Jørgen Drud Hansen

Hairy roots — a short cut to transgenic root nodules

To facilitate molecular studies of symbiotic nitrogen fixation a procedure for rapid production of transgenic root nodules was established on the legumeLotus corniculatus (Birdsfoot trefoil). Regeneration of transgenic plants is not required as transgenic nodules are formed onAgrobacterium rhizogenes incited roots inoculated withRhizobium. Easy identification of transformed roots is possible using a set ofA. rhizogenes acceptor strains carrying assayable marker genes such as chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT), β-glucuronidase (GUS), or luciferase (LUC) under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. Counterselection ofA. rhizogenes after infection of plants was improved using an auxotrophy marker.

A Kaldorian approach to regional economic growth in China

Kaldors engine of growth hypothesis is examined in the case of the Chinese economy. China has in the last decade experienced a rapid industrialization and very strong economic growth. Using regional data of this growth process, the three Kaldorian laws of economic growth are tested. The empirical results support the hypothesis. There seems to be an especially strong relation between productivity and industrial growth.

The establishment of the danish windmill industry—Was it worthwhile?

The paper examines the welfare effects of the Danish subsidies granted for the electricity production from wind power. This policy has induced a remarkable development of the Danish windmill industry resulting in a dominant position on the world market. The article demonstrates a strong learning-by-doing productivity growth in the Danish windmill industry and it analyzes the costs and benefits of this infant industry case. The costs consist of the efficiency loss from diverting electricity production from using fossil fuels to utilizing wind power. Benefits are the reductions in the environmental damage of using fossil fuels, however, the main benefits are related to the emergence of a new export sector. As the value of the windmill firms at the stock exchange by far exceeds that of the accumulated distorted losses in electricity production, this case demonstrates a successful infant industry strategy. JEL no. D2, L5, L6

Immigration and income redistribution in welfare states

Abstract This paper sets out a political economy model where median voters who benefit from local income redistribution are affected by the fiscal burden of welfare payments to immigrants. The median voters also have cultural preferences. Immigrants are influenced in their relocation decision by welfare benefits in host countries. Uncoordinated, coordinated and leader–follower domestic welfare policies are compared. In the last case, the median voter in the follower country is better off than the median voter in the leader country because of a less generous welfare system and hence fewer immigrants.

Scale in technology and learning-by-doing in the windmill industry

This paper examines the remarkable development of technology and the fast learning-by-doing in the windmill industry since it emerged in the beginning of the 1980s. Based on time series of prices of windmills a dynamic cost function for producing windmills is tested. The estimations verified that learning-by-doing in the Danish windmill industry has contributed significantly to improve the cost efficiency of the producers. The technological development has been stimulated both by process and product innovations as the capacity of the individual mills has increased. The learning effect created by early subsidies from the government has consolidated the competitive advantages of the windmill cluster in Denmark and preserved the first mover advantages at the world market. The article concludes that the industry probably will enter into a matured phase in the future with more modest technological growth.

Market Integration, Choice of Technology and Welfare

This paper develops an international trade model where firms in a duopoly may diversify their technologies for strategic reasons. The firms face the same set of technologies given by a tradeoff between marginal costs and fixed costs, but depending on trade costs firms may choose different technologies. Market integration may induce a technological restructuring where firms either diversify their technologies or switch to a homogeneous technology. In general, market integration improves welfare. However, a small decrease of trade costs which induces a switch from heterogeneous technologies to a homogeneous technology may locally reduce global welfare. The model also shows that productivity differences lead to intra-industry firm heterogeneity in size and exports similar to the “new–new” trade models with monopolistic competition.

The German Growth Miracle: A Lesson for Poland?

After the disaster of World War II, the Federal Republic of Germany experienced impressive growth for more than two decades. From a level of per capita income below half of the leading industrial nation, the United States, in 1950, the Federal Republic narrowed the income gap to about 80 percent over the following twenty years. This article discusses the possibilities and needed economic policy for a similar catch-up of Polands living standards with those of the European Union over the next two decades. The conditions for the German growth miracle in the 1950s and 1960s are analyzed, and structural similarities with and differences from the present Polish economy are identified. It is concluded that no determinism exists. The Polish economy may have the potential for strong growth, but this potential will only be realized if Poland succeeds in creating a growth-promoting environment.

Are the Current Account Deficits in the Baltic States Sustainable

Abstract For almost a decade all three Baltic countries have witnessed substantial deficits on the current accounts of the balance of payments. This paper discusses whether this situation should be a matter of concern. Recent literature on the sustainability of balance of payments deficits is reviewed and put into a Baltic context. The main conclusion is that the recurrent large deficits in the Baltic countries pose a risk for the fixed exchange rate policies until the countries adopt the euro. In the longer term large deficits will influence the time path of convergence of living standards between the Baltic countries and the EU as a whole.

The Relative Size of the Public Sector and the Tax Burden in a Neoclassical Growth Model

This article is aimed at studying the situation where the tax burden and the relative size of the public sector are stabilized on a constant level and at discussing the resource distribution and production function properties of such a case. The analysis is carried out within the framework of a neoclassical growth model. The golden age equilibrium solution is dealt with in particular, as the golden age framework seems more appropriate to the present problem than to most other problems.

How to Cut the Seigniorage Cake into Fair Shares in an Enlarged EMU

The European Central Bank redistributes each year seigniorage from issuing euro notes to the National Central Banks of the euro countries. The key for this redistribution is, from 2008, based on the respective GDP and population proportions of the euro countries. Applying the distribution formula to the new EU countries from central and eastern Europe seems to give these countries a large net benefit compared with the seigniorage they bring in, i.e. their share of currency in circulation. However, as argued in this article, currency demand in the new EU member countries is expected to increase relative to the present group of euro countries - especially after gaining membership in the EMU because of integration of the financial markets and, in the longer term, catching-up growth. Hence, it is doubtful whether a large unintended redistribution of seigniorage to the benefit of acceding EMU countries will materialize in the future. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.