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.     

Informal and Formal Credit Markets and Credit Rationing in Cote d'Ivoire

This paper endeavours to shed light on the respective rolesof the formal and the informal credit markets in developingcountries. We use survey data for manufacturing firms in Côted'Ivoire, documenting their access to informal credit markets,their investments, and their financing. We confront these datawith a simple moral-hazard model of credit rationing. Becauseof socio-cultural effects, the magnitude of moral-hazard problemsand the cost of credit can be different in the informal creditmarket. We offer a structural econometric estimation of thismodel. Our empirical results point at severe moral-hazard problemsfor all firms, and reduced cost of credit in the informal market.Our point estimate suggests that moral-hazard problems can bealleviated in the informal credit market. Policy implicationsof our results are sketched.     

The Determinants of Bank Rates in Local Consumer Lending Markets: Comparing Market and Institution-Level Results

Most previous studies of banking markets have given little attention to the potential competitive discipline provided by credit unions on consumer loan rates. After presenting a theoretical framework for understanding the impact credit unions should be expected to have, this article analyzes two pooled cross-section time-series samples—56 U.S. markets over the 1992-1998 period and 81 banks (within those markets) over the same period—with the focus on explaining bank rates for two types of consumer loans. Results confirm the previously observed role of market structure and strongly point to a significant role for credit unions in disciplining the exercise of market power by banks. At the institution level, where the impact of bank size, market share, and holding company status can be analyzed, the evidence supports both market power and scale economy rationales for bank loan pricing and hints at a multimarket contact influence.     

Credit rationing and crowding out during the industrial revolution: evidence from Hoare’s Bank, 1702-1862

Crowding out during the British Industrial Revolution has long been one of the leading explanations for slow growth during the Industrial Revolution, but little empirical evidence exists to support it. We argue that examinations of interest rates are fundamentally misguided, and that the 18th- and early 19th-century private loan market balanced through quantity rationing. Using a unique set of observations on lending volume at a London goldsmith bank, Hoare’s Bank, we document the impact of wartime financing on private credit markets. We conclude that there is considerable evidence that government borrowing, especially during wartime, crowded out private credit.     

Remote markets as shelters for local distortions: Evidence from China

We study how the presence of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) distorts private firms' decision on interprovincial sales in China. Using data from World Bank Investment Climate Survey and Annual Survey of Manufacturing Firms in China, we find evidence that the prevalence of SOEs in a city-industry where private firms reside will affect these firms' decision on the allocation of sales between interprovincial markets versus adjacent market. The direction of the effect on private firms, however, depends crucially on the private firms' access to credit. Specifically, the prevalence of SOEs leads to a higher propensity to sell to remote markets for firms with adequate financial access, whereas the opposite is true for firms who are credit constrained. We build a parsimonious model which links political/market distortion, market access, and credit constraint to explain these patterns, and argue that remote markets can serve as shelters for local distortions resulted from SOEs presence for some private firms.     

The role of market imperfections in the relationship between housing prices and household credit: Evidence from Taiwan

Given the credit market imperfections in Taiwan, this paper examines the threshold effects in the adjustment towards the long‐run equilibrium relationship between housing prices and household credit. The empirical findings verify the potential for regime shifts in the dynamically adjusted relationship between housing prices and household credit. Only when the benefits cover the cost of market imperfections, do housing and credit markets trigger convergence to their long‐run equilibrium. The hidden effect of the limitations on housing and credit markets is to raise the thresholds of the self‐adjustment mechanisms. As a result, economic boom‐bust cycles will be more severe and increase the fragility of financial sectors.     

The Synergistic Effects Between Insurance and Credit Markets on Economic Growth: Evidence from China

Insurance and credit markets share some common roles in stimulating economic growth, whether they are complementary or not is worth researching further. Based on the generalized method of moments, this paper investigates the synergistic effects between insurance and credit markets on economic growth in Chinese different regions using an interaction term in the regression model. Moreover, to understand the different economic roles of life and nonlife insurance sectors, we include them into estimation model as well. The results indicate that total insurance and credit markets are substituted, life insurance and credit markets are substituted, and nonlife insurance and credit markets are complementary in the whole region. Specifically, the synergistic effects between insurance and credit markets on economic growth vary considerably across different regions. These findings offer several useful insights for policy-makers.     

Entry deterrence when the potential entrant is your competitor in a different market

In this article, we present a two‐period model in which one firm operates in two markets: a monopoly and a duopoly. Assuming that this firm has private information on the cross‐price elasticity of demand between the products sold in both markets, it limits its quantity supplied in the monopoly market in order to make its rival in the other market believe that entry into the monopolized market is unprofitable. As a result of this strategy, the average prices observed in both markets increase. This result suggests that the detrimental effects of entry deterrence on consumers' welfare are stronger than those predicted by previous literature.     

Access to credit and farmland rental market participation: Evidence from rural China

In this study, we analyze the impact of access to credit on farmland rental market participation of rural households. The study uses a nationally representative survey data of China Family Panel Studies and an endogenous switching probit model that accounts for selection bias for both observed and unobserved factors. Findings reveal that access to credit stimulates farmers' decisions to participate in farmland rental markets by increasing the likelihood of renting in and renting out farmland by about 10% and 20%, respectively. Results also reveal that the impact of access to credit on farmland rental market participation is heterogeneous when it comes to the age of the operator and and geographic locations of farmers. We show that younger credit users have a higher probability of renting in farmland, while their older counterparts have a higher probability of renting out farmland. Besides, credit users residing in central China have a higher probability of renting in farmland, while those living in eastern China have a higher likelihood of renting out farmland. Our findings highlight the importance of improving farmers' access to credit in facilitating the development of rural farmland rental markets.     

Increasing Diversity in Telecommunications Ownership and Increasing Efficiency in Spectrum Auctions by Breaking the Link Between Capital Market Discrimination and FCC Spectrum Auction Outcomes

In Section 309(j)4(D) of the Communications Act, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) is required to increase opportunities for minority groups to participate in the provision of spectrum based services. In Adarand Construction, Inc. v. Pena, the Supreme Court held that race-based government programs were subject to strict scrutiny. That is race-based programs must serve a compelling governmental interest such as remedying past discrimination, and must be narrowly tailored to serve that interest. Against this backdrop, a simple theoretical model is developed that explains the relationship between capital market discrimination and outcomes in FCC spectrum auctions. Given capital market discrimination and all other factors being equal, it is shown that a minority firm has zero probability of winning in an auction for spectrum. In addition, it is proven that, if equal bidding credits are given to all firms, if there is capital market discrimination, and if all other things are equal, the minority firm has a zero probability of winning in a spectrum auction. It is shown that a policy of auctioning spectrum, when there is capital market discrimination, is an inferior policy among policies that can be used to allocate spectrum. Finally, a policy of auctioning spectrum, when there is capital market discrimination, results in an inefficient auction. These theoretical results and the empirical literature on capital market discrimination suggest that the FCC is implicitly discriminating against minorities through its auctioning of spectrum under conditions of discrimination in capital markets. The results imply that race-based programs are necessary/justified in order to increase diversity in telecommunications ownership and increase the efficiency of FCC Spectrum Auctions. Given possible legal remedies, the paper contains a critical “audit”/analysis of the FCC’s lending practices under the FCC’s installment payments. Legislative proposals for creating some new form of credit/installment payment in conjunction with some experienced financial institution(s) are summarized and reviewed.     

Renminbi internationalisation and China’s financial development

There is a widespread view that China’s currency can be used in international markets only after the liberalisation of China’s domestic financial markets and the opening of its capital account. Yet evidently the renminbi’s internationalisation is preceding these so-called preconditions. This article assesses the tensions inherent in renminbi internationalisation starting at a transitional period in China’s financial development. For now, effective capital controls allow the Chinese authorities to retain regulated deposit and lending rates, quantitative credit guidance and bond market rationing. Relaxation of the capital controls would put these policies at risk. Reserve requirements can be extended to bank inflows from the offshore market but only at a price.     

Are poor able to access the informal credit market? Evidence from rural households in China

The poor are often excluded from formal credit markets, but few empirical studies in literature have investigated whether the poor are constrained in the informal credit market. This paper uses recent micro data of rural China to answer this question. An instrumental variable model is estimated to account for potential endogeneity issues. Results show that poorer households have lower probability of entering the informal credit market. Further examination shows that the poor are limited by social network and that they have no financial means to invest in their social capital to expand their social network. Our findings shed light on potential solutions of reducing poverty in rural areas.     

Beyond Disparate Impact: Risk-based Pricing and Disparity in Consumer Credit History Scores

Despite the increasing importance of credit scoring to an expanding range of activities, very little is known about the nature of the credit scoring process. This article examines the interaction of credit scoring with risk-based pricing, exploring the potential for credit scoring to contribute to the segmentation of low- and high-cost credit markets. Specifically, it uses a stylized example to illustrate the mechanism through which credit scores may capture disparities in surrounding credit markets, passing them into future periods and other credit markets. In the wake of mounting subprime foreclosures, this mechanism contains the potential to exacerbate the concentrated impacts of the subprime crisis in low-income and minority communities. The article examines this issue in the context of existing regulatory actions.     

股改前后中国A股市场有效性广义谱方法检验

股改是我国资本市场发展过程中的一项重大制度变革,本文对股改前后A股市场的有效性分别进行了检验。我们采用的广义谱方法考虑了高频时间序列的特征事实,可以检测出序列存在的线性和非线性序列依赖,允许存在未知形式的条件异方差,并且可以检验所有的滞后阶数,具有较强的检验效力。检验结果表明,股改前市场是非有效的,股改之后市场达到了弱式有效。本文从股权的全流通效应、股市参与度的提升两个角度给出了实证结果的经济解释。     

中国货币政策工具调控信贷：实证新观点

文章通过构建包含流动性因素的货币信贷模型，以研究中国的货币政策工具调控信贷的动态影响机制，并结合中国的相关季度数据，构建时变参数状态空间模型进行实证分析。研究结果表明：信贷利率、法定存款准备金率、再贴现率和银行间同业拆借利率对中国信贷调控的影响与理论模型分析得到的动态影响机制比较一致；由于中国金融市场的特殊性，使得债券利率在调控信贷中的作用在2010年后出现失效的现象。建议中国在调控信贷方面还应以贷款利率、法定存款准备金率、再贴现率和银行间同业拆借利率的综合手段为主。     

Usury ceilings and bank lending behavior: Evidence from nineteenth century New York

Few pieces of economic regulation are ubiquitous as usury limits. Similarly, few economic principles are as widely accepted as the belief that interference with freely contracted prices leads to market distortions, and many studies of financial markets find that usury limits negatively affect credit availability. This study shows that when no regulatory authority monitors and stands ready to punish violators of the usury limit when intermediaries and borrowers form long-term relationships, banks and borrowers regularly contract for interest rates in excess of the usury ceiling. Time-series analysis reveals limited effects on credit availability when market rates exceed the usury ceiling. Cross-sectional analysis of individual loan contracts also shows that the positive effect of a long-term relationship offsets the negative effect of the usury limit on credit availability.     

Black Real Estate Professionals’ Perceptions of Career Opportunities: The Economic Detour Redux

This article focuses on black professionals’ perceptions of career opportunities in the real estate industry and discrimination in housing markets. The analysis is based on a national survey of black real estate professionals administered between July and December of 2009. Findings from the article suggest that black real estate professionals adopt a business strategy scholars have referred to as the economic detour. Following this strategy, their business activities focus on a niche market confined to residential real estate transaction with black clientele in relatively segregated neighborhood contexts. The findings from this analysis suggest that this focus has emerged in response to perceptions of institutional discrimination that closes opportunities to black professionals in the broader real estate industry. Recommendations are made to address economic barriers faced by black professionals.     

The market for American state government bonds in Britain and the United States, 1830–431

In the 1830s the British and American economies were hit by a series of shared macroeconomic shocks. This paper investigates the role of markets for America's State bonds in Britain and the USA during and between the crises in 1837, 1839, and 1842.There is strong evidence that the crises in 1839 and 1842 originated in the USA and spread to Britain. There is also strong evidence that credit markets for American state bonds were tighter in the USA than in London between 1839 and 1842. The idea that the depression that began in 1839 in the USA was triggered by credit conditions in Britain and transmitted via the market for state credit, finds no support here.     

徐州工程机械集团区域市场营销分析

一个整体市场总是由于经济、文化等方面的原因被分割成若干区域,不同区域市场,其市场特点,市场容量和市场进入方式都存在着差异。因此,企业为取得理想的营销效果,应针对不同的区域市场,采取不同的营销策略。本文拟在区域经济学和市场营销学的理论基础上,结合徐州工程机械集团     

Facilitating the Provision of Farm Credit: The Role of Interlocking Transactions Between Traders and Zamindars in Crop Marketing Systems in Sindh

Formal credit institutions in Pakistan have largely failed to provide access to farm credit to small and medium-scale landowners, or zamindars. This paper examines interlocked transactions between traders and landowners in the cotton and wheat markets in Sindh that facilitate the provision of credit by traders. It is concluded that the case examined provides an example where traders lend to landowners in a segment of the credit market that approximates competitive behavior, without surplus extraction by traders. Key conditions resulting in this favorable outcome are the existence of both competition for market share and information sharing on borrowers between traders. Whether this outcome is also beneficial for other rural groups who may borrow from landowners, in particular sharecropping tenants, is independent of market relations between landowners and traders and is not determined here.