Food security in Kenya: Insights from a household food demand model

This paper evaluates the household food security situation in Kenya in terms of access to food. We apply a quadratic almost ideal demand system (QUAIDS) model to nationally representative household survey data from Kenya, and estimate and interpret price and expenditure elasticities as indicators of household sensitivity to market shocks. Our estimation results show positive expenditure elasticities, close to unity, while all compensated and uncompensated own-price elasticities are negative and smaller in magnitude. A complementary welfare analysis shows high compensated variations in the long run, ranging between 34% and 131% across food groups. This suggests that rising relative food costs have led to deterioration of the food security situation in Kenya, and the most severely affected households seem to be those that rely on informal markets and reside in rural areas. To improve food security, targeted income support could be a more effective policy than price support, given the much higher estimated expenditure elasticities.     

Price, unit value, and quality demanded

Given the paucity of quality price data, it is common to rely on “unit value” (average expenditure per unit) as a proxy for price, but this is an imperfect proxy if households respond to price increases by substituting to lower quality goods. This paper draws on survey data that contain both unit value and price to estimate the severity of quality substitution in Indonesia, finding that it is prevalent. The paper next calculates price elasticities that correct for quality substitution, evaluating and ultimately rejecting a commonly used method for calculating price elasticities using only unit value data. Finally, it demonstrates that quality substitution can result in biased price elasticities even when price is perfectly observed.     

OWN‐ AND CROSS‐PRICE ELASTICITIES FOR GAMES WITHIN A STATE LOTTERY PORTFOLIO

Lotto demand modeling typically focuses on a single game and evaluates whether estimated “effective price” (expected loss from buying one ticket) elasticity is consistent with net revenue maximization. However, a portfolio of several different lottery games is now usually offered to players and judging the effectiveness of agencies in generating revenue requires estimation of both cross‐price and own‐price elasticities. Here we employ data from Spain to derive elasticities. Results imply that games are under‐priced if net revenue maximization is the goal. But the cross‐price estimates suggest that the operator is successful in limiting the extent to which a large jackpot on one game cannibalizes same‐week sales of other games. The paper also analyzes the impacts from two increases in the level of entry fees introduced during the data period. These appear to have affected net revenue favorably. (JEL D12, G11, H27, H30, L83)     

Long- and short-run elasticities of residential electricity consumption in China: a partial adjustment model with panel data

While it has stabilized in developed world, the per capita residential electricity consumption (REC) in developing countries such as China is growing very rapidly and this trend is very likely to continue. Built upon a provincial level panel data, we employ a partial adjustment model to investigate the future trend of REC in China and factors that affect it. We estimate the income and price short-term and long-term elasticities for urban and rural China, respectively and compare the results with REC studies in other countries or regions. The findings provide useful information to understand how the REC would grow in China as household income increases and how effective that price could be as an intervention tool.     

Estimation of the effects of price on apartment water demand using cointegration and error correction techniques

Water price is a key instrument in regulating water demand in the residential sector. Many empirical studies have assessed the effects of price through quantifying the price elasticity of water demand. However, most of these studies have mainly focused on the single-family housing rather the multifamily housing. An in-depth understanding of the price elasticity of multifamily housing water demand is paramount for water planners in order to properly manage water use in the fast growing intensive housing developments in urban areas. This study investigates both the long-term and short-term price elasticities of water demand in the residential apartments in Auckland central city. Using 6 years of monthly time series data, the price elasticities were estimated through cointegration and error correction methods. The results showed that the price elasticities of water demand were ?0.14 and ?0.12 in the short term and the long term, respectively. The price is inelastic yet negative and statistically significant, thus it can play a role in demand management.     

Income and price elasticities of electricity demand in Australia: Evidence of state‐specific heterogeneity

This paper estimates country‐wide and state‐level income and price elasticities of electricity demand in Australia for the period 1999Q1–2013Q2 using the National Electricity Market data and the autoregressive‐distributed lag model. The results suggest that the long‐run income and price elasticities are inelastic and are statistically significant with theoretically consistent signs. The country‐wide income and price elasticities are estimated to be 0.41 and ?0.38, respectively. It is also found that there exists state‐specific heterogeneity in both speed and magnitude of the electricity consumption adjustment in response to changes in income and electricity price. These results have important policy implications, including the need to use state‐specific elasticities in the scenario analysis of the energy pricing policy.     

Pooling surveys in the estimation of income and price elasticities: An application to Tunisian households

This paper presents a methodological extension of Deaton's (1990) model for estimating price elasticities, by pooling Tunisian data from several surveys to improve the inter-cluster variability of unit values which is one of the key elements used in the derivation of these elasticities. Since the surveys cover a relatively long period, possible structural changes in consumption behaviour occurring over time are accounted for by postulating that certain response coefficients of the basic model vary from one survey to the other. The own price and cross price elasticities calculated using appropriate estimates of the extended model are satisfactory both from the economic point of view of their sign and the statistical point of view of their significance and superior to those obtained using a single survey. First version received: April 2000/Final version received: June 2001 RID="*" ID="*"  The authors would like to thank Angus Deaton and anonymous referees for useful comments and suggestions.     

Has the Euro increased international price elasticities?

The introduction of the Euro has been accompanied by the hope that international competition between EMU member states would increase due to higher price transparency. This paper contributes to the literature by analyzing price elasticities in international trade flows between Germany and France and between Germany and the United Kingdom before and after the introduction of the Euro. Using disaggregated Eurostat trade statistics, we adopt a heterogeneous dynamic panel framework for the estimation of price elasticities. We suggest a Kalman-filter approach to control for unobservable quality changes which otherwise would bias estimates of price elasticities. We divide the complete sample, which ranges from 1995 to 2008, into two sub-samples and show that price elasticities in trade between EMU members did not change substantially after the introduction of the Euro. Hence, we do not find evidence for an increase in international price competition resulting from EMU.     

冯·杜能模型与城市商品房价格上涨机理

借鉴冯·杜能模型分析城市商品房价格上涨机理,可得出以下结论:当购买城市周边区商品房相比购买中心区商品房少支付的房价大于等于居住周边区所需多支付的居住成本时,理性购买者会作出购买周边区商品房的决策;随着周边区相比居住周边区居住成本的降低,周边商品房价格水平会趋近于中心区商品房价格水平;当周边区居住成本相对稳定时,周边区商品房价格水平受制于中心区商品房价格水平.随着城市的发展,商品房价格水平呈长期上涨趋势.控制城市中心区商品房价格与加速卫星城建设是平抑城市商品房价格的有效途径.     

Business Demand for Broadband Access Capacity

Using data garnered from a quarterly survey of U.S. business establishments from 2Q2000 through 1Q2001, the study estimates an aggregate model of business demand for broadband access capacity. The primary goal is to estimate price elasticities for the demand for access capacity conditional on a business establishment having made the decision to adopt some form of broadband access. The primary findings are (1) on average, the demand for broadband access capacity is price inelastic; (2) the sensitivity to price differs substantially across establishments of different sizes with small establishments exhibiting the greatest sensitivity to price; and (3) the estimated elasticities have important implications for public policies designed to extend broadband networks to unserved areas.     

Adjustment costs and threshold effects in factor demand relationships

It has been recently argued that producers may not respond to every input price change in the way that a linear factor demand model would predict. This lumpy response is due to adjustment costs that are inherent in the act of adjusting the mix of inputs applied in the underlying production technologies. This study aims to provide a solid conceptual framework for these nonlinearities in factor demand relationships. Industry-specific implications of convex and non-convex adjustment costs for the linearity of the factor demand relationships as well as price and substitution elasticities are explored. A two-regime threshold system of factor demand equations is estimated for several manufacturing industries in the United States. Empirical results suggest significant threshold effects in the factor demand relationships in most nondurable goods sectors. The size and the nature of thresholds depend upon industry characteristics, including input composition and (non)convexity of underlying adjustment costs. Complete matrices of price and substitution elasticities for each industry are derived using estimates of threshold factor demand systems. Discussion of two contrasting cases in greater detail sheds light on how the effect of price shocks on factor demand relationships varies across industries with different adjustment cost structures.     

Labour substitution and complementarity among age–sex groups

We measure substitution in production for major age-sex groups in ten industries. These estimates are important for productivity studies, for modelling derives demand for labour and for formulating policies that deal with anticipated trends in the age-sex composition of the labour force. We use Sato's two-level CES production to estimate Hicks partial factor price elasticities, with quarterly time-series taken from the Social Security Continuous Work History Sample (1958 to 1975). Own elasticities are generally small and negative but vary considerably across industries. Cross elasticities show complementarity among most groups, except for younger and older females, who are subtitutes.     

The elasticity of demand for wagering in an unregulated market

The literature estimating the take-out rate (price) elasticity of horse race wagering has consistently found values far above one. The persistence of these apparently inefficiently high prices can be attributed to institutional factors of the US market where federal taxes are imposed on the total amount wagered, and not on the bookmakers’ revenue. By investigating all horse races in New Zealand from August 1993 to April 2009, our article is the first one to consider price setting for wagering in an unregulated market where taxes for a monopolistic betting agency are based on revenues. In such a setting, one would expect elasticities close to one, but in all econometric specifications, we find values well below one. We identify two reasons why higher prices could nevertheless reduce profits: cross price elasticities are negative and, due to the specific features of parimutuel betting, international competitors may only be attracted when take-out rates are above a critical threshold.     

A forward-looking analysis of residential telephone access demand in Korea

This paper analyzes the price elasticity for residential access demand in Korea using survey data of 1998. We apply an asymmetric GEV model to this data and derive a formula for forward-looking price elasticities of the penetration rate. We categorize the respondents into two groups, single-line households and multi-line households, and estimate the price elasticities for each group. Estimation outcome shows that single-line households are less sensitive to price changes than multi-line households with respect to installation charge and rental charge. In view of the relatively low price elasticities of single-line households, an increase in rental charge is not expected to result in large-scale drop-offs of primary lines.     

Estimates of price elasticity of demand for urban freeway use with high-frequency control variables: the case of Santiago,Chile

Estimates are presented of toll and fuel price elasticities of demand for urban freeway use in Santiago, Chile. High-frequency toll and vehicle data were collected from four urban freeways for different route segments and times of day. Estimation was performed using log-linear regression models whose explanatory variables were tolls, fuel prices, city traffic levels and sets of dichotomous variables to control for daily, weekly and monthly seasonality. City traffic is a high frequency control of the activity level of the city. The elasticities to changes in tolls and fuel were all low in absolute value. The toll elasticities were below 0.05 for two freeways and 0.16 for the third, while for the fourth, which had more alternative routes, it was 0.47. The fuel price elasticities were also heterogeneous, with values of approximately 0.45 for two freeways and 0.21 for the third whereas for the fourth, which had the fewest alternatives, it was 0.07.     

地价杠杆在城市经营中的调控作用——以南京市为例

本文紧密结合经营城市这个热点问题，首次系统地阐述了地价杠杆在城市经营中的重要作用。并结合南京市1998－1999年的土地出让实际工作成果，运用文中提出的观点，设立不同的口径进行详细分析与对照。通过综合分析与尝试，一方面，说明地价杠杆在政府经营城市的过程中具有不可替代的地位；另一方面，城市政府完全可以运用地价杠杆的经济特性，趋利避害，更好地促进国民经济的健康有序发展。     

Technical change,technical efficiency,and input usage in Taiwanese agricultural growth

We analyse the increase in sales of Pick 3 and Pick 4 daily numbers lottery games and other Ohio Lottery games after Ohio introduced midday drawings for the Pick 3 and Pick 4 games in August 1999. The midday drawings increased Pick 3 sales by 5%, Pick 4 sales by 12%, and total lottery sales by 2% based on our analysis of a 36-month panel dataset of Ohio lottery sales by zip code. Midday drawings raise more revenue from the strongly regressive daily numbers games. However, the introduction of midday drawings does not change the negative income elasticities of demand for numbers games in an economically meaningful manner.     

企业内部市场的转移价格及其制定方法

实践表明,现有的转移定价理论都存在某种程度的缺陷。本文认为,内部市场交易的本质是部门之间的劳动交换,而转移价格的直接作用是披露部门的劳动投入和产出信息,以便高层管理者改善管理,最终达到资源配置优化的目的。部门绩效评估的标准不一定是利润,更可以是成本。基于这种认识,本文提出了一个转移定价公式,并解释了具体实施办法,分析了其机制和优点。     

城镇综合用地宗地地价评估方法研究

根据我国目前的地价体系,提出了可以运用基准地价分类修正综合法、剩余法和灰色预测法等方法相结合来评估综合用地宗地地价,并模拟了一个评估实例,认为将这几种方法相结合进行综合用地宗地的评估是切实可行的。     

报纸定价机制和定价策略的思考

报纸作为一种特殊的商品,在市场竞争环境下,既有符合一般商品的定价规律,也有其自身的特点。在市场竞争日益激烈的报业市场中,报纸涨价成为报业集团增加收入的一个有效途径,不同类型报纸有不同的价格特性,需要认真分析报纸涨价的可行性因素,依定价分析的实施步骤对其进行合理定价。