This note discusses some issues related to bandwidth selection based on moment expansions of the mean squared error (MSE) of the regression quantile estimator. We use higher order expansions to provide a way to distinguish among asymptotically equivalent nonparametric estimators. We derive...

China¡¯s market-oriented reform is expected to strengthen the role of the market in allocating resources, which raises concerns over the impact of market transformation on income distribution and earnings inequality in the past decades. This paper decomposes the sources of inequality based on...

As nutrients and sediment in agricultural watersheds continue to degrade water quality, attention is increasingly given to reverse auctions to cost-effectively address these pollutants. Typically, reverse auctions include a selection process which depends on both the monetary bid and a ranking...

Is the degree of external economies (at the industry level) higher than the degree of internal increasing returns (at the firm level)? If so, what is the exact source of this difference? In the general equilibrium model in which firms producing final goods choose the degree of specialization of...

Weak capacity to enforce regulations and sanction violators, and an emphasis on economic growth in developing countries has led to concerns about worsening environmental conditions and the potential for these countries becoming pollution havens for multinational corporations. International...

The weak enforcement and monitoring systems employed in China (e.g., insufficient inspection resources and negligible fines for noncompliance) are widely blamed for the growing unrest over food safety in the country. Given this development, we consider a model where quality inspection performed...

Based on micro-level student data from one Chinese academic institution, we study the validity of the national college entrance exam from the perspective of student performance in college and employment prospects after graduation. We find that the current college entrance exam could reflect the...

Traditional international trade theories believe export trade has a positive effect on employment, which means exports would increase the level of employment with no difference between genders. Based on enterprise heterogeneity, however, the new-trade theories doubt this conclusion. Using the...

A small but growing body of literature uses overlapping generations (OLG) models to study environmental policy for long-lived problems such as climate change. An OLG model, unlike the infinitely lived representative agent model, distinguishes between impatience with respect to one¡¯s own...

This paper constructs an RMB/USD exchange rate index and a basket currency exchange rate index. The correlation maximization of the RMB/USD and the basket currency index may determine the weight and quantity of the basket currency. The currency basket indicates that the weight of the USD is...