Reflections on the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity

Environmental and Resource Economics - The Dasgupta Review provides a rich overview of the economics of biodiversity, paints a bleak picture of the current state of biodiversity, and is a call to...     

On the implications of market power in banking: Evidence from developing countries

This paper investigates how different degrees of market power affect bank efficiency and stability in the context of developing economies. It sheds light on the competition-stability nexus by documenting and analyzing the complex interactions between a tripod of variables that are central for regulators: the degree of market power, bank cost and profit efficiency, and overall firm stability. The results show that an increase in the degree of market power leads to greater bank stability and enhanced profit efficiency, despite significant cost efficiency losses. The findings lend empirical justification to the traditional view that increased competition may undermine bank stability, and may bear significant implications for stressed banking systems in developing economies.     

The productivity of private and social farms: Multilateral Malmquist indices for Slovene dairying enterprises

Applying programming techniques to farm-level panel data for four cooperative and 12 private dairy farms in the Yugoslav Republic of Slovenia gives estimates of technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and technical progress. These are used to construct multilateral Malmquist indices of total factor productivity (TFP). For the cooperatives, TFP growth has been slow and is attributable to technical progress. For the private farms, technical progress was also slow, but TFP growth was faster due to improved efficiency. Scale inefficiency explains the poorer absolute performance of the private farms, indicating the need for land reform as well as technological change.     

Bass model estimates for broadband diffusion in European countries

The paper presents a broadband diffusion analysis for European OECD member countries. The Bass diffusion model is used to estimate the total number of potential adopters, the coefficient of innovation and the coefficient of imitation. The analysis shows that if the present trends continue broadband services will not reach the 100% penetration rate in the near future. Based on these findings, the question of a possible revitalization is discussed with a focus on those segments of the population which are slower to adopt broadband. A survey of households in rural areas provides preliminary investigation of reasons for continuing non-adoption, such as social habits and lack of both knowledge and interest.     

Benevolent Dictators. Cummings,Bart A. Chicago: Crain Books, 1984. 344 Pp. $24.95

Abstract

A mall-intercept study recruited 601 subjects in three cities who viewed simulated Yellow Pages ads for florists or caterers. Ad information was either generally stated or specific to the product involved. Ads either did or did not contain color. Color was used to attract attention to the ad or else to enhance product appearance. Subjects selected an initial consideration set and a final set of ads to call. Ads with product-specific information were more likely to be considered and called. Findings showed that ads with color were more likely to be considered, but only using product-enhancing color increased chances that an ad would be called. Ads that used enhancing color in a manner that substantiated verbal claims were most likely to be called first.     

Author Index Volume 29 2002

Authors Index

Author Index Volume 29 2002     

Factors of broadband development and the design of a strategic policy framework

The paper analyses the household use of broadband technology and services in EU countries in an attempt to find the main reasons which explain the differences seen among countries. With the use of factor analysis, the underlying factors are identified as: (1) enablers and means; (2) the use of services; and (3) the ICT sector's development. Based on these findings, a two-dimensional framework that enables the classification of policy actions depending on the influencing factor and type of influence is developed. The framework can be used to analyse what is the appropriate set of policies at the national and regional governmental levels leading towards the better diffusion of new broadband (BB) technologies and services.