Lew, Byron
Are foreign aid and migrant remittances sources of happiness in recipient countries?
Aid and happiness: untangling the causal relationship in nine European donor countries
Foreign aid and ecological outcomes in poorer countries: an empirical analysis
Academic Efficiency: The University-Firm Innovation Market, Intellectual Property Rights and Teaching
Universities produce a significant and increasing share of basic research that is later commercialized by firms. We argue that the university's prominence as a producer of basic research is the result of a differential efficiency in research production that cannot be replicated by firms or individual agents - teaching. By using research accomplishments to signal knowledge and attract tuition-paying students, universities are uniquely positioned to undertake certain types of research projects. However, in a market for innovation without patent rights, a significant and increasing number of basic research projects, that are social welfare improving, cannot be initiated by firms or universities. The extension of patent rights to university-generated research elegantly redresses this issue and leaves us to ponder important questions about the future of our innovation-driven economies.
Author Keywords: Innovation, Intellectual Property Rights, Research, Science Technology and Innovation Policy
The Role of Consumption in Canada's Economic Sustainability: A Contribution to the 'Wicked Problem' of Economic, Political, and Environmental Sustainability
This thesis addresses the interconnectedness of environmental sustainability and economic sustainability. There is evidence from the Canadian experience that market economies are extremely dependent upon consumption - the most significant factor in determining the overall level of economic activity and economic growth. Therefore, from this perspective, several periods of declining consumption would create a 'vicious cycle' [Kaldor, 1967] of economic decline that would be politically unsustainable. The analysis here shows that income inequality drives changes in debt-fueled consumption, and consequently, debt influences consumption. The role of income inequality as a mediating channel of sustainability via the borrowing/lending model presents evidence that 'conventional' debt servicing behaviour in the macro-economy can support steady-state economic growth that is, in economic terms, sustainable. Solving the conflict between the environment and the economy lies in private and public investments in new technologies and, most importantly, new social institutions that facilitate economic, political, and environmental, sustainability.
Author Keywords: Consumption, Economic Growth, Household Debt, Income Inequality, Sustainability