A general equilibrium approach to the measurement of monopoly welfare loss

The paper presents a framework for the evaluation of monopoly welfare losses in a general equilibrium context which includes factors of production. It shows that aggregation of partial equilibrium estimates is likely to be seriously misleading as in indicator of aggregate welfare costs. However, simple approximations to aggregate losses can be derived even in general equilibrium in the case where there are no constraints on the exercise of monopoly power. These approximations suggest that welfare losses are potentially large. If empirically observed losses are small, the implication is not that allocative efficiency is unimportant but that real economies are competitive.     

The welfare loss due to strategic investment in excess capacity

This paper explores a linear model of excess capacity as a barrier to entry. The resultant welfare cost is compared with that of a simple monopolist who does not face an entry threat. The threat of entry may actually reduce social welfare when potential consumer surplus is high. Economies of scale have a non-linear effect, reducing social cost if there is exces capacity, but having the opposite effect when limit pricing is optimal. Empirical measures of the social cost of monopoly power are found to be poor proxies in the presence of strategic behaviour.     

A characterization for the negative welfare effects of cost reduction in Cournot oligopoly

This paper characterizes the welfare effects of cost reductions in a Cournot model with linear costs. Under linear demand, a small reduction in a firm’s marginal cost reduces welfare if and only if its market share is less than 1/(2n+2), or equivalently, its marginal cost exceeds a critical level determined by the market. A large cost reduction by the firm increases welfare if and only if its magnitude is at least twice the difference between the current marginal cost and its critical value. The paper also extends the results to non-linear demand, but the characterizations become less tractable.     

Measuring the consumer benefits of improving farm animal welfare to inform welfare labelling

Policy makers in the European Union are envisioning the introduction of a community farm animal welfare label which would allow consumers to align their consumption habits with their farm animal welfare preferences. For welfare labelling to be viable the market for livestock products produced to higher welfare standards has to be sufficiently segmented with consumers having sufficiently distinct and behaviourally consistent preferences. The present study investigates consumers’ preferences for meat produced to different welfare standards using a hypothetical welfare score. Data is obtained from a contingent valuation study carried out in Britain. The ordered probit model was estimated using Bayesian inference to obtain mean willingness to pay. We find decreasing marginal WTP as animal welfare levels increase and that people’s preferences for different levels of farm animal welfare are sufficiently differentiated making the introduction of a labelling scheme in the form of a certified rating system appear feasible.     

A welfare measure of consumer vulnerability to rising prices of food imports in the UAE

The recent and expected continuing rise in food prices has re-ignited concern and discussion in the United Arab Emirates about the country’s vulnerability to food supply shocks. Defining vulnerability as the compensating variation relative to household income, we find that although UAE households in the lowest income quintile spend on food on average less than a quarter of what households in the highest income quintile spend, the former are 3.5 times more vulnerable to rising prices of food imports than the latter.     

Competition reform and household welfare: A microsimulation analysis of the telecommunication sector in Ethiopia

This paper presents a novel simulation method for estimating the likely welfare effects of policy reforms aimed at increasing competition in strategic economic sectors such as mobile phone services. The proposed method relies on a partial equilibrium simulation approach and estimates the welfare impacts on current consumers and the potential welfare effects among new consumers brought into the market by changes in prices due to competition. This approach is applied to the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Ethiopia, one of the three countries in the world with a monopoly in the market for mobile phone services. Based on household budget survey data for 2015/16 and departing from a baseline reform scenario that dilutes the market share of the state-owned monopoly to 45 percent, the simulation model estimates a 25.3 percent reduction in the price of mobile services and an increase in 5.7 million new users of mobile services. The predicted drop in prices and increased users would generate a combined relative welfare gain of 1.18 percent (1.09 percent among current users and 0.09 percent among new users), that could be translated into a 0.31 percentage point decline in the national poverty rate and equivalent to lifting about 275,000 people out of poverty. Alternative reform scenarios that dilute the market share of the monopoly to 75 percent and to 30 percent are expected to reduce poverty rate in 0.13 and 0.52 percentage points, respectively. The method proposed in this study represents a useful tool for promoting competition reforms in developing countries, particularly in sectors known for excluding significant segments of the population because of high consumer prices.     

一种简单数字测温电路的设计

针对生产试验中低成本、高精度的需要,利用8位A/D转换芯片TLC549、单片机AT89C2051、放大器AD626和数码驱动芯片74HC595设计测温电路。电路中利用对桥电阻的合理选择改善桥的线性关系。理论分析和实际电路测试结果表明,该电路具有精度高、可靠性高、使用方便等优点。     

A measurement model of strategic planning

While strategic planning is a key concept in management research, there has been little consistency in its conceptualization or measurement. Our review of prior studies also identifies reliability and validity, dimensionality, crude levels of measurement, and lack of parsimony as additional problems associated with prior use of this variable. Such problems substantially limit our ability to compare results across studies, or to make appropriate normative recommendations. We address these concerns by developing and validating a multiple indicator measure of strategic planning, using two independent samples. Implications for future research are then discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Citizens,consumers and farm animal welfare: A meta-analysis of willingness-to-pay studies

The sustainable intensification of animal production systems is increasing as a consequence of increased demand for foods originating from animals. Production diseases are particularly endemic in intensive production systems, and can negatively impact upon farm animal welfare. There is an increasing need to develop policies regarding animal production diseases, sustainable intensification, and animal welfare which incorporate consumer priorities as well as technical assessments of farm animal welfare. Consumers and/or citizens may have concerns about intensive production systems, and whether animal production disease represent a barrier to consumer acceptance of their increased use. There is a considerable body of research focused on consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved animal welfare. It is not clear how this relates specifically to a preference for reduced animal production disease incidence in animal production systems. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to establish the publics’ WTP for farm animal welfare, with a focus on production diseases which arise in intensive systems. Systematic review methodology combined with data synthesis was applied to integrate existing knowledge regarding consumer WTP for animal welfare, and reduced incidence of animal production diseases. Multiple databases were searched to identify relevant studies. A screening process, using a set of pre-determined inclusion criteria, identified 54 studies, with the strength of evidence and uncertainty for each study being assessed. A random effects meta-analysis was used to explore heterogeneity in relation to a number of factors, with a cumulative meta-analysis conducted to establish changes in WTP over time. The results indicated a small, positive WTP (0.63 standard deviations) for farm animal welfare varying in relation to a number of factors including animal type and region. Socio-demographic characteristics explained the most variation in the data. An evidence gap was highlighted in relation to reduced WTP for specific production diseases associated with the intensification of production, with only 4 of the 54 studies identified being related to this. A combination of market and government based policy solutions appears to be the best solution for improving farm animal welfare standards in the future, enabling the diverse public preferences to be taken into consideration.     

Regulatory decision errors,Legal Uncertainty and welfare: A general treatment

We provide a general treatment of the implications for welfare of various sources of legal uncertainty facing agents about the decisions made by a regulatory authority. We distinguish the legal uncertainty from the decision errors made by the authority. While an increase in decision errors will always reduce welfare, for any given level of decision errors, information structures involving more legal uncertainty can improve welfare. This holds always when sanctions are set at their optimal level. This transforms radically one's perception about the “costs” of legal uncertainty. We also provide general proofs for two results, previously established under restrictive assumptions.     

中国液化天然气接收站发展趋势思考

中国LNG接收站接收能力快速增加,利用率处于高位,建设主体日益多元,加工经营模式相对稳定,进口LNG主导液态分销市场,保税罐运行开展了有益尝试。目前,中国正在运行的LNG接收站主要发挥的是生产加工功能,是面向国内市场主体的完税LNG接收站。随着国家扩大对外开放以及油气基础设施公平开放进一步深化,国家鼓励LNG接收站做大做强储气业务,同时市场波动要求企业提升储气能力,未来中国LNG接收站将朝着多建储罐做大储气规模、整合协同实现多元服务、面向国际完善保税设施和引进外资使用,以及接收终端拓展为集散枢纽的方向发展。未来需统筹规划接收站建设,优化生产与储气罐容比例,优化接收站运营规则,并建立健全与业务拓展相适应的监管规则。     

High animal welfare standards in the EU and international trade – How to prevent potential ‘low animal welfare havens’?

Future costs of compliance with obligatory animal welfare standards in the EU for poultry and egg production are significant and may lead to relocation of production to third countries. After an overview of different rationales for complementary policies to prevent relocation, this article systematically compares such policies. Some policies, like multilateral agreements and labelling, may be supporting, but may not be able to prevent relocation comprehensively. Compensatory payments to domestic producers, in contrast, are effective but disadvantage third country producers that comply with equivalent standards. Therefore, tariff discrimination may be a better alternative. A major drawback of tariff discrimination, however, is its severe institutional requirements. Future research questions include quantification of potential relocation as well as transaction costs of various complementary policies.     

A methodological note on diversity measurement

This research addresses the question, do categorical and continuous measures capture the same construct of diversity? Using analysis of variance, cluster analysis, and discriminant analysis, we investigated whether continuous measures (entropy and product count) differentiate between diversification categories, whether continuous measures converted to categories and subjectively assigned categories classified companies similarly, and whether continuous and categorical measures predicted similar diversity–performance relationships. We concluded that the techniques were associated but did not yield the same performance predictions. For researchers investigating diversity–performance relationships, choice of measurement technique will influence research results. Our research results suggest that attempts to combine categorical and continuous techniques as a way to overcome the limitations of both methods is not appropriate.     

The impacts of hybrid maize seed on the welfare of farming households in Kenya

This paper explores the impacts of hybrid maize adoption on the welfare of farming households in Kenya. We use a four-year panel dataset to estimate the effects of hybrid seed use on four indicators of household welfare, namely, income, assets, inequality and poverty. Results show that use of hybrid seed not only contributes to higher annual income, but also to raising the value of assets, possibly reflecting longer-term welfare effects. Further, we find that use of hybrid seed reduces the depth of poverty, and that the amount planted reduces inequality. As expected, impacts differ between major and minor maize-growing areas of the country. Maize farmers who do not use hybrid seed are clearly disadvantaged. This calls for continued public and private investments in the infrastructure and policy process that supports a competitive, liberalized seed industry and improved access of smallholder farmers to well-adapted, affordable hybrids.     

On mandatory labeling of animal welfare attributes

This paper assesses US resident support for mandatory labeling of animal welfare information on pork and egg products and outlines policy considerations for assessment prior to implementing any mandatory labeling policies regarding animal welfare practices. Results suggest consumers support mandatory labeling indicating use of gestation crates (stalls) and laying hen cages. Estimates suggest consumers would be willing to pay about 20% higher pork and egg prices to obtain this production practice information. Demographic and latent perception drivers of this support are highlighted. Multiple issues that warrant consideration prior to imposing mandatory labeling are discussed revealing lines of corresponding future research.     

Mobile money,family assistance and welfare in Cameroon

This paper aims to investigate the effect of mobile money services on the welfare in Cameroon. It specifically verifies whether the welfare of people benefiting from family assistance is improved via the mobile money services offered by the two main operators in the country, namely: Orange and Mtn. The data used come from the « FinScope Consommateur Cameroun » Survey carried out in 2017 by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Based on the propensity scores estimations, this study shows a positive and significant effect of mobile money on welfare. However, among the operators, Orange has a better impact compared to Mtn which does not present a significant effect. These results call on the authorities in charge of the development and implementation of financial inclusion policies to recognize the interest of digital financial services at the heart of financial inclusion strategies for the welfare of the poor.     

Consumer welfare and GM food labeling: A simulation using an adjusted Kumaraswamy distribution

Genetically modified (GM) food products and their labeling have become a major policy issue with impassioned public debates. We explore the impact of different labeling regimes on consumer attitudes towards GM products and consumer welfare. Our experimental results illustrate that these consumer attitudes do not follow the Uniform distribution as has often been assumed in the literature but instead fit an adjusted Kumaraswamy distribution. If a Uniform distribution is assumed, the advantage of mandatory labeling would be exaggerated. Using an adjusted Kumaraswamy distribution our simulation results demonstrate that voluntary labeling is superior to mandatory labeling with the higher separation cost, while mandatory labeling is not necessarily better with lower separation cost. Therefore, the governments of China and other countries with similar consumer characteristics should consider voluntary labeling for GM food while encouraging innovations that reduce the price of GM food as well as controlling the opportunistic behavior of its producers so as to enhance the advantage of voluntary labeling.     

Switching costs in the US seed industry: Technology adoption and welfare impacts

We evaluate the role of brand and technology switching costs in the US soybean seed industry using a unique dataset of actual seed purchases by about 28,000 farmers from 1996 to 2016. Using a random coefficients logit model of demand, we estimate brand and technology switching costs, characterize the distributions of buyers’ willingness to pay for seed brands and the glyphosate tolerance (GT) trait, and assess the implications of brand and technology switching costs for farmers’ welfare, technology adoption, firm profits, and firm market shares. We find that farmers are willing to pay large premiums for brand labels, and even larger premiums for the GT trait, although there is considerable heterogeneity in these values. Switching costs play an important role in the soybean seed industry. Eliminating these costs would significantly increase buyers’ welfare, reduce seed prices and firm profits, decrease adoption of the GT trait, and impact industry consolidation by expanding smaller firms’ market shares.     

公路收费站收费终端机设计

设计了一种公路收费站收费终端机,它具有收费输入、栏杆控制、车辆自动计数、语音提示、数码显示、视频叠加等功能。主要部件由 8031 单片机、非易失存储器 HK1235、语音芯片ISD2590、日历时钟芯片 DS12887、可编程接口芯片 8255、键盘显示接口芯片 8279、复位控制芯片MX708等组成。该收费终端机可随时接受上位机指令,实现数据传送、时钟校准、收费标准修改及收费工作人员密码传送等,采用大容量非易失存储器,能较长时间地脱机独立工作,并保证掉电时数据不丢失。