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。     

Econometric analysis of residential time-of-use electricity pricing experiments

This paper adapts the two-stage neo-classical model of consumer behavior to the analysis of time-of-use pricing of electricity. Emphasis is placed upon the relationship between partial elasticities, which can be accurately estimated from the first stage, and total elasticities, which can be estimated only by using less reliable information to estimate the second stage. Three functional forms are implemented with data from the Wisconsin Pricing Experiment. Results indicate that (1) the CES and generalized Leontief functional forms are preferred, (2) price elasticities vary substantially with price, and (3) peak and off-peak electricity are partial substitutes but total complements.     

An anomaly in the pricing of bank non-interest mortgage charges

This paper uses a monopolistically competitive model to study the determinants of bank mortgage charges. The study shows that concentration and the loan-price ratio do not have significant effects on the bank mortgage charges. Significantly, the charges are found to be positively related to the number of banks and bank offices in a given market and inversely related to the market size or population. (JEL L130, G210)     

The effect of non-pecuniary motivations on labor supply

People value work not only as a means of earning income to satisfy their consumption needs but also as a direct source of satisfaction for its socio-psychological effects (non-pecuniary benefits). I show that once non-pecuniary effects of working time are incorporated in the standard labor-supply model: (i) the wage rate under-estimates (over-estimates) the true opportunity cost of non-work/leisure time when working time has non-pecuniary benefits (costs), (ii) non-pecuniary work motivations can substitute for monetary wages as work incentives, (iii) at very low wage rates, work can become a net source of utility, and (iv) the implied shape of labor-supply curve differs starkly from those implied by standard theory. I identify conditions under which a greater non-pecuniary work motivation induces a larger supply of labor, and examine the effects of non-wage income on supplies of paid work and voluntary work when there are non-pecuniary benefits associated with both types of work.     

The impact of foreign variables on domestic money demand: Evidence from the United Kingdom

This paper contributes to the existing money demand literature by developing and estimating a shopping-time model in an open economy framework. Based on this microfoundations-of-money model, United Kingdom quarterly data for the period 1973:2–1997:2 are analyzed in the empirical study. After accounting for nonstationarity in the time series processes, I find three long-run relationships among the relevant variables. Estimation of the error-correction representation implied by the model shows that the foreign exchange rates and the imports consumption, in addition to the domestic variables, have significant effects on British demand for real money. I am grateful to Kenneth D. West, Donald D. Hester, James M. Johannes, Hung-Neng Lai, two anonymous referees, and seminar participants at the University of Alabama and the University of Wisconsin for helpful comments. I also thank the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for its financial support. Naturally, all remaining errors are mine.     

In search for yield? Survey-based evidence on bank risk taking

Monetary policy can have an impact on economic and financial stability through the risk taking of banks. Falling interest rates might induce investment into risky activities. This paper provides evidence on the link between monetary policy and bank risk taking. We use a factor-augmented vector autoregressive model (FAVAR) for the US for the period 1997–2008. Besides standard macroeconomic indicators, we include factors summarizing information provided in the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Terms of Business Lending (STBL). These data provide information on banks׳ new loans as well as interest rates for different loan risk categories and different banking groups. We identify a risk-taking channel of monetary policy by distinguishing responses to monetary policy shocks across different types of banks and different loan risk categories. Following an expansionary monetary policy shock, small domestic banks increase their exposure to risk. Large domestic banks do not change their risk exposure. Foreign banks take on more risk only in the mid-2000s, when interest rates were ‘too low for too long’.     

A PLS path model to investigate the relations between institutions and human development

The paper studies the relations between institutions and human development, in particular the causal effects of the different types of institutions on different components of human development. We assume development to be created by aggregate demand; in particular that aggregate demand determines the material components of human development. We thus divide institutions into those that create demand and those that are determined by the whole process of development. Similarly we divide human development in its three traditional components (economic development, health, knowledge). Both human development and institutions are assumed to be multidimensional constructs; all the main components of these constructs are defined as latent variables, and the relations between them as structural relations. A partial least squares (PLS) path model is developed: it is the aggregation (and simultaneous estimation) of an outer model relating observed or manifest variables to their own latent variable and of a structural model (inner model) relating some endogenous latent variable to other latent variables. From the goodness of fit point of view, our results seem to validate our theoretical assumptions.     

Charging for local telephone calls: How household characteristics affect the distribution of calls in the GTE Illinois experiment

When the billing of local telephone service is changed from flat rate to measured service, the distribution of monthly calling rates is altered. This paper models the distribution of flat-rate telephone use in terms of demographic variables and stochastic components; the shift to measured service affects both the systematic and stochastic parameters. The model is fitted by maximum likelihood to data for interviewed households participating in General Telephone's local-measured-service experiment in Illinois. Households tend to make more calls if they are larger (more people), older, or include teenagers. They tend to reduce calling proportionately more in response to usage charges if they average many calls under flat rate for any of the above reasons or for other, unexplained reasons. There is substantial variation in telephone use by households with similar demographic characteristics. Consequently, the benefits and costs of local measured service will tend to be diffused across demographic groups.     

Maximum likelihood estimation and Lagrange multiplier tests for panel seemingly unrelated regressions with spatial lag and spatial errors: An application to hedonic housing prices in Paris

This paper proposes maximum likelihood estimators for panel seemingly unrelated regressions with both spatial lag and spatial error components. We study the general case where spatial effects are incorporated via spatial errors terms and via a spatial lag dependent variable and where the heterogeneity in the panel is incorporated via an error component specification. We generalize the approach of Wang and Kockelman (2007) and propose joint and conditional Lagrange multiplier tests for spatial autocorrelation and random effects for this spatial SUR panel model. The small sample performance of the proposed estimators and tests are examined using Monte Carlo experiments. An empirical application to hedonic housing prices in Paris illustrate these methods. The proposed specification uses a system of three SUR equations corresponding to three types of flats within 80 districts of Paris over the period 1990-2003. We test for spatial effects and heterogeneity and find reasonable estimates of the shadow prices for housing characteristics.     

Antecedents of employee's preference for knowledge-sharing tools

This study examines individual antecedents of employees' preference for formal or informal knowledge-sharing tools. We propose that the preference for different tools is determined by the combined effects of willingness to share knowledge, trust and role breadth self-efficacy (RBSE). The findings of the empirical study, which was conducted at a medium-sized Chinese company (N = 860), revealed that willingness to seek knowledge was related to the usage of both formal and informal tools. Furthermore, the willingness to give knowledge was significantly related to the usage of formal tools. RBSE had a significantly positive impact on both formal and informal knowledge-sharing tools' usage, while its effects on formal tools' usage were stronger than those on informal tools. Affect-based trust had a significantly positive impact on the usage of informal knowledge sharing, which was also stronger than its impact on formal tools' usage. Cognition-based trust positively moderated the relationship between willingness to seek knowledge and the usage of formal tools, and the relationship between willingness to share knowledge and informal tools' usage.     

The transmission of foreign shocks to South Eastern European economies: A Bayesian VAR approach

The paper analyses the macroeconomic effects of foreign shocks in three South-East European (SEE) economies: Croatia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. In this regard, we investigate the transmission of several eurozone shocks (output gap, money market rates and inflation) on various macroeconomic variables in the aforementioned countries (output, inflation, money market rates and budget deficits). We trace the effects of foreign shocks on the basis of impulse response functions obtained from the Bayesian Vector Auto Regressions (VARs) separately for each country. The main findings from our study are: first, economic expansion in the eurozone has strong output and inflation effects on SEE economies, implying some degree of synchronization of business cycles; second, eurozone inflation is instantly and to a great extent transmitted to domestic inflation, suggesting that inflation in the SEE economies is mostly driven by foreign inflation; third, domestic money market rates are not closely linked with eurozone money markets; fourth, monetary policy in the SEE countries does not seem to be responsive to eurozone inflation shocks; and fifth, the fiscal authorities attempt to offset the spillover effects from both economic expansion and monetary tightening in the eurozone.     

Conceptualising the capabilities and value creation of HRM shared service models

Organisations are increasingly establishing HRM Shared Service Models (SSMs) for the delivery of HRM. These SSMs are claimed to maximise usage of the advantages of centralised and decentralised delivery approaches while minimising the drawbacks of both. This article draws on concepts from the Resource-Based View, the Dynamic Capabilities Approach and from contingency models in order to advance the argument on HRM SSMs and their value for organisations. We propose a model that enables one to conceptualise the value created by an HRM SSM and that is contingent on the types of capabilities employed within it, the types of HRM services offered and the organisational model chosen.     

Modelling low income transitions

We examine the determinants of low income transitions using first‐order Markov models that control for initial conditions effects (those found to be poor in the base year may be a non‐random sample) and for attrition (panel retention may also be non‐random). The model estimates, derived from British panel data for the 1990s, indicate that there is substantial state dependence in poverty, separate from persistence induced by heterogeneity. We also provide estimates of low income transition rates and lengths of poverty and non‐poverty spells for persons of different types. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contrasting Models of the Effect of Inflation on Growth

Abstract.  The paper formulates a nesting model for studying the theoretical literature on inflation and endogenous growth. It analyses different classes of endogenous growth models, with different usage of physical and human capital, with different exchange technologies. First, the paper shows that a broad array of models can all generate significant negative effects of inflation on growth. Second, it shows that these models can be differentiated primarily by the fact whether there is a Tobin-type effect of inflation and also whether the inflation–growth effect becomes weaker as the inflation rate rises, a non-linearity, or stays essentially constant over the range of inflation rates. The paper compares these features of the models to empirical evidence as a way to summarize the efficacy of the models.     

Optimal information transmission in organizations: search and congestion

We propose a stylized model of a problem-solving organization whose internal communication structure is given by a fixed network. Problems arrive randomly anywhere in this network and must find their way to their respective specialized solvers by relying on local information alone. The organization handles multiple problems simultaneously. For this reason, the process may be subject to congestion. We provide a characterization of the threshold of collapse of the network and of the stock of floating problems (or average delay) that prevails below that threshold. We build upon this characterization to address a design problem: the determination of what kind of network architecture optimizes performance for any given problem arrival rate. We conclude that, for low arrival rates, the optimal network is very polarized (i.e. star-like or centralized), whereas it is largely homogenous (or decentralized) for high arrival rates. These observations are in line with a common transformation experienced by information-intensive organizations as their work flow has risen in recent years.     

Cross-section dependence and the monetary exchange rate model – A panel analysis

This paper tackles the issue of cross-section dependence for the monetary exchange rate model in the presence of unobserved common factors using panel data from 1973 until 2007 for 19 OECD countries. Applying a principal component analysis we distinguish between common factors and idiosyncratic components and determine whether non-stationarity stems from international or national stochastic trends. We find evidence that the common factors are I(1) while the idiosyncratic components are I(0). This finding indicates that cross-member cointegration exists and non-stationarity in exchange rates and fundamentals is mainly driven by common international trends. We find evidence that the common factors of the exchange rates and fundamentals are cointegrated. In addition, the estimated long-run coefficients of this common international relationship are in line with the suggestions of the monetary model with respect to income and money.     

The Old‐Boy Network and the Quality of Entrepreneurs

We study a model of network formation and start‐up financing with endogenous entrepreneurial type distribution. A hub firm admits members to its network based on signals about entrepreneurs' types. Network membership is observable, which allows lenders to offer different interest rates to network and stand‐alone entrepreneurs. We show that a network outcome can display a smaller number of high‐type entrepreneurs even though the network is neither nepotistic nor informationally disadvantaged. Although a welfare‐improving network can emerge as a technically stable or unstable equilibrium, one that decreases welfare is always formed by a technically unstable equilibrium. However, the adverse welfare effects of a network and its corresponding type configuration may persist because ex post high‐type entrepreneurs prefer to stay high type whereas those who wish to become high type may need some time to react.     

Markets for standardized technologies: Patent licensing with principle of proportionality

In this paper, we study the licensing of standard-related patents among companies that employ a two-level licensing model where (i) the aggregated value of technology in the end product is divided among the integrated technologies in the product, and (ii) the value of each technology is then shared among the patent owners in proportion to the strengths of their patent portfolios in these technologies. Specifically, we develop a system dynamics simulation model for analyzing the effects of licensing costs on product and technology markets. This model is based on the modeling of three types of companies whose interactions are analyzed using non-cooperative game theory. The numerical results suggest that none of the three companies benefit from very low or very high royalty rates. In this setting, our model for two-level proportional sharing of licensing payments helps identify royalty rates which benefit all types of companies and which provide incentives for technology development and innovation.     

The effects of information about health hazards in food on consumers’ choice process

This study examines the effects of context (health hazard), direction (positive versus negative) and intensity of information about health hazards on consumers’ choice processes. We propose that choice of frequently purchased food commodities, ceteris paribus, is based on a single dimension—taste. We develop a set of hypotheses regarding the type of choice process to be employed in various information types and empirically test them in a field experiment design. Our results indicate that a single-dimension choice process is employed under a nonsevere message and a multidimensional process under high-intensity negative information.     

Determinants of Intercountry Internet Diffusion Rates

This article employs cross-sectional data from 100 countries to analyze the main determinants of intercountry Internet diffusion rates. We set up an empirical model based on strong theoretical foundations, in which we regress Internet usage on variables that capture social, economic, and political differences between these countries. Our results support past findings that economic strength, infrastructure, and knowledge of the English language positively affect Internet connectivity. In addition to these indicators, the openness of a country, tertiary enrollment, and income equality are found to also have a significant positive effect on Internet diffusion.