Skills, Flexible Manufacturing Technology, and Work Organization

This study employs a national survey of over 3000 U.S. manufacturing establishments to explore associations between worker skill requirements and use of production and telecommunications technologies, work organization, and other management practices. Ordered probit equations show an empirical link between increases in each of six types of skill requirements, as reported by plant managers, and the use of flexible technologies and work organization practices. Technology use is most strongly linked to computer skill requirements. Work organization practices were strongly associated with problem-solving and interpersonal skill increases, suggesting that new work organization practices are broadening the set of skills sought by manufacturers. Traditional academic skills (e.g., math and reading) also were linked to the use of flexible technologies and work organization practices, but increases in these skill requirements were reported less frequently than were requirements for computer, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills.     

Plant Level Productivity, Efficiency, and Environmental Performance of the Container Glass Industry

This paper presents a methodology and empirical results based on theMalmquist productivity index. We measure productivity while treatingpollution as an undesirable output. Our estimates show that technicalchange has contributed to productivity and environmental performancegrowth in the container glass industry, an energy and pollution intensivesector. Changes in inter-plant efficiency over time have made thisproductivity growth more rapid than otherwise would have occurred withthe underlying technical change. The efficiency estimates show that thereare both opportunities to improve productivity and reduce pollution in thisindustry, as well as productivity losses associated with the emissionscontrol. The shadow prices for NOx, the undesirable output we analyze,is quite high compared to other regulated sectors.     

The effects of the COVID pandemic on the federal budget outlook

Business Economics - We examine the impact of COVID-19 on the federal budget outlook. We find substantial but temporary effects on spending and revenues, with more moderate but permanent effects on...     

Price dispersion in a market with advance-purchases

This paper examines price discrimination in a market where consumers learn their preferences over time. The products are perfect substitutesex ante, but there is horizontal differentiationex post. Air travel provides one example of such a market. In equilibrium, there is more price discrimination under duopoly than under monopoly, which is consistent with recent empirical evidence from the U.S. airline industry.I am grateful to Tom Holmes for many discussions on related topics.     

EFFECTS OF STOCK MARKET FLUCTUATIONS ON THE ADEQUACY OF RETIREMENT WEALTH ACCUMULATION

This paper examines the relation between fluctuations in the aggregate value of equities and the adequacy of households’ saving for retirement. Using more recent data than most studies on this topic, we find that many and perhaps most households appear to be saving adequate amounts for retirement, and that there is almost no link between aggregate equity values and the adequacy of retirement saving. A simulated 40 percent decline in stocks has little effect on the adequacy of saving. The substantial growth in equity values and ownership in the 1980s and 1990s did not lead to a surge in the adequacy of retirement saving provisions. The results occur because equity holdings are concentrated among households with significant amounts of other wealth.     

Consumer Confusion Over the Significance of Meat Attributes: The Case of Veal

Animal scientists today can produce pale colored grain-fed veal, thus achieving a high quality grade, while averting concerns over unethical treatment of milk-fed calves and excessive antibiotic use in milk-fed veal production. It is feared, however, that consumers may reject pale cuts of veal labeled as Grain-fed. Random parameter logit analyses of data from repeated choice experiments conducted in six suburban supermarkets in Quebec (n = 1027) revealed that intrinsic color of veal meat and extrinsic labeling of production method may significantly influence product choice; however, the direction of effects were inconsistent across ethnic and non-ethnic consumers and between experienced and non-experienced consumers of veal meat. Price effects were significant, but with a positive mean and a large standard deviation, indicating that, for many consumers, price may act as an surrogate indicator of veal meat quality. Older freshness dates were significantly discounted. It thus appears that most consumers will not categorically reject pale veal meat with a grain-fed label.     

Best Management Practices and the Production of Good and Bad Outputs

Agricultural activities simultaneously produce good and bad outputs. A translog cost function is used to evaluate the cost associated with reduction of chemical runoff and how it is influenced by the scale of crop and animal production. The results show that reducing runoff entails increasing costs and that these costs decrease with the level of crop production, but are unaffected by the level of animal production. The estimates of the cost elasticities of Best Management Practices (BMPs) were all positive, but many have large standard errors that imply that the true elasticities can be much lower or much higher. Also, the cost elasticities decrease with the scale of crop production for most BMPs whereas the scale of animal production has the opposite effect for crop rotation and herbicide control practices. Our results reaffirm that there are economies of size in production. L’agriculture produit de bons et de mauvais extrants. Une fonction de coût translog est utilisée pour évaluer les coûts associés à l’amélioration de la qualité de l’eau en réduisant les problèmes de ruissellement et de transfert de nutriments. Nous évaluons comment ces coûts changent avec les niveaux des productions animales et de cultures. Nos résultats indiquent que la réduction des transferts de nutriments est coûteux mais que l’élasticité-coût décroit avec la valeur des cultures produites tout en étant indépendant de l’envergure de la production animale. Les élasticités-coût associés aux pratiques environnementales (PE) sont positives et ont de grandes erreur-types, ce qui veut dire que les vraies élasticités peuvent être beaucoup plus grandes ou plus petites. Les élasticités-coût pour la plupart des PE diminuent avec la production de cultures produit tandis que la taille de la production animale a un effet contraire sur les élasticités pour la rotation de cultures et le contrôle des herbicides. Nos résultats confirment qu’il existe d’importantes économies de taille à exploiter en agriculture.