A Review of: “MODELING THE SUPPLY CHAIN” BY JEREMY R SHAPIRO Duxbury Press,Pacific Grove,California, 2001, xv + 586 pp. ISBN 0-534-37363-1. List: $71.95.

In this paper, we measure economic profit in an inflationary environment. Inflation adjusted economic profit requires two principal alterations to Economic Value Added (EVA[rgrave]). First, because inflation increases the replacement cost of non-current assets above book value, one must make a downward adjustment to EVA[rgrave] to correctly measure economic profit. Second, we add a term to EVA[rgrave] to represent a manager's ability to increase product price as costs increase. This adjustment is positive because this ability adds value to a firm. When a firm's assets are largely current, the first adjustment is not necessary, and therefore, the second dominates. In this case, EVA[rgrave] underestimates economic profit. Economic profit remains positive when a firm's rate of return on invested capital, after tax and after depreciation, is less than the weighted average cost of capital by as much as the rate of inflation. Even when inflation is modest, unadjusted EVA[rgrave] has the potential to seriously misrepresent the operating performance of a firm.     

回购合同项目的经济评价与优化

在回购合同模式下,伊朗政府拥有油气的所有权,合同者可以选择现金或购回一定数量的油气作为回收的成本和报酬.回购合同的主要经济参数包括政府优先油比例、项目收益率(ROR)、成本回收期、报酬费回收期、资本成本上限等.合同者的项目收益率是在签订合同时明确规定的,这一指标对产量和投资都非常敏感.政府优先油的比例也是回购合同项目经济评价和业务谈判的重要参数.实现合同者预计的项目收益率的最低油价是拐点油价,项目的拐点油价越高,合同者的经济风险就越大.延长成本回收期和在工程施工可行的情况下尽可能将投资提前是回购合同项目优化的重要途径.合同者要在合理范围内力争获得较大的投资额度,即较大的资本成本上限,同时要在设计上提出较为保守的目标(MDP)产量.     

TECHNICAL NOTE A NOTE ON THE COST OF OWNERSHIP,CAPITAL RECOVERY AND DEPRECIATION

This paper develops an after-tax version of the classical capital recovery equation and demonstrates its value as a screening device and as an expository tool to convey conceptual understanding of the cost of ownership, capital recovery and depreciation.     

Risk Allowance in Original Capital Investments*

In engineering economy studies, the total risk capital is often not the original capital investment. If a firm remains profitable in the future, a portion of a completely unsuccessful investment can be recovered (1) through income-tax saving as a result of the depreciation cash flows, and (2) through possible reuse of the idle depreciating facilities.

To allow for income-tax savings, the authors propose that the present worth of the guaranteed depreciation cash flow be discounted at the cost of capital and subtracted from the total initial investment to give a better measure of the risk capital. The operating profit, depreciation-free net income, can then be treated in an appropriate fashion using probabilities or a higher discount rate to account for future uncertainties in forecasting market volume, price, manufacturing costs, etc. The application of this principle has been illustrated through a number of ex amples. The results indicate the value of distinguishing between the depreciation and operational cash flow in evaluating high-risk projects in which the yield criterion is used and in mutually exclusive evaluations in which capital investment and depreciation life vary.

A further reduction in original risk capital investment may be justified if the investment still has alternate use value should the project fail; that is, in addition to the depreciation tax credit from an idle piece of equipment. The application of this principle to a mutually exclusive decision involving a grass roots plant versus a plant located as a part of an integrated facility is illustrated. Interestingly, while most decision-makers tend to be conservative with regard to reducing risk capital, ignoring the reuse potential is inconsistent in this situation as it will tend to favor the investment with the greater risk, i.e., the grass roots location.     

Depreciation,investor compensation,and welfare under rate-of-return regulation

Depreciation schedules allocate capital expenditure over time. Investors are properly compensated under any full depreciation schedule, when the allowed rate of return plus inflation adjustments to the rate base just equal the investors' nominal discount rate. Whether changes in this nominal rate are reflected in adjustments to the rate base or the rate of return, depreciation schedules can be chosen to generate efficient time paths of output prices. Practical limits on depreciation schedules, nominal rates, or information may affect the choice between adjusting the rate base or rate of return for temporal changes in capital cost.     

Research on the cost forecast of China's photovoltaic industry

Global energy and environmental problems are increasing in severity. Countries worldwide are more concerned about and are paying greater attention to strengthening their energy‐saving and emissions‐reduction efforts, protecting the environment and promoting the development of new energy. Solar energy is becoming the mainstream of the global power industry because of its significant resources and low cost. This paper provides an overview of the current state‐of‐the‐art of photovoltaic electricity technology (‘photovoltaic’ or PV) in China and addresses its potential for future cost reductions. This paper analyses the relationship between current renewable energy costs and cumulative production, development and demonstration expenditures, and other institutional influences. The theoretical framework of a learning curve offers a complete methodology for examining the underlying capital cost trajectory when developing electricity cost estimates used in energy policy planning models. The cumulative production needed to achieve ‘break‐even’ (the point at which PV is competitive with conventional alternatives) is estimated for a range of learning curve parameter values. The social cost (pollution costs and value‐added tax considered) of PV is calculated, and the question of whether and how the ‘cost cap’ can be bridged is posed, the latter being the difference between what this cumulative production will cost and what it would cost if it could be produced at a currently competitive level. We also estimate how much PV could gain if the external costs (attributable to environmental and health damage) of energy were internalised, such as through an energy tax. We use the simulated results to provide suggestions for relevant PV industrial policymaking.     

Capital Structure Decisions in Real Estate Investment

This study examines the financing decisions of real estate investors and the choice of capital structure when acquiring income-producing properties. Drawing from the literature in finance and real estate, we develop a capital structure model for real estate investment and derive six hypotheses regarding the relationship of the overall loan-to-value ratio chosen by an investor to selected characteristics of the investment. The hypotheses are then tested using financing data from a sample of apartment and commercial transactions over a fifteen-year period in a specific real estate market. The empirical findings strongly support the importance of depreciation deductions, financial distress costs, capital constraints, tax rates, and interest rates as determinants of the capital structure of real estate investors.     

Costing fixed assets in Swedish municipalities: Effects of changing calculation methods

When pricing public utility services Swedish municipalities are not allowed to charge more than their full cost. A dominant cost component in operations such as energy distribution or handling water and wastewater is the cost of fixed assets—depreciation plus interest, here referred to as “capital service cost” (CSC). The maximum acceptable price for the services is the full cost, i.e., variable cost plus fixed cost, which is mainly CSC. For CSC the sum of the present values (PV) should not exceed the investment value. Several different CSC methods meet such a PV criterion but allocate the CSC differently over time. To achieve a better match with the generated services, costing practice has changed, shifting among several alternate CSC methods. As these alternates all meet the PV criterion, the issue of charging more than full cost has not been given much attention. However, it is not enough to focus on the internal consistency of the methods. The implementation of changes and the choice of parameter values, such as interest rates, have to be considered. Such wider analysis reveals that Swedish municipalities have overestimated the full costs in public utilities by a total of several tens of billions SEK (several billions USD) giving rise to a corresponding overcharge.     

新型城镇化PPP项目最优资本结构及其影响因素研究——基于合作共赢的一般均衡视角

本文以新型城镇化建设中的准公益性PPP项目为研究对象,建立政府、企业、银行三方合作的理论模型,采用一般均衡分析与数值仿真模拟方法对项目最优资本结构及其影响因素进行分析,结果表明：PPP项目存在理论上的最优股权结构与资产负债率,公众收入水平、资本产出效率、折旧率、债务利率、企业所得税率以及政府偏好等因素影响项目经营收益与成本、资本运作效率、利润分配方式,并重置最优资本结构。因此,PPP项目融资方案设计应该参考多方合作共赢条件下的最优资本结构,同时,基于项目风险控制以及经济社会效益平衡的目标,通过调节各类影响因素完善项目最优资本结构。     

Pricing network elements when costs are changing

This paper compares the pricing rule embodied in the Federal Communications Commissions (FCCs) forward-looking cost model with a competitive equilibrium pricing rule. The rules differ due to differences in discount factors, the time path of operating cost recoveries, and the methods used to spread capital costs over time. A calibrated comparison of the rules for end-office switching reveals that the latter is most significant, causing the FCCs rule to understate cost recoveries by 24 percent. A rough aggregation suggests this difference compounds to billions of dollars nationwide, solely for the direct costs of end-office switching. This understatement is driven by falling switch costs over time, and the FCCs rule would overstate cost recoveries by a similar magnitude for assets whose costs rise over time. The competitive equilibrium rule also clarifies the endogeneity of economic life and reveals that depreciation assumptions are not needed for calculating competitive equilibrium prices.     

Human capital matters: Market valuation of firm investments in training and the role of complementary assets

Research summary: This article empirically examines the economic value to firms of investing in the training of their employees and firm‐level factors that influence how much the firms benefit. Event study methodology is used to obtain a measure of the economic impact of information regarding a firm's human capital management investments and policies. Subsequent regression analyses are then used to test hypotheses regarding possible complementary relationships between firm‐level factors and human capital investments. Results provide robust support for the proposition that effective investments in human capital and training matter, and that these human capital investments are more impactful when combined with complementary assets of R&D, physical capital, and advertising investments . Managerial summary: Do firm investments in training and the development of employee human capital matter with regard to financial performance? We find that, yes, these investments do matter. Our results show that managers who view employee human capital as an asset to be invested in and developed can expect to outperform those who view it as a cost to be minimized. In addition, we find that these human capital investments will be of even greater economic value to firms when they have made complementary investments in R&D, physical capital, and advertising . Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of taxes in corporate research and development spending

This study replicates prior research regarding research and development (R&D) spending by sampling R&D spending for a cross‐section of firms in non‐service related industries. Compustat data for 231 firms from 1992 to 1998 are used to test whether the US Federal tax credit for R&D meaningfully influenced R&D spending of the sampled firms. Firms' (1) effective rate of R&D tax credit, (2) rate of decay in R&D capital for firms' primary industry affiliation, (3) financial cost of capital, and (4) marginal tax rate are used to compute firms' user‐cost of capital for in‐house R&D. Results show that firms that were eligible for the tax credit spent more on R&D than non‐eligible firms as the user‐cost of in‐house R&D increased. These results add further evidence regarding the role of the tax credit in stimulating R&D activity and suggest that a tax credit for incremental research can be used to boost private‐sector R&D spending.     

THE CORRECT SPECIFICATION OF OPPORTUNITY COST IN THE EVALUATION OF BOND ISSUE SIZE AND TIMING

The question of when and in what quantity to obtain required bond financing takes on significance due to fixed flotation coats and the opportunity to invest excess long-term debt in marketable securities. In prior research, the optimal size and timing of bond issues is most often determined as the solution to a cost minimization problem. In this paper, we first demonstrate that previous studies have incorrectly identified the opportunity cost of excess debt. We then delineate the opportunity cost in a form consistent with modern capital structure theory. Our results indicate that a firm's capital structure and marginal tax rate are important determinants of the optimal size and timing of its bond issues.     

Input market definition under department of Justice Merger Guidelines

This paper applies the Justice Department's Merger Guidelines to define a relevant antitrust market for an input. An expression for the elasticity of the residual demand facing a monopoly supplier of a factor of production is derived. It is shown that proper input market definition depends on the elasticity of residual demand confronting the downstream input users, on the supply elasticity in the downstream market (which, in turn, depends on the rate of capital depreciation there), on the cost of the input as a percentage of downstream sales, and on the extent to which the monopolist is integrated downstream.     

Determinants of capital structure of australian trading banks

Using pooled time series/cross section data of Australian trading banks over the 1967–1988 period, this study examines the determinants of bank capital ratios. Little evidence is found to support the tax benefit/bankruptcy cost trade-off, whereas evidence is broadly consistent with the predictions of Myers' pecking order theory in the presence of transactions costs and asymmetric information. Institutional factors, including bank deregulation and type of bank, are also significant determinants of capital management of Australian trading banks.The author is from the University of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W. Thanks are due to Neil Esho, Paul Gatward, Warren Hogan, Michael Skully and two anonymous referees for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Spectrum auctions: Distortionary input tax or efficient revenue instrument?

Spectrum license auctions are widely recognized by economists as more efficient than lotteries or administrative approaches to allocate exclusive rights to spectrum. But whether spectrum auctions are the most efficient spectrum policy still generates debate, in part because the answer may vary depending on exactly what is being optimized, what else is assumed or held constant, and the policies to which one is comparing spectrum auctions. This paper examines the complex confluence of US spectrum policy and fiscal policy. It concludes that economically efficient spectrum policy requires several distinct optimizations, including devolvement of an efficient set spectrum rights and the optimal approach to raising and recycling government revenue in that devolvement process. It also requires allocation policies that take into account possible distortions of the secondary market for spectrum via the capital gains tax. The paper argues that there is no compelling theoretical case or empirical evidence that spectrum auctions are distortionary, and examines cases in which the most efficient policy is to auction spectrum and “recycle” the revenue to offset more distortionary revenue instruments. This paper also examines cases in which it is most efficient to allocate spectrum rights without raising revenue, for example when transactions costs are high or distributional concerns can prevent or delay efficiency-enhancing reforms.     

The effect of using consumption taxes on foods to promote climate friendly diets – The case of Denmark

Agriculture is responsible for 17–35% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions with livestock production contributing by approximately 18–22% of global emissions. Due to high monitoring costs and low technical potential for emission reductions, a tax on consumption may be a more efficient policy instrument to decrease emissions from agriculture than a tax based directly on emissions from production. In this study, we look at the effect of internalising the social costs of greenhouse gas emissions through a tax based on CO₂ equivalents for 23 different foods. Furthermore, we compare the loss in consumer surplus and the changed dietary composition for different taxation scenarios. In the most efficient scenario, we find a decrease in the carbon footprint from foods for an average household of 2.3–8.8% at a cost of 0.15–1.73 DKK per kg CO₂ equivalent whereas the most effective scenario led to a decrease in the carbon footprint of 10.4–19.4%, but at a cost of 3.53–6.90 DKK per kg CO₂ equivalent. The derived consequences for health show that scenarios where consumers are not compensated for the increase in taxation level lead to a decrease in the total daily amount of kJ consumed, whereas scenarios where the consumers are compensated lead to an increase. Most scenarios lead to a decrease in the consumption of saturated fat. Compensated scenarios leads to an increase in the consumption of added sugar, whereas uncompensated scenarios lead to almost no change or a decrease. Generally, the results show a low cost potential for using consumption taxes to promote climate friendly diets.     

Accelerated Depreciation and Income Growth

This paper challenges the belief that accelerated depreciation methods are always superior to the straight-line method—especially for low-tax bracket owners of highly leveraged investments who have prospects for income growth. The root of the problem is our highly progressive income tax structure and the nature of loan amortization schedules which increase a debtor's taxable income while decreasing his net cash flows. When the entire personal and corporate tax schedules are used to test alternative depreciation methods, our simulation results demonstrate that the much maligned straight-line method is optimal for suitably low discount rates.     

A Cost Function for the Natural Gas Transmission Industry

This article estimates the parameters of a cost function for the process of gas transmission based on the two basic capital inputs to the process: pipe and compressors. This in turn allows us to assess the combination of capital, operating, and maintenance costs that minimize the total cost of a natural gas transportation system. We further show that the industry's production technology exhibits increasing returns to scale. That is, we find that the long-run marginal cost is lower than the long-run average cost per unit. The natural gas transmission cost function derived is consistent with the engineering aspects of the industry and may be used to find the minimal cost of a system to transport natural gas.     

A review of: “PEAK-LOAD PRICING: EUROPEAN LESSONS FOR U.S. ENERGY POLICY,.A Rand Corporation Research Study,” by Bridger M. Mitchell,Millard G. Manning,Jr., and Jan Paul Acton,Ballinger Publishing Company,Cambridge, Mass., 1978, xxii + 249 pp., list, $16.50

This paper examines the decision of whether or not to forego a portion of the Investment Tax Credit in favor of full basis cost recovery as allowed under ACRS. In most, but not all, circumstances the full investment tax credit is the value maximizing alternative.