A Monte Carlo Analysis of the Fisher Randomization Technique: Reviving Randomization for Experimental Economists

Data created in a controlled laboratory setting are a relatively new phenomenon to economists. Traditional data analysis methods using either parametric or nonparametric tests are not necessarily the best option available to economists analyzing laboratory data. In 1935, Fisher proposed the randomization technique as an alternative data analysis method when examining treatment effects. The observed data are used to create a test statistic. Then treatment labels are shuffled across the data and the test statistic is recalculated. The original statistic can be ranked against all possible test statistics that can be generated by these data, and a p-value can be obtained. A Monte Carlo analysis of t-test, the Mann-Whitney U-test, and the exact randomization t-test is conducted. The exact randomization t-test compares favorably to the other two tests both in terms of size and power. Given the limited distributional assumptions necessary for implementation of the exact randomization test, these results suggest that experimental economists should consider using the exact randomization test more often. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于蒙特卡洛模拟的商业银行排队问题研究

本文以排队论为理论基础,用蒙特卡洛模拟在Excel上对银行柜台多服务器单队列（M／M／C）的服务状况进行了动态模拟。得到不同顾客到达速率下,银行排队状况和银行为满足一定服务水平应该开设的服务器个数,并对目前日益严重的银行排队问题提出了建议。     

Monte Carlo simulation of macroeconomic risk with a continuum of agents: the general case

In large random economies with heterogeneous agents, a standard stochastic framework presumes a random macro state, combined with idiosyncratic micro shocks. This can be formally represented by a random process consisting of a continuum of random variables that are conditionally independent given the macro state. However, this process satisfies a standard joint measurability condition only if there is essentially no idiosyncratic risk at all. Based on iteratively complete product measure spaces, we characterize the validity of the standard stochastic framework via Monte Carlo simulation as well as event-wise measurable conditional probabilities. These general characterizations also allow us to strengthen some earlier results related to exchangeability and independence. Parts of this work were done while Yeneng Sun was visiting Stanford University in July 2003, March–May 2005 and July 2006, and while Peter Hammond was visiting the National University of Singapore in March–April 2004. An early version was presented at the World Congress of the Econometric Society in 2005.     

基于蒙特卡罗模拟的商业银行信用风险度量方法

通过与Matlab程序相结合的方式介绍了基于蒙特卡罗模拟的商业银行信用风险度量方法。该方法使在给定的置信水平下科学地估算国内商业银行的信用风险成为可能。     

股票收益率非正态性的蒙特卡罗模拟检验

现实金融数据的分布通常表现为厚尾性和不对称性,因此用正态分布拟合实际金融数据的分布有很大的局限性.文章利用广义双曲线分布的厚尾性和不对称性对1997年1月2日～2003年9月19日的上证综指日收益率分布分别做了正态分布、广义双曲线分布、正态逆高斯分布和双曲线分布的拟合及蒙特卡罗模拟检验,结果表明广义双曲线分布和正态逆高斯分布可以较好地拟合上证综指日收益率分布.另外,文章还建立了一个带噪声干扰的线性系统,对实际的股票收益率并不服从正态分布,而表现出尖峰厚尾的特征做出了一种可能的解释.     

净现值准则下建设项目蒙特卡洛风险概率分析的简化模拟研究

通过采用蒙特卡洛模拟技术进行项目风险概率分析的工程实例,进行深入研究与推导,得出在净现值准则下不进行抽样模拟直接近似求解项目可行的概率的快速计算方法,经过深入验证与误差分析,这种方法的计算结果与蒙特卡洛模拟结果相差很小,可以在可行性研究报告风险概率分析中普及应用。     

Monte Carlo simulation of macroeconomic risk with a continuum of agents: the symmetric case

Summary. Suppose a large economy with individual risk is modeled by a continuum of pairwise exchangeable random variables (i.i.d., in particular). Then the relevant stochastic process is jointly measurable only in degenerate cases. Yet in Monte Carlo simulation, the average of a large finite draw of the random variables converges almost surely. Several necessary and sufficient conditions for such “Monte Carlo convergence” are given. Also, conditioned on the associated Monte Carlo -algebra, which represents macroeconomic risk, individual agents' random shocks are independent. Furthermore, a converse to one version of the classical law of large numbers is proved. Received: October 29, 2001; revised version: April 24, 2002 RID="*" ID="*" Part of this work was done when Yeneng Sun was visiting SITE at Stanford University in July 2001. An early version of some results was included in a presentation to Tom Sargent's macro workshop at Stanford. We are grateful to him and Felix Kübler in particular for their comments. And also to Marcos Lisboa for several discussions with Peter Hammond, during which the basic idea of the paper began to take shape. Correspondence to: P.J. Hammond     

区域配电网全寿命周期成本优化研究

为了有效控制配电网运营成本和提高效益,针对新一轮电力体制改革的深入改革,区域配电网全寿命周期成本优化已成为一个重要研究方向。本文首先借助系统动力学模型分析了配电网复杂成本构成和筛选了影响成本的关键因子,并采用了改进蒙特卡法对关键影响因子进行混合抽样,得出配电网各关键因子对区域配电网全寿命周期成本影响的综合灵敏度系数;其次,建立了以关键影响因子对配电网全寿命周期成本总影响量最小为目标的成本优化模型,以及提出了GAACS组合算法对模型进行求解;最后,选取了某省的10kV配电网区域进行了实例分析,结果可得,经济条件对配电网成本影响最大,以及技术条件差的区域降低成本能力较大。。     

The impact of electricity prices on foreign direct investment: evidence from the European Union

We examine the impact of electricity price variation on net FDI (%GDP) inflows in countries of the European Union. We use panel data of 27 EU countries for a period of 2003 – 2013. We show that electricity prices of south-western and north-eastern EU countries did not converge to one price until now. Dynamic panel data analysis using system GMM shows that besides unit labour costs, tax rates and competitive disadvantage in secondary education, also higher electricity prices reduce countries’ ability to attract FDI. The immediate effects are statistically significant across both sub-regions analysed: in the short run, a 10% increase in electricity prices leads to a decrease in net FDI inflows as a share of GDP by 0.4 percentage points for the south-western and 0.33 for the north-eastern region. In the long run, the response is 0.60 percentage points for south-western and 0.48 for north-eastern regions. Policies should aim at reducing electricity market price differences on the European level through investment in transborder transmission capacity; reductions in FDI, when environmental policy increases after-tax electricity prices, should be countered by other tax reductions as well as harmonization of property rights, absence of corruption and labour market regulations at best-practice level.     

The effects of climatic variation on rice production in Sri Lanka

We study the responsiveness of rice production to climatic variation using a recent pseudo-panel data set from Sri Lanka. Output per farm is modelled as a non-linear function of temperature and rainfall (and other standard controls) using fixed effects regressions. We find that both climatic variables have concave, non-monotonic effects upon production, and that output is close to maximized at current climatic values. This implies that variations in growing conditions are likely to have negative effects upon production. Random simulations are used to model these impacts under various climate change scenarios, and we find that increasing temperatures will adversely affect rice production much more than varying rainfall, although the effects of a small ceteris paribus rise in temperature are positive. As rice production is a key component in economic output for Sri Lanka and other developing countries, our results have implications for food policy and poverty management in the future.     

Impulse response analysis in a misspecified DSGE model: a comparison of full and limited information techniques

In this article, we examine the effect of estimation biases – introduced by model misspecification – on the impulse responses analysis for dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models. Thereby, we use full and limited information estimators to estimate a misspecified DSGE model and calculate impulse response functions (IRFs) based on the estimated structural parameters. It turns out that IRFs based on full information techniques can be unreliable under misspecification.     

An experimental analysis of the effects of automated mitigation procedures on investment and prices in wholesale electricity markets

In this paper we report the findings of an economic experiment that examines the effects of an automated mitigation procedure (AMP) on prices and capacity investment choices of suppliers in a wholesale electricity market. Specifically, we examine the effects of different market power incentives on markets with and without an AMP. While we find that the AMP does not affect overall investment in capacity, the most significant determinant of long-run prices is investment in new capacity. The AMP also does not reduce long-run prices relative to markets without an AMP. Furthermore, our participants successfully manipulated the AMP’s trigger price. The data and a sample copy of the instructions are available upon request. This article reflects the opinions of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or any individual Commissioner.     

The performance analysis of chart patterns: Monte Carlo simulation and evidence from the euro/dollar foreign exchange market

We investigate the existence of chart patterns in the euro/dollar intra-daily foreign exchange market. We use two identification methods of the different chart patterns: one built on 5-min close prices only, and one based on both 5-min low and high prices. We look for twelve types of chart patterns and we study the detected patterns through two criteria: predictability and profitability. We run a Monte Carlo simulation to compute the statistical significance of the obtained results. We find an apparent existence of some chart patterns in the currency market. More than one half of detected charts present a significant predictability. Nevertheless, only two chart patterns imply a significant profitability which is however too small to cover the transaction costs. The second extrema detection method provides higher but riskier profits than the first one.

Household-level analysis of the impacts of electricity consumption on welfare and the environment in Cambodia: Empirical evidence and policy implications

Cambodia’s biomass consumption is the most dominant energy source at residential sector, and its use is mainly for cooking and heating which could affect health due to indoor air pollution. The biomass is mainly sourced from wood cutting and forest-encroachment that could impact the environment due to reduction of forest at considerable scale. By using the data 2015 of Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey, the study investigates the impacts of electricity consumption on household welfare, such as earnings and the school performance of children in the households, and further to investigate its impacts on the environment. The study found that household’s access to electricity with ability to spend on electricity consumption contributes to the positive household welfare effects and environment via a reduction of biomass consumption, and the more household spends on biomass, the more they are prone to sickness of lung problem. The study also confirmed the important role of human capital formation for the positive impact on the welfare and the environment. These findings lead to policy implications that would improve affordable access to electricity to ensure that all households can use electricity for their basic needs and productivity, and also to reduce the negative effects on environment.     

The benefits and costs of ethanol: an evaluation of the government’s analysis

Ethanol production in the United States has been steadily growing and is expected to continue growing. Many politicians see increased ethanol use as a way to promote environmental goals, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and energy security goals. This paper provides a benefit-cost analysis of increasing ethanol use based on an analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency. We find that the cost of increasing ethanol production to almost ten billion gallons a year is likely to exceed the benefits by about three billion dollars annually. We also suggest that earlier attempts aimed at promoting ethanol would have likely failed a benefit-cost test, and that Congress should consider repealing ethanol incentive programs, such as the ethanol tariff and tax credit.      

Evaluating the effects of area closure for recreational fishing in a coral reef ecosystem: The benefits of an integrated economic and biophysical modeling

This paper presents an integrated agent-based model of recreational fishing behavior within a reef ecosystem as a platform for the evaluation of recreational fishing management strategies. Angler behavior is described using econometrically estimated site choice models, with site choice among anglers driven by site attributes and angler characteristics. The biophysical model represents the marine reef environment as a system with different trophic levels identifying algal and coral growth as well as two types of fish (piscivores and herbivores). Ecosystem dynamics are driven by interactions within the trophic levels and interaction between fish populations and fishing activities.The model is used to simulate recreational fishing activities and their interactions with the environment. Recreational fishing sites from the Ningaloo Marine Park, an iconic coral reef system in Western Australia, are used as a case study. A set of management strategies, including “business-as-usual” and different site closure durations, are assessed for two different levels of fishing pressures. The results show that not only the effectiveness but also the distribution of management impacts across space and over time can be very different from what one would expect without the benefit of integrated modeling.     

The time-frequency dependence of unemployment on real input prices: a wavelet coherency and partial coherency approach

ABSTRACT

While the dependence of unemployment on real oil price and real interest rate is an important issue that has been addressed only in the time dimension, little is known about the movements of real input prices and their impact on unemployment in the time-frequency space. With a continuous wavelet coherency and partial coherency approach and monthly data of Japan and US from January 1960 to May 2017, this paper contributes to the literature by examining the characteristics of the dependence of unemployment on real input prices across frequencies and over time. The empirical results indicate that: First, a rise in real oil price leads to productivity growth slowdown and unemployment increase at the scale of 16–64 months after 1990 for Japan and 8–24 months after 2005 for US. Second, an increase in real interest rate results in higher unemployment at the 16–32-month scale before 1974 for Japan and 8–64-month scale before 2000 for US. Third, the degree of integration between labour market and energy market in US is higher than that in Japan. This study provides time-frequency evidence to the supply side hypothesis about the relationships between input prices and unemployment.     

The relative effects of crude oil price and exchange rate on petroleum product prices: Evidence from a set of Northern Mediterranean countries

This paper provides a set of empirical evidence from five Northern Mediterranean countries that are subject to similar refinery reference prices regarding the relative sensitivity of crude oil prices and exchange rate on (pre-tax) petroleum product prices. The empirical evidence reveals that a one percent increase in exchange rate (depreciation) increases petroleum product prices less than a one percent increase in crude oil prices does in the long run. In the short run, however, a one percent increase in exchange rate increases petroleum product prices more than a one percent increase in crude oil prices does.