bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The economic impact of subsidized industrial R&D in Israel
Authors: Justman Moshe , Zuscovitch Ehud
Published: March 2003

Israel offers contingent subsidies to selected industrial R&D projects, with the purpose of creating high–quality jobs, reducing the trade deficit, increasing productivity and promoting growth. In 1987–94, 1,200 firms received $1,400 million of subsidies in support of $3,500 million of R&D (in constant 1996 dollars). We estimate that this R&D generated more than $31,000 million of sales, increasing industrial employment by about 10% and contributing to the trade balance a sum slightly less than the entire private sector deficit in the current account. It added 0.3% to GDP in increased productivity, each dollar of supported R&D adding an additional $0.45 to GDP and earning the economy a direct annual return of 13.4%. Electronics, broadly defined, received roughly half the subsidies while accounting for nearly two thirds of the gains; small firms that received one sixth of the subsidies contributed over a quarter of the gains.
Organizational learning through post–project reviews in R&D
Authors: Von Zedtwitz Maximilian
Published: March 2003

Post–project reviews are one opportunity to systematically improve performance in subsequent projects. However, a survey reveals that only one out of five R&D projects receives a post–project review. Post–project reviews – if they take place – are typically constrained by lack of time and attention as well as lack of personal interest and ability. They focus mostly on technical output and bureaucratic measurements; process–related factors such as project management are rarely discussed.

In this paper we review the role of post–project meetings as a tool to improve organizational learning at the group level. Based on 27 in–depth interviews with R&D managers carried out between 1997 and 2001, we categorize four classes of learning impediments. These difficulties are not easily resolved, as is illustrated by examples from Hewlett–Packard, DaimlerChrysler, SAP, Unisys, the US Army, and others. We propose a five–level post–project review capability maturity model, identifying some of the key capabilities that need to be in place in order to advance to the next process maturity level. Most companies reside on the first or second maturity level. Our conclusion is that many companies give away great potential for competence building by neglecting post–project reviews as a tool for systematic inter–project learning.
Tedium Vitae: Or, My Life as a ‘Net Serf’
Authors: Gehring Verna V.
Published: March 2003

Boredom, like pain, is a subjective experience, but while the sources of pain can be either internal or external to the subject, the causes of boredom are always external. Understanding boredom as a reaction to external influences requires inquiries into the subjective awareness of boredom and into the social and cultural conditions giving rise to boredom. After briefly investigating these areas, I suggest that in the past boredom was seen as a necessary ingredient to creative inspiration and self‐understanding, and as a contributor to autonomy in judgment and taste. I argue for a new form of boredom seen only with recent advances in information technology. Increasingly, individuals spend their work hours involved in electronic mail and on‐line information interaction. The attempt to match the speed and capacity of information technology results in restricted modes of behaviour and cognitive saturation. As a consequence, one is aware of one’s boredom but no cognitive capacity remains to consider realms outside the immediate moment. I conclude with the suggestion that the boredom that accompanies involvement in information technology produces a self‐identity crafted by technological intervention and fashion, yields the false autonomy of a manipulated consumer, and invites superficial social relations.
Interactionism and Physicality
Authors: Mills Eugene
Published: March 2003

Substance‐dualist interactionism faces two sorts of challenge. One is empirical, involving the alleged incompatibility between interactionism and the supposed closure of the physical world. Although widely considered successful, this challenge gives no reason for preferring materialism to dualism. The other sort of challenge holds that interactionism is conceptually impossible. The historically influential version of the conceptual challenge is now discredited, but recent discussions by Chomsky and by Crane and Mellor suggest a new version. In brief, the argument is that anything that interacts causally with physical things would have to be sanctioned by physics,and anything sanctioned by physics is ipso facto (as a matter of conceptual necessity) physical. I focus on the second premise. I show that plausible arguments for it are in fact fallacious and that counterexamples undermine it. Thus the argument fails: substance‐dualist interactionism cannot be ruled out on conceptual grounds alone.
Review
Authors: Craig William Lane
Published: March 2003

J.J.C. Smart and J.J. Haldane, Atheism and Theism
Davidson on Causal Relevance
Authors: Garrett Brian Jonathan
Published: March 2003

Davidson argues that mental properties are causally relevant properties. I argue that Davidson cannot appeal to ceteris paribus causal laws to ensure that these properties are causally relevant, if he wishes to retain his argument for anomalous monism. Second, I argue that the appeal to supervenience cannot, by itself, give us an account of the causal relevancy of mental properties. I argue that, while mental properties may indeed ‘make a difference’ to the causally efficacious properties of events, this is not sufficient to show that mental properties are causally relevant.
Art, Practical Knowledge and Aesthetic Objectivity
Authors: Carr David
Published: March 2003

It seems often to have been assumed by art theorists and aestheticians that concepts of art and the aesthetic are related, if not actually identical. In recent times, however, David Best has criticized this widespread assumption in the interests of marking a quite radical distinction between artistic and aesthetic concerns. But this claim may be considered problematic in turn, not only in terms of its denial of the conventional conception of art as implicated in the production of aesthetic effects, but also because it obscures our understanding of the objectivity of aesthetic judgement – and hence, ultimately, of the rational basis of artistic appreciation and endeavour. In the light of some critical attention to Joseph Dunne’s recent work on practical reason in Aristotle, the following paper argues that a suitably modified notion of phronesis may provide the key to understanding the relationship of aesthetic sensibility to artistic knowledge.
How Mathematics Isn’t Logic
Authors: Wertheimer Roger
Published: March 2003

If logical truth is necessitated by sheer syntax, mathematics is categorially unlike logic even if all mathematics derives from definitions and logical principles. This contrast gets obscured by the plausibility of the Synonym Substitution Principle implicit in conceptions of analyticity: synonym substitution cannot alter sentence sense. The Principle obviously fails with intercepting: nonuniform term substitution in logical sentences. ‘Televisions are televisions’ and ‘TVs are televisions’ neither sound alike nor are used interchangeably. Interception synonymy gets assumed because logical sentences and their synomic interceptions have identical factual content, which seems to exhaust semantic content. However, intercepting alters syntax by eliminating term recurrence, the sole strictly syntactic means of ensuring necessary term coextension, and thereby syntactically securing necessary truth. Interceptional necessity is lexical, a notational artifact. The denial of interception nonsynonymy and the disregard of term recurrence in logic link with many misconceptions about propositions, logical form, conventions, and metalanguages. Mathematics is distinct from logic: its truth is not syntactic; it is transmitted by synonym substitution; term recurrence has no essential role. The ‘=’ of mathematics is an objectual relation between numbers; the ‘=’ of logic marks a syntactic relation of coreferring terms.
How Values Congeal into Facts
Authors: Kupperman Joel J.
Published: March 2003

The paper plays against the philosophical stereotype that facts are bits of reality, ‘furniture of the universe’, and that values in contrast are either mysterious bits of reality or responses to facts. It follows Strawson in regarding facts as interpretative constructs. Values also are interpretative constructs, characterized by a normal (but not universal) connection with motivations. So is there a deep difference? There is a sense of ‘facts’, marked by phrases such as ‘Stick to the facts’, in which the interpretative element embedded in a ‘fact’ is uncontentious and would be invisible to most people. The interpretative element in values, in contrast, usually is very noticeable. But values in which this element comes to be uncontentious and taken for granted congeal into facts.
Why Is It Now?
Authors: Craig William Lance
Published: March 2003

Adolf Grünbaum, following J.J.C. Smart, has argued that the A‐Theory of time is untenable due to its inability to answer the question, uniquely attending the A‐theory, as to why it is now 2000. I argue, however, that Grünbaum's explication of the question's meaning makes the question a triviality. But there may be lurking here a somewhat different question, which is meaningful on a A‐Theory of time, the answer to which may have surprising implications concerning the past infinitude of time.
How Not to Prove the Existence of ‘Atomless Gunk’
Authors: Mason Franklin
Published: March 2003

In his ‘Could Extended Objects Be Made Out of Simple Parts?: An Argument for “Atomless Gunk’’, Dean Zimmerman defends the claim that no physical object has a complete decomposition into simples but instead has among its parts a piece of ‘atomless gunk’ His argument for this claim rests in part upon a theory of the impenetrability of physical objects. In that theory, Zimmerman distinguishes ‘[t]he sort of impenetrability that is a part of the concept of’ a physical object from ‘a power to resist the pressure of other objects’. He says that impenetrability is but ‘an essential inability’ of two physical objects to occupy one and the same region of space, an essential inability that is not a power of one physical object to exert repulsive forces on others in its vicinity. I argue that this theory of impenetrability is false and that Zimmerman's argument for the existence of ‘atomless gunk’ fails.
The Two Simones
Authors: Duran Jane
Published: March 2003

The work of Simone Weil and Simone de Beauvoir is compared along various lines of analysis. Simone Weil's Gravity and Grace is examined, and her penchant for the use of the concept of the void as a point of departure for metaphysical speculation, while Simone de Beauvoir's work Old Age is analyzed, with a view toward setting out her use of the Sartrean concept of project. A brief comparison of the work of Weil and Kierkegaard is made, and some reference is given to sections of Simone de Beauvoir's Second Sex. It is concluded that, from a similar point of departure, the thinkers move in different directions
Analytical Descriptivism Revisited
Authors: Hatzimoysis Anthony
Published: March 2003

Analytical descriptivism purports to identify the meaning of ethical sentences with that of the descriptive sentences that capture the clauses of mature folk morality. The paper questions the plausibility of analytical descriptivism by examining its implications for the semantics, epistemology and metaphysics of morals. The discussion identifies some of the reasons why the analytical descriptivist fails to deliver a reductionist account of normativity.
Disintegrated Persons and Distributive Principles
Authors: Shoemaker David W.
Published: March 2003

In this paper I consider Derek Parfit's attempt to respond to Rawls' charge that utilitarianism ignores the distinction between persons. I proceed by arguing that there is a moderate form of reductionism about persons, one stressing the importance of what Parfit calls psychological connectedness, which can hold in different degrees both within one person and between distinct persons. In terms of this form of reductionism, against which Parfit's arguments are ineffective, it is possible to resuscitate the Rawlsian charge that the utilitarian maximizing approach to matters of distribution ignores something that is of moral relevance, viz., the difference between the degrees of connectedness that hold between different stages of the same person, and between that person and his nearest and dearest, and the lack of connectedness between that person and distant others who may be benefitted at his cost. To Parfit's charge that reductionism sees the differences between persons as being ‘less deep’, I reply that the sense in which they are less deep is not at odds with their retaining their original moral importance, perhaps now better understood.
Gender/Body/Machine
Authors: Adam Alison
Published: March 2003

This article considers the question of embodiment in relation to gender and whether there are models of artificial intelligence (AI) which can enrol a concept of gender in their design. A central concern for feminist epistemology is the role of the body in the making of knowledge. I consider how this may inform a critique of the AI project and the related area of artificial life (A–Life), the latter area being of most interest in this paper. I explore briefly the tensions between the treatment of the body in different branches of feminist theory, especially the tensions between the approaches of feminist sociology and feminist philosophy. I explore the ways in which writing from category theory and anthropological phenomenology offers rich suggestions as to how the body has been left out of objectivist accounts of epistemology, but struggles to offer an account of why. In its analysis of the links between women, knowledge and the body, feminist revisions of epistemology offer a more convincing why. This is explored briefly through a critique of symbolic AI, and more substantially through the problem of embodiment in artificial life.
Toleration and Law: Historical Aspects
Authors: Imbert Jean
Published: March 2003

Strictly speaking the law cannot admit toleration: It cannot tolerate ideas or behaviour which are contrary to its requirements. This logic explains why for centuries civilizations found no place for toleration. Then in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, philosophers and thinkers such as Spinoza, Locke, Bayle and later Voltaire or Malesherbes advocated tolerance, certain aspects of which were to be introduced into the legislation of many countries: freedom of opinion, the free movement of persons, freedom of assembly and of religion.
Tolerance and Law in Countries with an Established Church
Authors: Papastathis Charalambos
Published: March 2003

The author argues that the co‐habitation of an established Church and non‐established ones is bound to generate unfair discrimination and abridges religious tolerance which is a European achievement and an indispensable part of Western political and constitutional culture. In defiance of the strong traditions that survive in certain European countries, the institution of the established Church should wither away.
Some Comments on Toleration
Authors: Comanducci Paolo
Published: March 2003

My comments will focus basically on Leader's paper. First, I will make some semantic remarks about the uses of the word “toleration”; second, I will offer some criticisms of Leader's paper; and, finally, I will put forward the outline of a modest proposal.
Positive Tolerance: An Ethical Oxymoron
Authors: Zolo Danilo
Published: March 2003

Analyzing Apel's proposal for positive tolerance in multicultural society, the author develops critical observations concerning, first, the distinction between negative and positive tolerance, second, the ethical foundation of positive tolerance and, finally, the semantic content of the notion.
Equality before the Law and Precedent
Authors: Miguel Alfonso Ruiz
Published: March 2003

The paper explores the nature of the principle of equality before the law, understood as the formal justice criterion that like cases must be treated alike, as a rationale of the rule or system of precedent. The first part discusses and rejects Kelsen's thesis on the conceptual insignificance of that principle in the sphere of the application of the law, identified uniquely with a logical criterion related to generality of rules and simple legality. The second part argues for the ethical relevance of equality before the law as a reason for a legal system to have a rule of defeasibly binding precedent.
Democracy and the Symbolic Constitution of Society
Authors: Lindahl Hans
Published: March 2003

Building on Cassirer's philosophy of symbolic forms, this paper argues that the continuities and discontinuities characterizing the passage from medieval politics to modern democracy can best be understood by reference to political power's symbolic structure. For the one, political power, whether theocratic or democratic, always mediates an absolute power; as mediation, political power enacts the twofold movement which Cassirer has identified as characteristic of all human symbolization: a distancing of, and approximation to, reality. For the other, democracy institutionalizes a category distinction between meaning and being, making of political unity a functional, rather than substantial, unity.
Cultural Minority Rights and the Rights of the Majority in the Liberal State
Authors: Merle Jean‐Christophe
Published: March 2003

Traditional liberalism's blindness to cultural concerns has often come under fire, while so‐called “liberal multiculturalism” (Taylor and Kymlicka) has made it its business to take a good look at the place of culture within liberal law. According to them, cultural minorities should be recognized. In my opinion, however, their proposals, in fact, almost entirely preclude the possibility that cultural minorities would receive recognition within liberal society. In what follows, I explain my view of these matters and, above all, argue for a more vital understanding of cultural minorities. This will entail presenting a comprehensive view of minority rights within liberal society.
The Problem for Normative Cultural Relativism
Authors: Tilly John J.
Published: March 2003

The key problem for normative (or moral) cultural relativism arises as soon as we try to formulate it. It resists formulations that are (1) clear, precise, and intelligible; (2) plausible enough to warrant serious attention; and (3) faithful to the aims of leading cultural relativists, one such aim being to produce an important alternative to moral universalism. Meeting one or two of these conditions is easy; meeting all three is not. I discuss twenty‐four candidates for the label “cultural relativism,” showing that not one meets all three conditions. In the end I conclude that cultural relativists have produced nothing that threatens universalism.
Political Unhappiness
Authors: Zanetti Gianfrancesco
Published: March 2003

The starting point of this paper is the idea of individual autonomy: Autonomy from the social body and from its influences, i.e., broadly speaking, autonomy from the “whole” of which the individual is a part. In particular, I shall address some of the problems arising out of the relations between the whole and its parts, basically problems of law and morality. We are accustomed to thinking that the relation between a particular individual and the universal whole to which the individual belongs should be a happy relationship. Such “happiness,” however, will prove to be—from the liberal perspective here assumed—a problematic notion. From such premises as these, an argument will be developed, on behalf of social recognition and legal protection for out‐of‐the mainstream forms of behaviour or lifestyles, i.e., for individuals or groups that claim the “otherness” of their position together with a right of freedom from discrimination.
Normativity and Norms
Authors: Simmonds Nigel E.
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Stanley L. Paulson and Bonnie Litschewski Paulson, Normativity and Norms
An Algebraic Analysis of Normative Systems
Authors: Lindahl Lars , Odelstad Jan
Published: March 2003

In the present paper we study how subsystems of a normative system can be combined, and the role of such combinations for the understanding of hypothetical legal consequences. A combination of two subsystems is often accomplished by a normative correlation or an intermediate concept. To obtain a detailed analysis of such phenomena we use an algebraic framework. Normative systems are represented as algebraic structures over sets of conditions. This representation makes it possible to study normative systems using an extension of the theory of Boolean algebras, called the theory of Boolean quasi‐orderings.
The Limits of Emotivism. Some Remarks on Professor von Wright's Paper “Valuations”
Authors: Artosi Alberto
Published: March 2003

According to the old tradition in ethical theory that Professor von Wright attempts to revive in his paper “Valuations,” value judgments are to be viewed as nothing but expressions of approving or disapproving emotional attitudes. The present paper argues against this view on the grounds that (i) to have an emotional attitude towards an object o does not merely mean to express our liking or disliking of it, but to make a genuine (i.e., true or false) judgment about o; and that (ii) this judgment, and not the emotional attitude o arises in us, is what we are justified to properly call a “value judgement.”
Comparative Statutory Interpretation in the British Isles
Authors: Goodall Kay
Published: March 2003

Existing studies of statutory interpretation are often of excellent quality but they have tended either to focus on legal practice to the detriment of comparative jurisprudence, or have examined legal reasoning at a level of abstraction which has made empirical study difficult. The author examines a recent development in this area and considers how it might be used to begin a project to identify any divergences in statutory interpretation among the various legal systems of the United Kingdom.
On “Coherence” and “Law”: An Analysis of Different Models
Authors: Schiavello Aldo
Published: March 2003

The aim of this paper is to compare different conceptions of the role of (normative) coherence in the legal field. More precisely, it aims to deepen Neil MacCormick's theory of legal reasoning, in which coherence is essentially considered an interpretative tool, and Ronald Dworkin's legal theory, in which coherence occupies a more crucial place. The main results of this paper can be summarized in two points. A) For Dworkin, coherence is not just an interpretative standard but constitutes the hard core of his theory of law. B) As a consequence of A, Dworkin's reflections on coherence (as an interpretative standard) cannot be separated from his theory of law grounded on the concept of integrity.
Literacy for All: a Consideration of the Many Opportunities for Language Acquisition
Authors: Silva Carole
Published: March 2003

There are lots of opportunities in a classroom day for the development of literacy. Reading aloud to children is one of the most important of these. Carole Silva here reminds us of the potential of this activity and gives several practical suggestions for working with children.
Developing Reading, Spelling and Phonemic Awareness Skills in Primary School Children
Authors: Johnston Rhona S. , Watson Joyce
Published: March 2003

Phonemic awareness is beginning to become rather a buzz term in discussions about methods of teaching reading and there is widespread agreement that children need to develop this awareness in order to read effectively. It is not yet clear exactly how they should be taught this awareness and Rhona Johnston and Joyce Watson here describe their research into this issue.
What Exactly Are Comprehension Skills and How Do I Teach Them?
Authors: Johnson Andrew
Published: March 2003

Students’ ability to comprehend expository text can be improved through the use of comprehension skills. In order to learn to use these skills, they need to be broken down into specific steps and taught explicitly. Nine comprehension skills are described here along with strategies for effective instruction.
Emergent writer as emergent ‘reader’: Juliet makes her mark II
Authors: Trushell John
Published: March 2003

Writing and reading develop concurrently and in concert: real reading of texts, in a range of media, informs real writing. This article considers the influence of a variety of such reading on the writing of a four‐year‐old girl during a six‐month period.
When scientists don’t agree: the case for balanced phonics
Authors: Harrison Colin
Published: March 2003

Phonics teaching is a site of challenge and conflict, the battleground upon which ‘reading wars’ have been and continue to be fought. This article examines the range of scientific views about the teaching of phonics and makes a case for a balanced and principled approach. It also seeks to translate research findings into recommendations for classroom practice.
Changing practice through reflection: The KS2 Reading Project, Croydon
Authors: Graham Lynda
Published: March 2003

The paper describes the design and implementation of an action research project that set out to raise standards of reading at KS2. Changes to teaching developed by project teachers are outlined, and quantitative and qualitative findings relating to children’s progress are analysed. A particular analysis is made of patterns of teaching in those classes in which boys, as well as girls, made significant progress in their reading.
Paired Writing: A Framework for Effective Collaboration
Authors: Topping Keith , Nixon Jillian , Sutherland Jennifer , Yarrow Fiona
Published: March 2003

This paper describes a specific structured procedure for peer assisted learning in writing: Paired Writing (Topping, 1995a), and its effects on the quality of writing and attitudes toward writing in primary school children. Three action research projects are briefly reported. In the first, the method was adapted for use with five‐year‐old emergent writers, supported by eleven‐year‐old tutors. In the second, eight‐year‐old children worked either in cross‐ability fixed‐role pairs or in same‐ability reciprocal‐role pairs. Both groups gained, compared to control groups who wrote individually. However, positive effects for the more able helpers in cross‐ability pairs could be delayed rather than immediate. In the third, Paired Writing operated in same‐age cross‐ability pairs, in a class of ten‐year‐olds with a high level of behaviour problems. The Paired Writing method proved practical and robust, adaptable to different classroom contexts, and beneficial in attitudes to writing and skill development. Its use within the literacy hour and beyond that across the curriculum is worth consideration by teachers seeking methods of proven effectiveness which can differentiate and enrich mechanistic prescriptions.
‘Letting the Story Out’: Visual Encounters with Anthony Browne’s The Tunnel
Authors: Arizpe Evelyn
Published: March 2003

Since the introduction of the term ‘visual literacy’ at the end of the 1960s, the debate about its meaning and uses has paralleled that of the term ‘literacy’. These debates have resulted in a theoretical move from a consideration of literacy as a mechanical act in which the subject is a passive decoder of the most superficial meaning of a text, to the idea of literacies as meaning‐making practices in which the social subject actively involves previous knowledge of self and of the world. In practice however, this move has usually not been taken into account in the world of education where literacy is usually seen as the functional basis of the curriculum and visual literacy skills are virtually neglected – despite the fact that never before have children been surrounded by so much visual information. This article describes part of a study of children’s responses to picturebooks which aimed to learn how visual literacy can expand children’s cognitive abilities and enhance their wonder and enjoyment of such complex texts. The work here focuses on responses to The Tunnel by Anthony Browne by children of different ages and from different schools. All of them showed deep intellectual and emotional engagement with the visual narrative.
Terms of Trade and Welfare for a Developing Economy with an Imperfectly Competitive Sector
Authors: Sen Partha
Published: March 2003

The effect of terms of trade on the welfare of a small open economy is analyzed. It exports a homogeneous good and imports some brands of a differentiated good. It also produces some brands of the differentiated good which are not traded. A terms‐of‐trade deterioration causes resources to move to the nontraded, import‐competing sector. The economy’s income rises and the price index for the differentiated good falls, resulting in higher welfare. This accords well with the experience of developing economies of East and Southeast Asia.
On Opposition to Rent Seeking: Implications for Developing Countries
Authors: Cairns Robert , Long Ngo Van
Published: March 2003

A model is developed to study the implications of the presence of rent‐opposing activities for the measurement of deadweight losses and for cost–benefit analysis. The analysis provides an upper bound on the social cost of rent‐seeking in the presence of potential rent‐opposers. Remarks are offered on the interactions between merits and skills in the determination of success in rent‐seeking, and on the pervasiness of corruption in developing economies.
Gender Pay and Occupational‐Attainment Gaps in Costa Rica and El Salvador: A Relative Comparison of the Late 1980s
Authors: Dávila Alberto , Pagán José A.
Published: March 2003

This study investigates gender occupational attainment and earnings differentials in El Salvador and Costa Rica at the end of the 1980s. During this decade, El Salvador experienced a civil war and an economic depression. Costa Rica was also mired in a recession in the early 1980s, but programs adopted in the mid‐1980s led to rapid economic recovery. It is found that the gender pay gap in El Salvador is 30.4% and 23.6% in Costa Rica. The intercountry difference in the gap disappears after accounting for high gender differences in occupational attainment and hours worked in El Salvador.
Inflation and Exchange Rate Regimes in Mexico
Authors: Li Carmen A. , Philippopoulos Apostolis , Tzavalis Elias
Published: March 2003

The paper presents a version of the exchange‐rate‐regime model of inflation. Quarterly data from Mexico from 1946 to 1995 are used to estimate and test a simultaneous‐equation model for wage inflation, price inflation and industrial production, taking account of the Lucas critique and the statistical properties of the data. The main finding is that, after the fall of the fixed‐exchange‐rate regime in 1976, there was a Barro–Gordon type inflation bias owing to the inability of policymakers to commit to low inflation. There is no significant evidence of political business cycles in inflation.
The Evolution of Industrial Earnings Inequality in Mexico and Brazil
Authors: Calmon Paulo Du Pin , Conceição Pedro , Galbraith James K. , Cantu Vidal Garza , Hibert Abel
Published: March 2003

Industrial data are used to derive estimates of the pattern of change in wage inequality in Mexico and Brazil. Using the group decomposition of Theil’s T‐statistic, the paper presents monthly changes in the dispersion of industrial wages for Brazil (1976 through 1995) and for Mexico (1968 through 1998). Both countries show increases in wage dispersion over time, and a strong negative correlation is found with the rate of real economic growth. Other things equal, the later Brazilian heterodox stabilization plans seem to have reduced inequality in the short run.
The Plausibility of Agriculture‐Led Development
Authors: Nguyen Dung
Published: March 2003

Within the context of a simple dynamic general equilibrium framework, the model proposed in this paper formally characterizes the path in which a successful transformation in agriculture as a result of an improvement in agricultural technology can conceivably help some developing countries raise rural income, which in turn boosts effective demand for domestically produced, labor‐intensive manufactured goods. Consequently, the price of nontraded manufactures goes up, leading to higher production in this sector, and subsequently higher wages. In the longer run, higher wage levels would result in larger aggregate savings, which in turn finances the economy’s industrialization.
Export Processing Zones, Backward Linkages, and Variable Returns to Scale
Authors: Yabuuchi Shigemi
Published: March 2003

This paper investigates the effects of forming export processing zones on factor rewards, national income, and the intermediate‐good‐producing sector under variable returns to scale (VRS). It is shown that the results obtained in the model under constant returns to scale are substantially modified if VRS is incorporated into the model.
Publicly Provided Goods and Intrafamily Resource Allocation: Female Child Survival in India
Authors: Gleason Suzanne M.
Published: March 2003

The paper examines the problem of excess mortality of females in India. The determinants of gender–specific child survival are investigated through the traditional household production model pioneered by Becker, which is extended to include publicly provided goods as fixed inputs in production decisions. The introduction of government–provided goods provides an avenue for investigating the influence of the state on household decisions. Gender–specific child survival equations are estimated using a robust “seemingly unrelated regression” method. Results using 1981 Indian Census data indicate that increases in female literacy and female labor force participation increase female child survival in rural India. Furthermore, higher ratios of female to male medical technicians are associated with higher female child survival relative to males. This paper demonstrates that a large and effective role exists for government to address excess female morality.
The Integration of Environmental Principles in the World Bank
Authors: Mucklow Fiona
Published: March 2003

Given the scale and the complexity of the events of internation society, it is obvious that the law of that society must, sooner, rather than later, form itself into a legal system at least as rich and complex as the more advanced national legal systems.
Two‐Part Trade Policy under Imperfect Competition
Authors: Fuerst Timothy S. , Kim Kyoo H.
Published: March 2003

In this paper we consider the potential gain of a government pursuing a two‐part trade policy: an import license for entry, along with a per‐unit tariff on imports. The model is a two‐stage game of complete but imperfect information. In the first stage, the domestic government sets trade policy, while in the second stage the home and foreign producers behave as Cournot competitors. The paper demonstrates that the optimal trade policy depends upon the number of firms, the degree of heterogeneity in cost functions, and the degree of convexity in cost functions.
Immerisizing Growth in a Monopolistic Competition Model
Authors: Sen Partha
Published: March 2003

In models of trade with monpolistic competition, firms set prices above marginal cost. An example is provided in this paper in which, because of this, a growth in the labor force lowers welfare per capita.
Perfect Competition and Endogenous Comparitive Advantage
Authors: Durkin Jr John T.
Published: March 2003

This paper analyzes a dynamic Ricardian model of international trade in which relative differences in technology are endogenously determined by investments in innovation by competitive firms. It considers the impact of these investments on trade patterns and the effect of trade patterns on rates of innovation and growth. The main result is that the dynamic effects of trade need not be positive when both countries specialize investments in the goods in which they have a comparitive advantage. In addition, trade can lead to an inefficient pattern of specialization in innovation and have negative welfare effects.
Does Trade Liberalization Benefit Young and Old Alike?
Authors: Gokcekus Omer , Tower Edward
Published: March 2003

In an overlapping generations model, capital and labor produce two tradable goods. A kleptocratic government spends the tariff revenue. Trade liberalization benefits the retired generation if and only if the relative price of the capital‐intensive good rises. Starting from autarky, a small liberalization benefits subsequent generations if and only if it hurts the retired one, a result reminiscent of the Stolper‐Samuelson theorem. However, the terms‐of‐trade effect means a large liberalization may simultaneously raise the welfare of all generations.
Why Have Corporate Profits Declined? An International Comparison
Authors: Uctum Merih
Published: March 2003

The paper compares the trends and determinants of US profits with those of Japan, Germany, and Canada in a model of pricing‐to‐market in the export and domestic markets. It is found that during the 1970s increasing unit production costs lowered profits in all countries. After 1980, cost factors still affected profits except in the USA where lower real import prices depressed profits. It is shown that a currency appreciation hurts US profits three times more than Japanese profits via the imported inputs channel. This finding may explain why an overvalued currency is sustainable for a longer period in Japan than in the USA.
The Law of Comparative Advantage Without Social Utility Functions
Authors: Shimomura Koji , Wong Kar‐yiu
Published: March 2003

This paper derives sufficient conditions under which the Law of Comparative Advantage and the General Law of Comparative Advantage are true when the preferences of the trading countries may not be represented by “well‐behaved” social utility functions. It shows that in the neoclassical framework with convex technologies, profit maximization and Walras’ Law, the laws of comparative advantage under a natural trade are still valid if either the General Law of Demand or the Weak Axiom of Revealed Preference holds, or if losers are compensated using lump‐sum transfers or consumption taxes.
Do Geographic Scale Economies Explain Disturbances to Heckscher–Ohlin Trade?
Authors: Smith Pamela J.
Published: March 2003

This paper examines whether “geographic scale economies” explain the trade that remains unexplained by the Heckscher–Ohlin model. The paper develops a theoretical specification that integrates geographic scale economies into the Heckscher–Ohlin model, and develops a statistical method for detecting geographic scale economies in the distributional features of a disturbance term. The units of analysis are US states. The findings reveal that empirical support for the Heckscher–Ohlin theory is improved by accounting for geographic scale economies within states; geographic scale economies do not generate differences in Rybczynski effects across states; and the scope of geographic scale economies is contained within states.
The Scope for Exchange Rate Passthrough in a Duopolistic Supergame
Authors: Damania Richard
Published: March 2003

This paper represents one of the first analyses of exchange rate passthrough in a dynamic context. It explores the impact of exchange rate fluctuations in a duopoly where the firms interact over an indefinite period. In these circumstances there exists an incentive for the duopolists to tacitly collude. The paper investigates the manner in which exchange rate changes influence the inherent tension that exists between the incentives to collude and compete. It is shown that the sign and degree of exchange rate passthrough depends critically upon the expected duration of a change in the exchange rate and the relative competitive strengths of the firms. The predictions of the model closely accord with the empirical evidence on exchange rate passthrough.
Analysis of Bilateral Trade Patterns With Panel Data
Authors: Jensen Paul E.
Published: March 2003

Bilateral trade flows are examined to investigate whether trade patterns are consistent with a simple model of trade in differentiated products. In contrast to previous results in the literature, it is shown that the simple model of trade in differentiated products is often not appropriate for trade among the poor nations. Demand differences among the poor countries are shown to be at least a partial explanation for the deviations from the theoretical predictions.
Procompetitive Effects of Foreign Competition on Domestic Markups
Authors: Ianchovichina Elena , Binkley James , Hertel Thomas
Published: March 2003

A short‐run model for estimating the procompetitive effects of foreign competition on markups in an oligopolistic, domestic industry is developed and estimated using data on the Australian automobile industry. Estimates reveal that these effects are rather large and cannot be ignored when predicting the effects of a shock affecting foreign costs. These estimates can also facilitate inferences about the nature of interfirm rivalry.
Market Growth, Structural Change, and the Gains from the Uruguay Round
Authors: Bach Christian Friis , Dimaranan Betina , Hertel Thomas W. , Martin Will
Published: March 2003

It is found that market growth and structural changes will affect the results of quantitative analyses of the Uruguay Round. Rapid economic growth in Asia, and relatively deeper cuts in protection in that region, result in larger proportionate welfare gains in the year 2005 than in the year 1992. It is also found that changing comparative advantage, and shifts in global demand, result in substantial changes in the restrictive effects of the bilateral quotas on textiles and apparel. Accounting for the factors associated with market growth and structural change adds 30% to the estimates of global welfare gains from the Uruguay Round.
The Choice of Structural Model in Trade–Wages Decompositions
Authors: Abrego Lisandro , Whalley John
Published: March 2003

This paper uses a calibrated general equilibrium model to decompose observed wage changes from trade and technology shocks into portions attributable to each source. It highlights some difficulties with the numerical performance of widely used theoretical trade structures. For small economies, the Heckscher–Ohlin model reveals specialization problems unless the price changes accompanying trade shocks are small. It can also yield strikingly different decompositions of the same wage change. A differentiated‐goods model removes specialization problems and accommodates large price changes, but introduces demand‐side responses greatly reducing the effect of trade on wages, and performs implausibly with sector‐biased technical change.
Is the GATT/WTO Biased Against Agricultural Products in Unfair International Trade Investigations?
Authors: Hartigan James C.
Published: March 2003

The unfair‐trade codes of the GATT/WTO are better suited to addressing complaints from manufacturing than agriculture. This is because the seasonality and uncertainty of agricultural output, together with substantial use of contracting with factors of production, makes sales at a loss a rational business practice during certain times of the year. This cost dumping induces the use of constructed values in the calculation of dumping margins by the US, which typically generates high duties. The model provides for cyclical dumping arising as a supply phenomenon. This contrasts with cyclical dumping in manufacturing that is induced by demand fluctuations.
Sunk Costs, Market Access, Economic Integration, and Welfare
Authors: Owen Robert F. , Ulph David
Published: March 2003

The nature of the equilibrium that arises after economic integration is shown to depend crucially on how initial entry costs are divided along two separate dimensions: market access versus technology costs, and fixed versus sunk costs. There are three post‐integration equilibrium regimes: a traditional trade theory regime which arises when both market access costs and fixed costs are small, a new trade theory regime which arises when market access costs are small but fixed costs are high, and a market access regime which arises when market access costs are high. While the first two regimes have already appeared in the literature, the third is new. The sign, magnitude, and qualitative behavior of the welfare effects of integration across all three regimes depend on the configuration of these costs.
Capital Mobility In A Second–Best World: Moral Hazard With Costly Financial Intermediation
Authors: Aizenman Joshua
Published: March 2003

The paper studies financial integration in the presence of moral hazard, where banks may mitigate excessive risk by costly monitoring. The author shows that a drop in banks’ cost of funds, less efficient intermediation technology, higher macroeconomic volatility, and a more generous deposit insurance raise the riskiness of projects in a competitive equilibrium. Overborrowing would arise even in the absence of deposit insurance in circumstances where the cost of risk monitoring is high, the banks’ cost of funds is relatively low, and macroeconomic volatility is high. Reforming an inefficient banking system and improving its operation is a precondition for successful financial integration.
A Tale of Two Currencies: the Asian Crisis and the Exchange Rate Regimes of Hong Kong and Singapore
Authors: Devereux Michael B.
Published: March 2003

Hong Kong has maintained a pegged exchange rate since 1983, while Singapore has been on a floating regime since the early 1970s. This paper provides an interpretation of the different performance of the Hong Kong and Singapore economy that could be attributable to the differences in their exchange rate regime. We develop a model that can help to interpret the differences in both the longer run trends in inflation and real exchange rates in Hong Kong and Singapore as well as the short differences in macroeconomic and real exchange rate volatility. The difference in the response of the two economies to the Asian crisis is also consistent with our model.
Intraindustry Trade in Identical Products: a Portfolio Approach
Authors: Anam Mahmudul , Chiang Shin–Hwan
Published: March 2003

In the traditional model, intraindustry trade in an identical product is driven by the profit margin each firm perceives in the rival market on the basis of Cournot conjectures. The authors demonstrate that when markets are stochastic and potentially correlated, benefits from diversification create added incentives for cross–hauling for risk–averse Cournot duopolists. The portfolio motive for cross–hauling makes the unusual pattern of trade a theoretically more robust phenomenon than has been recognized in the traditional models. The benefits from diversification can raise producer welfare in the intraindustry trade equlibrium, unlike in the deterministic model.
Impacts of Reduced Gaming Exports on the Economy of Nevada
Authors: Seung Chang K. , Harris Thomas R.
Published: March 2003

Previous studies of gaming have not calculated numerically the negative, economy‐wide impacts on the Nevada economy from potential expansion of the gaming industry outside of the state. This study uses a state‐level, two‐sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of Nevada to investigate such impacts. In the Nevada CGE, both commodity prices and factor prices are endogenously determined and the impacts on major economic variables such as output, employment, and government revenue are estimated. Three different model variants are specified. Each variant is based on different assumptions regarding intersectoral and interregional factor mobility to analyze model sensitivity. Results show that the impacts on Nevada of the nationwide expansion of gaming could be significant under reasonable assumptions about factor mobility for Nevada. Also, results for total regional output and total government revenue are found to be very sensitive to the alternative factor mobility assumptions.