Tradable emission rights and strategic interaction

The use of tradable emission rights as environmental policy instruments may affect the conditions for strategic interaction between regulated firms and thus have implications for competition policy. This paper presents an analysis of how, and under what conditions, emission rights can be used strategically by oligopolistic firms for predatory and exclusionary purposes.     

The bias of some estimators for panel data models with measurement errors

The paper deals with the (asymptotic) bias in the estimation of regression slope coefficients from panel data observed with error. Unobserved individual and time specific heterogeneity is also assumed. The estimators considered include: the standard ‘within’ and ‘between’ estimators, and estimators based on differences over time. It is shown that in terms of bias, there may be a trade-off between the effect of heterogeneity and of measurement errors. The paper also shows that in situations where the number of observations of each individual is finite (and in practice often small), changes in the correlograms of the measurement error and of the latent exogenous variable may substantially affect the relative bias of the different estimators of the slope coefficient.     

An Enforcement-Coalition Model: Fishermen and Authorities Forming Coalitions

The paper sets up a four-stage enforcement model of fish quotas. The purpose of the paper is to show how the level of enforcement set by the authorities affects the way fishermen form coalitions. We show that a high level of control effort yields less co-operation among fishermen, while in the case of low control effort, coalitions are somewhat self-enforcing. The paper further discusses how the optimal enforcement level changes when the coalition formation among authorities changes: centralised, partly centralised and decentralised authorities. We show that decentralised authorities set a lower level of control effort compared to the centralised authorities. The theoretical results are illustrated by simulations of the Baltic Sea cod fishery.The authors acknowledge valuable comments and suggestions from Frank Jensen and Niels Vestergaard.     

THE EVOLUTION OF VAT RATES AND GOVERNMENT TAX REVENUE IN MEXICO

As a response to the 1994 Mexican peso crisis, in April 1995 the Mexican government increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 10 to 15%. More recently, policy makers have debated the potential economic impact of a reduction in the VAT rate on VAT revenue. Using a vector autoregression (VAR) model, this article analyzes the dynamics between government spending, inflation, the VAT rate, and VAT revenue in Mexico. The results from the estimated impulse response functions and variance decompositions indicate that VAT rate hikes lead to increases in government tax receipts. Further, tax collections play an important role in explaining movements in the rate of inflation in the Mexican economy. Overall, the findings are consistent with the view that increases (decreases) in the VAT rate result in larger (smaller) tax revenues.     

Capital income taxation in a growing world economy

This paper deals with dynamic adjustment in large economies to changes in the rate of capital income taxation or in the rate of investment tax credit in one country. The framework applied in the paper is a continuous-time, overlapping generations model with two countries. It features population growth and debt non-neutrality. We address impact and steady state effects of capital income tax and investment subsidy changes in the home country on consumption per capita, the capital intensity, and the per capita net foreign asset position in both countries. We also briefly consider individual welfare consequences of these policies.     

Intentions to use mobile services: Antecedents and cross-service comparisons

This article develops and tests a model to explain consumers’ intention to use mobile services. Through triangulating theories from the diverse fields of information systems research, uses and gratification research, and domestication research, the authors put forth an integrated model that explains intention to use mobile services. The model proposes four overall influences on usage intention: motivational influences, attitudinal influences, normative pressure, and perceived control. The authors study the type of interactivity and process characteristics associated with the service that moderate the effects on the relationship between the proposed antecedents and usage intention. The results from empirical studies of four mobile services show strong support for the effects of motivational influences, attitudinal influences, normative pressure, and perceived control on consumers’ intentions to use mobile services. Some of the effects are moderated by process characteristics (goal-directed vs. experiential services) that are associated with the service.     

Partial adjustment without tears: A tale for the tolar

The design of monetary system in Slovenia was influenced by the heritage of peristent shortages of foreign exchange. This and other considerations prompted a decision that a new currncy-Tolar was to float on two separate foreign exchange markets: a market for current account transactios, and a market for capital account transactios. Actual developments differed considerably from forecasts; an abundance prevailed, and the Tolar remained remarkably strong. The aim of the paper is to present, estimate and test a simple model describing the behaviour of the Tolar in the first period of high uncertainty; and to assess its relevance for the real world. Exchange-rate movements are analyzed as if they were adjusting to the expected price level. The results imply that the dealers do not wait for new data on prices to be disclosed; they, howevr, try and anticipate the likely effects of inflation on the exchange rate. It is shown that interventions by the Central Bank did not affect the SIT/DM exchange rate appreciably. The answer to the question whether other Eastern European countries could have benefitted from the short-run story of the tolar, is inconclusive, if not negative.We are grateful to A. Beltratti, A. Brzeski, Ch. Flinn, P. Sgro, H. Wagener and the referees of this Journal for their comments on a preliminary draft of this paper. Part of this work has been carried out while J. Mencinger was a Fellow at ICER, Turin, to which we are both indebted.     

Quality Function Deployment in Education: A Curriculum Review

The curriculum of the Tyre Technology Department at the Kocaeli University Köseköy Vocational School of Higher Education (KU-KVSHE) has been reviewed by using the quality function deployment (QFD) technique. The principal stakeholders for this review were identified as the local tyre companies and the department’s lecturers. The stakeholders’ expectations from the graduates of the department were determined by direct interviews using a special questionnaire. The customer needs were categorized, shortened and prioritized. The requirements of the two stakeholders were found to be almost the same but with a different order. The requirements were then converted into quality characteristics. After a comprehensive analysis on the contents and duration of the courses in the actual curriculum, taking into consideration stakeholder expectations, a substantial revision was deemed necessary. In conclusion, a new curriculum for the Tyre Technology Department was proposed in order to meet customer needs. The university senate has approved the new curriculum proposed in this study and the school management has decided to apply the new curriculum as of fall term of the 2002–2003 school year.     

国际物流发展现状及趋势

当前国际物流发展主要呈现以下五种趋势；物流规模和物流活动的范围进一步扩大，物流企业将向集约化与协同化发展；物流服务的优质化与全球化趋势日益明显，构建合同导向的个性化服务体系将成为企业获取竞争优势的关键；第三方物流快速发展并且在物流产业中逐渐占居主导地位；绿色 物流是物流发展的又一趋势；物流产业将由单一的业种向业态多元化发展。     

On the calculation of the scale elasticity in DEA models

An issue in the multiple-output case within the literature on piecewise linear frontier production functions has been how to determine the nature of the scale properties. It is shown that knowledge of scale efficiency does not permit calculation of scale elasticity or vice versa. For inefficient units there is a relationship between input-saving and output-increasing efficiency measures through the average value of the scale elasticity between the two different reference points on the frontier. A direct approach to determine the scale properties is to calculate the scale elasticity from the dual problem to the calculation of Farrell efficiency measures.