Die „Deposit“-Legende in der Banktheorie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Evaluation of a Truthful Revelation Auction in the Context of Energy Markets with Nonconcave Benefits

We describe a Vickrey-Clarke-Groves auction for supply and demand bidding in the face of market power and nonconcave benefits in which bidders are motivated to bid truthfully, and evaluate its use for power and gas pipeline capacity auctions. The auction efficiently allocate resources if firms maximize profit. Simulations, including an application to the PJM power market, illustrate the procedure. However, the auction has several undesirable properties. It risks being revenue deficient, can be gamed by cooperating suppliers and consumers, and is subject to the information revelation and bid-taker cheating concerns that make single item Vickrey auctions rare.     

Resource exploitation theory and the behavior of the oil cartel

This paper examines the implications of the partial equilibrium theory of optimal exploitation of a non-renewable resource for the behavior of the OPEC cartel. A relatively general extraction cost structure is assumed, and several new theoretical results are derived. The influence of oil-exporting countries' ultimate objectives on cartel behavior is examined under alternative assumptions about trading and investment opportunities. Some implications for the policies of oil importing nations are discussed.     

Wesen,Bedeutung und gesetzliche Grundlagen der Einheitlichkeit in der Besteuerung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Air pollution-mortality models: A demonstration of the effects of random measurement error

Errors of measurement have long been recognized as a chronic problem in statistical analysis. Although there is a vast statistical literature of multiple regression models estimating the air pollution-mortality relationship, this problem has been largely ignored. It is well known that pollution measures contain error, but the consequences of this error for regression estimates is not known. We use Lave and Seskin's air pollution model to demonstrate the consequences of random measurement error. We assume a range of 0% to 50% of the variance of the pollution measures is due to error. We find large differences in the estimated effects on mortality of the pollution variables as well as the other explanatory variables once this measurement error is taken into account. These results cast doubt on the usual regression estimates of the mortality effects of air pollution. More generally our results demonstrate the consequences of random measurement error in the explanatory variable of a multiple regression analysis and the misleading conclusions that may result in policy research if this error is ignored.     

Land Use and the Limits to (Regional) Governance: Some Lessons from Planning for Housing and Minerals in England

This paper examines the supposed shift from government to governance in the context of land-use planning in England and indicates some of the problems which surround increased regional autonomy in governmental systems. It is argued that decision-making processes around land use, especially when they concern conflicts between development and environmental protection, are not easily rendered into the flexible arrangements deemed characteristic of governance. Two case studies in the housing and minerals sectors – presented to illustrate this general argument – show the existence of strong ‘strategic lines’ which tend to subsume local representations and limit the formation of partnerships. In both cases, the strategic line comes dressed in the language of technical (numerical) forecasts and projections which raises problems for any local opposition to the thrust of the strategy. In conclusion it is argued that although some recasting of the planning regime in each sector is underway this has only served to highlight continuing problems in linking strategy and locality, especially in cases of conflict around land use, which regional governance may not easily alleviate. Cet article examine le prétendu changement du gouvernementà la gouvernance dans le contexte de la planification de l’utilisation du sol en Angleterre et montre certains des problèmes liés à la croissance de l’autonomie régionale dans les systèmes gouvernementaux. Les processus de décision concernant l’utilisation du sol, particulièrement quand ils concernent des conflits entre le développement et la protection de l’environnement, ne sont pas aisément résolus par les arrangements flexibles qui sont dits caractéristiques de la gouvernance. Deux cas d’étude dans les secteurs du logement et des mineraux – présentés afin d’illustrer l’argument général – montrent l’existence de fortes ‘strategic lines’ qui ont tendance à inclure les représentations locales et qui limitent la formation d’associations. Dans les deux cas, ‘the strategic line’ prend la forme des prévisions techniques (quantitative) et des projections, ce qui pose des problèmes pour toute opposition locale à la dynamique de la stratégie. En conclusion, bien que certains remaniements soient en cours dans le régime de planification de chaque secteur, ceci n’a servi qu’à souligner les problèmes continus des liens entre la stratégie et la localité, particulièrement en cas de conflit quant à l’utilisation du sol, que la gouvernance régionale risque de ne pas pouvoir résoudre facilement.     

DISCOUNT RATES AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Empirical studies provide compelling evidence that economic agents do not adopt the complete range of energy-efficient technologies that are cost-effective under prevailing prices and market conditions. Analysts commonly attribute this anomaly to the use of high discount rates in energy-related decisions-an interpretation that is difficult to reconcile with standard models of rational choice. This paper recasts the controversy from the perspective of economic theory and finds that market failures related to asymmetric information, bounded rationality, and transaction costs are major contributors to the so-called "efficiency gap."     

Enterprise diversification in US dairy: impact of risk preferences on scale and scope economies

Enterprise diversification has recently become a prominent feature of US dairy farms. Scope economies and risk aversion are two forces that simultaneously determine diversification. We jointly estimate scope economies and determine risk preferences under price uncertainty. We reject risk neutrality in favour of Increasing Absolute Risk Aversion (IARA) and Increasing Relative Risk Aversion (IRRA). Scope economies are significant, but diminish with farm size. Increasing returns to scale exist in the production of multiple enterprises and diminish with size. Large farms operate under decreasing returns to scale. Ignoring risk preferences, a common practice in empirical work, results in an underestimate of the effect of scope economies for large farms.