A note on the decomposition of cost efficiency into technical and allocative components

In this note a simpler method of cost efficiency decomposition than that of Kopp and Diewert (1982) is proposed. The method is obtained by application of a duality theorem for cost and distance functions.     

A note on “A directional slacks-based measure of technical inefficiency”

In this note we show, by means of several examples, that a directional distance function model cannot be matched with an additive model. Specifically, we show the difference between the directional slacks-based measure and the corresponding directional distance function.     

A primal Divisia technical change index based on the output distance function

We derive a primal Divisia technical change index based on the output distance function and further show the validity of this index from both economic and axiomatic points of view. In particular, we derive the primal Divisia technical change index by total differentiation of the output distance function with respect to a time trend. We then show that this index is dual to the Jorgenson and Griliches (1967) dual Divisia total factor productivity growth (TFPG) index when both the output and input markets are competitive; dual to the Diewert and Fox (2008) markup-adjusted revenue-share-based dual Divisia technical change index when market power is limited to output markets; dual to the Denny et al. (1981) and Fuss (1994) cost-elasticity-share-based dual Divisia TFPG index when market power is limited to output markets and constant returns to scale is present; and also dual to a markup-and-markdown-adjusted Divisia technical change index when market power is present in both output and input markets. Finally, we show that the primal Divisia technical change index satisfies the properties of identity, commensurability, monotonicity, and time reversal. It also satisfies the property of proportionality in the presence of path independence, which in turn requires separability between inputs and outputs and homogeneity of subaggregator functions.     

A note on an application of the trade-off method in evaluating a utility function

In this note we suggest a possible use for the trade-off technique to exclude possible forms of the utility function that are common to the same set of assumptions. Out discussion is focused on the specific case of two attributes. This case is becoming more common in coping with practical problems in the healthcare field, where the two attributes are life years and health status.     

The yearend effect in stock returns over business cycles: A technical note

This paper provides evidence in support of the claim that the well-knownJanuary effect is influenced by the stage of the business cycle. Using monthly data for the S&P Composite Index for the period from November 1948 through December 1988 and the standard methodology for seasonal anomalies, the authors show that theJanuary effect is present during the entire period examined as well as in the expansionary phases of that period. However, its existence was not detected during the contractionary phases of that period.     

A note on the microeconomics of migration

"The purpose of this note is to demonstrate in a simple model that an individual's migration from a small town to a large city may be rationalized purely by a consumption motive, rather than the motive of obtaining a higher income. More specifically, it is shown that in a large city an individual may derive a higher utility from spending a given amount of income than in a small town." A formal model is first developed that includes the principal forces at work and is then illustrated using a graphic example. The theoretical and empirical issues raised are considered in the concluding section.     

A note on redistribution

A consequence of income redistribution may well be to make everyone (including lower-income groups to which redistribution takes place) worse off after a period of years. Possibly income redistribution might gain consent because of risk aversion. The paper also draws attention to the tendency for people to be more concerned about poverty close at hand rather than far away.     

A note on the optimality ofk-stage tests

Summary This note deals with sequential tests requiring at mostk observations. First a lemma is proved concerning the form of Bayes solutions. Then it is demonstrated by giving a counter-example that the theorem ofWald andWolfowitz has no correspondence fork-stage tests.

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Zusammenfassung Es wird gezeigt, daß man beik-stufigen Tests zwar für die Gestalt vonBayes-Lösungen ein Analogon zu den unbeschränkten Sequenztests hat, daß aber der Satz vonWald undWolfowitz über die gleichmäßige Optimalität bzgl. des Stichprobenumfangs keine Entsprechung besitzt.

     

A note on the space of preference relations

The space of irreflexive, transitive, and continuous binary relations of R^l endowed with the topology of closed convergence, and subsets of defined by various other properties of the relations are investigated. It is shown that the subsets defined by properties, which one often assumes in general equilibrium theory, have nice topological properties such as compactness or G₈-ness.     

A note on the determinants of residential succession

A recent paper by J. Brueckner [J. Urban Econ., 4, (1977)] presents empirical evidence that the Muth vintage model explains the neighborhood succession process better than the Bailey boundary externality model. This note shows that Brueckner's apparent empirical findings are spurious as a result of the construction of the dependent variable, and do not provide insight into the neighborhood succession process. Re-estimation of the corrected regressions using similar data yields results which are clearly supportive of neither theoretical model.     

A note on the feasibility of incomes policies

It has been argued recently that collective bargaining reform will contribute towards a successful incomes policy. The author in this note suggests that it is too soon to predict the demise of decentralised bargaining and the emergence of co-ordinated private sector bargaining with favourable outcomes for incomes policy.     

A note on the length of the black-white border

Two simple models of racial prejudice and household location predict that the black area in a city will be of the shape that minimizes the length of the black-white border. This note provides a way to test these models by showing, for a variety of assumptions about urban structure, that in a city with a population more than about 10% black, the black-white border will be shorter if the black area is wedge-shaped than if it is circular.     

A note on linked bargaining

A recent result by Jackson and Sonnenschein (2007) describes a general framework for overcoming incentive constraints by linking together independent copies of a Bayesian decision problem. A special case of that work shows that if copies of a standard two-player Bayesian bargaining problem are independently linked (players receive valuations and trade simultaneously on a number of identical copies), then the utility cost associated with incentive constraints tends to 0 as the number of linked problems tends to infinity. We improve upon that result, increasing the rate of convergence from polynomial to exponential and eliminating unwanted trades in the limit, by introducing a mechanism that uses a slightly richer and more refined strategy space. Although very much in the same spirit, our declarations are constrained by a distribution which is skewed away from the expected distribution of player types. When a sufficiently large number of bargaining problems are linked, “truth” is an equilibrium. Moreover, this equilibrium is incentive compatible with the utility cost of incentive constraints almost surely equal to 0.