计量经济分析 = Econometric analysis

Offering a unifying theoretical perspective not readily available in any other text, this innovative guide to econometrics uses simple geometrical arguments to develop students' intuitive understanding of basic and advanced topics, emphasizing throughout the practical applications of modern theory and nonlinear techniques of estimation. One theme of the text is the use of artificial regressions for estimation, reference, and specification testing of nonlinear models, including diagnostic tests for parameter constancy, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, and other types of mis-specification. Explaining how estimates can be obtained and tests can be carried out, the authors go beyond a mere algebraic description to one that can be easily translated into the commands of a standard econometric software package. Covering an unprecedented range of problems with a consistent emphasis on those that arise in applied work, this accessible and coherent guide to the most vital topics in econometrics today is indispensable for advanced students of econometrics and students of statistics interested in regression and related topics. It will also suit practising econometricians who want to update their skills. Flexibly designed to accommodate a variety of course levels, it offers both complete coverage of the basic material and separate chapters on areas of specialized interest.

Estimation and Inference in Econometrics

A club is a voluntary group of individuals who derive mutual benefit from sharing one or more of the following: production costs, the members' characteristics, or a good characterized by excludable benefits. When production costs are shared and the good is purely private, a private good club is being analyzed (McGuire 1972; Wiseman 1957). If membership characteristics differ and motivate sharing, then membership fees will differ among members (DeSerpa 1977; Scotchmer 1994b; Scotchmer and Wooders 1987). Such fees are nonanonymous , inasmuch as a fee structure is related to the identity and attributes of a member. The focus of our analysis is the sharing of an excludable (rivalrous) public good, which we term a club good . Unless otherwise specified, crowding is assumed to be independent of the individual and hence anonymous. A number of aspects of the club definition deserve highlighting. Privately owned and operated clubs must be voluntary; members choose to belong because they anticipate a net benefit from membership. Thus, the utility jointly derived from membership and from the consumption of other goods must exceed the utility associated with nonmembership status. Furthermore, the net gain in utility from membership must exceed or equal membership fees or toll payments. This voluntarism serves as the first characteristic by which to distinguish between pure public goods and club goods. In the case of a pure public good, voluntarism may be absent, since the good might harm some recipients (e.g., defense to a pacifist, fluoridation to someone who opposes its use).

The theory of externalities, public goods, and club goods: Homogeneous clubs and local public goods

Soil erosion is a global issue because of its severe adverse economic and environmental impacts. Economic impacts on productivity may be due to direct effects on crops/plants on-site and off-site, and environmental consequences are primarily off-site due either to pollution of natural waters or adverse effects on air quality due to dust and emissions of radiatively active gases. Off-site economic effects of erosion are related to the damage to civil structure, siltation of water ways and reservoirs, and additional costs involved in water treatment. There are numerous reports regarding the on-site effects of erosion on productivity. However, a vast majority of these are from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe, and only a few from soils of the tropics and subtropics. On-site effects of erosion on agronomic productivity are assessed with a wide range of methods, which can be broadly grouped into three categories: agronomic/soil quality evaluation, economic assessment, and knowledge surveys. Agronomic me...

Soil Erosion Impact on Agronomic Productivity and Environment Quality

Dynamic optimization: The calculus of variations and optimal control in economics and management: Morton I. KAMIEN and Nancy L. SCHWARTZ Volume 4 in: Dynamic Economics: Theory and Applications, North-Holland, New York, 1981, xi + 331 pages, Dfl.90.00

We examine the relationship between county per capita income and toxic pollutants using a comprehensive model of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The model incorporates ethnic diversity, spatial effects and most independent variables used in previous studies. Initial results suggest that the relationship follows an inverted-U-shape. However, incorporation of a cubic term for income reveals that toxic pollution eventually increases again as income continues to rise. Ethnic diversity and spatial effects are found to be important in understanding toxic pollution in US counties. We also detect an EKC-type relationship with respect to income inequality.

The environmental Kuznets curve for US counties: A spatial econometric analysis with extensions

An empirical analysis reveals that states with more highly educated populations have better environmental conditions, after controlling for income, population density, and industrial composition. The strategy of raising human capital stocks to maintain or improve environmental quality is proposed as a complement, if not an alternative, to direct government intervention, which consists of command and control, market incentives, and moral suasion. Under this approach, general education becomes the control variable that guides economic behavior in a manner consistent with long-term environmental sustainability.

Human capital, income, and environmental quality: a state-level analysis

Lichtenberg and Zilberman argue correctly that, when biological and physical processes are considered, we are able to delineate two components of actual (realized) crop yields: "potential output (the maximum quantity of product obtainable from any given combination of inputs) and losses caused by damaging agents . . present in the environment" (p. 262). They further argue that damage control agents should be defined in terms of their contribution to the abatement effort and hence should enter the production function as an argument of the damage abatement function. To demonstrate the consequences of their claims, Lichtenberg and Zilberman make an ad hoc choice of a Cobb-Douglas functional form for crop yield. Exogenous factors, such as pest prevalence and weather conditions are ignored, although they note that omission of these environmental factors will result in misspecification of the production relationship (p. 267).

The Econometrics of Damage Control

Impacts of technological change on factor substitution between energy and other inputs within US agriculture, 1950-79.

A bioeconomic model of livestock production from wind-erosive rangelands is developed and optimized. Equations of motion capture the impact of topsoil stock on forage productivity and the protective effect of forage stock on soil loss from wind erosion. For overgrazed wind-erosive rangelands, a lower discount rate provides incentives for lighter grazing, as does consideration of effect of stocking rates on animal performance. In the case where off-site damages are large, internalizing off-site effects would also encourage lighter grazing and hence promote sustainable production. An illustrative application of the model is also included.

Angelos Pagoulatos

Papers

The environmental Kuznets curve for US counties: A spatial econometric analysis with extensions

Human capital, income, and environmental quality: a state-level analysis

The Econometrics of Damage Control

Impacts of technological change on factor substitution between energy and other inputs within US agriculture, 1950-79.

Dynamic Optimal Management of Wind-Erosive Rangelands