Estimating feed utilisation matrices using a cost function approach

In this paper a multiple-output cost function framework is proposed to construct national feed balances or feed utilisation matrices (FUMs). The framework is applied to the Belgian compound feed industry. For estimation purposes a Symmetrie Generalised McFadden (SGM) cost function is selected. The cost function is estimated using readily available time-series data for the period 1962–88. Unlike previous studies based on duality theory, this study exploits the properties of nonjointness in animal feed production to establish a complete FUM. The allocation of feed ingredients among different livestock categories as well as the composition of various compound feeds are identified. Also own- and cross-price elasticities of demand for feed ingredients by type of livestock are reported.     

A Competitive,Sustainable and Diverse Agriculture: A View of the CAP Beyond 2013 Pour une agriculture compétitive,durable and variée : un point de vue sur la PAC après 2013 Eine wettbewerbsfähige,nachhaltige und vielfältige Landwirtschaft: Ein Ausblick auf die GAP nach 2013

A Competitive, Sustainable and Diverse Agriculture: A View of the CAP Beyond 2013 New challenges make clear that past achievements of the CAP cannot be taken for granted. A strong European agricultural policy remains necessary after 2013, at the service of Europe’s citizens and agricultural sector. However, in order to realise the vision embedded in the European agricultural model, the CAP will have to evolve. Beyond dealing with the negative consequences of the economic crisis, more attention should go to competitiveness and entrepreneurship. The functioning of the supply chain should be improved leading to a fairer distribution of costs and benefits. Producer organisations should be expanded and strengthened. Work is needed to put into practice the concept of green growth and to explore the synergy between the demand for public goods and the need for higher farm income. An improved system of direct support remains justified, to compensate for extra costs and to stabilise income. The CAP post-2013 should offer a strong EU framework, able to meet shared challenges, with clear objectives and sufficient funding. Within that framework, diversity is a fact, and regions should be able to deploy CAP policies and funds in a more flexible way to accommodate local needs and problems and to be able to react to changing circumstances.     

A differentiable homotopy to compute Nash equilibria of n-person games

Summary. The literature on the computation of Nash equilibria in n-person games is dominated by simplicial methods. This paper is the first to introduce a globally convergent algorithm that fully exploits the differentiability present in the problem. It presents an everywhere differentiable homotopy to do the computations. The homotopy path can therefore be followed by several numerical techniques. Moreover, instead of computing some Nash equilibrium, the algorithm is constructed in such a way that it computes the Nash equilibrium selected by the tracing procedure of Harsanyi and Selten. As a by-product of our proofs it follows that for a generic game the tracing procedure defines a unique feasible path. The numerical performance of the algorithm is illustrated by means of several examples. Received: December 21, 1999; revised version: December 27, 2000     

Urbanization in some hierarchical urban models

"This paper examines two aspects of hierarchical urban models: the variations of total urban population and that of the urbanization ratio, in function of the number of hierarchical levels. Both variations are analysed through four categories of models. The complexity of the results suggests two approximations in order to make the analysis more tractable."     

USING LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS TO DESIGN EFFICIENT MARKET INSTITUTIONS: THE CASE OF WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKETS

ABSTRACT ** :  This paper assesses the contribution of laboratory experiments to the economics of design applied to the electricity industry. The analysis is dedicated to wholesale markets, and reviews the results accumulated to date concerning both the general architecture of power markets and the very details of the market rules or institution, that is the auction rule. We argue that these experimental results contribute to a better understanding of the performances properties and implementation features of competitive market designs and that experimental economics has proven very useful to public authorities to inform the restructuring of the electricity industry. It thus confirms the role of experimental economics as a complement to theoretical approaches in the design effort.     

Exploring modern bank penetration: Evidence from early twentieth-century Netherlands

We analyse the estate composition of the richest 30 per cent of people who died in the Netherlands in 1921 to find that households used a broad range of institutions to meet their financial demands. Goods and services were either paid in cash or settled periodically with suppliers. Despite the strong growth of commercial banking in the previous decades, households still made extensive use of peer-to-peer loans, with or without the added security of notarial contracts. Banks only possessed a competitive edge in savings accounts for small surpluses and current accounts, the latter used most frequently by business owners born after 1870. Distance to the nearest bank office did not matter for these people, but wealthy urbanites were more inclined to use banks than their counterparts in the countryside.     

This is what you came for? University–industry collaborations and follow-on inventions by the firm

The positive impact of university–industry collaborations on firms' innovative performance is well recognized. However, to date, the existing heterogeneity within university–industry collaboration processes and the sources of value creation underlying the resulting inventions are left underexplored. As a result, our understanding as to why some of the joint inventions resulting from such collaborations turn out to present a more fertile source of follow-on developments and value for the collaborating firm than others is limited. The present paper sheds light on this question through the application of a knowledge recombination perspective. Hence, we open the black box of innovation and put a spotlight on the knowledge components that make up the joint inventions resulting from university–industry collaborations. We evaluate how the nature—scientific versus technological—and origins—internal versus external to the collaborating partners—of these knowledge components relate to the inventive impact of the partners' joint invention. Examining a sample of 9102 USPTO co-patents, joint inventions created through university–industry collaborations are shown to be most fertile as a source of firm follow-on inventions when they are the result of a recombination process that includes technological knowledge components stemming from both collaborating partners. This effect is most pronounced when the partners' technological knowledge contributions are moderately similar. In contrast, when the joint technology development takes place in a technology domain that is novel to the firm, the resulting joint inventions are most fertile as a source of firm follow-on inventions when the university contributes through the input of technological knowledge components situated in exactly this technology domain that is novel to the firm. Remarkably, no evidence for such direct effects is found regarding the partners' scientific contributions. Together, these findings provide important insights for firms who intend to spur their internal technology development through collaboration with a university partner.