Peak load pricing with spatial diffusion

The demand for public utility service varies not only temporally but spatially as well. The analysis of the problem of meeting these variations in system load with optimum plant capacity within the framework of a price determination structure is the objective of this paper. No simple cost-based solution proves possible. The solution presented, under a social welfare-maximization criterion, is similar to the joint product pricing discussed by Marshall. The characteristics of peak load pricing developed apply to the profit-maximizing firm as well as to the welfare-maximizing firm. With a profit-maximization objective, price will exceed rather than equal marginal cost. When regulation is imposed, whatever its form, normally there will be a price reduction as the output of the firm is moved closer to the welfare-maximizing level.     

The distribution of changes in manufacturing employment and the impact of the minimum wage

That employment for workers in durable goods industries is more sensitive to the pace of economic activity than for non-durable goods employees is not a surprising result. What is noteworthy about the conclusions of this study, however, is the manner in which increases in the minimum wage have altered the distribution of employment and sensitivity to short-run changes in employment of production workers in manufacturing industries. By focusing on the distribution of employment and how that distribution changes over the cycle, estimates of some aspects of the impact of the minimum wage that have not previously been analyzed have been developed.The evidence indicates that increases in the minimum wage over the period 1947–1975 have had a significant impact on employment patterns. Minimum wage legislation has had the effect of decreasing the share of projected employment and increasing vulnerability to cyclical changes in employment for the group of workers most ‘marginal’ to the work force low-wage industry employees. Hence, as a result of increased minimum wages, low-wage industry employees are able to obtain fewer jobs during periods of normal employment growth and their jobs are less secure in the face of short-run employment variations.Minimum wage legislation has undoubtedly resulted in higher wages for some of the relatively-low-productivity workers who were able to obtain employment than these workers would have received in its absence. The cost in terms of lost employment opportunities and cyclical vulnerability of jobs, however, has apparently been borne most heavily by low-wage industry employees. The primary beneficiaries of the shifts in the pattern of employment shares occasioned by minimum wage increases were high-wage industry workers, particularly in the ordnance, food, tobacco, and petroleum industries.     

Regional forecasting of the demand for fossil fuels by electric utilities in the United States

The possibility of interfuel substitution in the generation of electrical energy exists. Given this fact, a demand model for various fossil fuels by electric utilities in the United States is developed. Using regional data, the results suggest that the responsiveness of the demand for coal, residual fuel oil, distillate fuel oil, and natural gas by electric utilities to relative price changes is significant. In a forecasting setting, the demand model performs remarkably well when actual and forecast values for 1979 are compared.     

On the non-optimality of auctions—The case of profit sharing

Conclusion In this paper we have shown that a PSA in a competitive environment can result in a non-optimal allocation. A sufficient condition for the optimality of the PSA is that the owner gets an income, in a form of a lump sum payment only, and the operator collects all the variable profits which result from his activity. This conclusion suggests that an agent should act as an independent entity and obtain his full marginal product.An alternative suggestion is that, the division of ownership take the form of a FPSA. In other words, the partnership between the owner and the operator will be in a form of stock-ownership.     

Energy demand and interfuel substitution in the United Kingdom

This paper sets out to examine the demand for energy in the United Kingdom. All energy sources are demonstrated to be substitutable. Coal is the most price responsive with natural gas, oil and electrical energy following. Moreover, when the issue of stability is considered, the suggestion is that the demand for coal, oil, natural gas and electrical energy have remained virtually constant over the past three decades.     

Empirical study relating macroeconomic literacy and rational thinking

We analyze macroeconomic literacy by insights from behavioral economics, while incorporating individual differences in gender, cognitive ability and academic institution. Our sample consists of economic students from two academic institutions in Israel. For statistical analysis, we used Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE). Our main finding is that high-level male students who are prone toward mental accounting have very accurate expectations of inflation, interest rate and unemployment, i.e. they are highly macroeconomic literate. Yet, we found no indication that rational thinkers are more literate than others.     

Experimental methods: Between-subject and within-subject design

In this article we explore the issues that surround within-subject and between-subject designs. We describe experiments in economics and in psychology that make comparisons using either of these designs (or both) that sometimes yield the same results and sometimes do not. The overall goal is to establish a framework for understanding which critical questions need to be asked about such experimental studies, what authors of such studies can do to ameliorate fears of confoundedness, and which scenarios are particularly susceptible to divergent results from the two approaches. Overall, we find that both designs have their merits, and the choice of designs should be carefully considered in the context of the question being studied and in terms of the practical implementation of the research study.     

Behavioral Decision Making in the (Q,R) Purchasing Model: An Experimental Study

This paper presents and analyzes the results of a decision‐making experiment in inventory management under uncertainty. The experiment included 81 participants who played the role of a small car importer facing random demand as in the (Q,R) model. The results show strong evidence of learning and convergence, and the average reorder point (R) closely approaches the optimal level for maximizing profits. However, the participants' decisions are still biased by realizations of extreme values of demand and loss of potential sales. We argue that participants are affected by recency, loss aversion, and, possibly, their own risk aversion. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

China's Emergence: Prospects,Opportunities and Challenges

Barring major disruptions, China will become the world's most dynamic growth pole, and could become one of the world's largest economies, if not the largest, by the year 2020. Industrial countries, especially Japan and the United States, are expected to benefit, while many developing countries may be put under competitive pressure. A simulation analysis shows that in the long run China will be resilient to adverse external developments, but in the short term, a shock such as loss of most favoured nation status in the US market could threaten the macroeconomic stability so important to its continued economic opening. Preserving open trade relations is in the best interest of both China and the United States.