On Optimal Commodity Taxes When Consumption Is Time Consuming

This paper studies the problem of optimal taxation of commodities when consumption is a time‐consuming activity. This is done under two distinct preference separability assumptions: between goods and labor supply, and between goods and leisure. It argues that with the labor separability, the traditional uniform taxation results of optimal tax theory continue to hold. With leisure separability, on the other hand, consumption time is a major ingredient of optimal tax rates. However, the relationship between consumption time and optimal tax rates depends crucially on the representation of the economy. In representative consumer economies, time differences determine the pattern of optimal tax rates so that goods whose consumption take more time are subjected to higher tax rates. When individuals have different earning abilities, redistributive, incentive, and efficiency considerations also come into play resulting in a complex relationship. The paper derives formulas for optimal commodity taxes in this case on the basis of three different tax structures: linear commodity taxes in combination with linear and nonlinear income taxes, and nonlinear commodity taxes in combination with nonlinear income taxes.     

Price discrimination using linear and nonlinear pricing simultaneously

Price discrimination practiced by using linear and nonlinear pricing simultaneously raises the average price for heterogenous consumers paying linear price but lowers for homogeneous group who pay nonlinear price. Discrimination lowers consumer surplus for both groups but increases total surplus.     

A proposal for social pricing of water supply in Côte d'Ivoire

We consider the design of a nonlinear social tariff for residential water in Côte d'Ivoire, which is a case of a monopolistic private operator supplying a population of heterogeneous consumers. The proposed optimal tariff includes an initial “social” block with a low unit price, and higher consumption blocks with a monopoly pricing rule. This optimal nonlinear tariff is calibrated using econometric estimates of a panel-data residential water demand equation. Welfare changes associated with moving from the actual tariff to approximations of the optimal pricing system are computed under different tariff scenarios. We find that gains in consumer welfare would outweigh losses in producer surplus in a majority of Ivorian local communities.     

Optimal pricing when rational consumers anticipate monitoring cost

This article considers a monopolistic firm’s optimal pricing decision over two periods among dynamic pricing, preannounced pricing and single pricing. In the models, consumers rationally determine whether to exhibit strategic waiting by weighing their costs against prospectively lower price. Our analysis yields three main results. First, single pricing that completely eliminates strategic waiting surely would be dominated by intertemporal pricing when facing rational consumers. Second, preannounced pricing may actually yield lower revenue than dynamic pricing when considering its effect on the reduction of consumer monitoring cost. Only when monitoring costs under dynamic pricing and under preannounced pricing are equal, is firm revenue weakly greater under preannounced pricing than under dynamic pricing. Third, in dynamic pricing equilibrium, increasing monitoring cost may increase firm revenue, consumer surplus and social welfare simultaneously.     

电信竞争、呼叫外部性与接听方付费

该文扩展了 Joen-Laffont-Tirole(2002)文章的模型,考察了在呼叫方与接听方合作决定通话长度条件下电信运营商的竞争策略.当引入接听方付费和呼叫外部性的假设进入电信竞争模型时,在线性定价条件下,电信运营商制定的呼叫价格与接听价格仍然随着网络替代程度的增加而减少,但是电信运营商不再能够利用接入费来进行合谋.在非线性定价条件下,电信运营商竞争策略是制定使消费者剩余最大化的呼叫价格与接听价格,然后利用固定费榨取消费者剩余.在基于网络的价格歧视条件下,与 Joen-Laffont-Tirole(2002)模型相比较,由于通话时间由消费者合作决定,因此电信运营商将通过固定费进行市场份额的争夺,从而导致按边际成本定价,网络联接并没有因为电信运营商的竞争策略而发生中断.     

商品金融化与产品定价机制变革——从近代欧洲大宗商品交易中心形成过程谈起

近年来,在金融全球化背景下,商品金融化趋势愈加显著。商品金融化并非新生事物,早在近代欧洲,一些大宗商品贸易已开始被赋予金融属性。本文从近代欧洲大宗商品交易中心的形成过程的历史视角研究商品金融化与产品定价机制变革关系,对荷兰的大宗商品交易中心发展过程及商品金融属性的表现特征研究发现,各类金融衍生工具在近代初期已从商品交易中发展起来,并在阿姆斯特丹商品市场上大量应用。由于过分依赖资本收益,国内产业衰落,荷兰商品交易中心地位没能保持下去,在工业革命前半个世纪甚至更早,欧洲商品交易中心从阿姆斯特丹转移至伦敦。从交易中心的形成与转移,可以看到商品金融化进程中基本条件的意义与作用,以及商品金融化问题的本质。这同时揭示出当代商品金融化趋势与产品定价机制变革的关系。     

非线性定价的福利再分配效应研究——基于非对称双寡头市场的分析

较之"线性定价","非线性定价"在社会福利方面的优势被现有理论反复证明。在肯定"非线性定价"方式能够改进社会总福利的同时,指出并不是每一个市场主体的福利水平都能够通过"非线性定价"方式得到改进。通过建立模型、计算和比较分析,提出了在上述两种情况下,"非线性定价"可能会对特定的市场主体产生"福利剥夺",从而出现福利再分配效应。     

递增阶梯电价的收入再分配效应研究: 嵌入分时电价更有效吗*

本文从理论与实证角度分析了递增阶梯电价为实现收入再分配目的必然伴随着效率损失,进而探讨嵌入分时电价能否改善两难困境。理论模型刻画了递增阶梯电价追求再分配目的所致两类效率成本的特征、结构和类型,以及递增阶梯电价在实现再分配和最小化效率损失间的两难困境。基于杭州市居民用电和家庭收入等微观数据,使用工具变量,通过反事实场景构建和二次近乎理想需求函数（QUAIDS）模型,实证估算了阶梯电价为实现再分配目的而引致的家庭与社会效率成本,本文为系统评估和完善阶梯水价和气价等政策奠定了基础。     

All you can drink: should we worry about quality?

“All you can drink” specials are forbidden by law in several places. Authorities claim that establishments tend to offer low quality drinks when they use this type of promotion. In this paper, I elaborate a model to determine whether a monopolist produces higher or lower quality goods when using buffet pricing (all you can drink) instead of a two-part tariff. I find that the more profitable strategy is usually associated with a higher quality good than the less profitable strategy. However, under certain conditions buffet pricing is more profitable and leads to lower quality goods than the alternative.      

When redistribution makes personalized pricing of externalities useless

We consider a standard optimal taxation framework in which consumers' preferences are separable in consumption and labor and identical over consumption, but are affected by consumption externalities. For every nonlinear, income-dependent pricing of goods there is a linear pricing scheme, combined with an adjusted income tax schedule, that leaves all consumers equally well-off and weakly increases the government's budget. The result depends on whether a linear pricing scheme exists that keeps the aggregate amount of consumption at its initial level observed under nonlinear pricing. We provide sufficient conditions for the assumption to hold. If adjusting the income tax rate is not available, personalized prices for an externality can enhance social welfare if they are redistributive, that is, favor consumers with a larger marginal social value of income.     

Why equity cannot be separated from efficiency: the welfare economics of progressive social pricing

Applied neoclassical microeconomists maintain that when profits are constrained, and average costs are higher than marginal costs, Ramsey “inverse elasticity” pricing optimizes static consumer welfare. However, when weighted, instead of unweighted, consumer surplus aggregation is used, the Ramsey pricing rule becomes a “progressive social pricing rule,” which suggests that under plausible conditions “direct-elasticity” rather than “inverse-elasticity” pricing is consumer welfare optimal.     

行为公设与资产定价理论

资产定价理论的核心是行为公设,行为公设是对人的行为的公理化概括,资产定价理论是行为公设在资产选择问题上的具体应用。资产定价理论的正确性在现实中经受检验,当资产定价理论被现实证明存在缺陷时,最终必然追溯到行为公设上。资产定价理论与行为公设之间存在着因果和反馈关系,行为公设为因,资产定价理论为果,同时资产定价理论对行为公设作出反馈。要消除资产定价理论对实际结果的偏离,最终必然落实到行为公设上,因此必须加强对行为公设的研究。     

Water pricing reform analysis: alternative scenarios

This paper compares alternative transition paths to efficient water pricing. The analysis is based on representative agent model, where two sources of water supply exist: exhaustible groundwater stock and a renewable substitute. Two alternative water pricing reforms are considered: gradual tariff increase and multipart pricing with first block sold at the initial pre-reform tariff and additional water sold at higher prices (block pricing reform). Under block pricing reform, the amount of water offered at low price gradually diminishes. The results of comparative analysis prove that under the same reform time horizon block pricing is preferred to the gradual tariff increase.     

Another note on deadweight loss

In a recent article, J.A. Kay proposed a useful measure of the deadweight loss arising from a commodity tax system. The measure answers the question: How much more would the taxed consumer be willing to pay in a lump sum rather than as a commodity tax? Kay's computation of the marginal deadweight loss does not yield the change in this measure for small changes in commodity tax rates, however. This note clarifies Kay's otherwise excellent contribution, derives the measure for Cobb–Douglas utilities, and examines a useful property of it.     

Cointegration relationships and hedonic pricing of differentiated commodities: an application to price dynamics in the US dairy sector

This study investigates the implications of hedonic pricing for price dynamics of differentiated commodities. A conceptual model of hedonic pricing is developed under a Leontief technology, showing how commodity prices reflect the underlying value of their components. Implications for the existence of cointegration relationships among commodity prices are derived. An application to the pricing and dynamics of selected US dairy commodities is presented. It provides evidence on the role of component valuation in the dynamics of dairy commodity prices in the short run as well as in the long run. Distinguishing between market regime and government regime (when the government price support is active), the analysis finds significant differences in dairy price dynamics between the two regimes.     

Cointegration and detectable linear and nonlinear causality: analysis using the London Metal Exchange lead contract

This study applies linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests to examine the dynamic relation between London Metal Exchange (LME) cash prices and three possible predictors. The analysis uses matched quarterly inventory, UK Treasury bill interest rates, futures prices and cash prices for the commodity lead traded on the LME. The effects of cointegration on both linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests is also examined. When cointegration is not modelled, evidence is found of both linear and nonlinear causality between cash prices and analysed predictor variables. However, after controlling for cointegration, evidence of significant nonlinear causality is no longer found. These results contribute to the empirical literature on commodity price forecasting by highlighting the relationship between cointegration and detectable linear and nonlinear causality. The importance of interest rate and inventory as well as futures price in forecasting cash prices is also illustrated. Failure to detect significant nonlinearity after controlling for cointegration may also go some way to explaining the reason for the disappointing forecasting performances of many nonlinear models in the general finance literature. It may be that the variables are correct, but the functional form is overly complex and a standard VAR or VECM may often apply.     

碳排放权交易定价研究综述

《京都议定书》的问世使碳排放权在低碳经济时代成为一种稀缺商品,而该"商品"的定价问题就是碳排放权交易体系的核心关注点。文章对排放权定价的研究现状进行了系统综述,内容主要包括:碳排放权交易的基本定义、碳排放权定价理论以及国外和国内对碳排放权定价的研究现状。其中,国外对碳排放权定价的研究主要集中在碳排放权价格影响因素和定价模型两方面;国内的研究除影响因素和定价模型外,还对碳排放权的定价基础—碳货币和中国碳排放权的定价策略展开过讨论。文章拟通过较为系统的介绍,以期为未来碳交易定价的相关研究提供一定的参考。     

Human development and alcohol abuse in adolescence

This article gives some exploratory results from estimating a consumer surplus type equation which features a number of economic and demographic variables as regressors. We calculate an income elasticity for the maximum surplus that individuals would ever perceive themselves to be getting by being allowed to buy at a set price. The results also show that those who attend the cinema are significantly less inclined to generate a surplus in flexible price events markets whilst young adults offer to pay quite a large amount more for their heavily desired entertainment. This suggests that part of the burden of a shift in ticket pricing methods may be borne by the parents of young adults.     

Continuity of the equilibrium price density and its uses in peak-load pricing

Summary. With as the commodity space, the equilibrium price density is shown to be a continuous function of the commodity characteristics. The result is based on symmetry ideas from the Hardy-Littlewood-Pólya theory of rearrangements. It includes, but is not limited to, the case of symmetric (rearrangement-invariant) production costs and additively separable consumer utility. Examples arise in continuous-time utility pricing, e.g., electricity pricing. In this context, a continuously varying price has two uses. First, it precludes demand jumps that would arise from discontinuous switches from one price rate to another. Second, in the problems of operating and valuing hydroelectric and pumped-storage plants (studied elsewhere), price continuity guarantees that their capacities (viz., the reservoir and the converter), the energy stocks, and in the case of hydro also the river flows, have well-defined marginal values.Received: 9 May 2001, Revised: 8 July 2004, JEL Classification Numbers: C62, D51, D58, L94. Correspondence to: Anthony HorsleyPart of this work (CentER DP 9014) was completed at the Center for Economic Research, Tilburg University, whose financial support is gratefully acknowledged. The extension to storage was supported by ESRC grant R000232822. We also thank the referee and the editor for their comments.     

Relaxing competition through quality differentiation and price discrimination

In this paper, I compare two-part tariff competition to linear pricing in a vertically differentiated duopoly. Consumers have identical tastes for quality but differ in their preferences for quantity. The main finding is that quality differentiation occurs in equilibrium if and only if two-part tariffs are feasible. Furthermore, two-part tariff competition encourages entry, which in turn increases welfare. Nevertheless, two-part tariff competition decreases consumer surplus compared to linear pricing.