The economic survival of black physicians: Swimming in turbulent waters

This article presents an analysis of the effects restructuring in the health care sector is likely to have on the economic conditions of black physicians. The model presented of the physicians’ services market is one in which black physicians, because of perceived quality differences and patient preferences, are relegated to servicing the lowest income clients and those with the lowest quality insurance. It is argued that the physician surplus, the growth in the uninsured, and the increasing competition by large group practices, outpatient-care facilities, and HMOs will place additional pressure on black physicians.     

Game theoretic modeling of increasing returns to scale

This paper surveys the analysis, by means of cooperative game theory, of economies in which there are increasing returns to scale. In the first section necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a core of a general equilibrium economy are considered. In the second section, the partial equilibrium approach to increasing returns production, which developed along with the natural monopoly literature, is surveyed. The close relationship between the general equilibrium and partial equilibrium approaches is emphasized.     

Keynes on inflation and exchange rates

Atlantic Economic Journal -     

Effects of the 1979 gasoline shortages on Philadelphia housing prices

Conventional theory predicts that transportation cost to a big-city central business district is an important determinant of housing prices. If this is true, the sudden rise in gasoline price following the Iranian revolution in 1979 could have caused a relative housing-price shift in central and peripheral neighborhoods. This paper looks for such an effect by fitting hedonic price functions in selected neighborhoods at varying distances from downtown Philadelphia, and testing for a relative shift at the time of the gasoline shortage. The results suggest that the energy shortage's effects may have been focused disproportionately on a few already revitalizing neighborhoods.     

Some policy implications of bank participation in small business administration lending programs

This study examines the relationship of bank participation in SBA guaranteed lending programs to bank characteristics and market demographic characteristics. Band SBA lending is related to per capita income in the bank's market area, membership in a bank holding company, the loan-deposit ratio of the bank, the percent business loans of the bank, and the total assets of the bank. In markets of 50,000 or less, greater SBA lending is associated with lower per capita income levels. Accordingly, it appears that the economic development function of bank SBA lending is linked to a greater extent with market areas of less than 50,000.