The Benefit Function Approach to Modeling Price-Dependent Demand Systems: An Application of Duality Theory

In this article, we advocate more extensive use of the benefit function in specifying price-dependent or inverse demand models. We demonstrate how duality theory may be used to establish the interrelationships between the Marshallian (or Hicksian) inverse demands and Luenberger's adjusted price functions, allowing estimable inverse demands to be derived directly from a benefit function. We estimate two systems of inverse demands for Japanese quarterly fish consumption. Results indicate that the procedures and methods employed here appear promising, and may prove beneficial for quantity and welfare analysis when modeling systems of inverse demand functions.     

THE PLACE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN THE TRAINING OF ACCOUNTANTS IN NEW ZEALAND

The purpose of this study was to identify those communication skills most needed by accountants, so providing information which could be useful for accounting educators when designing programmes. The survey showed that practising accountants perceived wide differences between the desired and demonstrated communication skills of their new graduates. Academics, too, perceived serious deficiencies in their students. The conclusion is that academics, for the sake of their students and the accounting profession, should endeavour to increase the amount of time and expert effort put into communication skills in their university programmes.     

Knowledge acquisition by computer induction

The generation of Expert Systems requires that the specialized knowledge of an expert be transferred to a computer system in a form suitable for machine interpretation. In many knowledge domains it is difficult for experts to describe their knowledge in an appropriate form. Where such expert knowledge is difficult to describe it is often possible to obtain good examples of the expert's decisions. Newly emerging computing techniques allow the induction of decision rules from examples; rules which can often effectively model the decision making behaviour of the expert in such situations. The use of such techniques provides a powerful new tool for the construction of Expert Systems.     

Rotation Patterns and Trend Estimation for Repeated Surveys Using Rotation Group Estimates

A general approach for constructing filters to produce trend estimates from a repeated survey is described. This approach accounts for the correlation structure induced by the rotation pattern used in the survey. Different filters are developed depending on whether the trend analysis is based on elementary estimates available for each rotation group or overall estimates obtained by combining the rotation group estimates. The properties of trend estimates obtained directly from the elementary estimates, those obtained from the simple average of the rotation group estimates and trend estimates obtained from the best linear unbiased estimates of the population characteristics of interest are compared. These comparisons are done for a number of rotation pattern, enabling an assessment of the impact of the choice of rotation patterns on trend estimation.     

Compositional data analysis and zeros in micro data

The application of compositional data analysis methods in economics has some attraction. The methodology relies upon the use of 'log-ratios' in the statistical analysis. Such an approach is not possible when the data to be analysed include observations where the observed budget share is zero. We, therefore, consider and extend the methods of compositional data analysis in the situation where the data to be analysed include observations where the observed budget share is zero. The modified compositional data methods are discussed both in statistical terms and through potential economic interpretations of the method. Further, the modified methodology is applied to the 1988-89 Australian Household Expenditure Survey yielding estimates for a system of Engel curves.     

Speculation on Primary Commodities: The Effects of Restricted Entry

We present a model of oligopolistic commodity speculation, in which a limited number of speculators practice non-cooperative storage in an infinite-horizon game. A significant technical difficulty due to the non-negative stock constraint is overcome, and a tractable sub-game perfect equilibrium is presented, in which it is shown that less is stored and prices are more volatile than under perfect competition. It turns out that a tax on consumption of the good would increase storage, stabilize prices, increase welfare and raise speculative profits; the oligopolists would thus lobby for a tariff raised against their own shipments.     

Modelling zeroes in microdata

Although the literature contains a number of suggestions for dealing with problems caused by a preponderance of zero expenditure observations that frequently occur in micro level budget studies, in general, these suggestions seem to be either empirically intractable or theoretically unappealing. In this paper it is argued that a natural theoretical specification can be motivated by duality theory and that the statistical technique of compositional data analysis provides a corresponding complementary stochastic specification. The resulting model is a consistent theoretical and stochastic specification for handling the possibility of a zero demand over a range of expenditures and/or prices. The model is then applied to the 1988/89 Australian Household Expenditure Survey.     

Asymmetry in Price Transmission in Agricultural Markets

This paper explores the asymmetries in price transmission from international to local markets. We expect the presence of large intermediaries in agricultural markets to lead to a stronger price transmission when international prices decline than when they rise. The empirical evidence confirms the presence of asymmetric price transmission consistent with the presence of large intermediaries with monopsony power.     

Trade policy-making in a model of legislative bargaining

In democracies, trade policy is the result of interactions among many agents with different agendas. In accordance with this observation, we construct a dynamic model of legislative trade policy-making in the realm of distributive politics. An economy consists of different sectors, each of which is concentrated in one or more electoral districts. Each district is represented by a legislator in the Congress. Legislative process is modeled as a multilateral sequential bargaining game à la Baron and Ferejohn (1989). Some surprising results emerge: bargaining can be welfare-worsening for all participants; legislators may vote for bills that make their constituents worse off; identical industries will receive very different levels of tariff. The results pose a challenge to empirical work, since equilibrium trade policy is a function not only of economic fundamentals but also of political variables at the time of congressional negotiations — some of them random realizations of mixed bargaining strategies.     

Value Judgements: Evaluating Design: A Scottish Perspective on a Global Issue

This paper reviews the status of value judgements within Design and Technology education in Scotland in relation to National Guidelines. It highlights consequences for teacher education. These include developing critical awareness, acquiring and assessing information and developing the skills of decision-making and appraisal necessary for discrimination and judgement in the context of an increasingly international arena. The literature suggests that there is little support for the teaching of product appraisal and the evaluative strategies required. Initial teacher education and in-service programmes are being developed to enable teachers to respond to the challenge of this often controversial aspect of Design and Technology. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.