The consumer loss of the minimum duration for mobile telephone calls

This article estimates price elasticities of demand for the duration of mobile telephone calls for Portugal, as well as the monetary loss per consumer of the existence of a minimum duration of calls. The demand for the duration of calls is estimated using a Tobit model for panel data with individual random effects. The elasticity of demand is found to be small and to vary across firms. At current prices, the average duration of calls ranges between 101 and 109 s, while the estimated average length of calls without minimum duration ranges between 63 and 66 s. Hence, the existence of a minimum duration for calls results in a monetary loss of 35–40% of the average invoice.     

A new look at residential electricity demand using household expenditure data

Many electricity demand estimates have been obtained based on the assumption that consumers optimize with respect to known marginal prices, but increasing empirical evidence suggests that consumers are more likely to respond to average prices. Under this assumption, this paper develops a new strategy based on Generalized Method of Moments to estimate household electricity demand. Our demand estimation approach uses publicly available expenditure data and utility-level consumption data from several major U.S. cities, complementing studies that use individual billing data which are richer yet often proprietary. We estimate the price elasticity near − 0.50, which is at the upper end (in magnitude) among the estimates from previous studies. This could have important implications for policy analysis such as those on climate policies that may affect electricity prices.     

Experimenting with purchase history based price discrimination

Many purchases of differentiated goods are repeated, giving sellers the opportunity to engage in price discrimination based upon the shopper's previous behavior by either offering loyalty discounts to repeat buyers or introductory rates to new customers. Recent theoretical work suggests that loyalty discounts can be profitable to sellers when customer preferences are not stationary and sellers can pre-commit to prices for repeat buyers, but otherwise returning customers can be expected to pay the same or more than new buyers. This paper reports behavior in controlled laboratory experiments designed to empirically test the impact of these factors on pricing strategies. The results generally support the comparative static predictions of the theoretical model. When customer preferences are fixed over time, sellers attempt to lure customers from their rival. Price pre-commitment for repeat shoppers when buyer preferences vary over time resulted in modest loyalty pricing, but the discounts are not as prevalent as predicted as sellers rarely price below cost. Behaviorally, price pre-commitment to loyal customers is found to reduce prices overall.     

Third-degree price discrimination in oligopoly with endogenous input costs

This paper examines the output effect of third-degree price discrimination in symmetrically differentiated oligopoly. We find that when the sellers’ input costs are chosen endogenously by an upstream supplier with market power, as opposed to being fixed exogenously, long-standing qualitative conclusions about the effect of price discrimination on aggregate output can be reversed. In contrast to previous findings (e.g., by Holmes, 1989), more intense competition in the strong market than in the weak market can make it less likely that price discrimination raises aggregate output. For linear demand functions, we establish necessary and sufficient conditions under which the output effect changes sign when input costs are endogenized.     

Government fertilizer subsidy and commercial sector fertilizer demand: Evidence from the Federal Market Stabilization Program (FMSP) in Nigeria

We examine how the previous fertilizer subsidy program in Nigeria (FMSP) affected the demand for commercial fertilizer. We apply an endogenous double hurdle model to a pseudo-panel and cross-section data of farm households. The methodology accounts for potential endogeneity of commercial fertilizer price with subsidy. Our specification is also appropriate where few farmers report the use of both subsidized and commercial fertilizer. We find that 100 kg of subsidized fertilizer supplied to a farm household reduced the probability of its participation into commercial fertilizer market by 10–21% points, while not affecting fertilizer use upon participation.     

COSTLY BUYER SEARCH IN LABORATORY MARKETS WITH SELLER ADVERTISING*

In this experiment, sellers simultaneously choose prices and advertising strategies. Buyers either purchase at an advertised price or search sequentially for other prices. In the unique symmetric equilibrium, sellers charge a high unadvertised price or advertise a price chosen from a lower interval. Increases in search or advertising costs raise equilibrium prices and affect equilibrium advertising intensity. Empirical results are consistent with most comparative static predictions. Sellers, however, price much lower and advertise more intensely than predicted. Consequently, market outcomes more closely resemble a perfect information, Bertrand‐like equilibrium than the imperfect information, mixed strategy equilibrium with significant seller market power.     

Group identity in markets

We present a laboratory experiment that measures the effects of group identity—one's perceived membership in social groups—on market transactions in an oligopoly market with a few sellers and buyers. We artificially induce group identity using art preferences and college majors in different treatments, respectively. Subjects are randomly assigned into the roles of buyers and sellers and interact repeatedly. We find that the presence of groups influences both the selection of trading partners and the determination of prices. All else equal, sellers are more likely to make offers to ingroup buyers, and the buyers are more likely to accept offers from ingroup sellers. There are considerable intergroup price differentials with the outgroup sellers charging a lower price than the ingroup sellers.     

Third-Degree Price Discrimination With Interdependent Demands

This paper analyzes the price, output, and welfare effects of third-degree price discrimination for a monopolist who sells in two interdependent markets. The case where the two goods sold by the monopolist are complements is analyzed as well as the more typical case where the two goods are substitutes. The economic effects of price discrimination are shown to depend on the type and strength of demand interdependence, the curvature of the demands and the slope of marginal cost. The circumstances under which price discrimination causes both market prices to either rise or fall are also analyzed.     

2013年10月国际煤炭市场分析

从煤炭供给、煤炭需求、煤炭进出口、煤炭价格等多个方面,全面介绍了国际煤炭市场运行情况;预测2013年11~12月国际动力煤价格将出现上涨,国际炼焦煤价格将展开进一步调整。     

动力煤期货强势引领 煤价有望走出低迷

动力煤期货的上市将会对我国煤电行业、我国期货市场和国际期货市场等方面产生深远影响,其中最为核心与显著的影响是将会深刻改变我国煤炭行业的定价机制。分别从国内外经济环境、动力煤供求关系、库存水平、运输能力、行业政策、进口动力煤价格、生产成本等方面的变动论证了当前动力煤期货价格将会引领煤炭价格的回升。     

2012年沿海地区动力煤市场运行环境分析

文章预测了2012年国内经济形势、能源需求和煤炭市场的供需情况,认为进口煤的数量以及铁路运力瓶颈现象,将继续导致动力煤价格的波动。     

Trade subsidies,export bans and price stabilization: Lessons of Bangladesh–India rice trade in the 2000s

During the world food price crisis of 2007–08, rice importing countries suffered through a sharp increase in international rice prices and disruptions in supply as several rice exporters restricted trade to mitigate their domestic price increases. Perhaps no country was more affected by these disruptions than Bangladesh. Our analysis shows that prior to the 2007 crisis, when Bangladesh imported an average of nearly 1 million tons of rice per year from India, domestic wholesale prices of rice in Bangladesh were co-integrated with import parity prices of subsidized Below Poverty Line (BPL) rice. When in mid-2007, India sharply curtailed exports, rice prices surged in Bangladesh.Model simulations show that a relatively small increase in private consumer stocks equivalent to about 2 weeks of normal consumption could account for the large surge in domestic prices in Bangladesh and that an additional 300,000 tons (in addition to approximately 700,000 tons of net rice distribution that actually occurred) would have been sufficient to stabilize prices in the November 2007–April 2008 period. The Bangladesh analysis thus shows that in spite of the uncertainty in international markets, careful planning, timely interventions and openness to trade can substantially reduce requirements for public stockholding.     

如何破解中国天然气价格改革困局——天然气价格改革思考之二

在天然气产业格局深刻变化和社会主义市场经济深入发展的背景下,天然气价格改革的指导思想不能偏离经济体制改革的总方向,不能背离天然气产业的基本属性,不能脱离天然气价格的历史现实。必须坚持市场化的改革目标,强化管输和城市燃气环节的管制,逐步到位分步实施。由价格调节供需变化、保证市场配置资源的基础性作用,尊重市场主体利益、保证市场机制有效,同时同地同质同价、保证市场竞争秩序,运费差决定异地价差、保证市场物流秩序,这四项基本原则是市场经济秩序的保障,也决定了在市场条件下天然气市场价格的功能定位、水平确定、价格关系（不同用户之间和不同地区之间）。对现行天然气价格体制的技术性完善无法解决根本问题,必须构建新的天然气价格机制,即天然气市场回价机制,彻底改变现行天然气价格的顺价机制。为此,提出天然气价格改革方案,包括回价建秩序、管制门站价、权衡定水平、逐步市场化、政策调利益。     

煤炭市场供需波动与价格风险管理

大秦线的春季检修是历年上半年北方下水煤供应波动的主要因素,通过分析发现大秦线检修带来的供给波动在历年的夏季价格大跌中发挥了关键性作用。除了大秦线检修之外,需求的波动、运输计划的调整等都会带来市场的波动。在供大于求的市场环境下,价格易跌难涨,波动对于短期价格变化有重大影响。价格的下行实际上是在各种供需波动作用下,少涨多跌的动态调整过程。因此,在当前的煤炭经营管理中,应强化波动管理,最大限度地避免供需波动、平滑煤炭供应、稳定市场价格。     

电煤市场中买方市场集中度对均衡价格的影响分析

几乎所有的文献都从"市场煤"与"计划电"的体制矛盾入手分析电煤价格持续上涨及发电企业经营困难的主要原因与相关对策。作者认为,在近年来电煤市场供求总量基本平衡的前提下,电煤市场价格持续大幅度上涨与发电企业买方市场集中度有关。本文运用讨价还价模型,分析了买方市场集中度变化即改单一发电企业购煤为发电集团公司统一购煤甚至多家发电集团公司统一购煤对电煤均衡价格的影响。结果表明:提高买方市场集中度能有效降低电煤市场均衡价格。     

The Effect of Fuel Price Changes on Fleet Demand for New Vehicle Fuel Economy

New vehicle purchases by private companies and government agencies, or ‘fleet’ buyers, represent a significant percentage of overall new vehicle sales in the United States. Yet little is known about fleet demand for new vehicle fuel economy including how it responds to fuel price changes. Using unique disaggregated data on fleet and household registrations of new vehicles from 2009 to 2016, we estimate how fleet demand for new vehicle fuel economy responds to fuel price changes. We find that fleet purchases of low fuel economy vehicles fall relative to high fuel economy vehicles when gasoline prices increase, a finding that is consistent with fleet buyers’ taking into account capitalization of fuel costs in the second‐hand market. Our estimates imply that raising gasoline prices by one dollar would increase fuel economy of new vehicles acquired by fleet buyers by 0.33 miles per gallon. We estimate a similar response for household buyers during the same period. This result justifies basing fuel economy responses to fuel cost changes on household data alone, an assumption widely used in the vehicle demand literature and the fuel economy valuation literature. We also find, however, that the response to fuel price changes varies across the types of fleet buyers: rental companies respond strongly to fuel price changes, whereas commercial and government buyers are insensitive. Our estimates imply that an increase in the federal gasoline tax would modestly increase fuel economy of vehicles bought by households and rental companies but would have little to no impact on fuel economy of vehicles bought by non‐rental companies and governments.     

Affiliation bias in the online market for rental accommodation

We find evidence of taste‐based discrimination against rival affiliations in the online market for rental accommodation. Airbnb hosts in college towns increase their listing prices more than hotels on home football games against rival teams. By setting listing prices too high as a result of their affiliation bias against rival fans, hosts experience a 30% reduction in rental income. The overestimation of demand, the cost (inconvenience) of temporary relocation, and the likelihood of incurring damage cannot explain the inverse relation between listing price increases, and rental incomes that is limited to games against rival teams. Instead, greater financial constraints are associated with smaller listing price increases, and higher rental incomes on rival games, suggesting that taste‐based discrimination is a luxury.     

当前国内外油气行业发展形势及展望

2012年上半年,石油需求低迷,供应充足,库存高企,供需从2011年同期的偏紧转为宽松;国际油价波动较大,一季度升至2008年金融危机后的最高水平,二季度大幅回落.天然气市场需求和产量小幅增长,供需保持平衡;北美、欧洲、亚太三大天然气区域市场价差扩大.全球油气并购活动持续低迷,北美非常规气并购市场迅速降温.国际大石油公司生产经营指标下滑.中国石油需求增速大幅回落,对外依存度再创新高;成品油价格前升后降,石油石化行业效益持续下滑;天然气消费快速增长,进口量大幅上升,进口气价倒挂严重.下半年,预期世界经济依然疲软.石油供需仍将宽松,油价略有回升,但将低于去年同期水平;天然气供需继续平衡,三大市场价差仍将维持.中国经济企稳,国内成品油需求有望平稳增长,但涨幅低于预期;天然气将保持消费量与产量、进口量齐增的态势.     

Hot and Cold Markets

This article considers why housing market conditions, including the ratio of buyers to sellers, expected time-to-sale and transaction prices are sensitive to fundamentals. These high sensitivities result from feedback: market participants optimally respond to shocks in a manner that amplifies a shock's initial impact, which in turn elicits further reinforcing responses. For example, a positive demand shock brings more buyers into a market. This improves the bargaining position of sellers, who then sell more quickly, decreasing the stock of sellers in the market. This further increases the relative number of buyers to sellers, amplifying the initial shock.     

Estimating the demand for ADSL and ISDN services in Greece

The aim of this paper is to investigate the demand for broadband services in Greece and to estimate the price elasticity of the demand for ADSL and ISDN services as well as the cross-price elasticity between the two services. The empirical analysis uses the 384 kbps connections since for the period examined, over 85% of the total ADSL customers in Greece are connected at this bandwidth. The empirical analysis is based on an ad-hoc specification of the demand equation, with no reference to the utility maximization problem of the representative consumer. The results of the analysis show that both demands are inelastic. In addition, cross-price elasticity for ADSL is negative, indicating that ISDN is a complement to ADSL, whereas the demand for ISDN is almost neutral to ADSL.