Market integration and price transmission in consumer markets of developing countries

World prices for agricultural commodities surged in 2006–08, and then again in 2011–12. In many developing countries, consumer prices for staple foods, such as bread and rice, mirrored these movements. This paper examines whether prices in urban consumer markets within developing countries are co-integrated with prices in world agricultural commodity markets. Using a single equation error correction model, we examine the response of consumer prices for wheat, rice, maize, and sorghum to changes in world market prices and exchange rates in urban centers of the developing world. Analyzing over 60 country/commodity pairings, we find that developing countries’ consumer markets are co-integrated with world markets. Yet, we also find that the transmission of changes in both world prices and real exchange rates to domestic consumer prices is not high, and that the movement of domestic consumer prices to new equilibrium with world prices after a shock to the latter is relatively slow.     

The effects of lower mobile termination rates in South Africa

The effects of a 90% reduction in mobile termination rates (MTRs) are evaluated over the period between 2009 and 2017 in South Africa. Prepaid prices and quality-adjusted postpaid prices declined by over 40%. However, only approximately 30% of the decline in prepaid prices and 60% of the reduction in quality-adjusted postpaid prices can be explained by lower MTR costs. On-net and off-net prepaid prices converged as MTR costs dropped. Regulators concerned about high retail prices and differences between on-net and off-net prices should reduce MTRs.     

中国上海燃料油期货定价模型研究

采用协整理论及基于VAR的Grange因果关系检验与冲击反应函数方法对中国上海期货交易所燃料油期货价格作建模分析。单位根检验显示，选取的样本序列均为I（1）。Granger因果关系检验显示：美原油期货价格，新加坡180燃料油现货价格变量为燃料油期价的Granger原因；上海燃料油期货价格是黄埔现货价格的单向的Granger原因，期货价格对现货价格具有发现作用。最终作出的长期协整方程显示：美原油期货价格，新加坡180燃料油现货价格、欧元汇率与上海燃料油现货价构成长期显著的均衡关系。美原油期货价格对沪燃料油期价的弹性为0．85；新加坡180燃料油现货价格对沪燃料油期价的弹性为0．78；欧元汇率对沪燃料油期价的弹性为1．04。从最终建立动态模型来看，模型有较好的拟合及预测精度。因此，该模型对沪燃料油期价风险控制具有较好的参考作用。     

Food prices and food policy analysis in LDCs

Opinions have been polarized on the role of food prices in economic development. Structuralist analysis argues that food prices are irrelevant to long-term development, but neoclassical theorists believe that food prices may be a critical factor. This article attempts to reconcile these views, reports on the differential impacts of food prices in Indonesia and discusses the role of food prices in the policy process.     

PRICES,SPATIAL COMPETITION AND HETEROGENEOUS PRODUCERS: AN EMPIRICAL TEST*

Homogeneous‐producer models attribute lower prices in denser markets solely to lower optimal markups. I argue here that when producers have different production costs, competition‐driven selection on costs also reduces prices. This selection mechanism can be distinguished from the homogenous‐producer case because it implies that higher density leads not only to lower average prices, but to declines in upper‐bound prices and price dispersion as well. I find empirical support for this mechanism in the prices of ready‐mixed concrete plants. I also show these findings do not simply reflect lower factor prices in dense markets, but result instead because dense‐market producers are more efficient.     

The Foreclosure–House Price Nexus: A Panel VAR Model for U.S. States, 1981–2009

Despite housing's economic importance, little has been written on how foreclosures and home prices interact in a framework that includes macroeconomic and housing variables such as employment, permits or sales. Panel VAR results for quarterly state‐level data indicate that price–foreclosure linkages run both ways. Foreclosures negatively impact home prices. The negative impact of prices on foreclosures, however, is much larger. These results suggest the low‐frequency association observed between foreclosures and prices is mostly driven by the endogenous adjustment of foreclosures to prices via the strategic choices of homeowners and lenders, rather than through the effects of foreclosures on home prices.     

The Effects of Charm Listing Prices on House Transaction Prices

As is the case for many different goods and services, it is common practice in many real estate markets for sellers to offer properties for sale at listing prices just below some round number price ( e.g. , $99,900 instead of $100,000). The academic marketing literature refers to this practice as "charm" pricing and suggests that this strategy is an attempt by sellers to take advantage of buyers' cognitive processes in which charm prices affect buyers' perceptions about the seller or the item being offered for sale. Although numerous papers in the housing economics literature have addressed the impact of the magnitude of listing price on observed house transaction prices, no prior published study has considered the impact of the design of listing prices in housing markets. This paper presents an empirical investigation of the effects of charm pricing on house transaction prices using sample data. The results provide some evidence that houses listed at certain charm prices sell for significantly greater transaction prices than those listed at round number prices.     

电力工程招投标复合标底的应用分析

介绍了目前在电力工程招投标中常用的几种投标报价标底形式,分析了电力工程招投标中复合标底的应用特点和风险,列举了复合标底的计算方法,提出了优化复合标底计算的建议,以期对电力工程招投标工作有所助益。     

Sources of food price volatility and child malnutrition in Niger and Malawi

In recent times, considerable attention has been paid to the nutritional impact of the sharp hikes in the international food prices which took place in 2007–8 and 2010–11. While understandable, this growing focus has perhaps obscured the impact of other variables affecting malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa, i.e. the long-term impact of agricultural policies on food supply and prices, large and persistent seasonal variations in food prices, and the impact of famines which still affect parts of the continent. This paper focuses on the relative impact of these factors on child malnutrition (measured by the number of child admissions to feeding centres) in Malawi and Niger, two countries which closely represent the situation of other small, landlocked, subsistence agricultural economies facing severe food security problems. Our analysis shows that in these countries the drivers of changes in domestic staple prices and child malnutrition are related not only – or not primarily – to variations of international food prices but also to the impact of agricultural policies on food production and prices, in a persistent food price seasonality, and in recurrent and poorly managed famines. These factors can exert a strong upward pressure on food prices and child malnutrition even during years of falling international prices.     

Do the urban poor face higher food prices? Evidence from Vietnam

Whether there is a poverty penalty, in terms of food prices, is unsettled in the literature after more than four decades of study. Unit values from household surveys suggest that prices vary with income while outlet surveys typically find food prices varying with store type but not with neighborhood income. Most outlet surveys are from rich countries, with just one spatially limited study from a developing country. In this paper we use especially collected food price data from metropolitan areas of Vietnam to test whether the urban poor face higher food prices. Food prices in low-income neighborhoods are 1% lower, on average, than in other neighborhoods. Unit values give a different answer to the question of whether the poor face higher prices and are not suited to answer such a question.     

Explaining Intermetropolitan Variation in Housing Prices, Rents and Land Prices

In attempting to explain why housing prices, rents and urban land prices vary so dramatically between U.S. metropolitan areas, a simple model of a metropolitan housing market is presented identifying three interrelated submarkets. Estimating equations for rent, housing prices and urban land prices are identified and estimated using two-stage least squares. The empirical results provide strong support for the theoretical model concerning how these three submarkets interact. The results also suggest that household income and construction costs are the most important factors causing housing prices, rents and land prices to vary between metropolitan areas.     

House Prices and Inflation

The present paper examines the long-run impact of inflation on homeowner equity by investigating the relationship between house prices and the prices of nonhousing goods and services, rather than return series and inflation rates as in previous empirical studies on the inflation hedging ability of real estate. There are two reasons for this methodological departure from prior practice: (1) while the total return on housing cannot be accurately measured, the total return on housing is fully reflected in housing prices, and (2) given that using returns or differencing a time series leads to a loss of long-run information contained in the series, valuable long-run information can be captured by using prices. Also, unlike previous related studies, we exclude housing costs from goods and services prices to avoid potential bias in estimating how inflation affects housing prices. Monthly data series are collected for existing and for new house prices as well as the consumer price index excluding housing costs for the period 1968–2000. Based on both autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models and recursive regressions, the empirical results yield estimated Fisher coefficients that are consistently greater than one over the sample period. Thus, we infer that house prices are a stable inflation hedge in the long run.     

Pricing policies of multinational enterprises : Host country regulation and welfare

This paper examines host country price-regulation policies towards a foreign subsidiary. The analysis considers two prices, namely the transfer prices charged to the subsidiary, and the market price of the subsidiary's products. It is shown that host countries should regulate both of these prices. Regulation of the transfer price alone may induce an increase in the subsidiary's market price and cause a loss of host country welfare. Regulation of both prices is more efficient for it enables the host country to attain a higher level of welfare and allows the foreign firm to earn the same level of profits as would regulation of only one of those prices.     

中国与世界主要国家电价比较分析

通过对世界部分国家电价进行对比,剖析了我国在上网电价、输配电价、终端销售电价以及电力与其他能源产品比价方面存在的问题,认为我国电价总体水平偏低,需要适时调整电价水平和电价结构,尽快形成独立的输配电价。     

The impact of corporate size and strategy on competitive pricing

Larger firms are often hypothesized to have higher prices than smaller competitors because of their market power or implicit collusion on prices. Advertising is often suggested as another cause of price elevation due to its ability to differentiate products of equivalent or inferior quality. This study examines the effect of these and other factors on prices in the major home appliance industry. The most interesting result is the strong corporate effect on prices, which permeates pricing strategies across categories, models and time. Contrary to the hypotheses listed above, larger corporations have lower prices, and advertised products are not higher priced. Strategic and policy implications are discussed.     

Fuly Distributed Cost Pricing,Ramsey Pricing,and Shapley Value Pricing: A Simulated Welfare Analysis for the Telephone Exchange

Economic theory has long been concerned with determining the optimal pricing scheme for a multiproduct monopoly, but it has been quite difficult to make use of developments in practice. Using LECOM, the Local Exchange Cost Optimization Model, over three stylized city maps, and assuming price elasticity values taken from the literature for four standard outputs of the local exchange, we demonstrate how fully distributed cost prices, Ramsey-optimal prices, Shapley prices, and standalone prices can be computed for a variety of baseline output levels. Analysis of consumer surplus changes relative to the marginal cost baseline shows that while Ramsey pricing maximizes social welfare over the set of schemes considered, only the Shapley approach results in subsidy-free prices.     

Regulating prices in two-sided markets: The waterbed experience in mobile telephony

The distinguishing feature of two-sided markets is that the pricing structure, that is, the relative prices charged to each side, matters. Regulators need to understand and account for the interdependence of prices in both sides. Some interventions that lower the prices on one side can result in higher prices on the other side of such markets. This article reviews the recent literature analyzing this waterbed phenomenon in mobile telephony and draws some more general lessons for policy interventions in two-sided markets.     

PRICE DISPERSION IN THE SMALL AND IN THE LARGE: EVIDENCE FROM AN INTERNET PRICE COMPARISON SITE

This paper examines four million daily price observations for more than 1,000 consumer electronics products on the price comparison site http://Shopper.com . We find little support for the notion that prices on the Internet are converging to the 'law of one price.' In addition, observed levels of price dispersion vary systematically with the number of firms listing prices. The difference between the two lowest prices (the 'gap') averages 23 per cent when two firms list prices, and falls to 3.5 per cent in markets where 17 firms list prices. These empirical results are an implication of a general 'clearinghouse' model of equilibrium price dispersion.     

The impact of regulation on the retail prices in fixed-line telephony across the European Union

This paper estimates reduced-form models for incumbent prices in the fixed telecommunications industry using data for European Union (EU) countries from 1998 to 2002. The regulation of fixed-line telephony has a significant impact on prices for residential consumers. Liberalization of the telecommunications industry decreased retail prices by about 8.2%. The introduction of carrier pre-selection and number portability had a negative impact on price levels. The estimation results also suggest that a 1% decrease in termination charges on the incumbent network led on average to a 0.17% decrease in the cost of usage basket for residential consumers. Furthermore, in the pricing regressions for incumbent local and national calls at peak and off-peak times interconnection charges are significant only in the estimation of national peak prices. A 1% decrease in single transit interconnection charges on the incumbent network led to a 0.31% decrease in incumbent national prices at peak times, as calculated for the average prices in the EU in 2002.