The impact of different fibre access network technologies on cost,competition and welfare

Using a novel approach to the evaluation of new network technologies that combines an engineering cost model with a differentiated multi-player oligopoly model with wholesale access regulation this article evaluates the choice among different Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) architectures. The cost modelling relies upon an engineering bottom-up approach that feeds into a competition model. For addressing competition the pyramid model was chosen, which is an extension of the Hotelling model to multiple firms/services. The paper solves for price setting Nash equilibria between an incumbent, wholesale-access-based entrants and cable as an additional fully integrated network competitor. Welfare tradeoffs are highlighted with respect to cost differences and QoS differences between the various FTTH architectures and between the modes of regulation. According to the analysis architectures that can be unbundled (and that allow for greater speeds) outperform, from a social welfare perspective, architectures that (realistically) allow only for bitstream access.     

The welfare effects of a subsidy to Multiple Listing Services

We show that the gain in consumer surplus resulting from subsidizing a Multiple Listing Service may exceed the cost of the subsidy. Thus a subsidy financed by taxing the consumer may be Pareto-improving. We give general conditions for this to hold.     

Mean-variance hedging for continuous processes: New proofs and examples

Let be a special semimartingale of the form and denote by the mean-variance tradeoff process of . Let be the space of predictable processes for which the stochastic integral is a square-integrable semimartingale. For a given constant and a given square-integrable random variable , the mean-variance optimal hedging strategy by definition minimizes the distance in between and the space . In financial terms, provides an approximation of the contingent claim by means of a self-financing trading strategy with minimal global risk. Assuming that is bounded and continuous, we first give a simple new proof of the closedness of in and of the existence of the F?llmer-Schweizer decomposition. If moreover is continuous and satisfies an additional condition, we can describe the mean-variance optimal strategy in feedback form, and we provide several examples where it can be computed explicitly. The additional condition states that the minimal and the variance-optimal martingale measures for should coincide. We provide examples where this assumption is satisfied, but we also show that it will typically fail if is not deterministic and includes exogenous randomness which is not induced by .     

R. H. Tawney as Political Economist

The paper argues along the lines of John Kenneth Galbraith in his analysis of the American “affluent society” during the “Golden Age,” when social unbalance between private wealth and public services was expanded by modern capitalism. In industrialized or developing economies, investment in public services was constrained by fiscal or ideological reasons favoring market provision. This evolution had significant impact on welfare.     

To divide or not to divide? The impact of partitioned pricing on the informational and sacrifice effects of price

Firms often partition a product??s price into two mandatory parts (e.g., the base price of a mail-order DVD and the surcharge for shipping and handling) instead of charging one all-inclusive price. This study examines whether and to what extent partitioned pricing (compared to one all-inclusive price) influences the informational and sacrifice effects of price. We empirically show that partitioned pricing oppositely affects these two distinct roles of price: the informational effect of price (i.e., price as an indicator of quality) increases, while the sacrifice effect (i.e., price as a measure of sacrifice) becomes more negative. In product categories with substantial price?Cquality inferences, the positive impact of partitioned pricing on the informational effect can overcompensate for its negative impact on the sacrifice effect, making partitioned prices the preferable strategy.     

Appreciating the Meta-Analytic Methodological Context: Rejoinder to a Reply

In this paper, the authors respond to a recent critique of their Journal of Business Ethics article, which provided a meta-analytic review of ethical climate theory research (Martin and Cullen, 2006). They review basic principles of meta-analytic research and discuss the methodological context of their work, which was not discussed in the recent reply article. Additional methodological and practical evidence is presented in support of Martin and Cullen (2006), including a discussion of the paper’s findings and its contribution to ethical climate theory and research.     

A Ten-Year Study of the Effectiveness of an Educative Programme in Ensuring the Ecological Sustainability of Recreational Activities in the Brisbane Ranges National Park,South-Eastern Australia

Managing the spread of cinnamon fungus, an exotic root-rotting pathogen which kills a wide range of native plants, is an over-riding management concern in the Brisbane Ranges National Park of south-eastern Australia. Parks Victoria has implemented a suite of approaches for informing recreational users about the disease and its ecological impacts. To assess longitudinal changes in the effectiveness of the educative programme, recreational users were surveyed in 1993 and in 2003. 81% were not aware of cinnamon fungus dieback in 1993; the proportion in 2003 was almost unchanged at 83%. Despite the lack of awareness of cinnamon fungus dieback, a large majority (76% in 1993; 74% in 2003) of respondents replied that they had viewed information boards in the park or read visitor guides with information on the disease and its ecological impacts. When recreational users were informed of the impact of infection, there was unanimous support for track closures for quarantine purposes. Our findings indicate that current methods of educating recreational users about cinnamon fungus dieback are not effective. Recommendations are made to improve the penetration of the educational and interpretive information, including the incorporation of affective and cognitive approaches.     

Visitation of tourism attractions and tourist expenditure patterns ‐ repeat versus first‐time visitors

Marketing wisdom suggests that it is less expensive to reattract previous customers than to acquire new ones. Yet, few tourism destinations are actively trying to understand their current visitors in order to more effectively market to them. The present study analyzes international repeat and first‐time visitors to Rotorua, New Zealand, in order to gain insights into their respective visitation patterns of tourist attractions in the area, as well as their trip and expenditure patterns. The results of this study indicate that there are significant differences with regards to trip characteristics, and it offers a few insightful differences with respect to the attractions frequented.