Determinants of Airport Choice in a Multi-Airport Region

The Civil Aeronautics Board was dismantled on the premise that competition and the threat of entry would restrain airline prices. If consumers do not search for low fares, then the threat of entry will have little impact. The entry of a low fare carrier will reallocate fliers within but not between airports. Telephone survey data were used to estimate probit models for the use of Baltimore–Washington International, Newark International, JFK International, and Philadelphia International Airports to evaluate the effect of low fares on consumer behavior. In airport usage, age and gender do not matter. Although survey participants reported that airfare is an important consideration, actual searching for a low fare was unimportant. The availability of non-stop flights, wait at check-in, income, and distance from home were important.     

Expected revenue of all-pay and first-price sealed-bid auctions with affiliated signals

In the general symmetric auction framework of Milgrom and Weber (1982) it is shown—as a new manifestation of thelinkage principle—that the all-pay sealed-bid auction yieldshigher expected revenue than the standard first-price sealed-bid auction. This raises the question why sealed-bid auctions of the standard first-price variety are observed in practice whereas the all-pay variety is not.     

Left luggage: finding the relevant context of Austrian Economics

Recently a number of scholars, including Tony Judt and Corey Robin, have attempted to discredit Austrian economics by emphasizing the (cultural) distance between the context in which the Austrians made their contributions and our current society. This article argues that the cultural and social context is indeed relevant for how we understand the contribution of the Austrians, but that the critics fundamentally misunderstand or misrepresent the Austrian and Habsburg context. It is argued that the relevant context, particularly for the interwar contributions of Mises, Schumpeter, Hayek and Popper is the despair about the breakdown of their civilization, which includes the rise of mass political movements such as socialism and fascism. It is only against this background that we can understand the intent of their work, and the problems which they sought to address. It is further argued, in contrast with earlier work which has tended to emphasize the philosophical and methodological context in which they operated, that this cultural and social context is at least as relevant to understand the meaning of their work.     

Marginal Valuation of Charismatic Species: Implications for Conservation

Most contingent valuation studies focus on total willingness to pay (WTP) as a measure of welfare change. For policy involving species preservation, however, it is important to distinguish between the benefits of preventing a species from going extinct and the benefits of preserving numbers above the minimum viable population (MVP) level. Once MVP is exceeded, marginal WTP becomes relevant. These propositions are illustrated for the case of one charismatic species whose management is much debated, minke whales in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. It is shown that, for a given estimate of total preservation value, strict conservation and extinction can both be optimal. This finding highlights the importance of collecting marginal values in contingent valuation surveys.     

Poverty Effects of the Philippines’ Tariff Reduction Program: Insights from a Computable General Equilibrium Analysis*

A computable general equilibrium micro‐simulation model is used to assess the economic and poverty impacts of tariff reduction in the Philippines. Tariff reduction induces consumers to substitute cheaper imported agricultural products for domestic goods, thereby resulting in a contraction in agricultural output. In contrast, tariff reduction reduces the domestic cost of production, benefiting the outward‐oriented and import‐dependent industrial sector. The national poverty headcount decreases marginally as lower consumer prices outweigh the nominal income reduction experienced by the majority of households. However, both the poverty gap and severity of poverty worsens, implying that the poorest of the poor become even poorer.     

Versicherbarkeit und ihre Grenzen: Logik — Realität — Konstruktion

The approach presented here is characterized by the fundamental questions: what kinds of knowledge structures and statements can be there in the field of ?Insurability and its Limits“, of which quality are they, how can they be obtained and upon which criteria can they be assessed. By this, a framework for systematizing the many heterogenous structures and statements and for generating homogenous systems of structures and statements shall be made available. At the end of this article possible applications — in the field of insurance studies as well as in the field of insurance business, method-oriented as well as content-oriented — are shown. Three approaches are drawn upon as working hypotheses (construction of 2^nd order): On the basis of the 1^st approach (rationalistic-idealistic approach; Logic of Insurability) ideal, logical structures shall be obtained by logical reasoning (i. e. by deducing from axioms). The adequate criterion is pure logical correctness. So far research has shown that only ?if-then“-relations can be obtained, but no absolute limits of insurability. On the basis of the 2^nd approach (empiristic-realistic approach; Reality of Insurability) real structures shall be obtained by sense perception. The criterion is empiristic truth. Objects are the existing practice in the insurance industry itself on one hand, and existing representations (as for instance in publications) on the other hand. Apart from the registration of these objects (formal-methodical aspect) the content of such representations can be examined with regard to its relation to reality (content-oriented critical aspect). On the basis of the 3^rd approach (constructivistic-instrumentalistic approach; Construction of Insurability) new structures shall be generated via construction (of 1^st order). These structures shall be instrumental with regard to certain objectives or standards. And this instrumentality (be it for the scientific world, the industry or other institutions) of these structures is the criteron of this approach. An example is the constructed frame of reference for the identification of factors of insurability in the different phases of the insurance business on the basis of systems theory. The article ends with an outlook to the constructed concept of ?Insurability Policy“ and ?Insurability Management“.     

Export controls: Providing security in a volatile environment

Major changes in the world economy such as the demise of the Communist bloc, the increased foreign availability of high technology products, and the rapid dissemination of information and innovation, have resulted in a decrease in support for export controls by the policy and business communities. Nevertheless, export controls continue to constitute an important policy arrow in the quiver of national foreign policy instruments. The foundation of a new, multilateral export control regime is discussed, with major emphasis placed on the development of strong national security controls and the structuring of a foreign policy control system that can be brought to bear expeditiously without imposing an undue competitive burden on businesses. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.