Designing price caps for gas distribution systems

We examine the applicability of price-cap mechanisms to the regulation of gas distribution company rates for gas supply and transportation services. Although distribution companies will continue to be regulated for the foreseeable future, we argue that a hybrid of price and profit regulation of transportation rates will increase allocative efficiency and provide greater incentives for productive efficiency. The design of incentives for cost minimization in long-term gas supply contracts is more challenging, but an index cap, based on the cost of gas acquired by other distribution companies, merits attention.     

The impact and economic cost of environmental regulation on energy utilization in China

This article utilizes three data envelopment analysis-based models: a no environmental regulation model, a weak environmental regulation model and a strong environmental regulation model to reveal the impact of environmental regulation on China’s regional total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE) during the period of 2003–2010. To take a further step, these three models are adjusted for calculating the correspondingly macro-economic cost of environmental regulation. The estimation results show that at present, the level of China’s environmental regulation is relatively low, and an enhancing of environmental regulation would lead to a sufficient increase of China’s regional TFEE with an enormous economic cost as its price. That means in China, the nationwide environmental stress is high, and the regulation cost is very huge. Strengthening environmental regulation would inevitably have some negative influences on China’s economy in the short run. Based on our findings, some corresponding policies are also proposed in this article.     

Hospital Competition with Soft Budgets

We study the incentives for quality provision and cost efficiency for hospitals with soft budgets, where the payer can cover deficits or confiscate surpluses. While a higher bailout probability reduces cost efficiency, the effect on quality is ambiguous. Profit confiscation reduces both quality and cost efficiency. First‐best is achieved by a strict no‐bailout and no‐profit‐confiscation policy when the regulated price is optimally set. However, for suboptimal prices, a more lenient bailout policy can be welfare‐improving. When we allow for heterogeneity in costs and qualities, we also show that a softer budget can raise quality for high‐cost patients.     

资本监管、货币政策与商业银行效率非对称效应——基于面板门限回归模型的再检验

鉴于资本监管、货币政策对商业银行效率的重要影响,本文在Li和Wang(2012)的基础上从理论上详细论证了坏账率、资本充足率和准备金率影响商业银行效率的内生机制,并得出研究命题:坏账率与商业银行成本效率、利润效率存在着负相关关系;资本充足率、准备金率与商业银行成本效率、利润效率存在着非线性关系和非对称效应。根据上述研究命题,利用商业银行1998-2010年我国14家商业银行相关数据计算出了商业银行的成本效率、利润效率,证实了准备金率、资本充足率与商业银行的成本效率、利润效率呈非线性关系以及商业银行效率的非对称效应。上述研究事实表明:过分强调资本监管和货币政策对于商业银行绩效的改善是不合适的,其虽然能够有效地控制风险,但同时也会带来"利润创造能力"的减弱。因此,合理的资本监管和货币政策才是提高商业银行效率的明智之举。     

Life insurer efficiency and state regulation: evidence of optimal firm behavior

Proponents of an optional federal charter for life insurers argue that the current state-based system of insurer regulation increases insurer costs and reduces their revenues and profits. This study examines the impact of multi-state regulation on life insurer cost, revenue and profit efficiency. The main findings suggest that insurer cost efficiency is inversely related to the number of states licensed and directly related to total assets, after controlling for geographic concentration, insolvency risk and other firm-specific characteristics. Further, the results support the expectation that insurer expansion into additional states is optimal in that the additional regulatory and other costs associated with operating in more states are offset by higher revenues to the extent that insurer profit efficiency is not affected. A robustness test is conducted using an indicator variable for New York licensed insurers to examine the relation between regulatory stringency and insurer efficiency. This test confirms the results, even in the presence of the more stringent regulation of New York. These findings are consistent with the expectation that any regulatory cost savings that result from an optional federal charter, or single regulator, will be passed along to insurance consumers in a competitive insurance market.     

Empirical analysis of profit maximization and cost minimization behaviour of Kansas farms

A farm-level deterministic and stochastic nonparametric tests of profit maximization and cost minimization behaviour for a sample of 112 Kansas farms was completed from 1996 to 2013. Allowing for monotonic non-regressive technological change and using a 10% significance level, 73 farms violated the profit-maximization hypothesis and 58 farms violated the cost minimization hypothesis. More profit maximization violations existed relative to cost minimization violations. However, comparing these results with results for 289 Kansas farms using data from 1973 to 1990, farms have significantly reduced profit maximizing violations. Cost minimizing behaviour has not changed substantially.     

Productivity and environmental regulation: the effect of the nitrates directive in the French pig sector

This paper measures the ensuing changes in productivity in the French pig sector following the introduction of the European regulation addressing water pollution by nitrates from agriculture. Productivity is measured using the Malmquist–Luenberger index. The sources of changes in productivity observed are examined by breaking down this index into its technical progress and efficiency components. The results show that in the early stages, increases in productivity were stimulated by increased efficiency, before being driven by technical progress. The estimations regarding the sources of efficiency gains for the farms in the sample (technical efficiency, efficiency of scale and environmental efficiency) are then used to estimate the indirect costs and benefits (or negative costs) linked to the introduction of the environmental regulation controlling the disposal of organic manure and the management of nitrogen surplus from pig farms. The existence of a “win-win” effect as regards the Porter hypothesis relation between efficiency and environmental regulation is highlighted for the French pig sector.      

先进制造业绿色技术创新效率及其环境规制门槛效应

利用非强制性幅度调整与随机前沿函数构建先进制造业绿色技术创新三阶段效率测度模型,引入经济水平、公众素质、政府扶持强度作为环境变量,基于全国内地30个省市2006-2016年先进制造业面板数据对其绿色技术创新效率进行测度,同时选取门槛计量模型解析正式、非正式环境规制的影响机理。结果表明,效率评估中规制因素与统计噪音可造成测度结果产生偏差,环境变量对投入与产出松弛存在差异性波动影响,而松弛变量调整前后可使多数地区绿色技术创新效率排名发生改变;在全国先进制造业绿色技术创新效率整体呈稳步提升态势下,总体效率依然偏低,而且在空间布局上形成“三大梯度”,具备显著的“都市联动效应”;正式与非正式环境规制对先进制造业绿色技术创新效率均存在单门槛值,但分别呈“U”型与倒“U”型关系,而资本密集度、行业利润率等对先进制造业绿色技术创新效率均呈显著正向推进作用。     

Efficiency and regulation in the case of the Swiss Private Railways

This paper discusses the efficiency of the Swiss Private Railways in an economic and regulatory context. For this purpose, scale efficiency and overall cost efficiency for 48 Swiss private railway companies are investigated. A translog cost function for a four-year panel is estimated and measures of economies of scale and density are derived. A compound indicator for network size and structure is introduced. The estimation results allow for a discussion of efficiency in terms of optimal scale and density. Overall cost efficiency is estimated by means of a frontier cost function. The findings on efficiency are discussed in the Swiss political and regulatory context. More specifically, a regression on the influence of ownership and subsidy structure on the efficiency is performed. The findings are that most of the Swiss private railway companies operate at an inappropriately low scale and density. While the companies are rather homogenous in terms of overall cost efficiency, evidence is found for a significant influence of regulation in terms of the subsidy structure.     

环境管制政策的比较分析

命令控制型的环境管制政策能较快地控制污染排放,但缺乏效率,且不利于技术创新,激励型的环境管制政策具有成本低、技术创新激励性强的特点.基于此,近年来世界各国对激励型的环境管制政策日益重视.我国未来环境管制政策的设计应更多地引入市场机制,强化环境政策对技术进步的激励作用,并适度结合命令控制型的环境管制工具.     

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF REFILL PACKS

It is common sense that refill packs can increase the repeated use of durable goods, reduce resource waste and be conducive to environmental protection. However, their existence also has an economic effect. For instance, we find that the profit of a monopolistic firm will increase as a result of selling the refill packs when the depreciation rate of the durable good is low. In an extension of the model, we point out that there is an entrant that competes with the incumbent in relation to the composite goods and the refill packs. In order to compete in terms of the prices of the composite goods, the incumbent sells the refill packs not only to increase profit, but also to reduce the amount of waste resulting from the durable goods. As for competing in regard to the prices of the refill packs, if the cost of the composite goods is small, then the incumbent's profit from selling the composite goods will increase. By comparing two extensions of the model, we find that the environmental effect of the price competition in regard to the refill packs is greater than the environmental effect of the price competition in relation to the composite goods.     

An Empirical Analysis of Cost Efficiency in Non‐profit and Public Nursing Homes

Abstract *** :  This paper examines the issue of cost‐efficiency in Switzerland's nursing homes, an issue of concern to policy makers because of the rapid growth of elderly care expenditure and the aging of the population. The fact that nursing homes in Switzerland exist in different institutional forms, private for‐profit, government and non‐profit status, raises the issue of their relative cost efficiency. A panel data of 17 public and 19 nonprofit nursing homes operating over the 9‐year period from 1993 to 2001, in one of the 26 Swiss cantons, Ticino, is studied. Ticino's nursing homes are heavily regulated and monitored by the canton's authorities. However, given that in public firms there are more bureaucratic constraints and agency problems, one can expect a relatively low level of cost‐efficiency. In this paper the effect of institutional form on efficiency is studied using a translog stochastic cost‐frontier model. Several specifications are used to study the robustness of the results. The results suggest that the institutional form influences the efficiency of the studied nursing homes in that non‐profit foundations are likely to be more cost‐efficient than the nursing homes operated by government administration. The results also suggest that a great majority of the nursing homes in the sample do not fully benefit from scale economies. This implies that efficiency gains can be obtained with larger capacities or joint operations .     

Analysis of environmental efficiency variations: A nutrient balance approach

Recent literature has argued that environmental efficiency (EE), which is built on the materials balance (MB) principle, is more suitable than other EE measures in situations where the law of mass conversation regulates production processes. In addition, the MB-based EE method is particularly useful in analysing possible trade-offs between cost and environmental performance. Identifying determinants of MB-based EE can provide useful information to decision makers but there are very few empirical investigations into this issue. This article proposes the use of data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis techniques to analyse variation in MB-based EE. Specifically, the article develops a stochastic nutrient frontier and nutrient inefficiency model to analyse determinants of MB-based EE. The empirical study applies both techniques to investigate MB-based EE of 96 rice farms in South Korea. The size of land, fertiliser consumption intensity, cost allocative efficiency, and the share of owned land out of total land are found to be correlated with MB-based EE. The results confirm the presence of a trade-off between MB-based EE and cost allocative efficiency and this finding, favouring policy interventions to help farms simultaneously achieve cost efficiency and MP-based EE.     

FDI知识溢出对区域低碳创新网络效率的门槛效应研究

针对经济全球化趋势和创新驱动发展战略下区域低碳创新网络发展面临的可持续转型增长问题,以及环境规制与低碳创新网络效率的非直接关联特征,通过构建考虑非期望产出的J SBM模型测算低碳创新网络效率,运用核密度函数模型描绘区域低碳创新网络效率的动态演变规律与区域异质性,从环境规制视角构建FDI知识溢出与低碳创新网络效率的非线性面板回归模型,探讨环境规制的门槛效应和时序变化以及FDI知识溢出与低碳创新网络效率的作用机理。研究表明：样本期间区域低碳创新网络效率整体较为收敛,地区差距呈扩大趋势;人力资本和吸收能力因素与低碳创新网络效率显著正相关,政策支持和市场竞争在一定程度上制约低碳创新网络效率提升;加大环境规制强度能够促进FDI知识溢出、提升低碳创新网络效率;门槛效应的时空异质性明显,不同年份同一地区的分布存在较大差异。     

长三角区域环境规制效率时空变化及影响因素分析

运用基于非期望产出的超效率SBM模型,测度2011—2018年长三角区域环境规制效率,结合空间自相关分析、广义最小二乘法分析长三角区域环境规制效率时空演变特征,并探究环境规制效率的影响因素。结果表明：长三角区域环境规制效率整体呈波动上升趋势,内部差异明显,上海一直处于最高水平,江苏、安徽呈波动上升趋势,而浙江呈下降—上升趋势,局部空间格局由较低、低环境规制效率空间集聚区上升为较低、较高环境规制效率空间集聚区。整体上经济发展水平、城镇化水平和科技投入水平对长三角区域环境规制效率具有正效应,而产业结构、市场环境和对外开放水平呈负向影响。     

中国产险公司的投资业务对经营效率的影响研究

文章主要研究了财产保险公司发展“非传统”的投资业务对经营效率的影响。文章首先通过一个理论模型来说明产险公司的投资功能如何与风险汇聚和损失补偿功能相联系并影响公司经营成果,然后利用2009－2013年中国44家产险公司的面板数据进行了实证分析。研究发现：由于存在范围经济和交叉补贴效应,发展投资业务显著正向影响了产险公司的成本效率;而由于投资收益率不高且投资比例受限,发展投资业务对利润效率的影响方向不确定且效应不显著。这些结论在分样本回归中以及控制了规模变量可能的内生性和非线性效应后仍成立。文章建议监管层逐步放弃投资比例等硬性指标,而更多地关注资本监管和偿付能力监管,提高监管的灵活性。     

The Efficiency Gains from Deregulation

We analyze the efficiency gains from deregulating monopolies using an equilibrium rent seeking model. McCormick, Shughart and Tollison (1984) argue that the initial effort to establish regulation dissipates the monopoly profit, limiting the gain from deregulation to the efficiency cost of monopoly. We establish conditions under which this proposition holds; in particular, the initial rent seekers must fail to anticipate the possibility of deregulation. Additionally, through application of the standard rent seeking model, we establish that the potential welfare gains exceed the cost of achieving deregulation. Our results provide support for policies aimed at eliminating monopoly and other types of economic distortion.     

TO REGULATE OR TO DEREGULATE? THE ROLE OF DOWNSTREAM COMPETITION IN UPSTREAM MONOPOLY VERTICALLY LINKED MARKETS

This paper attempts to cast light to the effect of monopoly regulation in Cournot markets compared to its effect in Bertrand markets. To this purpose, we use a simple model of a vertically linked market, where an upstream regulated natural monopoly is trading via two‐part tariff contracts with a downstream duopoly. Combining our results to those of the existing literature on deregulated markets, we argue that when the downstream competition is in prices, efficiency dictates regulating the monopoly with a marginal cost based pricing scheme. However, this type of regulation leads to significant welfare loss, when the downstream market is characterized by Cournot competition.     

Deregulation of the Electric Power Industry: The Earnings,Risk, and Return Effects

This study tests whether recent reforms of the electric power industry reverse the predicted effects of regulation on profits, risk, and return for electric utilities. The analysis also considers potential variation in the effects of the reforms across utility sizes. The empirical predictions are derived from theories of economic regulation which argue that regulation reduces earnings variability and risk, and enhances share value by buffering the regulated firms against the profit effects of cost and demand shocks and by shifting the burden of inefficiencies to consumers. These views motivate an opposite argument that reductions of regulation would reverse the predicted effects of regulation. The results reveal (1) a reversal of the buffering effects of regulation, (2) the existence of subsidies attributable to regulation, and (3) a redistribution of shareholder wealth during the reforms.     

Bank efficiency in South‐Eastern Europe

This study examines the cost and profit efficiency of banking sectors in six transition countries of South‐Eastern Europe over the period 1998–2008. Using a stochastic frontier approach, our analysis reveals that the average cost efficiency of South‐Eastern European banks is 68.59 percent, and the average profit efficiency is 53.87 percent. Regressions on the determinants of bank efficiency show that foreign banks are characterized by higher profit efficiency but lower cost efficiency, and government‐owned banks are associated with lower profit efficiency than domestic private banks. However, the efficiency gap between foreign‐, domestic private‐ and government‐owned banks narrows over time. We also find that the market power of a bank has a positive association with both cost and profit efficiency. Institutional development, proxied by progress in banking regulatory reforms, privatization and enterprise corporate governance restructuring, also has a positive impact on bank efficiency.