March 2003

Survey‐based welfare indicators can fluctuate over time in ways which have little to do with macroeconomic changes in the economy. So basing policy decisions on short‐term movements in such welfare indicators can be hazardous. There was a sharp increase in India’s poverty measures in the aftermath of the mid‐1991 crisis and the ensuing stabilization program. However, only one‐tenth of the increase in measured poverty is explicable in terms of the variables one would expect to transmit the shock to poor people. Poverty measures soon returned to their pre‐reform levels, belying the notion of a structural break induced by reforms.
International Process Standards and North–South Trade
Authors: Perroni Carlo , Wigle Randall
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the choice between alternative trade‐based approaches to reducing global environmental damage, such as trade‐related process standards and tariff‐based approaches. Estimates of the effects of alternative policies are presented, using a calibrated global trade model with pollution externalities. It is found that both trade‐related process standards and tariff‐based policies are rather ineffective at reducing global emissions. The adoption of general process standards, however, might be exceedingly costly to developing countries.
The Kuznets Curve: What Happens After the Inverted‐U?
Authors: List John A. , Gallet Craig A.
Published: March 2003

Recent research has posited that, in advanced economies, there is a positive correlation between in‐ come inequality and development. Using a new unbalanced panel dataset for 71 countries from 1961 to 1992, we present evidence that supports this conjecture. Although many factors may be contributing to this renewed positive relationship between growth and inequality, one plausible explanation rests on the shift away from a manufacturing base towards a service base in most advanced economies.
Are the Kaldor–Verdoorn Laws Applicable in the Newly Industrializing Countries?
Authors: Mamgain Vaishali
Published: March 2003

The Kaldor–Verdoorn “laws,” the focus of this work, are a set of stylized facts which attempt to describe growth in an economy. This paper tests these stylized facts using macroeconomic data from newly industrializing countries. Results show that high rates of growth of manufacturing do not translate to high productivity rates in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Mauritius, but they do so in South Korea. A negative relation exists for Malaysia. This work questions the operation of Kaldor’s laws in the context of globalization and suggests a revision of the laws.
A Rationale for Infant‐Industry Protection and Gradual Trade Liberalization
Authors: Naito Takumi
Published: March 2003

A two‐final‐good, one‐primary‐factor, small–open endogenous growth model is constructed based on R&D. The model yields two steady states with different growth rates as potential equilibria. Depending on history and the external environment, the economy may fall into the poverty trap in free trade. However, a temporary trade policy can release the economy from the poverty trap. Moreover, the optimal trade policy is gradual trade liberalization with the rate of protection kept to a minimum.
Industrialization versus Education: Optimal Investment Choices and Growth in a Developing Economy
Authors: Robertson Peter E.
Published: March 2003

Recent growth theory has focused on the role of human capital as a source of welfare gains in developing economies, rather than traditional sources such as improving resource allocation and physical capital accumulation. This paper examines traditional developing‐country labor market problems in a Uzawa–Lucas endogenous growth model. Numerical solutions show that policies which promote human capital accumulation can have significant short‐term costs, and lower overall welfare improvements, than policies that give similar productivity improvements in the physical‐capital or final‐goods sector.
Illegal Migration, Border Enforcement, and Growth
Authors: Hazari Bharat R. , Sgro Pasquale M.
Published: March 2003

This paper analyzes the economic consequences of illegal migrants in the context of a model of trade and growth. In the model, capital and domestic labor are mobile sectors while illegal migrants are sector‐specific. These assumptions give rise to a production possibility curve (with migrants) that lies partially inside the zero migration production possibility frontier. It is this feature of the model which generates ambiguous results regarding the relation betweendomestic welfare, illegal migrants, and enforcement. The steady‐state growth path with migrants may lie above or below the balanced growth path without migrants.
Productive Consumption and Growth in Developing Countries
Authors: Steger Thomas M.
Published: March 2003

Productive consumption enables the satisfaction of current needs and increases the productive potential of labor. The productive‐consumption hypothesis is of fundamental interest because it modifies the “harsh” intertemporal consumption tradeoff traditionally assumed. The incorporation of the productive‐ consumption hypothesis into a simple endogenous growth model reveals the following implications: (i) the possibility of a poverty‐trap; (ii) the rule of optimal consumption turns into a modified Keynes–Ramsey rule; (iii) the (effective) IES is based on, inter alia, the technological opportunities to enhance human capital due to productive consumption; (iv) a rising saving rate; and (v) transitional dynamics to an asymptotic balanced‐growth path.
Group Lending under Dynamic Incentives as a Borrower Discipline Device
Authors: Wydick Bruce
Published: March 2003

In recent years group lending has become an increasingly utilized tool for providing credit access to the poor in developing countries. Using empirical results from first‐hand field research on Guatemalan borrowing groups, this paper develops a simple game‐theoretic model of group lending. Results from the model show that through peer monitoring, the threat of group expulsion, and the safety net of intragroup credit insurance, group lending mitigates some risky investment behavior that would otherwise occur under an individual borrowing contract. The credible threat of social sanctions against group members who misallocate borrowed capital further reduces instances of such behavior.
Foreign Investment, Technology Transfer, and the Technology Gap: A Note
Authors: Nakamura Tamotsu
Published: March 2003

The paper analyzes a simple differential game model of international technology transfer via foreign direct investment, in which a subsidiary of a multinational corporation and a host‐country firm are engaged in a technology accumulation race. In contrast to previous works, it is shown that an elasticity of the foreign firm’s marginal quasi‐rent plays a key role in determining the effects of technology spillover and of efficiency of learning activities on the technology transfer: those are positive if it is larger than unity in absolute value, and vice versa. Other comparative static results are reported.
Optimal Debt Relief Under Threat of Trade Punishments
Authors: Egli Dominik
Published: March 2003

The theory of optimal debt relief hinges critically on the assumption that the output of a defaulting debtor country can be partially confiscated by the creditors. This assumption is at odds with the crucial feature of international credit relationships. The present paper focuses on an alternative enforcement method, namely the impediment of international trade. It is shown that a similar result can be derived. Additionally, it can be rational to grant further credit to countries with very little initial endowment, even though it is clear to the creditors that they will grant debt relief afterwards.
International Pricing with Costly Consumer Arbitrage
Authors: Anderson Simon P. , Ginsburgh Victor A.
Published: March 2003

Consumer arbitrage affects international pricing in several ways. If all consumers face the same arbitrage costs, a monopolist’s profit increases with arbitrage costs, and world welfare declines with them (if output does not rise). If arbitrage costs differ across consumers, a monopolist may sell in a second country even if there is no local demand—it can use the second country to discriminate across consumers in the first country. Again, world welfare typically falls with arbitrage costs. When there is also local demand in the second country, world welfare may be increasing in arbitrage costs, even if output falls.
Labor Market Integration, Unemployment, and Transfers
Authors: Spilimbergo Antonio
Published: March 2003

Integration of the labor markets between a rich country (North) and a poor country (South) often leads to high unemployment in the South and transfers from North to South; for instance: United States versus Puerto Rico, West versus East Germany, Northern versus Southern Italy. This paper presents a general equilibrium model in which workers finance a transfer to the unemployed in the South in order to limit migration. In addition, it extends the framework to consider: the difference in efficiency between natives and immigrants, taxes on fixed factors in the North with internal transfers, and subsidies to the employed in the South.
The Role of International Discipline in Three Developing Economies: Exchange Rate Effects on Domestic Prices in Colombia, Korea, and Morocco
Authors: Feinberg Robert M.
Published: March 2003

This study examines three developing countries—Colombia, Korea, and Morocco—in order to determine the linkage between exchange rate movements and domestic producer pricing. Generally, incomplete passthrough into domestic prices is found, but greater impact than previously found for developed economies. An important common thread in explanations of industry‐varying effects for the three countries is that entry and entry barriers seem to matter in the transmission of exchange rate changes into domestic prices, suggesting that increased openness to imports has only limited influence on domestic prices of import‐competing goods, and can be aided by domestic competition policy.
International Trade, Technological Development, and Agglomeration
Authors: Knarvik Karen Helene Midelfart , Tvedt Jostein
Published: March 2003

The paper focuses on how localized dynamic external economies of scale may cause uneven technological development internationally, and encourage regional agglomeration of industries. Location‐specific technological progress depends on the absolute number of local innovating firms, and the relative number of innovating firms; i.e., the share of economic activity in a region that takes place within the innovating sector. The creation of industrial clusters contributes to explaining regional specialization, factor prices and welfare, and it appears that the critical size of a region regarding its ability to sustain an industrial cluster depends on whether factors of production are internationally mobile.
Alternative Monetary Policy Rules for Small Open Economies
Authors: Froyen Richard , Guender Alfred
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the relative merits of alternative monetary policy rules for a small open economy. Rules considered target: the exchange rate, price level, nominal income, or a monetary aggregate. The standard framework employed in previous comparisons of these rules fails to take account of important features of small open economies. In particular, the standard framework fails to consider the effects on aggregate supply of exchange rate adjustments resulting from adherence to policy rules. Incorporating these effects is shown to weaken the case for targeting nominal income and, more generally, to complicate the ranking of policy rules.
Inflation Rate Variability and the Phillips Curve
Authors: Simhon Avi , Bar‐Shira Ziv
Published: March 2003

This paper studies the relationship between inflation and unemployment by focusing on the effect of inflation rate uncertainty on real wages, employment and output. The effect of inflation on employment is shown to depend on the relationship between the mean rate of inflation and the variability of its forecasts. This can explain why the Phillips curve is negatively slopped in some periods and undetermined or positively slopped in others.
International Capital Mobility in Emerging Markets: New Evidence from Daily Data
Authors: Kumhof Michael
Published: March 2003

This paper analyzes daily covered interbank interest differentials for three emerging markets before and after the 1997/98 financial crises, and compares them with those of four developed economies. It examines descriptive statistics of covered differentials and the long‐run equilibrium (cointegrating) relationship between their interest rate and forward discount components. Mean differentials and their volatility were moderate before crises, but increased dramatically during crises. The main reasons are temporarily effective capital controls, large bank default risk premia, and capital market imperfections. The evidence for a cointegrating vector consistent with covered interest parity is strong, implying that, despite large short‐term deviations, covered interest parity does hold as an equilibrium relationship.
Foreign Aid and the Business Cycle
Authors: Pallage Stéphane , Robe Michel A.
Published: March 2003

This paper documents empirical regularities in the foreign aid flows to developing countries over three decades. In spite of a large body of literature on foreign aid and its impact on recipients, surprisingly little is known about its business cycle characteristics. The authors show that for the vast majority of African recipients, aid flows are a major source of income that is highly volatile and, most importantly, overwhelmingly procyclical. For recipients outside of Africa, there is a similar—if somewhat less pronounced—pattern of aid procyclicality. In contrast, there is little evidence of aid procyclicality with the business cycle of donors. In light of the very high volatility of output in developing countries, the procyclicality of foreign aid flows from the recipients’ perspective raises serious questions related to their welfare and growth.
Foreign Portfolio Equity Investments, Financial Liberalization, and Economic Development
Authors: Errunza Vihang
Published: March 2003

Reform of local capital markets and relaxation of capital controls to attract foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) has become an integral part of development strategy. The proximity of market openings and large, sudden shifts in international capital flows gave credence to the notion that the liberalization was the primary culprit in precipitating the recent Asian crisis. Hence, this paper reassesses the benefits and costs of FPIs from the perspective of the recipients. Specifically, it discusses the various FPI contributions and presents empirical evidence regarding the relationship between FPIs and market development, degree of capital market integration, cost of capital, cross‐market correlation and market volatility. It is clear that the evidence on benefits of FPIs is strong, whereas the policy concerns regarding resource mobilization, market comovements, contagion, and volatility are largely unwarranted. The authors make some policy suggestions regarding preconditions for capital market openings, market regulation, and liberalization sequencing.
Contagion, Monsoons, and Domestic Turmoil in Indonesia’s Currency Crisis
Authors: Cerra Valerie , Saxena Sweta Chaman
Published: March 2003

The paper investigates whether Indonesia’s recent currency crisis was due to domestic fundamentals, common external shocks (“monsoons”), or contagion from neighboring countries. Markov switching models attribute speculative pressure on Indonesia’s currency to domestic political and financial factors and contagion from speculative pressures in Thailand and Korea. In particular, the results from a time‐varying transition probability Markov switching model (which overcomes some drawbacks of previous methods) show that inclusion of exchange rate pressures from Thailand and Korea in the transition probabilities improves the conditional probabilities of crisis in Indonesia. The paper also finds evidence of contagion in the stock market.
Trade Theory and Factor Intensities: An Interpretive Essay
Authors: Jones Ronald W.
Published: March 2003

Since Heckscher’s 1919 pioneering contribution to international trade theory, the concept of “factor intensity” has played a key role in explanations of trade patterns and the consequences of international trade for local income distribution. This essay discusses the uses that have been made of the concept and its applicability to problems that are couched in higher dimensions. The author suggests that it has an important role to play in “new” trade theory in which the strong link between commodity prices and costs of production may be removed by the existence of imperfectly competitive markets.
Economics in Crisis: Severe and Logical Contradictions of Classical, Keynesian, and Popular Trade Models
Authors: Batra Ravi
Published: March 2003

The paper examines three popular models that form the foundation of modern economics. The author concludes that two of the three, the classical and the Keynesian, are seriously deficient in logic, whereas the third, dealing with gains from trade, is partially lacking in logic. Classical and neo–Keynesian approaches require desired investment to expand during recessions, whereas the trade model requires real GDP to rise without any rise in employment, capital stock, or technology. The paper offers an alternative macro framework that is free from the limitations of conventional models. Money is either neutral or non–neutral, depending on whether the economy is operating below or at full capacity. Wages are strictly determined in the labor market, yet employment is influenced by aggregate demand. The alternative model thus combines the attractive features of classical and Keynesian frameworks.
Declining Industries and Persistent Tariff Protection
Authors: Magee Christopher
Published: March 2003

The paper uses a political economy framework to explain the empirical observation that trade protection is persistent. The assumptions that are shown to generate endogenous tariff persistence in the model are quite plausible: agents are uncertain about future prices, tariffs are affected by political pressure, and producers of the import–competing good own sector–specific human capital that may be lost if they exit the industry. The model also reveals that, under the conditions listed above, industries decline gradually in response to a price shock even when producers do not face increasing costs of adjustment.
Some Economics of Integrated and Segmented Markets
Authors: Wright Donald J.
Published: March 2003

For the purposes of the discussion in this paper, whether markets are integrated or segmented is endogenous and is determined by the interaction of demand parameters, tariffs, transportation costs, and arbitrage. Given certain restrictions, it is shown, in equilibrium, that policymakers choose tariffs to segment markets. The effects of trade liberalization (reducing all tariffs to zero) in an endogenous market structure framework are determined and compared to the existing literature. The results differ substantially, highlighting the importance of explicit modeling of costly arbitrage in imperfectly competitive models.
The Law and Economics of Historic Preservation in St. Petersburg, Russia
Authors: Butler Stephen B. , Nayyar‐Stone Ritu , O’Leary Sheila
Published: March 2003

St. Petersburg’s architectural heritage makes it one of the most beautiful cities in Russia. However, as government subsidies continue to dwindle, the city is increasingly dependent upon private sources of financing to restore and preserve the many seriously deteriorated monuments and buildings. This article considers whether the economic and legal environment in St. Petersburg provides sufficient incentives for private investors to undertake historic rehabilitation projects. A pro forma model is used to analyze a developer’s return on investment in new residential construction on the outskirts of the city versus rehabilitation of an historic residential building. The results show that the costs associated with historic preservation are significantly greater than for new construction and for a developer to make a reasonable rate of return on historic preservation the square meter price of residential space would be affordable by only a small segment of the population. Simultaneous changes to multiple legal and economic policies are recommended to encourage additional private investment in historic preservation.
Impacts of Land Use Rights Reform on Urban Development in China
Authors: Li Ling Hin
Published: March 2003

The opening of China's urban land market has seen a growing interest internally and internationally in land and real estate development. Due to the monopolized ownership of land, this interest brings in substantial income for the government. Because of this new source of income, governments at various levels are able to finance urban development to different extents. This paper examines the outcomes of the reform that created a market mechanism for urban land and real estate, and the correlation of urban developments with the land and real estate market.
Asian Economic Problems and Prospects for Foreign Direct Investment: Local Evidence from the UK
Authors: Munday Max , Pickernell David , Roberts Annette
Published: March 2003

This paper explores the implications of the Asian crises and economic problems in the Japanese economy on a UK region with a high dependence on employment in Asian manufacturing transplants. The paper examines the development of the Asian transplant sector in the case region (Wales), and maps out the economic significance of the sector on the local economy. Following a review of the potential impacts of economic problems in Asia on the local transplant sector, the paper uses local case evidence to explore recent changes in the Asian manufacturing base in Wales. Recent reversals in the transplant sector have largely been caused more by “local” manufacturing conditions. The paper concludes with a discussion of factors that are most likely to affect the trajectory of the Asian transplant sector in the case region in the new millennium.
Effective Rental Housing Demand in the Tokyo Metropolitan Region
Authors: Tiwari Piyush , Hasegawa Hiroshi
Published: March 2003

This paper reports on the estimation of housing demand for tenants in Tokyo Metropolitan Region using household level data for 1993. The results indicate that the rental housing demand is inelastic with respect to permanent income and price, with coefficients as 0.31 and ‐0.093 respectively. Other important variables, which determine housing demand for tenants are length of stay and type of household. Larger households demand more housing. However, keeping the size of household constant, households with elderly members have higher demand for housing. The only exception to the rule is households formed with members not belonging to same nucleus family demand less housing.
Including the Feedback of Local Health Improvement in Assessing Costs and Benefits of GHG Reduction
Authors: Li Jennifer Chung–I
Published: March 2003

Ancillary benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation refer to benefits from GHG mitigation in addition to lowered adverse impacts of global climate change. A major ancillary benefit of GHG mitigation is reduced local air toxins, which improves health. The purpose of the study is not to determine whether ancillary benefits of GHG mitigation can or cannot justify GHG mitigation. Rather, we discuss how an important benefit of addressing GHG emission — the local health effects — should and can be incorporated using the approaches put forth. A CGE model is used for simulating a carbon tax policy. A health effects submodel takes the local air emissions output from the CGE model and assesses the implications for ambient air concentration, health, and labor supply. Labor and medical expenditure changes are fed back into the economy. Applying this approach to Thailand, when health feedback is included we find that: (1) negative impact on GDP under a carbon tax drops by 45%, and (2) welfare improves for households and cleaner producers.
Efficiency with Non‐Convexities: Extending the “Scandinavian Consensus” Approaches
Authors: Hammond Peter J. , Villar Antonio
Published: March 2003

There are two distinct “Scandinavian consensus” approaches to public good supply, both based on agents' willingness to pay. A Wicksell–Foley public competitive equilibrium arises from a negative consensus in which no change of public environment, together with associated taxes and subsidies which finance it, will be unanimously approved. Alternatively, in a Lindahl or valuation equilibrium, charges for the public environment induce a positive consensus. To allow general non‐convexities to be regarded as aspects of the public environment, we extend recent generalizations of these equilibrium notions and prove counterparts to both the usual fundamental efficiency theorems of welfare economics.
Measuring Attitudes Towards Inequality
Authors: Amiel Yoram , Creedy John , Hurn Stan
Published: March 2003

Individuals' attitudes to inequality aversion are measured using survey data, based on the leaky‐bucket experiment, for several groups of students in Australia and Israel. Three forms of social welfare function are estimated. It is found that measures of inequality aversion can be obtained with some precision and that these estimates are substantially lower than the values typically used by those measuring inequality and examining optimal tax structures. Furthermore, a welfare function based on the Gini inequality measure is generally found to give a better fit than forms based on constant relative or constant absolute inequality aversion.

JEL Classification: C91; D63
Do Monetary Unions Make Economic Sense? Evidence from the Scandinavian Currency Union, 1873–1913
Authors: Bergman U. Michael
Published: March 2003

Popular propositions as to what constitutes a successful single currency area are examined by looking at the Scandinavian Currency Union (1873–1913) formed by Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Applying a frequently used indicator of the desirability of monetary union, we study the symmetry of country‐specific structural shocks (measured net of the non‐Scandinavian influence) in these three countries. It is found that country‐specific shocks are not highly symmetric. This conclusion is also supported by the absence of clear‐cut differences between the pattern of structural shocks in Belgium and structural shocks in the Scandinavian countries. This suggests that the three Scandinavian countries did not form an optimum currency area during the period 1873–1913.

JEL classification: F15; F33; N13
Progressive Taxation and Wage Setting: Some Evidence for Denmark
Authors: Lockwood Ben , Sløk Torsten , Tranaes Torben
Published: March 2003

The proposition that a progressive tax system contributes to wage moderation is studied using Danish earnings data disaggregated by occupation, gender and earnings level. Our main conclusions are that income‐tax progression affects wage setting, but whether it moderates or exaggerates wage pressure is income dependent. An increase in progressivity reduces the pre‐tax earnings of middle‐income workers (manual male workers and moderate income earners among both male and female non‐manual workers). The reverse is found for high‐income earners (non‐manual male workers), in that an increase in progressivity tends to raise pre‐tax earnings. Finally, there is no significant effect of tax progressivity on the wages of low‐income earners.

JEL classification: H3; J3; J5; J6
A Simple Model of Commodity Taxation and Cross‐border Shopping
Authors: Nielsen Søren Bo
Published: March 2003

This paper sets up a simple model in which two countries, differing in geographical extent, engage in commodity tax competition originating in opportunities for cross‐border shopping. The non‐cooperative tax equilibrium and various coordination initiatives are examined in the benchmark model and in two model extensions incorporating (i) costs of transportation for goods and (ii) border inspection. Among the more surprising results are the following: with (i), pure profits accrue to sellers near the border, but subjecting them to tax may lower the country's total tax revenue; with (ii), the volume of cross‐border shopping may well increase.

JEL classification: H20; H87; H26
Ecological Dumping under Monopolistic Competition
Authors: Pfluger Michael
Published: March 2003

The competitive choice of emission taxes by two governments is analysed in a model of monopolostic competition with capital mobility where pollution externalities are regional. Assuming that governments have no other policy instrument apart from emission taxes at their disposal, I show that governments choose inefficiently low (high) taxes if the importance of emissions in production is small (large) relative to transport costs and the mark‐up. In contrast to the previous literature, the marginal disutility of pollution is not among the parameters which separate the non‐cooperative choice of emission taxes from the social planner's choice.

JEL classification: F1; H7; Q2
Multinational Firms and Technology Transfer
Authors: Glass Amy Jocelyn , Saggi Kamal
Published: March 2003

We construct an oligopoly model in which a multinational firm has a superior technology compared to local firms. Workers employed by the multinational acquire knowledge of its superior technology. The multinational may pay a wage premium to prevent local firms from hiring its workers and thus gaining access to their knowledge. In this setting, the host government has an incentive to attract FDI due to technology transfer to local firms or the wage premium earned by employees of the multinational firm. However, when FDI is particularly attractive to the multinational firm, the host government has an incentive to discourage FDI.

JEL classification: F13; F23; J41; L13; O14; O33; O38
Salient Color Terms in Four Languages
Authors: Taft Charles , Sivik Lars
Published: March 2003

Elicited lists of color terms were used to investigate the relative salience of basic and nonbasic color terms in four languages. Salience was operationalized in terms of frequency of mention and mean rank sequence of appearance on the lists. Primary basic terms were generally found to be the most salient, followed by derived basic and nonbasic terms, in that order. However, in some of the group lists the nonbasic terms beige, turquoise, navy blue and sky blue were found to have higher frequencies of mention and/or higher mean sequence ranks than some derived basic terms. The possible basicness of these terms is discussed.
The impact of daycare environments on children’s mood and behavior
Authors: Laike Thorbjörn
Published: March 2003

This study examined the influence of different environmental features at nine daycare centers on 74 children’s (42 boys and 32 girls) emotions in relation to their individual traits. The environments were predominantly assessed by semantic scales, and the children’s emotions using a structured observational technique. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the activation level as well as the control of the behavior were related to the individual traits of the children, whereas the directedness and the hedonic tone of the behavior were related to the environment and the situation (meal or free play). Of special interest is the result that extrovert children displayed higher levels of control than the more introvert children. The most important quality of the physical daycare environment was unity, whereas intensity and familiarity were to most salient qualities of the social environment
Milestones in the development of infant numeracy
Authors: Van De Rijt Bernadette A. M. , Van Luit Johannes E. H.
Published: March 2003

This article deals with the development of numeracy among young children of the four to seven year age group. The research investigation described had two aims: to see how early numeracy develops in children of different ages; and to see whether there are fixed points which might serve as milestones in the development of infant numeracy. The results of this investigation involving 96 children indicate a strong development of numeracy skills during this period. With reference to the literature, it is also shown that certain items of a test previously developed for this purpose may be taken as core items that do indeed represent milestones in the development of infant numeracy.
Assessment of weight and eating concerns in Norwegian adolescents
Authors: Lau Bjørn , Alsaker FranÇoise
Published: March 2003

The aim of the present study was to test the properties of an instrument that assesses concerns about weight and eating without reference to dieting behavior. A short instrument, the Weight and Eating Concerns Inventory (WECI) was examined in a sample of 569 boys and 548 girls aged 11 to 15 years. Confirmatory factor analyses with LISREL showed a better fit with a version of the instrument that did not include a reference to dieting behavior, compared to a version that included such a reference. This was true for both boys and girls, irrespective of their age group. However, the results indicated that both versions should be used with caution for young boys. The internal consistency of the WECI (that is, the version without reference to dieting) was satisfactory, ranging from 0.78 to 0.86 for girls and from 0.68 to 0.73 for boys. The WECI correlated quite substantially with negative self‐evaluations and depression for boys and girls in all the age groups assessed, suggesting that high scores on the WECI may indicate a problem that goes beyond worries or concerns, and should be taken seriously. In general, girls reported more of these concerns than boys, and the correlation between the WECI and dieting was stronger among girls compared to boys.
Post‐decision consolidation: Group members in different social settings compared to individual decision makers
Authors: Eisele Per
Published: March 2003

Two experiments were conducted to examine how making decisions in a 3‐member group affects the degree of post‐decision consolidation, defined as attractiveness changes in favor of the chosen alternative. Both experiments were conducted in two sessions one week apart. In the first session (decision phase), participants estimated the importance of each of four different attributes describing two decision alternatives. They were then shown predetermined attractiveness ratings on each of the attributes and were to decide on the two alternatives, either individually or as a group. In the second session (post‐decision phase), the participants were to attempt to recall the attractiveness ratings for the attributes as presented to them in session one. In both experiments, significant post‐decision consolidation was found for individual decision makers but not for group members. In experiment 2, this result was replicated, no difference in consolidation being found between group members with face‐to‐face interaction and without.
Dopamine and cognitive functioning: Brain imaging findings in Huntington’s disease and normal aging
Authors: Bäckman Lars , Farde Lars
Published: March 2003

Recent brain imaging studies in Huntington’s disease (HD) and normal aging suggest a relationship between central dopaminergic neurotransmission and cognitive performance. Results demonstrate substantial losses in dopamine (DA) function in both HD and aging. Moreover, HD patients and older adults show deficits across multiple cognitive domains, including episodic memory, speed of processing, and executive functioning. Although few studies are available at present, there is converging evidence that multiple measures of pre‐ and postsynaptic DA biochemistry are (a) highly interrelated, and (b) strongly associated with the cognitive deficits that accompany HD and aging. There is also emerging evidence that DA neurotransmission influences cognitive performance independent of HD or age. In general, the research reviewed in this article indicates that the nigrostriatal DA system is an important component of a frontostriatal circuitry that is critically involved in cognitive functioning.
The measurement of core affect: A Swedish self‐report measure derived from the affect circumplex
Authors: Västfjäll Daniel , Friman Margareta , Gärling Tommy , Kleiner Mendel
Published: March 2003

Three studies were conducted with the aim of developing a new Swedish self‐report measure of core affect (the Swedish Core Affect Scale or SCAS). In Study 1,122 participants rated their current mood on 24 unipolar adjective scales. A revised set of 12 bipolar adjective scales was evaluated in Study 2 employing 96 participants who rated their current mood before and after a mood‐inducing naturally occurring event. A slightly revised set of adjective scales was used in Study 3, in which another 96 participants rated several induced moods. The results showed that the adjective scale ratings could be aggregated as reliable measures of the independent valence and activation dimensions proposed in the affect circumplex, and that the aggregated measures discriminated mood differences within and between individuals.