Industry–research co‐operation within and across regional boundaries. What does innovation policy add?

The paper aims to show how regional policy‐makers can stimulate firms' co‐operation with research organizations by granting an R&D subsidy. Using an original dataset for the Italian region of Emilia‐Romagna, propensity score matching is first applied to identify the impact of the subsidy received. A generalized propensity score technique is then employed to investigate the effect of an increasing amount of support. The firm's co‐operation is policy sensitive. The award of a subsidy to regional firms affects their intra‐regional more than their extra‐regional co‐operation. The propensity toward the latter appears subject to a monetary effect and is influenced by the amount of public funding received providing the subsidy overcomes a minimum threshold.     

The Egalitarian city: The restructuring of Amsterdam

Since the mid‐1970s, urban policy makers have responded to the pressures of fiscal crisis and unemployment by reducing expenditures and subsidizing business for the purpose of stimulating economic growth. The behaviour of urban governments largely corresponded with the argument of Paul Peterson that cities were forced to pursue economic growth at the expense of redistribution. Nevertheless, the response to economic forces, while generally in a market‐oriented direction, was not uniform within western cities. In particular, the Amsterdam municipality remains notable for its egalitarian policies when compared with London or New York. Housing policy has been a major instrument in maintaining the quality of life for the city's lower‐income population. Because subsidized housing units, as well as recipients of individual housing benefits, are scattered throughout the city, housing policy has sharply restricted spatial inequality of households by income. Moreover, the very large public subsidy involved in housing construction, by keeping rent levels low and thereby raising disposable income, has contributed substantially to popular welfare, mitigating class differentiation and thereby weakening resistance to residential integration of different income groups. This paper examines policies for physical and economic development in Amsterdam and their effect on social and spatial inequality. The conclusion briefly compares Amsterdam's trajectory with that of London and New York, then finally attempts to explain the continuing differences.     

推动可再生能源在建筑中规模化应用的经济政策研究

可再生能源在建筑中规模化应用的正外部性特征要求政府加强指导调控作用。本文针对现阶段可再生能源在建筑中规模化应用示范工程阶段的财政补贴政策提出了定额补贴和增量成本补贴这2种思路,并设计了不同市场发育阶段的相关经济政策,通过各项政策的实施保证可再生能源在建筑中规模化应用的预期效果。     

经济适用住房补贴探讨

对于经济适用房的补贴形式展开探讨,得出明补、人头补贴以及阶段性补贴避免了现实中的许多问题;同等的补贴额下,明补比暗补、人头补贴比砖头补贴、阶段性补贴比一次性补贴,购房者获得的效应要高。建立新的住房补贴模型,并提出完善补贴配套制度的有关建议。     

Shale gas production in China: A regional analysis of subsidies and suggestions for policy

With the increasing dependence on imported natural gas, China has to develop unconventional natural gas resources, such as shale gas. However, the increasing shale gas production has brought about more pressure for governmental subsidies. We analyzed whether shale gas companies need subsidies by calculating the economic value of shale gas development in China from the perspective of enterprises, and estimated the maximum subsidy quota for shale gas development by measuring its economic, environmental, and social benefits from the country's perspective. Based on the principle of beneficiaries should pay, we clarified the sources of shale gas subsidy and calculated the required subsidy duration. The results indicate that some new development target areas and pre-invested target areas still need subsidies, which should be jointly provided by the central government, local finance departments, and other heavy-polluting enterprises. The subsidy duration and subsidy quota show a power function relation. On this basis, we put forward suggestions for shale gas subsidy policy.     

中央国家机关公务员的住房补贴形式选择

公务员住房制度,是国家住房政策的重要组成部分。以中央国家机关公务员为研究对象,在对实物补贴和货币补贴形式进行理论分析、对中央国家机关公务员现有住房补贴形式及其执行状况进行分析总结的基础上,运用二元离散选择模型对影响中央国家机关公务员住房补贴形式选择的因素进行了定量分析,提出了调整实物补贴发放形式,调整特殊公务员群体获得住房补贴的时间顺序,通过创新住房金融模式提高公务员住房补贴效率等建议。     

地下综合管廊PPP项目补贴机制设计

随着综合管廊 PPP 项目的日渐增多,综合管廊有偿使用模式和政府补贴机制设计成为了亟待解决的问题,它关系着综合管廊 PPP 项目能否顺利实施。考虑了合理投资回报率,假定某种收费方式的前提下,运用净现值法计算出补贴金额,建立可变补贴和固定补贴相结合的讨价还价博弈模型,并运用逆推归纳法求解唯一的子博弈精炼纳什均衡,从而设计了政府、项目公司和管线单位三方共赢的灵活补贴机制。通过实证分析验证模型的有效性,提出完善项目补贴机制的建议。     

Mapping renewable energy subsidy policy research published from 1997 to 2018: A scientometric review

Renewable energy is considered as one of the most promising ways to support sustainable development, which leads to renewable energy subsidies becoming an increasingly important study area in the field of energy policy research. This article reviews the key literature, historical research pathways, and research clusters from 1997 to 2018 focusing on renewable energy subsidy policy. We qualitatively reviewed renewable energy subsidy policies on the basis of three quantitative analysis methods including co-citation network analysis, historical path analysis, and bibliographic coupling analysis. A co-citation network analysis allowed the identification of influential studies on the subject of renewable energy subsidy policies. Our analysis of the research literature published within our time range identifies “key nodes” (documentation), “historical pathways” (evolutionary history), and “intellectual clusters”. This study can provide an in-depth understanding and guidance for researchers and policymakers in the area of renewable energy subsidy policies.     

The measurement and regulation of cross subsidy. The case of the Scottish water industry

There is a widespread belief that significant cross subsidies exist in the water, gas and electricity utility industries, particularly those under public ownership. In this paper we discuss the measurement of cross subsidy and its regulatory implications in the context of a publicly owned utility on the verge of being opened up to product market competition.Using the case of the publicly owned Scottish water industry the paper outlines the definition and measurement of cross subsidy in theoretical terms before reviewing the policy debate over the desirability of cross subsidy between different customer groups and services. It then explains the approach to measurement recently adopted by the Scottish Executive. Having established the size and direction of cross subsidy the regulatory implications are considered.     

Implications of compensatory transportation rates on grains and oilseeds for diversification of the prairie provinces in Canada

In Canada, freight rates on exports of grains and oilseeds from the prairie region have been regulated since 1897. Until the 1960s, the stability and assurance of these rates contributed to development of the prairie-based grains economy. However, in recent years, these regulated rates have become a significant subsidy for prairie farmers due to inflated costs of transportation. As a result, the issue of regulated freight rates for prairie grains and oilseeds has become a matter of intense debate, since they have the effect of raising the on-farm price of export grains. Crities of the regulated freight rates claim that they have actually inhibited diversification of economic activities in the prairie region because they increase the price of feed grain, a key input for the livestock industry. In this analysis, two quantitative models were used to estimate the farm and secondary level impacts of changing from subsidized to full compensatory rates for various grains. The analysis showed that loss of the subsidy would result in much reduced levels of farm income and consequent loss of secondary economic activities unless the subsidy was provided in some other form. Indexes of diversification were not significantly affected by changes in the freight rate structure. Thus, the hypothesis that statutory grain freight rates are the primary factor responsible for lack of diversification in the prairie economy is not supported. There exists a need for identifying factors that may impede the process of diversification of the regional economies. Received: November 1992 / Accepted: August 1994     

公务员住房供应满意度及政策导向研究

为设计合理的公务员住房供应体系,采用排序多元Logistic选择模型评价目前供应政策和公务员实际住房需求的契合程度,发现未婚公务员、处级及处级以下公务员、对住房补贴方式不满的公务员、通过非市场化方式解决住房的公务员对目前住房条件表示不满意的可能性较大;采用无序多元Logistic选择模型确定住房支付能力和住房补贴政策作为影响公务员住房选择的关键指标。研究建议,应重点关注公务员住房供应来源、特殊公务员群体住房供应模式和公务员住房补贴方式,以此为导向构建公务员住房的供应政策体系。     

An economic analysis of industrial revenue bonds and the demand for labor

In this paper the standard theory of the derived demand for inputs for the firm has been used to examine the effect on employment of a subsidy to the capital input via an industrial revenue bond. While the effect theoretically is ambiguous in sign, an empirical examination of the industrial revenue bond program in Chicago suggests that, ceteris paribus, employment does increase in firms selected for the program. The estimates of the arc crosselasticity of demand for labor for the groups of firms that participated in the Chicago program range from –.27 to –1.07. Systematic variations in the cross elasticity of demand for labor are found.     

日本城市轨道交通商业化经营概述

随着我国城市轨道交通的大规模建设,城市轨道交通项目的经营管理问题日益突出。介绍了日本城市轨道交通商业化的各种经营主体、各种建设资金筹措方式与补贴政策、各种多元化经营方式及其效果,由此得到的启示,可为有关城市改善城市轨道交通经营策略提供参考。     

军队住房制度存在的问题及对策探讨

在对军队住房制度存在的住房补贴定位不当、发放方式不合理、经济适用房不公平、供需矛盾突出等问题进行分析的基础上,提出了重新测算住房补贴基本标准、改革补贴发放方式、建立以住房分配货币化为主导的自有住房保障方式、加强社会供应,保障"出口"畅通等对策措施。     

Optimizing subsidies for the location of distribution centers

The paper introduces a three-level model of location. On the lowest level, customers purchase the good from a firm. On the next higher level, the firm will decide how many distribution centers it will establish and where these centers are to be located. In addition to its location costs, the firm’s location decision will also be guided in part by the subsidy offered by a regional planner. Finally on the highest level, the regional planner will use its own revenue that it derives from the firm’s economic activities to offer a subsidy to the firm. This subsidy is assumed to be based purely on economic, rather than political considerations. In other words, the regional planner’s objective is to maximize its revenue. The paper then formally constructs models for the firm and the regional planner and examines their relations. It turns out that the models can be combined and greatly simplified. Computational tests on a set of published data confirm the solvability of the model. They also reveal the strong decrease of the proportion of unmet demand as economic multipliers and/or prices increase. This also implies an increase in the subsidy that must be paid to the firm, as the regional planner wants to convince it to locate the number of centers it prefers at the sites it wants them to be. Additional tests investigate the effects that result from price and related demand changes in case of elastic demand.     

Microbial growth on ion exchangers

Bacteria in ion exchange resin beds find enough organic material to live on—adsorbed matter from the water passing through as well as substances which may be released from the resin material. They settle on the outer surface of the resin material but are not securely attached. Nevertheless, contaminated exchangers cannot be sanitized by flushing, backflushing or other rinsing processes. Regeneration removes a part of the microbial population but is not sufficient for sanitation. If exchange units can be left standing in the regenerant during off-periods, the bactericidal effect can be utilized. A continuous mode of operation prevents bacterial growth to a certain extent. Recirculation during off-periods acts as a fermentation process and cannot prevent bacterial growth. Addition of silver suppresses bacterial growth for the period of time elapsing until a silver-tolerant population has developed. An increase in silver tolerance takes place when the population is exposed to sub-toxic silver concentrations. Satisfactory disinfection can be carried out with peracetic acid (0.01%, 1 h). A remanent effect can be produced by combination of silver conservation with peracetic acid disinfection based on the period of time needed for the development of silver tolerance by the bacterial flora on the ion exchanger. Ion exchange units must be subjected to routine bacterial monitoring in all cases where hygienic implications are involved with their usage.     

Estimation of demographic toxicity through the double bootstrap

Toxicity to organisms is usually expressed in terms of an observable effect on individuals from which a summary endpoint (such as the NOEC or ECx) is derived for risk assessment and environmental quality standards. However, toxicity evaluated in terms of a demographic endpoint may be more relevant to such regulatory applications. In this paper the effect of toxicity on population growth rate r is explored in tandem with a 'double bootstrap' to incorporate uncertainty. Exemplifying the approach with a set of individualized life table response data obtained for Daphnia magna exposed to zinc sulphate solution, the influence of increasing concentrations is assessed. A demographic-based metric for r, the ErCx (effect on r concentration percentage), is defined to permit alternative population level estimation of a 'safe effect' concentration.     

‘Reaching the Parts Other Grants Don't Go?’ Supporting Self-provided Housing in Rural Scotland

Ensuring that rural areas of the UK have sufficient affordable houses in reasonable condition has long challenged policy makers. Previous research shows that rural housing has demand characteristics and faces supply constraints that have proven difficult to balance. The paper reports on the reasons why an innovative subsidy has achieved some success in overcoming barriers to provision in rural Scotland. It is argued that the subsidy has boosted effective demand and tackled a major supply constraint, namely land availability. Empirical material is drawn from a systematic evaluation of the mechanism. The paper concludes with reflections on its implications for the wider literature and for rural housing provision in the evolving financial and political context.     

The Relationship between Housing Market Intervention for First-Time Buyers and House Price Volatility

Declining homeownership rates as observed in many western countries have direct and indirect implications for the broader economy; hence, governments have been seeking an effective solution to address this decline. One of the major challenges is the decline in overall homeownership rates with an increasing proportion of households deciding to rent rather than purchase. However, it is surprising that the impact on the housing market following the introduction of a first-time housing subsidy scheme has received relatively little attention. This study addresses this knowledge gap by examining the relationship between (1) housing market intervention based on first-time owner subsidies in a global city and (2) the level of house price volatility in the broader market. For example, the Australian government has implemented different policies designed to ease housing stress among first-time buyers; one high-profile policy was the First-time buyer Grant or First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) in which a cash payment or subsidy is given to new first-time buyers as a direct incentive. Based on a case study approach, an analysis is undertaken of the first-time buyer policy where an innovative approach using the E-GARCH model is employed to assess the effect of the scheme on the housing market. The findings indicated that the FHOG scheme offered a stabilisation effect on the housing market. In addition, there is evidence to support implementation of the FHOG scheme as an effective scheme to enhance housing affordability of first-time buyers. The findings offer a rare insight into the effectiveness of the FHOG scheme in enhancing housing affordability and also maintaining price stabilisation in the broader housing market.