Fiscal Policy in a Two-Sector Economy with Public Capital and Congestion

This paper focuses on the role of government capital as a critical productive input when the level of services that the agent derives from it is subject to congestion. I develop a two-sector “nonscale” production model in which there are two types of firms, conventional profit-maximizing private firms, and “public firms”, whose objective is to produce a specified quantity of government investment goods – determined by government policy – at minimum cost. Furthermore, the production functions of the two sectors need not in general coincide. Using this two-sector production set-up I assume that the positive externality of the public capital is associated with two types of congestion, proportional and aggregate. A variety of fiscal disturbances are analyzed. Because of the complexity of the model the analysis is carried out using simulations of a calibrated economy. The effects of tax policies are remarkably robust with respect to the relative capital intensities of the two productive sectors. In contrast, the effects of government investment are much more sensitive to this aspect. The introduction of congestion decreases the steady state growth rate of the economy. The relative congestion has stronger effects when the variation in the government investment is analyzed, whereas the absolute congestion is more relevant in the analysis of the change in the tax on capital income. The papers highlight the intertemporal dimensions of fiscal policy and the tradeoffs these involve for economic performance, especially growth and welfare.endogenous growth, fiscal policy, public capital, congestion

Leisure Externalities: Implications for Growth and Welfare

This paper develops a neoclassical growth model with leisure externalities. Ignoring positive (negative) leisure externalities leads to equilibrium consumption, labor and capital that are too high (low) and leisure that is too low (high). The government should tax (subsidize) labor income according to whether the leisure externality is positive or negative. The level of this tax (subsidy) depends on the elasticity of individual and average leisure and the consumption tax. Equilibrium dynamics are characterized, and two shocks to the economy are analyzed – an increase in the growth rate of labor productivity, and an increase in the tax on labor income – by simulating a calibrated economy. Adjustment processes of key variables in a competitive and centrally planned economy with and without leisure externalities are also compared.externalities, transitional dynamics, economic growth

Female Labor Force Participation and Welfare if Status Conscious with Multiple Reference Groups

I develop a model with status concerns to analyze how different economic factors affect female participation, average household income and wage, as well as the welfare of both stay-at-home and working wives. Reductions in the price of domestic goods and increases in female wages have positive effects on female participation. Increases in male wages have different effects on female participation depending on whether they affect female wages or not. Events that lead to increases in female participation are usually associated with decreases in the welfare of stay-at-home wives, but are not necessarily associated with increases in welfare of working wivesfemale labor force participation; relative income

Technological Complexity and Economic Growth

The last fifty years have witnessed large secular increases in educational attainment and R&D intensity. The fact that these trends have not stimulated more rapid income growth has been a persistent puzzle for growth theorists. We construct a model of endogenous economic growth in which income growth, R&D intensity, and educational attainment depend on the complexity of new technologies. An increase in complexity that makes passive learning more difficult, induces increases in R&D and education, alongside a decline in income growth. Our explanation also predicts a concurrent rise in the skill premium.Endogenous growth, learning, R&D, educational attainment, wage inequality, technological complexity

Sorting, Selection, and Industry Shakeouts

A number of plausible theories offer explanations for the propensity of many young industries to undergo a shakeout phase, during which the number of firms declines sharply in the face of continued rising output. However, none of the theories considers the role of labor market sorting. This paper presents a model in which individual abilities are complements in production, but frictions permit only gradual sorting among firms. The quality distribution of firms becomes wider over time, inducing exit of firms that have ended up with predominantly low-quality workers. The model does not ensure that a shakeout takes place, but when it does it will be characterized by rising output alongside a declining price, an increasing average wage, and a widening of the distributions across firms of employment, output, productivity and average wages.Shakeouts, industry evolution, O-ring production functions.

Designing a Framework to Develop WEB Graphical Interfaces for ORACLE Databases - Web Dialog

The present article aims to describe a project consisting in designing a framework of applications used to create graphical interfaces with an Oracle distributed database. The development of the project supposed the use of the latest technologies: database Oracle server, Tomcat web server, JDBC (Java library used for accessing a database), JSP and Tag Library (for the development of graphical interfaces).Comment: 6 pages, exposed on 5th International Conference "Actualities and Perspectives on Hardware and Software" - APHS2009, Timisoara, Romani