Determinants of Relative Sectoral Prices: The Role of Demographic Change

Demographic change raises demand for non‐tradable old‐age related services relative to tradable commodities. This demand shift increases the relative price of non‐tradables and thereby causes real exchange rates to appreciate. We claim that the change in demand affects prices via imperfect intersectoral factor mobility. Using a sample of 15 OECD countries, we estimate a robust increase of relative prices. According to our main estimate, up to one fifth of the average increase in relative prices between 1970 and 2009 can be attributed to population ageing. Further findings confirm the relevance of imperfect factor mobility: Countries with more rigid labour markets experience stronger price effects.     

The value of scarce water: Measuring the inefficiency of municipal regulations

Rather than allowing urban water prices to reflect scarcity rents during periods of drought-induced excess demand, policy makers have mandated command-and-control approaches, primarily rationing the use of water outdoors. While such policies are ubiquitous and likely inefficient, economists have not had access to sufficient data to estimate their economic impact. Using unique panel data on residential end-uses of water in 11 North American cities, we examine the welfare implications of urban water rationing in response to drought. Using estimates of expected marginal prices that vary both across and within markets, we estimate price elasticities specific to indoor and outdoor water use. Our results suggest that current policies do target water uses that households, themselves, are most willing to forgo. Nevertheless, we find that rationing outdoor water in cities has costly welfare implications, primarily due to household heterogeneity in willingness-to-pay for scarce water. We find that replacing rationing policies with a market-clearing “drought price” would result in welfare gains of more than 29% of what households in the sample spend each year on water.     

Determinants of price mark‐up tolerance for green electricity – lessons for environmental marketing strategies from a study of residential electricity customers in Germany

This paper develops hypotheses on the effects of various attitudinal and perceptual variables as well as socio‐demographic characteristics of residential electricity customers on an individual's willingness to pay a mark‐up for electricity generated from renewable energy sources compared with the price due for electricity from conventional sources. The hypotheses are tested with data from a standardized telephone survey of 238 household electricity consumers in Germany. 53.4% of the participants are willing to pay a mark‐up for green electricity. 26.1% report a price tolerance equal to a 5–10% increase in their current electricity bill. Binary logistic and ordinal regression analyses indicate that price tolerance for green electricity is particularly influenced by attitudes (1) towards environmental issues and (2) towards one's current power supplier, (3) perceptions of the evaluation of green energy by an individual's social reference groups, (4) household size and (5) current electricity bill level. The findings are used to derive suggestions for energy related informational activities of public institutions, green marketing strategies of energy companies and future consumer research regarding demand for pro‐environmental goods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Monopoly Pricing as a Consumer Exaction in the Public Utility Sector

A bstract . The many studies on the measurement of deadweight welfare loss due to monopoly pricing have largely ignored the public utility sector of the economy. For the residential customer class in the municipally-owned water industry , the useable formula for the welfare loss triangle depends on the divergence between price and long run marginal cos and the price elasticity of demand Only price is directly observable. Statistical methodology developed here and elsewhere provides unique estimates of marginal cost and elasticity for each utility. The welfare loss, as a percentage of the residential customer class's annual water bill, is 9 to 10 per cent for locally regulated water utilities and 5 to 6 per cent for state regulated utilities–a level above those reported in most of the studies on manufacturing industries. Regulation , however, can make a difference.     

Multinationals' Offshore Operations,Tax Avoidance,and Firm‐Specific Information Flows: International Evidence

Using a large sample of multinational enterprises (MNEs) over the period 1999–2009, this study investigates whether and how offshore operations via offshore financial centers (OFCs) impact the extent to which firm‐specific information is incorporated into stock price, relative to common information. Our analyses show that, irrespective of whether a firm is a Type I offshore firm (directly having headquarters registered in OFCs) or a Type II offshore firm (indirectly setting up subsidiaries in OFCs), the amount of firm‐specific information flowing into stock price is lower for offshore firms than for non‐offshore firms. We also find that as offshore firms become more aggressive in their tax avoidance strategies, their stock prices impound a lower amount of firm‐specific information relative to common information. Finally, we find that a strong offshore proclivity also deters firm‐specific information flows, thereby driving up stock price synchronicity. Our results suggest that the opaque and complex nature of business and financial transactions in OFCs, coupled with their institutional characteristics, that is, weak and flexible legal enforcement, zero or extremely low taxation, and low litigation risk, provide offshore firms with not only stronger incentives but also the opportunities and means to adopt opaque disclosure policies and aggressive earnings management.     

EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF GASOLINE RETAILING: A GUIDE TO THE LITERATURE

Abstract This paper surveys the empirical literature on gasoline retailing, which has been growing rapidly over the last three decades, possibly in response to antitrust and regulatory concerns and increased availability of pricing data. Studies of both pricing and non‐price decision variables are considered. In general, it is found that crude oil prices are the primary driver of national price movements over time. However, market structure has been identified as playing a role in price dynamics, equilibrium selection and price differentials across markets and stations. The economic literature emphasizes the importance of heterogeneity across stations and coordination problems faced by retailers. Several directions for future work are suggested, including the development of theory and demand estimation using high‐frequency station level data.     

基于VAR模型的住宅销售面积和CPI关系研究

近年来,我国CPI波动较大,对宏观经济和房地产市场产生了较大影响。为探明CPI对房地产市场的影响,本文利用VAR模型分析了CPI和商品住宅销售面积两者之间的关系,以及CPI对住宅销售面积的脉冲响应函数。结果表明：CPI和住宅销售面积存在协整关系,CPI对住宅销售面积的冲击短期内较大,长期影响并不明显。     

纯分时定价与分时阶梯定价对政策目标实现的对比分析

基于双层需求模型,对分时阶梯定价与纯分时定价下的居民电力需求行为进行比较。利用相对需求方程检验两类定价下的相对需求是否具有非位似偏好性质,运用绝对需求方程分析居民在峰谷时的不同弹性特征。研究结论表明,分时阶梯与纯分时定价下存在不同的收入和电费位似偏好性质;居民的价格与需求弹性显著不同;两类定价下可以实现的政策目标也存在明显差异。本文为系统比较非线性定价与线性定价下的需求奠定了基础。     

基于VAR模型的住宅销售面积和CPI关系研究

近年来,我国CPI波动较大,对宏观经济和房地产市场产生了较大影响。为探明CPI对房地产市场的影响,本文利用VAR模型分析了CPI和商品住宅销售面积两者之间的关系,以及CPI对住宅销售面积的脉冲响应函数。结果表明:CPI和住宅销售面积存在协整关系,CPI对住宅销售面积的冲击短期内较大,长期影响并不明显。     

长沙市住宅地价空间分布研究

本文根据长沙市市区2008年-2012年的土地交易资料,结合近年来长沙市住宅土地的具体出让情况,采用GIS空间分析方法,得到地价等值线图,并结合地价相关理论知识,分析了长沙市市区住宅地价的空间分布特征及其影响因素。研究表明:(1)住宅地价空间分布具有一定的连续性和变异性;(2)距商业中心的远近对住宅地价的空间分布有重要的影响;(3)住宅用地对居住环境质量要求较高。     

基于修正GM(1,1)模型对商品住宅价格预测

在金融危机下对中小城市商品住宅市场进行投资决策前,首先需要对其价格进行预测分析,文章采用修正后的GM(1,1)模型建立起商品住宅价格预测模型,选取安阳市商品住宅价格数据进行预测分析,在检验了模型精度的基础上,得出在当前金融危机下,由于国家刺激计划的作用以及金融危机的缓解,安阳的商品住宅价格呈现上升的趋势,其投资市场仍然具有很大的发展潜力的结论。     

The effect of physician advice on alcohol consumption: count regression with an endogenous treatment effect

Although there are encouraging trends, alcohol abuse continues to be a significant public health problem. Econometric studies of alcohol demand have yielded a great deal of information for alcohol abuse prevention policy. These studies suggest that higher alcohol taxes and stricter drunk‐driving policies can reduce heavy drinking and drunk driving. In this paper we explore the role physician advice plays in the campaign to prevent alcohol‐related problems. Compared to alcohol taxation, physician advice is a more precisely targeted intervention that does not impose extra costs on responsible drinkers. Compared to the resource costs of arresting, processing, and punishing drunk drivers, physician advice may be a lower‐cost intervention. To provide a basis for alcohol policy analysis, we use an alcohol demand framework to test whether physician‐provided information about the adverse consequences of alcohol abuse shifts demand to more moderate levels. There are three aspects of our alcohol demand model that complicate the estimation: (1) the dependent variable is non‐negative (it is a count variable—number of drinks consumed); (2) a non‐trivial number of sample observations have zero values for the dependent variable; and (3) because the data we use is non‐experimental, the treatment variable indicating receipt of advice from a physician may be endogenous. We implement an estimation method that is specifically designed to deal with these three complicating factors. Our results show that advice has a substantial and significant impact on alcohol consumption by males with hypertension, and that failing to account for the endogeneity of advice masks this result. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

House price synchronization across the US states: The role of structural oil shocks

This paper analyzes the impact of disentangled oil shocks on the synchronization in housing price movements across all the US states plus DC. Using a Bayesian dynamic factor model, the house price movements are decomposed into national, regional, and state-specific factors. We then study the impact of oil-specific supply and demand, inventory accumulation, and global demand shocks on the national factor using linear and nonlinear local projection methods. The impulse response analyses suggest that oil-specific supply and consumption demand shocks are most important in driving the national factor. Moreover, as observed from the regime-specific local projection model, these two shocks are found to have a relatively stronger impact in a bearish rather than a bullish national housing market. Our results have important policy implications.     

节水型社会背景下杭州水资源定价研究

本文选取水资源价格作为研究对象,从水资源作为公共资源出发,用模糊数学的方法建立水资源价格模型,通过运用实证分析(以杭州地区居民生活用水价格为例)探讨了获取模型参数的方法,指出合理水价的构成,根据现有数据选取相关参数,通过模糊矩阵符合运算预测未来几年杭州市水资源价格水平。     

The Value of Online Seller Reputation: Evidence from a Price Comparison Site

This paper examines the value of seller reputation for e‐retailers trading via a price comparison site (PCS). E‐markets are widely held to accommodate sellers of differing service quality, including some who behave opportunistically. The paper uses a sample of offers on up to 295 digital cameras traded on a leading PCS, over a 134‐day period to estimate reputation's price impact. User‐generated reputation measures have a significant impact in the expected direction. However, their magnitude is small compared with variables capturing economy‐wide reputation. The strength of the reputation signal increased non‐monotonically with the number of reviews on which it was based. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimizing placement of residential shelters for human trafficking survivors

Residential shelters play a critical role in the stabilization and eventual reintegration to society for trafficked persons and entail a large investment. In the United States, survivors of human trafficking live in every state. However, in 2018 a majority of states lack dedicated residential shelters for trafficking survivors. Even in states with shelters, data suggests that demand greatly exceeds capacity, and significant disparity exists between states with respect to the legislative environment and provision of auxiliary services for survivors. We present an optimization approach to evaluate the societal impact of locating dedicated shelters for trafficking survivors at a regional level. Using concepts from health and social welfare economics, we develop an optimization model that allocates a budget for locating residential shelters in a manner that maximizes a measure of societal impact while respecting budgetary constraints. For our case study, we measure this impact via a societal value quantified by a combination of labor productivity gained, reduction in juvenile arrests, disability-adjusted life years averted, and legislative environment, adjusted for the demand for shelters and the current number of shelters available, less construction and operating costs. We illustrate the utility of the model via our case study that allocates a budget among a candidate set of residential shelters for female sex trafficking survivors in the United States. Via sensitivity analyses on a robust set of uncertain parameters, we present policy implications of shelter placements to support this critical societal concern.     

An Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Non‐audit Services on Auditor Independence in Appearance in the European Union: Evidence from Germany

The provision of non‐audit services by the statutory auditor may have a negative impact on auditor independence. Therefore, the European Union decided to prevent auditors from offering a significant extent of non‐audit services to audit clients. Prior research has revealed that different advisory services have different effects on perceived auditor independence. This could be caused by differences in number and intensity of independence threats (self‐interest, familiarity, self‐review, advocacy). Therefore, this experimental study investigates the effect of such threats on independence perceptions in the case of German individual investors. Multivariate analyses indicate that a high self‐interest and a high‐familiarity threat may impair auditor independence in appearance. On the other hand, our findings do not reveal a significant effect of an existing advocacy threat on investors’ trust in auditor independence. A negative effect of a self‐review threat is not directly confirmed. However, the provision of services with regard to internal controls, and thus the self‐review threat, interacts with the self‐interest threat. They potentially impact perceived auditor independence negatively when non‐audit fees are high. In contrast, no significant interactions with familiarity are found. Based on these findings, a general prohibition of non‐audit services does not seem to be necessary. On the other hand, a non‐audit fees cap might be reasonable.     

The derived demand for faculty research

Estimation of the demands for many services supplied by government and charitable organizations are hampered by two practices common to the supply of these services. The suppliers often employ non‐price rationing of these services, and they price discriminate. The supply of college training, for example, is rationed on the basis of academic ability as well as willingness to pay, and more able students are typically quoted lower net prices (associated with scholarships) than less able students. This paper suggests a method for dealing with both practices in the analysis of cross‐sectional data. This methodology is used to investigate the question of why university faculty members are expected to do research as well as teach. One answer supported by our empirical work is that the customers (e.g., the students) demand it. Thus, controlling for price and non‐academic features, better students will choose to attend a university where more scholarly research is performed. Moreover, our empirical findings also support a strong negative link between faculty time devoted to teaching and the supply of research. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Residential energy demand in the United States: A regional econometric analysis

A static equilibrium and a dynamic partial adjustment model of residential demand for electricity and natural gas are presented and estimated for the United States over a recent period characterized by sharply increasing energy prices. The static model is estimated using Ordinary Least Squares while the instrumental variables method is used for the dynamic partial adjustment model. The estimates of long-run elasticities suggest the residential demand for electricity and natural gas are price and income elastic. Intercept and slope dummies used in the models identify significant regional differences in demand functions.     

轨道交通对城市住房发展的影响综述

从轨道交通对城市住房价格和空间分布、居住用地开发强度的影响及影响的时效性等各方面综述了国内外研究进展,得出以下结论:除个别区域和时段外,轨道交通将引起沿线住房价格上涨,位于郊区、开发成熟度低的地区和中等价值的住房价格上涨最为明显;轨道交通将引起沿线居住用地开发强度的提高,提高的幅度与站点的功能关系密切;轨道交通吸引住房需求向轨道线路和站点附近集聚,并使市中心的居住需求向郊区转移,加快郊区化进程,同时改变中心区住房的类型结构,最终改变城市的空间结构;轨道交通对住房价格的影响具有时效性,影响程度随规划、施工、运营等不同时期而不同。