Price determination in monopolistic markets with inventory adjustments : The case of nickel

Zusammenfassung Preisbestimmung auf monopolistischen M?rkten mit Lagerbestandsanpassungen am Beispiel von Nickel. — In diesem Aufsatz wird ein einfaches Modell konstruiert, das die Rolle der Lagerbestandsanpassung bei der Preisfestsetzung und den Produktionsentscheidungen durch die INCO (Preisführerin auf dem Welt-Nickelmarkt) berücksichtigt. Die empirischen Ergebnisse best?tigen die eingangs aufgestellten Hypothesen: Preise und Produktion werden niedriger angesetzt, wenn auf dem Markt unerwünscht groβe L?ger vorhanden sind. Sie werden erh?ht, wenn der Lagerbestand sehr niedrig ist. Das Kriterium, nach dem beurteilt wird, ob L?ger reichlich sind oder nicht, ist jedoch nicht der tats?chliche Lagerbestand, sondern der Abstand zwischen dem tats?chlichen und dem gewünschten Bestand.

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Résumé La détermination des prix sur les marchés monopolistes au cas des ajustements des stocks: Le marché de nickel. — Dans cet article nous construisons un modèle simple qui incorpore le r?le des adjustements des stocks sur la détermination du prix et la décision de la production d’INCO, qui fixe le prix sur le marché mondial de nickel. Nos résultats empiriques sont consistants avec l’hypothèse présentée dans l’article: Le prix et la production sont fixés au niveau plus bas s’il y a des stocks d’excès et sont augmentés en réponse au niveau bas des stocks. Cependant, le critère pour dire si des stocks sont hauts ou bas n’est pas le niveau actuel des stocks mais la différence entre le niveau actuel et désiré.

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Resumen Determinación de precios en mercados monopolísticos en el caso de ajustes de inventarios: el caso del niquel. — En este artículo construimos un modelo simple que incorpora el rol de ajustes de inventarios sobre la fijación del precio y la decisión de productión del INCO, quien determina el precio en el mercado mundial del níquel. Nuestros resultados empíricos son consistentes con la hipótesis planteada en el artículo. Esta es, precio y producción se fijan a un nivel inferior cuando hay inventarios excesivos en el mercado y se elevarán en respuesta al bajo nivel de inventarios. Sin embargo, el criterio de decir que los inventarios son altos o bajos no es el nivel verdadero de los inventarios sino que la medida en que éstos discrepan de sus niveles deseados.

     

Price shocks in regional markets: Japan's Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923

Japan's Great Kantō Earthquake of 1 September 1923 devastated the area around Tokyo and the country's main port of Yokohama. This article uses the earthquake as a case study to inform our understanding of the economics of disasters and the history of market integration. It seeks to test two main assumptions: first, that shifting demand and supply curves consequent on a disaster will have some impact on prices; and second, that any local changes in the disaster region are likely to be diffused across a wider geographical area. We make use of a unique monthly wholesale price dataset for a number of cities across Japan, and our analysis suggests three main findings: that price changes in the affected areas immediately following the disaster were in most cases reflected in price changes in Japan's provincial cities; that cities further away from the devastation witnessed smaller price changes than those nearer to the affected area; and that the observed pattern of price changes reflects the regional heterogeneity identified by scholars who have worked on market integration in Japan.     

Price discrimination in physician services markets based on race: New test of an old implicit hypothesis

Prior econometric studies of physician fee determination report that fees are positively related to the proportion of the market area that is black and negatively related to the proportion of the market area that is white, but the studies provide only sketchy explanations for these results. This article presents a price discrimination model which explains the empirical results and provides the specific prediction that low income self-pay consumers in the black community constitute the group that pays higher prices for physician services. The study then replicates prior econometric results on a more recent national database, but finds that the results are sensitive to specification. When geographic differences are controlled for in the empirical model, the results fade and a statistical test indicates that the expanded specification is superior to the specification which replicated the price discrimination result. The conclusion is that there is no compelling evidence of price discrimination in physician services markets based on race.     

Price formation on clandestine markets: the case of the Paris gold market during the Second World War

Because of the scarcity of data, there are few quantitative analyses dealing with clandestine markets, despite their prime importance during wartime. This article exploits a unique database of daily prices of gold coins traded in occupied Paris in order to gain insights into the price formation on such a market. First, using data from Switzerland, we show that arbitrage took place, despite the costs and risks involved, and led to a gradual (but incomplete) convergence of gold prices. Furthermore, a study of price seasonality reveals that less strict borders controls during the weekends made the volatility of returns higher at the start of the following week. Second, on the basis of an event study, we provide evidence that laws related to black markets did not have a significant impact on the gold price, except for the most severe law passed on 8 June 1943 which greatly increased the sentences for involvement. Finally, we assess whether the so‐called coin premiums existed on this clandestine market, and show that the large price variations for one gram of fine gold contained in different coins were due to market participants’ preferences for specific gold coins.     

Labor markets and innovation

We examine the effects on the comparative R&D performance of firms of the different labor market conditions they face. The conditions we consider are the bargaining strength of the unions firms face and the contents of the bargain they negotiate. In particular we consider whether unions can bargain over when new technology is introduced. In the theoretical part of the paper we show that increased union strength can sometimes increase the possibility that a firm will successfully innovate, but that allowing a union to delay the introduction of new technology generally reduces a firm's R&D success. Empirical evidence from the United Kingdom shows that both union strength and the type of bargain that unions undertake have significant impacts on R&D spending.     

我国货币市场和资本市场有效沟通问题的实证研究

货币市场和资本市场是我国金融体系的重要组成部分。有效沟通两个市场,促进两个市场共同发展,可以有力支持国有企业改革,促进企业产权流动和重组,优化产业结构,进而促进社会主义市场经济的发展。因此在现阶段,研究如何增强两个市场的有效沟通和联系,以便在新世纪发展大格局中     

Housing Supply,Demand and Price: Construction Cost,Rental Price and House Price Indices

Housing prices are subject to the impacts of supply as well as demand. While supply is affected by construction costs, demand is determined by the renting/buying considerations of the public. As a result, the construction cost index (CCI) on the supply side and the rental price index (RPI) on the demand side should be closely related to the house price index (HPI). The present study adopts three price indices of the Taiwan housing market, the CCI, the RPI and the HPI, and examines long‐term and short‐term correlations among the three indices. Empirical results indicate that the relationships among three indices are nonlinear. More interestingly, this article finds that the HPI stimulates changes in the CCI and the RPI, although construction costs and rent are viewed as fundamentals in the existing literature. This phenomenon is rather obvious when deviations of the latter two indices from the HPI are greater. The corrective behavior of the HPI is more notable under these circumstances.     

Dual labour markets and nominal rigidity

The conventional menu cost framework performs poorly with realisticlabour supply elasticities: the menu costs required for pricerigidity are very high and the welfare consequences of monetarydisturbances are negligible. We show that the presence of duallabour markets greatly improves the performance of the frameworkboth by reducing the minimum effective menu costs and by boostingthe welfare consequences. In addition, the introduction of duallabour markets provides an explanation of procyclical productivityand the shrinking of wage differentials during booms, in linewith stylized facts on business cycles.     

The value of institutions for financial markets: evidence from emerging markets

This paper investigates the value of political institutions for financial markets, using panel data from emerging market countries. We test the hypothesis that changes in political institutions, such as improvements in democratic rights and increased government accountability, have a direct effect on sovereign interest rate spreads. We find that financial markets value institutions over and above the economic and fiscal outcomes these institutions shape. Democracy and accountability generally lower sovereign spreads, political risk tends to increase them, and financial markets view election years negatively.     

Organization adjustments,job training and productivity: Evidence from Japanese automobile makers

This paper considers the demand for job training and its interaction with organization adjustments through rotation within a team and relocation across teams in response to demand and supply shocks. We employ original survey data from two Japanese automobile makers. The analysis includes estimations of determinants of on-the-job training, and of how much such training contributes to improvements in individual productivity. We also investigate effects of the characteristics of workplace practices, including the behavior of foremen as well as assemblers, on the incentives for individual assemblers to seek job training and productivity improvements.     

Product and destination mix in export markets

This article studies the joint destination and product strategies of exporters, using the universe of export transactions for firms located in Portugal in the period 1995–2005. The article breaks down the annual growth rate of total exports along different margins and details choices made by multi-product, multi-destination firms regarding their export portfolio. In addition, the article looks at similar features for the subsample of new exporters. We find that both the firm-level extensive and intensive margins are important in driving the year-to-year variation in aggregate exports. However, variation over time in the sales of continuing exporters is mainly driven by their sales in continuing destinations. In addition, a product’s export tenure within a firm varies largely across currently exported products in the context of an intense activity of product and destination switching. Moreover, the higher the importance of a product, the more its sales are concentrated in the firm’s top destination. Finally, the article finds that, while continuing exporters enter new markets mainly by selling old products, new exporters access new destinations mainly by exporting new products.     

Emerging financial markets and early US growth

Studies of early US growth traditionally emphasize real-sector explanations for an acceleration that is evident by the period 1815-1840. Interestingly, establishment of the nation's modern financial structure predated by three decades the transportation improvements and widespread use of water- and steam-powered machinery that are thought to have triggered modernization. We argue that an innovative and expanding financial system, by providing debt and equity financing to businesses and governments as new technologies emerged, was central to early growth and modernization. To test the hypothesis, we employ a set of multivariate time series models that relate measures of banking and equity market activity to investment and business incorporations from 1790 to 1850. The results support the hypothesis of “finance-led” growth. Our new view is at odds with earlier views that emphasize the deficiencies rather than the advantages of the early US financial system.     

The Assessment: labour markets and welfare

Rapid and radical changes in the labour markets of developedeconomies have had profound implications for the welfare andwell-being of their citizens. This Assessment argues that thereis still considerable divergence in labour-market processesand outcomes across countries. This is likely to remain thecase. Nevertheless, there is a range of common problems. Importantamong these are what is happening to the rights of people atwork and how they should be protected. Views about appropriaterights have altered in recent years. In the future, debate aboutthis is likely to be even more closely linked to debate aboutlabour-market flexibility. The Assessment goes on to discussa variety of distributional problems related to joblessnessand low pay, and evaluates policy interventions designed totackle them. Although there has been progress in terms of policyeffectiveness, interventions are fragile in helping people toescape from cycles of repeated misfortune and long-term disadvantage.