The use of data envelopment analysis for the detection of price above the competitive level

Economic theory can predict the impact of exogenous influences on the equilibrium prices in a market. However, it is difficult to measure the magnitude of such effects because the appropriate data are usually not available. In this paper a new approach to comparing prices is explored using individual firm data which are typically available. If the firms in different markets can be assumed to use the same technology, price differentials can be inferred from the estimates can be assumed to use the same technology, price differentials can be inferred from the estimates of best practice frontiers. The new approach is applied to data on the Swiss construction industry in different cantons. In some cantons the market can be said to be competitive, in others non-competitive procurement rules are expected to raise equilibrium prices. The data envelopment analysis estimates the price differential to be approximately equal to 7.5%.Helpful criticism from participants of a seminar at the Business Institute of the University of Vienna are gratefully acknowledged.     

A graphic representation of the Nash and Lindahl equilibria in an economy with a public good

In an economy with a public good the noncooperative Nash equilibrium and the cooperative Lindahl equilibrium are represented graphically. The Nash equilibrium is shown to be non-optimal, while the Lindahl equilibrium is shown to be optimal. Simple stability analyses are undertaken. Finally, the two equilibria are compared. It appears that more public good will be allocated in the Lindahl than in the Nash equilibrium, and that in a sufficiently large economy a transition from a Nash to a Lindahl equilibrium will be advantageous for everyone.     

Are exchange rate changes normally distributed?

Although assumed to be normal, daily returns in reality are leptokurtic. Monthly returns, however, are shown to be more normally distributed. Evidence was found of dependence on consecutive daily price changes, which may be an explanation for the leptokurtosis.     

ON GOODS AND SERVICES

The paper is concerned with the concept, definition and measurement of a service. Although services are often dismissed as immaterial goods, they are not special kinds of goods and belong in a quite different logical category from goods. The search for appropriate units of quantity in which to measure services is not an idle metaphysical pursuit. Without quantity units there can be no prices, and most economic theory becomes irrelevant. Indeed, large parts of economic theory may be irrelevant to the analysis of services anyway, precisely because they are not goods which can be exchanged among economic units. Services are as important as goods in modern developed economies and they need to be identified and quantified properly if the measurement of economic growth and inflation is to have any meaning for the economy as a whole. The concept of a service is explained in some detail in the paper, and various ways in which services can be classified for purposes of economic analysis are elaborated. The distinction between private and public goods, or rather between private and collective services, is re-examined in the light of the general concept of a service proposed in the paper. Externalities are shown to be simply special kinds of services.     

The New Urbanism Versus the Market Process

The new urbanism argues that land-use planning should be used to create higher-density development and to promote alternatives to the use of personal automobiles for transportation. The concerns of the new urbanist movement are shown to be misplaced, and the goals of the new urbanism are shown to be in conflict with market incentives, making them difficult to implement in any event. A better policy for more efficient land use would be for governments to plan more effectively for their own infrastructure development while allowing the development of privately-owned land to be guided by market forces.     

Strong and weak ties in employment and crime

This paper analyzes the interplay between social structure and information exchange in two competing activities, crime and labor. We consider a dynamic model in which individuals belong to mutually exclusive two-person groups, referred to as dyads. There are multiple equilibria. If jobs are badly paid and/or crime is profitable, unemployment benefits have to be low enough to prevent workers for staying too long in the unemployment status because they are vulnerable to crime activities. If, instead, jobs are well paid and/or crime is not profitable, unemployment benefits have to be high enough to induce workers to stay unemployed rather to commit crime because they are less vulnerable to crime activities. Also, in segregated neighborhoods characterized by high interactions between peers, a policy only based on punishment and arrest will not be efficient in reducing crime. It has to be accompanied by other types of policies that take into account social interactions.     

城镇化过程中的制约因素与对策研究

城镇化是新农村建设的途径和目标之一,意义特殊而重大.但是,当前在农村城镇化建设过程中存在的一系列问题,妨碍了农村城镇化的进程.主要表现在政府与政策支持力度不够,体制性障碍没有从根本上消除,城镇化所需的基础设施建设滞后,城镇化过程中的质量意识不强等方面.因此,加强政府指导,拓展城镇化资金来源渠道,加快户籍制度改革,加强产业集聚,建立和完善土地流转制度,将农民纳入社会保障体系等,是加快城镇化建设步伐的根本出路与必然路径.     

Auction theory adaptations for real life applications

We develop extensions to auction theory results that are useful in real life scenarios.1. Since valuations are generally positive we first develop approximations using the log-normal distribution. This would be useful for many finance related auction settings since asset prices are usually non-negative.2. We formulate a positive symmetric discrete distribution, which is likely to be followed by the total number of auction participants, and incorporate this into auction theory results.3. We develop extensions when the valuations of the bidders are interdependent and incorporate all the results developed into a final combined realistic setting.4. Our methods can be a practical tool for bidders and auction sellers to maximize their profits. The models developed here could be potentially useful for inventory estimation and for wholesale procurement of financial instruments and also non-financial commodities.All the propositions are new results and they refer to existing results which are stated as Lemmas.     

Corruption and the public display of wealth

We study an agent–client model of corruption, in which potential corruptors are uncertain about the probability with which officials are subjected to an audit, either high or low. We characterize a signaling equilibrium, in which officials who are less likely to be audited engage in public conspicuous consumption, whereas those who are more likely to be audited do not. In this equilibrium, officials are better off than in the equilibria without conspicuous consumption. The signaling equilibrium exists if the officials' bargaining power vis‐à‐vis potential corruptors is sufficiently high, which implies that corruption can be curbed by creating competition among officials.     

What to Value and How? Ecological Indicator Choices in Stated Preference Valuation

The ecological literature accepts that many policy outcomes cannot be observed directly and must be characterized using indicators. Multiple indicators can often be used to communicate similar ecological outcomes. Previous studies using alternative indicators in stated preference surveys suggest that welfare estimates may be indicator-dependent, casting doubt on whether welfare estimates are sufficiently reliable for cost benefit analysis. We suggest that the reason for such indicator dependence may be that indicators used in these prior studies represented different outcomes valued by respondents. This possibility underscores the need for greater attention to selection of indicators and their properties within stated preference survey design. This paper develops a model introducing the concept of outcome equivalent indicators, defined as indicators that provide alternative representations of identical underlying outcomes. To assess empirically whether welfare estimates are indeed robust to indicator choice when alternative indicators are expected to be outcome equivalent, we analyze data from a choice experiment estimating willingness to pay for migratory fish restoration in Rhode Island, USA. Results demonstrate that welfare estimates are robust to the use of alternative ecological indicators within stated preference scenarios.     

ECONOMICS OF THE LIVING DEAD*

Zombie firms are those firms that are insolvent and have little hope of recovery but avoid failure thanks to support from their banks. This paper identifies zombie firms in Japan, and compares the characteristics of zombies to other firms. Zombie firms are found to be less profitable, more indebted, more dependent on their main banks, more likely to be found in non‐manufacturing industries and more often located outside large metropolitan areas. Overall, larger size makes the firm less likely to be a zombie, but among small firms, relatively larger firms are more likely to be protected and become zombies. Controlling for profitability, the exit probability for zombie firms does not differ from that for non‐zombies. Zombie firms tend to increase employment by more (but do not reduce employment by more) than non‐zombies. Finally, when the proportion of zombie firms in an industry increases, job creation declines and job destruction increases, and the effects are stronger for non‐zombies.     

A Study of Property Valuations in Relation to Market Prices and the Characteristics of Properties*

Using data on some 1400 properties in Sydney, Australia, the paper examines the extent to which valuations reflect market prices and the characteristics of properties. Valuations of houses are found to be poorly related to market prices. Furthermore, although valuations of houses can be explained in terms of property characteristics, they are found to be less sensitive than market prices to variations in these characteristics. Land valuations are also analyzed and it is shown that these can be explained in terms of ‘land’ characteristics including environmental factors. The paper concludes that quantitative models relating valuations to the characteristics of properties could reduce the often arbitrary nature of the valuation process.     

Correspondence to what? Coherence to what? What is good scenario-based decision making?

This paper provides a framework for the evaluation of scenario planning and other strategic decision making methods or techniques. If scenario planning is useful, we should be teaching it in schools and we as individuals should be using it to cope with the uncertainty inherent in modern life. A prerequisite to this is the need to identify why, where and how (in what way) scenario planning and other methods or techniques are useful. Here, I review evaluations of scenario planning. Taking a Brunswikian perspective, I highlight the issues that have failed to be addressed in this evaluation. I demonstrate that there are many ways in which scenario planning could be useful other than those that have appeared in previous discussions. These multiple routes are dependent upon the interaction between the individual organisation, the environment in which they are operating and the method being followed.     

Endogenous Cartel Formation

This paper investigates the endogenous formation of cartels in a supergame framework in which cheating on the cartel agreement results in the ejection of only the defector from the cartel while collusion continue s amongst the non-cheating members. A more sophisticated notion of cartel stability than has been analysed hitherto is developed here, and it is shown that cartels are even less stable than they are generally believed to be. When firms produce heterogeneous goods and set prices, cartels comprising a small fraction of the industry's firms are shown to be viable. The emergence of two or more cartels within the same industry is seen not only to be a distinct possibility but also to be quite likely     

Optimal Conservation Programs, Asymmetric Information and the Role of Fixed Costs

An increasing number of environmental protection programs offers financial compensation to farmers in exchange for conservation services. Incentive-compatible contracts can be designed to mitigate excess compensation, but the extant literature suggests that outcomes are always second-best so that other instruments (such as conservation auctions) may be preferred. We argue that the claim regarding the first-best solution never being incentive-compatible is correct if all conservation costs are variable in nature; if there are fixed costs too, the first-best compensation scheme may be incentive-compatible after all. Given the relevance of fixed costs in conservation issues, we conclude that incentive-compatible contracts should be given a second chance as a policy measure to induce conservation.     

On Blending Competitive Trade Models

Three standard models typically discussed in the theory of international trade are the Ricardian model, the Heckscher‐Ohlin model and the Specific‐Factors model. Models are often compared with each other, in an attempt to analyze which model is best or fits reality better. Instead, I suggest that these international trade models can often be blended to take account of finite changes when, as a country develops, the appropriate model to be used changes as the pattern of production changes. Trade allows countries to produce fewer commodities than it consumes, and which commodities are selected to be produced may change as the economy grows in the size of its endowment bundle and/or technology changes. At issue is not only the question of which commodities are produced, but also how many commodities are produced, especially with reference to the number of productive factors.     

Perfect competition and optimal product differentiation

This paper considers whether a competitive economy will achieve an optimal allocation when firms produce differentiated products.In the model studied, firms market those products which maximize profit given the demand curves facing them. Markets are assumed to be open only for goods actually traded. Competitive conditions are achieved by replicating the consumer sector. It is shown that market equilibrium may be suboptimal if those products not being produced are highly complementary in consumption. Sufficient conditions on preferences and production sets for the market equilibrium to be optimal are given.     

加速城市建设应注意的几个问题

目前,我国城市化进程不断加快,城市数量增加,规模扩大,成效显著.但是,也必须清醒地看到,城市建设工作中的短期行为和浮躁之风相当严重,应当引起人们的高度重视.本文认为,城市规模扩张必须以产业支撑为前提,不能搞空壳城市;城市公共设施建设慎向民资伸手,不能滥用市场化手段;居民区搬迁改造应多些人文关怀,不能一拆了之;应遵循城市发展的客观规律,正确处理城市建设中的几个关系问题.     

An almost ideal demand system for alcoholic beverages in British Columbia

An almost ideal demand system for alcoholic beverages in British Columbia is estimated based on five beverage categories. Estimates of the model unrestricted and restricted to satisfy homogeneity and symmetry are presented. The restrictions are tested: as is common in applied demand analysis a number of rejections are encountered, although within-equation tests tend to support homogeneity. The rejections which are encountered are not mitigated by the inclusion of dynamic elements. The Slutsky matrix is used to examine the concavity of the expenditure function, which is found to be mildly violated. Marshallian and Hicksian own-, cross-price, and income elasticities are calculated and are found to be largely consistent with previous findings, although some noteworthy results are obtained.     

Efficiency Defense in EU and US Horizontal Merger Control if Costs are Endogenous

If fixed costs are endogenous, following from profit maximization, horizontal mergers are always profitable. They cause the price to rise and consumer surplus to decrease. A case of horizontal merger in which, according to the requirement of US and EU Merger Guidelines for an efficiency defense to be acceptable, the price declines or remains constant does not exist and therefore cannot be expected by profit maximizing partners to arise following a merger. Merger control should be guided by focusing on total welfare. Permitting cooperation in R&D, although profitable, is likely to be detrimental to welfare.