Analysis of spectrum auctions in India—An application of the opportunity cost approach to explain large variations in spectrum prices

The remarkable growth of mobile communication has reinforced the significance of the radio spectrum for mobile network operators. The availability of spectrum varies considerably between different countries due to national regulatory decisions. The focus in this paper is on India where operators have access to a limited amount of spectrum. This paper analyses the value of spectrum by estimating the opportunity cost, which is calculated by the savings that can be achieved by acquiring appropriate amount of spectrum rather than investing in additional base stations. The applied approach combines network deployment, user demand levels, cost, and capacity issues, which are integrated in the application in the opportunity cost approach for spectrum. The opportunity cost of spectrum is compared with prices paid at spectrum auctions. The analysis includes a discussion of drivers that determine the willingness to pay for spectrum. The results show that the opportunity cost of spectrum in relation to auction prices is lower than prices operators paid for 3G spectrum in the metro circles (service areas) while the value derived from the opportunity cost is higher than auction prices in the remaining circles.     

Moose Hunting Values in Sweden Now and Two Decades Ago: The Swedish Hunters Revisited

This paper is based on two national contingent valuation studies dealing with the extent and economic values of hunting in Sweden. The first valuation study was conducted in 1987 and the second in 2006. Both the game resource and the hunter community have undergone changes in the two decades covered by the surveys. An important purpose of the latter survey was to repeat relevant parts of the former one, which created a rare opportunity to compare valuations covering a very long time span. Moose hunting value and its determinants were compared between the two studies, showing that significant changes have taken place. Our analysis suggests caution in using results from old contingent valuation studies for e.g. benefits transfer exercises.     

Governing the transition to low-carbon futures: A critical survey of energy scenarios for 2050

There is a growing scientific consensus that limiting the increase in global average temperature to around 2 °C above pre-industrial levels is necessary to avoid unacceptable impact on the climate system. This requires that the developed countries’ emissions are radically reduced during the next 40 years. Energy scenario studies provide insights on the societal transitions that might be implied by such low-carbon futures, and in this paper we discuss how a greater attention to different governance and institutional issues can complement future scenario exercises. The analysis is based on a critical review of 20 quantitative and qualitative scenario studies, all of relevance for meeting long-term climate policy objectives. The paper: (a) analyzes some key differences in energy technology mixes and primary energy use patterns across these studies; (b) briefly explores the extent and the nature of the societal challenges and policy responses implied; and (c) discusses a number of important implications for the design and scope of future scenario studies. Our review shows that in previous scenario studies the main attention is typically paid to analyzing the impact of well-defined and uniform policy instruments, while fewer studies factor in the role of institutional change in achieving different energy futures. We therefore point towards a number of strategies of integrating issues of transition governance into future scenario analyses, and argue for a closer synthesis of qualitative and quantitative scenario building.     

Researching Projects and Theorizing Families of Temporary Organizations

Following contemporary development in which most temporary, focused, and organized endeavors can be regarded as a project and studied as a temporary organization, here we ask: How can these phenomena be defined without hindering pluralism in understanding, development, and theorizing? Based on the notions of family resemblance—the idea that it is not a specific trait, but a variety of traits that are shared by some, but not all, members of a family—we propose a new dynamic framework we believe is useful in advancing the studies of projects and temporary organizations toward more opportunities for rigorous theorizing.     

Capital Budgeting and Political Risk: Empirical Evidence

This paper surveys and investigates Swedish firms' use of capital budgeting techniques for foreign direct investments. We document that the use of the theoretically correct net present value method decreases with the political risk in the host country, and that the use of the Payback method increases with the political risk. We conclude that in the presence of capital market imperfections, unsystematic and country-specific political risks are important. Because these risks are difficult to estimate (rendering high deliberation costs) managers are inclined to use simple rules of thumb for their capital budgeting decisions. Our results can partly explain why surveys find that alternative methods such as the Payback method are frequently used despite their theoretical drawbacks.     

economic and environmental tradeoffs in agricultural sustainability: A Perspective

Concern for the economic and environmental impacts of production systems is at the heart of the debate on agricultural sustainability. Ideally, if a system is to be sustainable, it must also be economically viable, while not adversely affecting the environment. The appropriate balance between environmentally friendly systems and economic returns is not clear, as it depends on the period under consideration and hinges on the perspective used. Current evidence suggests that there are tradeoffs between achieving economic and environmental goals, at least in the short run, with given technology. Analysis suggests progress can be made by identifying agricultural systems and site-specific criteria associated with these systems, which eliminate the clearly unsustainable agricultural practices, rather than seeking a system that is defined as sustainable.The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Economic Research Service, or the view of other U.S. Department of Agriculture or Economic Research Service staff members.     

The nature and extent of the market for soybeans and soybean products

Summary This paper addresses the question of whether soybeans, soybean meal, and soybean oil produced in the United States and exported were part of a single, world geographic market during the decade of the 1980s. An answer to this question is sought using an approach to defining a geographic market based on the notion of instantaneous causality. The empirical results, based on prices for soybeans, soybean meal, and soybean oil for three spatially diffuse locations, suggest that there was but a single identifiable world market for these commodities over the period of study.The authors are with the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the views of other U.S. Department of Agriculture staff members. Senior authorship is not assigned. The authors would like to thank an anonymous referee for helpful suggestions.