Alan D. Woodland

Bio: Alan D. Woodland is an academic researcher from University of New South Wales. The author has contributed to research in topics: Tariff & Welfare. The author has an hindex of 32, co-authored 115 publications receiving 3551 citations. Previous affiliations of Alan D. Woodland include University of New Orleans & University of Sydney.

International Trade and Resource Allocation

Abstract: Introduction. Producer and Consumer Theory. The Production Sector. Comparative Statics of the Production Sector. Intermediate Inputs and Joint Outputs. Consumer Demand, Income Distribution and General Equilibrium. Free Trade Equilibrium and Trade Theories. Non-Traded Goods and Endogenous Factor Supplies. The Welfare Effects of International Trade. Transfers, Tariffs and Taxes. Trade Policy. Empirical Studies. Trade and Growth: A Static Approach. Trade and Growth: A Dynamic Approach. Trade and Growth: Dynamics of Technology and Investment. Further Topics in Trade Theory. Index.

International trade and resource allocation

Abstract: Introduction. Producer and Consumer Theory. The Production Sector. Comparative Statics of the Production Sector. Intermediate Inputs and Joint Outputs. Consumer Demand, Income Distribution and General Equilibrium. Free Trade Equilibrium and Trade Theories. Non-Traded Goods and Endogenous Factor Supplies. The Welfare Effects of International Trade. Transfers, Tariffs and Taxes. Trade Policy. Empirical Studies. Trade and Growth: A Static Approach. Trade and Growth: A Dynamic Approach. Trade and Growth: Dynamics of Technology and Investment. Further Topics in Trade Theory. Index.

Labour Supply and Progressive Taxes

Abstract: There are many studies in the literature involving the estimation of labour supply curves for individuals or families (Leuthold (1968), Kosters (1969), Christensen (1972), Hall (1973), Wales (1973, 1976), Wales and Woodland (1976, 1977)). Although most of these rely on the assumption of utility maximizing behaviour in their theoretical discussions, the empirical work is often based on an ad-hoc (often linear) reduced form equation relating hours of work to various determinants, such as the gross wage rate, non-labour income and socioeconomic variables. In some of these studies, however, the assumption of utility maximization carries through to the empirical work, resulting in a labour supply equation derived explicitly from a utility function (Leuthold (1968), Christensen (1972), Wales (1973, 1976), Wales and Woodland (1976, 1977)). At the macro level, on the other hand, there are many studies which explicitly use the utility function approach (Christensen (1968), Diewert (1974), Darrough (1975), Kiefer (1975), Abbott and Ashenfelter (1976), Donovan (1977)). Typically the treatment of taxes in empirical labour supply studies has been inadequate. Indeed in many cases information on taxes has not been available and consequently taxes have been ignored completely. When data are available the question arises of how to treat the piecewise-linear budget constraint implied by the progressive tax system. Several authors (Diewert (1971), Hall (1973), Wales (1973, 1976), Wales and Woodland (1976, 1977)) have proposed approximating this piecewise-linear constraint with a linear constraint passing through the observed point, thus yielding a net or after-tax wage rate to be used in place of the gross wage rate in the analysis. Although this procedure is appropriate for the non-stochastic case it introduces two problems in the stochastic case. First, the observed net wage rate that appears as an explanatory variable in the labour supply function is itself endogenous since it depends on the number of hours worked and is therefore correlated with the disturbance term. This endogeneity must be taken into account to avoid obtaining inconsistent estimates of the parameters.' The second problem involves a specification error. The basic difficulty is that although an individual may be observed to be on a given segment of a piecewise-linear constraint, this observed position is the sum of two components-his utility maximizing position plus a random disturbance. Hence it is entirely possible (particularly if the disturbances are large) that the individual's utility maximizing position may be on a segment of the piecewiselinear constraint other than the observed one. In this case the net after-tax wage rate that should be used in the labour supply equation is the one corresponding to the utility maximizing point, and not the observed one. Thus if the observed net wage rate is used in the estimation then for some individuals the appropriate net wage rate is measured with error while for others it is not. Further it is possible that an individual's utility maximizing position may be at one of the corners of the piecewise-linear constraint, rather than in the interior of a segment.

Aid, policies, and growth

Abstract: The authors of this paper use a new database on foreign aid to examine the relationships among foreign aid, economic policies, and growth of per capita GDP. In panel growth regressions for 56 developing countries and 6 four-year periods (1970-93), they find that the policies that have a great effect on growth are those related to fiscal surplus, inflation, and trade openness. They construct an index for those three policies and have that index interact with foreign aid. They have instruments for both aid and aid interacting with policies. They find that aid has a positive impact on growth in developing countries with good fiscal, monetary and trade policies. In the presence of poor policies, aid has no positive effect on growth. This result is robust in a variety of specifications, which include or exclude middle-income countries, include or exclude outliers, and treat policies as exogenous or endogenous. They examine the determinants of policy and find no evidence that aid has systematically affected policies, either for good or for ill. They estimate an aid allocation equation and show that any tendency for aid to reward good policies has been overwhelmed by donors' pursuit of their own strategic interests. In a counterfactual, they reallocate aid, reduce the role of donor interests and increasing the importance of policy. Such a reallocation would have a large positive effect on developing countries' growth rates.

Evaluating the accuracy of sampling-based approaches to the calculation of posterior moments

Abstract: Data augmentation and Gibbs sampling are two closely related, sampling-based approaches to the calculation of posterior moments. The fact that each produces a sample whose constituents are neither independent nor identically distributed complicates the assessment of convergence and numerical accuracy of the approximations to the expected value of functions of interest under the posterior. In this paper methods from spectral analysis are used to evaluate numerical accuracy formally and construct diagnostics for convergence. These methods are illustrated in the normal linear model with informative priors, and in the Tobit-censored regression model.

Is Free Trade Good for the Environment

Abstract: This paper sets out a theory of how openness to international goods markets affects pollution concentrations. We develop a theoretical model to divide trade's impact on pollution into scale, technique and composition effects and then examine this theory using data on sulfur dioxide concentrations from the Global Environment Monitoring Project. We find international trade creates relatively small changes in pollution concentrations when it alters the composition, and hence the pollution intensity, of national output. Our estimates of the associated technique and scale effects created by trade imply a net reduction in pollutio n from these sources. Combining our estimates of scale, composition and technique effects yields a somewhat surprising conclusion: freer trade appears to be good for the environment.

Trade, Growth and the Environment

Abstract: For the last ten years environmentalists and the trade policy community have engaged in a heated debate over the environmental consequences of liberalized trade. The debate was originally fueled by negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Uruguay round of GATT negotiations, both of which occurred at a time when concerns over global warming, species extinction and industrial pollution were rising. Recently it has been intensified by the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and proposals for future rounds of trade negotiations. The debate has often been unproductive. It has been hampered by the lack of a common language and also suffered from little recourse to economic theory and empirical evidence. The purpose of this essay is set out what we currently know about the environmental consequences of economic growth and international trade. We critically review both theory and empirical work to answer three basic questions. What do we know about the relationship between international trade, economic growth and the environment? How can this evidence help us evaluate ongoing policy debates? Where do we go from here?