bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Parametric and Semiparametric Modeling of the Off‐Farm Labor Supply of Agrarian Households in Transition Bulgaria
Authors: Goodwin Barry K. , Holt Matthew T.
Published: March 2003

The reaction of labor marketsto economic reforms is an important indicator of the progress of transition. Because of diminished government support and the breakup of state and collective enterprises, labor market adjustments in the transition economies have been particularly severe in the agricultural sector. Thisarticle evaluatesthe off‐farm labor market for a sample of agrarian households in transition Bulgaria. We give particular attention to the distributional assumptions that underlie standard approaches to the evaluation of labor supply. A variety of specification tests are considered and support for standard maximum likelihood estimates which rely on normality as a maintained hypothesis is mixed. Alternative semiparametric (distribution‐free) estimators are also considered. The empirical results indicate that, five years after the initiation of the transition, off‐farm labor supply patterns for Bulgarian agricultural households are similar to what is commonly observed in developed market economies. Labor supply is positively affected by factors such as education and work experience which are hypothesized to increase off‐farm wages. Social benefit programs providing monetary or in‐kind support payments are shown to significantly decrease off‐farm work.
Female Participation and Labor Market Attachment in Rural Canada
Authors: Phimister Euan , Vera‐Toscano Esperanza , Weersink Alfons
Published: March 2003

This article explores the reasons for differences in female rural‐urban participation rates by estimating a dynamic model of participation allowing for unobserved heterogeneity and state dependence using Canadian panel data. The results suggest that overall observed differences in rural‐urban participation rates are primarily due to differences in observed socioeconomic characteristics. However, for women resident in low‐income households, there is evidence that the operation of rural labor markets effectively lowers their participation rates.
When Do Export Subsidies Have a Redistributional Role?
Authors: Holloway Garth
Published: March 2003

If an export subsidy is efficient, that is, has a surplus‐transfer role, then there exists an implicit function relating the optimal level of the subsidy to the income target in the agricultural sector. If an export subsidy is inefficient no such function exists. We show that dependence exists in large‐export equilibrium, not in small‐export equilibrium and show that these results remain robust to concerns about domestic tax distortions. The failure of previous work to produce this result stems from its neglect of the income constraint on producer surplus in the programming problem transferring surplus from consumers and taxpayers to farmers.
The Economics of Controlling Insect‐Transmitted Plant Diseases
Authors: Brown Cheryl , Lynch Lori , Zilberman David
Published: March 2003

A framework is developed to analyze a spatially dependent economically significant pest problem emanating from a source and spreading via a carrier such as an insect. Transmission and/or source control to combat the pest or disease problem are explored. Alternative assumptions about the effectiveness of transmission control and the feasibility and costs, both social and private, of reduction of the pest population at the source are examined in an application of the model to controlling Pierce's disease in California wine grapes.
U.S. Farm Policy and the Volatility of Commodity Prices and Farm Revenues
Authors: Lence Sergio H. , Hayes Dermot J.
Published: March 2003

A dynamic three‐commodity rational‐expectations storage model is used to compare the impact of the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996 with a free‐market policy, and with pre‐FAIR policies. Results suggest that FAIR did not lead to significant increases in long‐run price volatility or revenue volatility. The main impact of pre‐FAIR, relative to the free‐market regime, was to substitute government storage for private storage in a way that did little to support prices or to stabilize farm incomes. Results also indicate that U.S. grain market volatility in 1995–2000 was due to fundamental market forces and not to FAIR.
Optimal Commodity Promotion when Downstream Markets are Imperfectly Competitive
Authors: Zhang Mingxia , Sexton Richard J.
Published: March 2003

We investigate the optimal collection and expenditure of funds for agricultural commodity promotion in markets where the processing and distribution sectors may exhibit oligopoly and/or oligopsony power. The conditions that characterize optimal advertising intensity under perfect competition for funds generated from either per‐unit or lump‐sum taxes do not, in general, hold when marketing is imperfectly competitive. Simulation analyses show that imperfect competition always reduces farmers' optimal advertising expenditure and that an imperfectly competitive marketing sector may capture half or more of the benefits from the funds that are expended.
On Jumps and ARCH Effects in Natural Resource Prices: An Application to Pacific Northwest Stumpage Prices
Authors: Saphores Jean‐Daniel , Khalaf Lynda , Pelletier Denis
Published: March 2003

Continuous‐time models of natural resource prices usually preclude the possibility of large changes (jumps) resulting from unexpected events. To test for the presence of jumps and/or ARCH effects, we combine bounds and the Monte Carlo test technique to obtain finite‐sample, level‐exact p‐values. We apply this methodology to stumpage prices from the Pacific Northwest and find evidence of jumps and ARCH effects. To assess the impact of neglecting jumps on the decision to harvest old‐growth timber, we develop an autonomous, infinite‐horizon stopping model for which we provide a new method of resolution. Our numerical results show the importance of modeling jumps explicitly.
Turnover in U.S. Agricultural Labor Markets
Authors: Tran Lien H. , Perloff Jeffrey M.
Published: March 2003

Agricultural workers move in and out of agriculture frequently. Migration between types of jobs takes relatively little time. Legal female workers tend to stay out of the U.S. labor market longer once they stop being employed and their access to jobs outside of agriculture is more limited than that of their male counterparts. Predictions made when the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed that granting people amnesty would induce most of them to leave agriculture were incorrect.
Characterizing the Distribution of Macronutrient Intake among U.S. Adults: A Quantile Regression Approach
Authors: Variyam Jayachandran N. , Blaylock James , Smallwood David
Published: March 2003

Since the risk of dietary inadequacy or excess is greater at the tails of the nutrient intake distributions than at the mean, marginal effects of explanatory variables estimated at the conditional mean using ordinary least squares may be of limited value in characterizing these distributions. Quantile regression is effective in this situation since it can estimate conditional functions at any part of the distribution. Quantile regression results suggest that age, education, and income have a larger influence at intake levels where the risk of excess is greater compared with intake levels where the risk of excess is lower.
Competition, Externalities, and Input Substituting Technologies
Authors: Hennessy David A.
Published: March 2003

The period 1997–2000 saw a rapid global consolidation of crop seed companies. The emerging companies are applying genetic engineering to exploit complementarities and substitutabilities between seed and other crop inputs. This article develops a model of competing technologies where one substitutes for a conventional input. A monopolist may cross‐subsidize a technology that substitutes for an input in order to price discriminate between user types. In duopoly, a socially excessive or insufficient share of acres may be subject to an input substituting technology. Welfare improving regulations are identified in the case where a technology substitutes for an externality generating input.
Patent Rights and Trade: Analysis of Biological Products, Medicinals and Botanicals, and Pharmaceuticals
Authors: Smith Pamela J.
Published: March 2003

This article analyzes the effects of foreign patent rights on U.S. bilateral exports. The empirical analysis covers three highly disaggregated drug industries over three decades. We estimate bilateral trade equations for each industry using cross‐country data on the strength of national patent rights. The findings show that strong foreign patent rights enhance the market power of U.S. drug exporters across countries with weak imitative abilities. Alternatively, strong foreign patent rights stimulate the market expansion of U.S. drug exports across countries with strong imitative abilities. These effects are larger in magnitude during the 1980–90s relative to the 1970s.
Assessing a Policy Grab Bag: Federal Water Policy Reform
Authors: Weinberg Marca
Published: March 2003

This article examines the economic impacts of policy alternatives for addressing allocative inefficiencies among agricultural, urban, and environmental uses of federal water. The Central Valley Project Improvement Act, composed of multiple incentive‐based and command‐and‐control policies, forms the context for this analysis. Estimated multi‐output agricultural revenue functions and urban water demand functions are incorporated into a nonlinear programming model designed to predict changes in water use, returns to agriculture, and urban consumer surplus. Results suggest that analysis that does not explicitly model policy instruments implemented at sub‐optimal levels and, as part of a package of reforms, could over‐ or underestimate the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of each policy instrument.
Resource Management under Production and Output Price Uncertainty: Implications for Environmental Policy
Authors: Isik Murat
Published: March 2003

Various environmental policies have been proposed to control agricultural runoff of nutrients and pesticides. The impacts of these policies on input use are complicated because of the various sources of uncertainty farmers face and the precise nature of farmers' risk attitude. A risk‐averse farmer's response to changed profit, input, and output taxes under output price and production uncertainty is examined. The impact of these policies on input use depends on the form of production uncertainty, risk‐input relationships, risk attitudes, and degrees of output price and production uncertainty. These results have implications for the design and implementation of environmental and other production‐related policies.
Optimal Storage by Crop Producers
Authors: Fackler Paul L. , Livingston Michael J.
Published: March 2003

When post‐harvest marketing strategies are restricted by disallowing speculative purchases, sales out of storage becomes an irreversible decision and the dynamic marketing problem becomes analogous to the optimal exercise of a financial option. The optimal marketing strategy is to hold at low prices and to sell at high prices with a cutoff price function marking the boundary between low and high prices. A method for estimating the cut‐off price function is developed and applied to Illinois soybean prices. The decision rule is demonstrated to result in substantial gains from storage.
Local versus Global Separability in Agricultural Household Models: The Factor Price Equalization Effect of Land Transfer Rights
Authors: Carter Michael R. , Yao Yang
Published: March 2003

Commonly employed global tests for separability between production and consumption decisions are theoretically inappropriate when the market failures creating non‐separabilities differentially constrain some, but not all households. Simulated maximum likelihood estimates using Chinese panel data reject the restrictions implied by a global separability test in favor of regime‐specific or local separability tests. The estimates also show that a global approach to separability obscures the significant effect that less‐encumbered land transfer rights would have on shadow factor price equalization across households and allocative efficiency. The findings on transfer rights suggest a resolution to the debate in China on further property rights reform.
Developing Countries and the Gains from Regionalism: Links between Trade and Farm Policy Reforms in Mexico
Authors: Burfisher Mary E. , Robinson Sherman , Thierfelder Karen
Published: March 2003

We use a multi‐country computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with agricultural policy details to simulate the effects of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We find that Mexico gains from NAFTA only when it also removes domestic distortions in agriculture. In that case, agriculture can generate allocative efficiency gains large enough to offset the terms of trade losses that arise because Mexico has higher initial tariffs than its NAFTA partners. When an RTA forces a developing country to reform its domestic distortions that are linked to trade restrictions, it becomes a building block toward multilateralism.
Language‐Related Differences in a Contingent Valuation Study: English Versus Spanish
Authors: Loomis John B. , Bair Lucas S. , González‐Cabán Armando
Published: March 2003

To test the similarity of English‐ and Spanish‐speaking households responses to a contingent valuation survey, phone interviews were conducted in both languages regarding two forest fire prevention programs. While there were similar response rates, there were significant differences in the most frequent reasons given for refusing to pay. In the pooled logit model, the language intercept and bid interaction variables were insignificant in both programs. The likelihood ratio test of separate logit equations showed no statistical difference between English‐ and Spanish‐speaking households responses to either program. Mean benefits reported by Spanish‐speaking households were about one‐third lower than English‐speaking households, although the difference is not statistically significant.
Bequest Intentions of Forest Landowners: Theory and Empirical Evidence
Authors: Amacher Gregory S. , Koskela Erkki , Ollikainen Markku , Conway M. Christine
Published: March 2003

This article studies in an overlapping generations forest economy the conditions under which money and/or timber bequests occur across generations, assuming the usual case of one‐sided altruism. We assume nonindustrial landowners have preferences for consumption and for amenities from unharvested forest stock. Within this framework, we examine conditions under which landowners choose to leave timber or money bequests, and we show how taxation is important to these conditions. Empirical evidence from bequests decisions for a cross‐section sample of nonindustrial landowners in Virginia is then used to investigate the hypotheses suggested by the model with regard to the motive to leave bequests. The results are broadly consistent with the theoretical findings.
The Importance of Financial Leverage and Risk Aversion in Risk‐Management Strategy Selection
Authors: Gloy Brent A. , Baker Timothy G.
Published: March 2003

The problem of choice among risk‐management strategies is addressed with the stochastic dominance with a risk‐free asset (SDRA) criteria. The SDRA criteria consider all possible combinations of the strategies and financial leverage. This allows for strategies with less business risk, less expected return, and greater leverage to dominate strategies with greater business risk and greater expected return. Results show that the inclusion of the risk‐free asset significantly improves the discriminatory power of the ordinary stochastic dominance criteria for the case of risk‐management strategies.
The Effect of Age on the Probability of Participation in Wildlife‐Related Activities: A Birth Year Cohort Study
Authors: Spence Michelle
Published: March 2003

To aid in the planning and marketing of wildlife recreation, a logit regression model was used to assess the effect of age on the probability of participation in waterfowl hunting and wildlife viewing. The results indicate that the probability of participating in waterfowl hunting decreases with age and birth year, while the probability of participating in wildlife viewing increases up to a point and then decreases as an individual ages and increases with birth year. Clearly, models employing age and birth year must be utilized to plan for future services and also to direct marketing efforts to gain participants.
Beyond Transactions: On the Interpersonal Dimension of Economic Reality
Authors: Gui Benedetto
Published: March 2003

The paper investigates the interpersonal dimension of economic reality—i.e. the reciprocal influences between interpersonal phenomena of a communicative\affective nature and usual economic phenomena. A face‐to‐face interaction, or ‘encounter’, is depicted as a special productive process in which agents—besides exchanging ordinary goods or delivering services—create and simultaneously consume ‘relational goods’. Inputs include ‘relational assets’—;e.g. relation‐specific information, or the social climate of a workshop—;which in turn are affected by encounters. Consideration of relational goods and assets broadens the economists' perspective in several directions.
The Intratemporal Substitution between Government Spending and Private Consumption: Empirical Evidence from Taiwan
Authors: Chiu Ru‐Lin
Published: March 2003

In this paper, we investigate the idea that a general model of consumption should allow for the direct effect of government consumption. We show, given an assumed preference specification, that there is a cointegration restriction implied by an intraperiod first‐order condition of the model. This restriction leads to a linear deterministic cointegrated system of government consumption, private consumption and their relative price that is consistent with the data for Taiwan. The intratemporal elasticity of substitution between government and private consumption is estimated to be about 1.1. Overall, we find consistent empirical evidence in support of our model.
Job satisfaction of Japanese career women and its influence on turnover intention
Authors: Honda‐Howard Motoko , Homma Michiko
Published: March 2003

To understand the relationship between current Japanese career women’s job satisfaction and turnover, we analyzed 177 currently full‐time employed individuals from our survey data. Participants ranged in age from 23 to 60, and were graduates of two four‐year women’s universities. We divided the participants into two groups based on whether or not they had changed jobs. As a result of factor analysis, we summarized job satisfaction into five factors: job interest, expectations of women, volume of work, health and welfare benefits, and career development. The scores of the ‘health and welfare benefits’ factor differed significantly between the two groups. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis found that low satisfaction with ‘health and welfare benefits’ tended to affect turnover intention. In addition, satisfaction with ‘job interest’ and ‘volume of the job’ tended to influence turnover intention, and at the same time these effects depended on the past turnover experience. From these study results, we suggest that current Japanese career women’s turnover is mainly affected by the responsibilities of women in the face of the work–family conflict.
Attributing causality and remembering events in individual‐ and group‐acting situations: A Beijing, Hong Kong, and Wellington comparison
Authors: Ng Sik Hung , Zhu Ying
Published: March 2003

Previous research has shown that collectivists prefer external whereas individualists prefer internal attributions. To test the findings’ generality across social situations, we compared the two attributions in situations where either an individual was acting on a group (Individual‐acting) or the reverse (Group‐acting). As predicted, collectivists’ (Beijing and Hong Kong Chinese) greater preference for externality, and individualists’ (Wellington Europeans) greater preference for internality, occurred in individual‐ but not group‐acting situations. Collectivists’ (mainly Hong Kong) memory of events was better in group‐ than in individual‐acting situations according to prediction, but the predicted reversal was not found among individualists. The collectivist/individualist categorizations of the samples were supported by measures of self‐construal. Indigenous Chinese concepts of ‘unity‘ (tong tian ren) and ‘combination‘ (he nei wai) were discussed to throw light on attribution processes that are not readily accessible through the concepts of collectivism and individualism.
Interpersonal communication and personality: Self and other perspectives
Authors: Leung Shui‐Kwan , Bond Michael Harris
Published: March 2003

This study was designed to examine the links between the personality of group members and their styles of communication in task groups meeting over a three‐month period. Comprehensive measures of personality and of communication styles were taken from the perspectives both of the actor (the self) at the beginning of the group’s life and his or her fellow group members (the others) at the end of the group’s life. Even after extensive group interaction, these two sets of ratings converged only when observable characteristics were being measured (e.g., extraversion in personality or precision in communication). Self‐rated personality across eight dimensions predicted two of the three self‐rated dimensions of communication style (Verbal Engagement and Attentiveness to the Other) at only moderate levels; the actor’s personality rated on the same eight dimensions by others predicted the actor’s communication style as rated by these same others on all three dimensions (Verbal Engagement, Attentiveness to the Other, and Feelings versus Silence), and at much stronger levels than did self‐ratings of personality. Both personality and communication styles as rated by others were able to predict the key social outcomes of the actor’s likability and task contribution, whereas self‐ratings were not. Ratings derived from the self and those derived from others about the self thus appear to develop from different sources of information and relate to different outcomes. The links between personality and communication style are largely confined to the perspective (self versus other) from which they were measured.
Economists and mortgage relief in New Zealand in the 1930s
Authors: Fleming Grant
Published: March 2003

This article recovers domestic economists as important intellectual influences underlying mortgage relief policies enacted during the Great Depression in New Zealand. It examines the opposing policy prescriptions of Professors Barney Murphy and Horace Belshaw on the economic effects of statutory reductions in interest rates and State relief measures; locates Mortgagors' Liabilities Adjustment Commissions' analyses of domestic factors contributing to rural indebtedness in the work of 1920s Canterbury economists; and, at a more quantitative level, questions the emphasis placed on nominal interest rate stability by officials involved in establishment of the Mortgage Corporation.
The real structural imbalance and fiscal stance in Australia during the interwar years
Authors: Abbott Malcolm J.
Published: March 2003

By using the concept of the constant employment budget balance and changes in real public debt it is possible to determine the size of the public sector's real structural budget imbalances during the interwar period. In doing so the budget deficit of the public sector during the depression is shown to have been much larger than indicated by previous estimates of the nominal budget imbalance, and indicates that the fiscal stance of the government was expansionary during the worst year of the Great Depression rather than contractionary.
The Western Mining Corporation‐Hanna/Homestake Joint Venture: Game Theory and Inter‐Organizational Cooperation
Authors: Boyce Gordon
Published: March 2003

In 1962, Western Mining Corporation along with M. A. Hanna and the Homestake Mining Company formed a joint venture to explore and develop iron ore deposits in Western Australia. The partners successfully developed one ore field, but failed to build an enduring business relationship. The paper uses game theory to examine joint venture dynamics. It finds that the partners could not transform a Prisoners' Dilemma scenario into a coordination game because they failed to establish effective communication methods and an appropriate balance between contractual specification and latitude for ex post adjustment. The case reveals additional factors – differences in the size, local presence, and substitution possibilities of the players – that should be incorporated into game theory.
Measuring the Transaction sector in the Australian economy, 1911–1991
Authors: Dollery Brian , Leong Wai Ho
Published: March 2003

Following Wallis and North’s pioneering attempt to estimate the size of transaction costs in the United States over the period 1870 to 1970, we seek to augment this seminal study by applying their methodology to the Australian economy for the period 1911 to 1991. Broadly speaking, our results support the Wallis and North finding with comparable magnitudes and growth rates in both the private and public transaction sectors.
The Face of Invention: Skills, Experience, and the Commitment to Patenting in Nineteenth‐century Victoria
Authors: Magee Gary B.
Published: March 2003

This paper uses patent data from Victoria to examine the roles played by skill and experience in Australian invention during the colonial era. In addition to identifying a broadening involvement of Australians in inventive activity in the second half of the nineteenth century, this paper also provides evidence which indicates that technological creativity in Australia in this period did not depend on either the existence of a body of highly skilled workers or major advances in the stock of knowledge of which only they were cognizant. Rather, common sense and the acquisition of basic practical skills appear to have been the only prerequisites for inventiveness. Given the widespread availability of such skills in the colonies, the article concludes that the supply of patentable ideas in nineteenth‐century Australia must have been fairly elastic.
Promoting Wool Internationally: The Formation of the International Wool Secretariat
Authors: Abbott Malcolm J.
Published: March 2003

Over the past 60 years the International Wool Secretariat has conducted scientific research into aspects of the wool industry, and promotional campaigns designed to boost demand for wool. The Secretariat dates its origins back to the 1930s, a time when a number of cooperative agricultural marketing programs were first initiated. In this paper the origins of the Secretariat are investigated in order to determine the precise reasons why it was founded and why it took the form that it did.
Australian and American Settler Capitalism: The Importance of a Comparison and its Curious Neglect
Authors: Lloyd Christopher
Published: March 2003

Why is Australia so little known about and studied in the United States when prima facie it is one of the best comparators for America; and why do Australian comparativists often ignore the American case? The discourse of difference has predominated in America rather than the discourse of similarity. But in Australia the opposite has been true. Here an equally powerful theme has been one of searching for comparisons, similarities, and generalities between Australia and other nations and societies. Through thinking about answers to these questions, partly via a discussion of some recent writing on America and Australia, this essay argues a case for the necessity for comparison within a world history perspective. More particularly, it argues that American intellectuals and journalists should pay more attention to comparators like Australia since its similarity with America affords valuable insights into American history, politics, economy, society, and institutions, just as the converse has proven to be valuable.
Order with Law: Social Capital, Civil Litigation, and Economic Development
Authors: Khan B. Zorina
Published: March 2003

I use records on commercial litigation in New South Wales to assess the role of norms and social capital during economic development. The data indicate that total disputes fell over time, whereas the rate of out of court settlements increased. Litigation rates were initially higher in frontier areas that arguably needed to adapt institutions to new circumstances because norms and standards were as yet undeveloped. The fraction of settled cases was significantly lower in frontier areas and areas without market access. Patterns related to jury trials, plaintiff recovery rates, and attorney representation are also assessed. The results are consistent with the theory that cooperative solutions emerge as areas gain access to markets, and suggest that order and law are complementary inputs into the process of economic development.
To Market! To Market! The Changing Role of the Australian Timber Merchant, 1945–c.1965
Authors: Harris Richard
Published: March 2003

In urban Australia, timber merchants have been the most important of all building supply dealers. In the 1940s they had close ties to sawmillers while providing timber and credit to contractors. A changing business climate forced them to adapt: sawmills and large builders began to deal directly; competition from timber ‘substitutes’ cut profits; above all, demand from amateur builders soared. Merchants responded by diversifying, relocating, and offering advice and credit, although more slowly than their North American counterparts because of their closer linkages to the timber trade. Targeted at amateurs, these adaptations also helped small commercial operators to remain competitive with a new breed of project builders.
Trade Policy in Canada and Australia in the Twentieth Century
Authors: Pomfret Richard
Published: March 2003

The paper provides an analytical comparison of the evolution of trade policy in Canada and Australia and of the two countries' roles in international trade diplomacy. Despite similarities in history and resource endowment, these roles have differed substantially, especially during the third quarter of the twentieth century. The focus is on the reasons why Canadian and Australian attitudes and policies differed so markedly. The importance of the USA as a trading partner, differing economic experiences during the decade of the 1920s, and the more concentrated composition of Australian exports all played a part. Once in train, the position that Australia was different and need not participate in GATT tariff cuts as long as agriculture was excluded became the inertial position, while Canada played an active role in GATT's early development. After 1973 Australia's position as an outlier among high‐income countries' trade policies was reversed, and Australian and Canadian trade policies again became similar in the 1980s.
The Industrial Tribunals and Wage Determination in the Australian Iron and Steel Industry, 1921–38
Authors: Abbott Malcolm
Published: March 2003

It is believed in some quarters that the system of federal and state industrial tribunals in Australia has exercised a considerable impact on the determination of wages in Australia, making the average level of nominal wages more inflexible and wage differentials more equal in the interwar period. The purpose of this paper is to identify, through cross‐country comparisons, the impact that the industrial tribunals had on the iron and steel industry labour market, an industry that played a crucial role in Australia's industrial development during the 1920s and 1930s.
The Restructuring of Australian Railways: The Case of the Tasmanian Railways
Authors: Abbott Malcolm
Published: March 2003

In this paper, the restructuring of the Tasmanian railways is analysed over the period 1967 to 1997. The Tasmanian railways have gone through a considerable restructuring process over the past 30 years, culminating in 1997 when the system was privatized. Not only have productivity levels been increased greatly, but various organizational structures been experimented with.
Migrants and Technological Transfer: Chinese Farming in Australia, 1850–1920
Authors: Frost Warwick
Published: March 2003

Chinese farming in Australia between 1850 and 1920 has generally been given little attention, being usu ally characterised as just market gardening, but with little other detail about its development and characteristics. This article argues that Chinese farming was both complex and dynamic. Initially, Chinese farming was primarily casual labouring along European lines. However, from the 1880s onwards, Chinese farming became more specialised, focusing on a wide range of high‐value, labour‐intensive crops. The skill of the Chinese was not just the transference of farming techniques from China, but also in their entrepreneurship and ability to adapt their techniques to the Australian environment. Despite widespread European racism, some Europeans sought to capture the benefits of Chinese farming, developing European–Chinese partnerships. After 1900, Chinese farming declined in scale and diversity. At the same time, Europeans influenced by Chinese success adopted more labour‐intensive farming practices.
Skills, Origins and Literacy: A Comparison of the Bounty Immigrants into New South Wales in 1841, With the Convicts Resident in The Colony
Authors: Haines Robin , Mcdonald John
Published: March 2003

In 1841, some 20,000 assisted immigrants arrived in New South Wales (including the province of Port Phillip) augmenting the existing population by approximately 15 per cent. Most of the European population consisted of convicts or ex‐convicts. The characteristics of the bounty immigrants who landed in 1841 have been analysed by McDonald and Richards, while a sample of approximately 20,000 convicts transported to New South Wales have been analysed by Nicholas et al. The main purpose of this article is to construct tables that, for the first time, compare the characteristics of all participants in the two inflows on, as far as possible, a common basis. The two groups display major differences in terms of sex, age, geographical origin, literacy, religion, and occupational skills. The novelty of this article is its provision of a new set of tables and its contextual analysis of the differences between the quantifiable characteristics of these two colonial workforces.
Regime change in Australian capitalism: towards an historical political economy of regulation
Authors: Lloyd Christopher
Published: March 2003

Regulatory regimes of political economy have a high degree of stability. The old Australian regime of labourist–protectionism survived more or less unchanged since before the Great War. The key feature was the historic compromise between the classes and leaders of capital and labour, mediated via the state and the institutions created to implement it. In the 1980s the regime was radically and rapidly transformed into the neoliberal globalizing regime. Explaining such large–scale shifts in systems of political economy, the history of which follows a pattern of punctuated equilibrium, is a difficult task for historical enquiry. This paper seeks to articulate an appropriate theoretical framework, derived from the structurist (that is, historical and realist) tradition that emphasizes historicity, multidimensionality, a form of institutionalism, human agency, and neo–Darwinian evolutionary theory.
The State and the finance sector: the evolution of regulatory apparatus
Authors: Merrett D. T.
Published: March 2003

This paper seeks to explain the motivation for the growth of regulation of the Australian financial sector and banking in particular. It will be argued that the pace and direction of the growth of the regulatory apparatus from the 1930s until the 1980s was set by concerns of governments about macro–economic issues rather than issues affecting the financial sector per se. The drivers of regulatory change over the last two decades of the century reflect new concerns about the efficiency and underlying stability of financial markets, and equity issues.
Redistribution and Federal finance
Authors: Smith Julie
Published: March 2003

A key issue of taxation policy since the 1980s is how governments can raise sufficient revenue for social protection and redistribution and to respond to the needs for public spending associated with rapid economic integration. A unique aspect of Australia’s federal finance arrangements is horizontal equalization. This paper examines its origins in the federation debates and draws parallels between Australian economic history and the current experience of globalization. It assesses the impact and implications of the neoliberal transformation of the 1980s and 1990s on key institutions of Australian public finance, and suggests possible principles and solutions for tax policy in the twenty–first century.
Post–World War Two industry policy: opportunities and constraints
Authors: Jones Evan
Published: March 2003

There exists an entrenched conventional wisdom that, for the first seventy years of the twentieth century, Australia was closed to the global economy in the pursuit of an inward–looking and market–defying approach to development. This interpretation is neglectful of the broad forces at work and their evolution. The economic policy process inevitably embodies compromise between conflicting views and interests, including bureaucratic rivalries. An investigation of the role and treatment of the post–War industry bureaucracy provides some insight into the character of the contemporary balance of forces. Post–War development certainly involved dysfunctionalities, but the causes were located in a complex set of determinants rooted in culture rather than just inwardness or rent seeking. Thus, the importance of the protective tariff for the manufacturing sector in the 1960s deserves to be reinterpreted as a symptom rather than the cause of any underlying problems with policy character and policy priorities.
Capital Commitment and Cournot Competition with Labour‐managed and Profit‐maximising Firms
Authors: Lambertini Luca , Rossini Gianpaolo
Published: March 2003

The behaviour of labour managed and profit seeking firms in a Cournot duopoly with capital strategic interaction is analysed. When a pure labour managed duopoly is considered, firms choose their capital commitments according to the level of the interest rate, unlike what usually happens when only profit maximising firms operate in the market. If we consider a mixed duopoly, the profit maximising firm under‐invests while the labour managed firm over‐invests regardless of the rental cost of capital
Compulsory Superannuation and Labour Market Responses
Authors: Freebairn John
Published: March 2003

Compulsory contributions to superannuation have significant second round effects on labour market outcomes. The effects of employer, employee and government contributions are compared and contrasted for markets with different degrees of wage flexibility. With a flexible wage, the market wage adjusts to offset most of the initial effects of the superannuation levies. However, compulsion means that many employees perceive the present value of the future retirement income to be less than the levy. The levies as a form of tax on labour lead to lower overall remuneration for employees and lower employment
Economies of Scale in Australian Banks 1978–1990
Authors: Walker Greg
Published: March 2003

This paper examines economies of scale in Australian banks. A bank multi‐product cost function is estimated using a translog functional form with data drawn from twelve banks spanning the period 1978 to 1990. Different formulations of the model are estimated. Results prove sensitive to estimation assumptions and data definitions however they support the presence of economies of scale for Australian banking in this period
Modelling Seasonality in the Australian Consumption Function
Authors: Moosa Imad A. , Kennedy Pauline
Published: March 2003

This paper puts forward the proposition that failure to take account of stochastic seasonality results in dynamic misspecification. This point is illustrated by estimating various versions of a simple Australian consumpt ion function using seasonally unadjusted data covering the period 1959(3)–1993(3). It is demonstrated that only the equation modelling stochastic seasonality as an unobserved component shows no dynamic misspecification unlike other equations. This equation is also shown to have the highest explanatory power and, unlike other equations, to be structurally stable
The Impact of International Trade and Protection on Australian Manufacturing Employment
Authors: Gaston Noel
Published: March 2003

The labour market consequences of trade and protection have only recently come under the scrutiny of labour economists. This paper seeks to accomplish two things ‐ to survey the recent research and to provide estimates of the effect that reductions in effective rates of assistance afforded to Australia's manufacturing industries have had on employment. Recent labour market developments reveal a downward trend in manufacturing employment levels. The declines appear to have been associated with lower levels of assistance. However, the estimates of the effect of lower levels of protection are generally small ‐ about a one per cent reduction in employment for each ten per cent reduction in the effective rate of industry assistance. In addition, the manufacturing employment developments appear to be only weakly linked to real wage resistance. Overall, an overriding impression from the find ings presented in this paper is the strength of the structural adjustments ongoing in Australia
Measuring the Welfare Effects of Price Changes: A Convenient Parametric Approach
Authors: Creedy John
Published: March 2003

This paper shows how compensating and equivalent variations, and the equivalent income, resulting from a set of price changes can be calculated. A linear expenditure system is estimated for each of a range of total expenditure groups using cross‐sectional budget data. The measures of welfare change can be used to determine the effect on the welfare of individuals in different income groups. Alternative social welfare functions can be used to evaluate the resulting distribution of equivalent income. The parametric approach is particularly useful where few data are available
Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights in Asia: Implications for Australia
Authors: Maskus Keith
Published: March 2003

Asian developing economies are both the greatest target of pressure for stronger intellectual property rights (IPRs) and the region of most significant change. These countries have enacted numerous improvements in their laws. I discuss how higher standards might affect economic activity in East Asia and Australia and the importance of adopting mechanisms for ensuring that they promote effective competition.

Stronger standards in the region could affect the Australian economy in a number of ways. More rapid Asian growth should increase the demand for Australian exports, perhaps by as much as $350 million per year. Further, Australian consumers could gain from imports of higher‐quality Asian products. Australian firms also have an emerging comparative advantage in supplying technologies, designs, and services to Asian partners.

However, there may be some costs as well, including higher regional prices of protected products and additional competition for inward foreign direct investment. Thus, Australia would be advised to improve its attractiveness as a location for investors. Australia also has an interest in maintaining effective competition in its own market as IPRs are strengthened regionally. Australia could take a leading role in countering attempts by the United States and Europe to erect excessively protectionist new standards.
Modifying the RPI‐X Regulatory System to Include Profit‐sharing
Authors: Fraser Rob
Published: March 2003

This paper aims to contribute to the economic theory of RPI‐X (price‐cap) regulatory systems which include profit‐sharing between a company and its customers. The particular focus is on whether profit‐sharing can be introduced in an investment‐neutral manner, and on whether there is scope to choose a profit‐sharing system which maximises the expected customer rebate. Using a model of a company choosing optimal capacity in the face of uncertain demand and subject to price‐cap regulation, it is shown that the potential exists for profit‐sharing to be investment‐neutral, and it is suggested that the expected customer rebate is maximised for an investment‐neutral system which is effectively a cap on profits at a specified level.
The Non‐Robustness of the Nash‐Stackelberg‐Hybrid Equilibrium
Authors: Prentice David , Sibly Hugh
Published: March 2003

In a simple, standard sequential search model, the Nash‐Stackelberg‐Hybrid equilibrium is shown, in general, to be non‐robust when the assumption that all firms are constrained to operate one outlet is dropped. Unless the firms are constrained from increasing the number of outlets or the price, they will open additional outlets to increase their market power. In a standard duopoly model an equilibrium featuring both firms operating multiple outlets is shown to exist.
Achieving the Best Fiscal Outcome: What Does the Government Need to Know?
Authors: Stemp Peter J.
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the operation of fiscal policy under incomplete information when the central bank sets the stance of monetary policy so as to achieve a zero inflation target. The fiscal authority is assumed to aim to achieve a target level for output and a zero level of public debt. The best fiscal policy setting arises under full information and is one where output attains its full employment level and public debt is driven to zero. Deviations from full information can lead to a considerable divergence from the best fiscal setting involving substantial levels of public sector indebtedness. The results suggest that a government should invest available resources determining what outcomes are achievable and what outcomes are not. Then it should focus all its energies on trying to deliver achievable outcomes. The benefits from such a strategy can be substantial.
Separating the Roles of Speculators and Consumers: a Model of Futures Trade
Authors: Pitchford Rohan
Published: March 2003

The general equilibrium model of Britto (1984) is criticised. In particular, it is shown that allowing consumers to trade on the futures market leads to more complicated results than necessary. If consumers do not trade futures, and only producers and speculators do, results are greatly simplified. Consumer risk parameters, and parameters of producers production function are irrelevant. The differential between the futures price and the expected spot price, and the direction of futures trade is shown to depend in a straightforward way on the price elasticity of demand for the product on the spot market.
Free Riding and Consistent Conjectures in the Provision of Public Goods: An Experimental Study
Authors: Chu Hong Yih , Li Wenchuan
Published: March 2003

The aim of this paper is to examine free riding and consistent conjectures in the provision of public goods. In this research, a Lindahl optimum is never reached. The prediction that public goods will inevitably be under‐supplied is proven. With repetition, the subjects' contributions move toward the free riding level instead of the Lindahl optimum. However, a surprising observation is that the public goods provided sometimes increase with time. Economists and males behave more selfishly than other people. Most people expect matching behaviour, and most of them do behave accordingly. The extent to which people will match is overestimated, therefore expectations about the amount of public goods and the amount of actually provided public goods will be revised accordingly and tend to decline over time.