The compilation and application of provisional regional input‐output tables for Southern Africa

Provisional input‐output tables, with certain social accounting matrices, have been compiled for each of the nine currently identified development regions in Southern Africa. This was done using a short‐cut technique. Although the results must be regarded as tentative, a regional comparison of the manufacturlng sector shows that potential employment creation is relatively stronger in the regions that include the peripheral areas. In contrast, potential income generation seems to be more important in the regions containing the core industrial areas.     

OLIGOPOLISTIC PRODUCT WITHHOLDING IN RICARDIAN MARKETS

We consider strategic behaviour in the rental market for quality-differentiated goods. In his classic analysis Ricardo showed that at the competitive equilibrium the price of the marginal unit is driven to zero. An oligopolistic market structure usually leads to a radically different equilibrium. Deliberate withholding of units often becomes part of a firm's best response, and whenever this occurs, a pure strategy equilibrium fails to exist. A necessary but not sufficient condition for a pure strategy equilibrium to exist is for one firm to own all the best quality units. A mixed strategy equilibrium always exists and the associated payoff is aiways greater than the competitive payoff.     

The Relationship between Bankruptcy Model Predictions and Stock Market Perceptions of Bankruptcy

This study uses a cumulative sum technique to determine the point at which the stock market first perceives that a firm may file for bankruptcy. The study then attempts to identify information, whether from financial statements or from other sources, that may have influenced the market in its reassessment of the firm's prospects. The results indicate that the switching point of the mean and variance of stock returns appears to be related both to financial statement information (as measured by changes in bankruptcy model probability assessments) and the release of unfavorable news in the Wall Street Journal.     

Economies of scope and economies of agglomeration

Agglomeration economies are economies external to the firm, and plant, but internal to a particular location. In this paper the notion of agglomeration economies is formally investigated. The implications of the concept for urban structure and industrial organization are then traced. Under specified considerations, weak economies of agglomeration, as defined in this paper, are shown to be necessary for the existence of an urban area.