Ids Bulletin-institute of Development Studies, 1987
Summary While agreeing with Deariove's espousal of an eclectic approach to the analysis of politi... more Summary While agreeing with Deariove's espousal of an eclectic approach to the analysis of political economy — the public choice approach is powerful and has much to offer to social scientists — not all social behaviour can be explained as the actions of rational self-seeking individuals. The fact that the public choice approach has been developed by opponents of state intervention in the market should not deter others from investigating its potential and benefiting from its insights.Resumen ComentarioAunque concuerda con Dearlove en la adopción de un enfoque ecléctico para analizar la economía política, ya que el enfoque de la opción pública es poderoso y tiene mucho que ofrecer a los dentistas sociales, sostiene que no toda la conducta social puede explicarse como resultante de acciones de individuos racionales egocéntricos. El hecho de que el enfoque de la opción pública haya sido desarrollado por los oponentes de la intervención estatal en el mercado no debería impedir la investigación de sus potenciales ni de beneficiarse de sus aportes.Resumé CommentaireBien qu'en accord avec l'approche éclectique que Mr. Dearlove a choisi pour l'analyse de l'économie politique — la théorie sur ‘le choix publique’ est effective et a beaucoup à offrir aux scientistes sociaux — il n'est pas possible d'affirmer que tous les comportements sociaux peuvent être expliqués comme étant les actions d'individus égoistes et rationels; le fait que la théorie sur ‘le choix publique’ ait été développée par les opposants à l'intervention de l'état sur le marché, ne devrait pas en empêcher d'autres à rechercher ses potentiels et à bénéficier de ses éclaircissements sur le sujet.
A simple compact but general revealed-preference type of argument is used to derive results on th... more A simple compact but general revealed-preference type of argument is used to derive results on the gains from trade, from terms of trade changes, and from exogenous resource growth. The approach extends to the welfare evaluation of public sector production. The relation between the sufficiency conditions for welfare improvement derived from this approach and the necessary and sufficient conditions derived in an alternative approach are briefly discussed. Most of the argument is conducted in the context of a representative-individual economy, though it is shown to extend in an essentially unchanged way to cases where redistribution is an issue.
If any type of direct income redistribution is permitted, a very weak condition ensures that it w... more If any type of direct income redistribution is permitted, a very weak condition ensures that it will not be desirable or necessary to permit production inefficiency in the process of a Pareto- improving tax reform. Inefficiency arises in models which make an implausible set of assumptions about the range of policies available to the government.
This article provides a decomposition of the welfare impact on the UK arising from the changes in... more This article provides a decomposition of the welfare impact on the UK arising from the changes in manufacturing trade consequent upon joining the EC. The methodology employed is that of computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, where the underlying model is based on trade under imperfect competition with firms producing under conditions of increasing returns to scale. CGE models can be seen as providing numerical illustrations of theory, or as empirical tools providing estimates of policies. A second aim of this article is then to asses the extent to which CGE models can be used as serious tools of policy analysis. We examine this by assessing the success of the model in replicating counterfactual outcomes. The results indicate (i) that the model does reasonably well in replicating complex reality and that such models can be empirically useful; (ii) that a substantial portion of the welfare impact is attributed to distortions associated with imperfect competition, and that the impact is potentially quite large.
The reduction in trade barriers in Europe through the Single Market Programme (SMP) was intended ... more The reduction in trade barriers in Europe through the Single Market Programme (SMP) was intended to increase competition in European markets, and hence welfare and efficiency. The paper examines how the SMP has affected trade patterns and what can be learnt from this regarding the impact on competitive behaviour. Combining an econometric and computable general equilibrium methodology, it is argued that (1) the SMP has indeed had a strong impact on competitive behaviour; (2) the extent of the impact depends both on changes in the intensity of competition as well as on changes in the nature of competitive interaction; (3) while all economies experience potentially large welfare gains from the SMP, it is the smaller economies that experience the larger gains, but this in turn suggests that they experience a greater degree of restructuring.
In an overlapping-generations model with stochastic population changes, a social security scheme ... more In an overlapping-generations model with stochastic population changes, a social security scheme with a fixed level of payments to the retired can be interpreted as providing social insurance against the risks of demographic change.
This paper presents a model of the multinational corporation focusing on a foreign firm which wis... more This paper presents a model of the multinational corporation focusing on a foreign firm which wishes to operate in a particular country. The firm must choose between direct investment and production in the country and production of the product elsewhere, ...
... notably the UK and the rest of the EC), while it falls in Italy. ... A calibrated model of th... more ... notably the UK and the rest of the EC), while it falls in Italy. ... A calibrated model of the EuropeJapan rivalry in the EEC car market, European Economic Review, this ... N., 1983, Economies of scale, competitivess, and trade patterns within the European Community (Oxford University ...
Ids Bulletin-institute of Development Studies, 1987
Summary While agreeing with Deariove's espousal of an eclectic approach to the analysis of politi... more Summary While agreeing with Deariove's espousal of an eclectic approach to the analysis of political economy — the public choice approach is powerful and has much to offer to social scientists — not all social behaviour can be explained as the actions of rational self-seeking individuals. The fact that the public choice approach has been developed by opponents of state intervention in the market should not deter others from investigating its potential and benefiting from its insights.Resumen ComentarioAunque concuerda con Dearlove en la adopción de un enfoque ecléctico para analizar la economía política, ya que el enfoque de la opción pública es poderoso y tiene mucho que ofrecer a los dentistas sociales, sostiene que no toda la conducta social puede explicarse como resultante de acciones de individuos racionales egocéntricos. El hecho de que el enfoque de la opción pública haya sido desarrollado por los oponentes de la intervención estatal en el mercado no debería impedir la investigación de sus potenciales ni de beneficiarse de sus aportes.Resumé CommentaireBien qu'en accord avec l'approche éclectique que Mr. Dearlove a choisi pour l'analyse de l'économie politique — la théorie sur ‘le choix publique’ est effective et a beaucoup à offrir aux scientistes sociaux — il n'est pas possible d'affirmer que tous les comportements sociaux peuvent être expliqués comme étant les actions d'individus égoistes et rationels; le fait que la théorie sur ‘le choix publique’ ait été développée par les opposants à l'intervention de l'état sur le marché, ne devrait pas en empêcher d'autres à rechercher ses potentiels et à bénéficier de ses éclaircissements sur le sujet.
A simple compact but general revealed-preference type of argument is used to derive results on th... more A simple compact but general revealed-preference type of argument is used to derive results on the gains from trade, from terms of trade changes, and from exogenous resource growth. The approach extends to the welfare evaluation of public sector production. The relation between the sufficiency conditions for welfare improvement derived from this approach and the necessary and sufficient conditions derived in an alternative approach are briefly discussed. Most of the argument is conducted in the context of a representative-individual economy, though it is shown to extend in an essentially unchanged way to cases where redistribution is an issue.
If any type of direct income redistribution is permitted, a very weak condition ensures that it w... more If any type of direct income redistribution is permitted, a very weak condition ensures that it will not be desirable or necessary to permit production inefficiency in the process of a Pareto- improving tax reform. Inefficiency arises in models which make an implausible set of assumptions about the range of policies available to the government.
This article provides a decomposition of the welfare impact on the UK arising from the changes in... more This article provides a decomposition of the welfare impact on the UK arising from the changes in manufacturing trade consequent upon joining the EC. The methodology employed is that of computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, where the underlying model is based on trade under imperfect competition with firms producing under conditions of increasing returns to scale. CGE models can be seen as providing numerical illustrations of theory, or as empirical tools providing estimates of policies. A second aim of this article is then to asses the extent to which CGE models can be used as serious tools of policy analysis. We examine this by assessing the success of the model in replicating counterfactual outcomes. The results indicate (i) that the model does reasonably well in replicating complex reality and that such models can be empirically useful; (ii) that a substantial portion of the welfare impact is attributed to distortions associated with imperfect competition, and that the impact is potentially quite large.
The reduction in trade barriers in Europe through the Single Market Programme (SMP) was intended ... more The reduction in trade barriers in Europe through the Single Market Programme (SMP) was intended to increase competition in European markets, and hence welfare and efficiency. The paper examines how the SMP has affected trade patterns and what can be learnt from this regarding the impact on competitive behaviour. Combining an econometric and computable general equilibrium methodology, it is argued that (1) the SMP has indeed had a strong impact on competitive behaviour; (2) the extent of the impact depends both on changes in the intensity of competition as well as on changes in the nature of competitive interaction; (3) while all economies experience potentially large welfare gains from the SMP, it is the smaller economies that experience the larger gains, but this in turn suggests that they experience a greater degree of restructuring.
In an overlapping-generations model with stochastic population changes, a social security scheme ... more In an overlapping-generations model with stochastic population changes, a social security scheme with a fixed level of payments to the retired can be interpreted as providing social insurance against the risks of demographic change.
This paper presents a model of the multinational corporation focusing on a foreign firm which wis... more This paper presents a model of the multinational corporation focusing on a foreign firm which wishes to operate in a particular country. The firm must choose between direct investment and production in the country and production of the product elsewhere, ...
... notably the UK and the rest of the EC), while it falls in Italy. ... A calibrated model of th... more ... notably the UK and the rest of the EC), while it falls in Italy. ... A calibrated model of the EuropeJapan rivalry in the EEC car market, European Economic Review, this ... N., 1983, Economies of scale, competitivess, and trade patterns within the European Community (Oxford University ...
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