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.     

The stability of the demand for fossil fuels by electric utilities

The view that the regional demand for fossil fuels by electric utilities in the United States is characterized by stable relationships is subjected to an objective statistical test. The test utilizes a statistic which equals the ratio of the sum of squared residuals of one period prediction from the k + 1 period to the rth period to the sum of squared residuals of one period prediction from the k + 1 to the Tth period, where k is the number of estimated coefficients in the model and T is the sample size. The results suggest for the period 1973 through 1978, that the fossil fuel demand functions in Region II and Region VIII and the coal demand function in Region X became unstable around 1977. For the other regions, the results indicate no appreciable (statistically significant) change in the relative importance of the underlying determinants of the demand for fossil fuels.     

The industrial demand for energy

This paper uses a constant elasticity of substitution production function to examine the extent of factor substitutability in the production of industrial goods. Subsequently, the degree of interfuel substitution is estimated and it is demonstrated that all energy sources are substitutable. Finally, the stability of the demand for various energy sources is empirically tested for and it is concluded that over the period of investigation the demand has in fact remained unaltered.     

A tourist's “vision quest” in an African game reserve

This essay deals with the role of guides in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve of Botswana and the frictions that arise between them and visitors to the reserve. The guides' role as “interpreters” is juxtaposed with the tourists' desire for first-hand “communion” with nature, which is here treated as similar to a “vision quest.” The essay analyzes the interactions between the Tswana guides on the one hand and South African tourists on the other, focusing on the relegation of the former by the latter to the (basically menial) role of pathfinders and assistants that most Africans fill in the tourists' home culture. Attention is drawn to a possible crisis brewing in tourist-guide relationships, due to the fact that guides are unsuccessful, or even redundant, mediators in “vision quest” tourism.     

The pattern of demand in the United States.

The objective of this paper is to examine the demand for goods and services in the United States using the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS). The focus is on testing the theoretical properties of demand. The model fits the data well. The suggestion is that food, clothing, housing and transportation are necessities while medical care and recreation are luxuries. The notion of homogeneity is generally accepted while symmetry is soundly rejected. Finally, negativity is shown to hold.     

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.     

Modeling oil refinery operations

This paper develops a model to analyze the relative responsiveness of refined petroleum product output to changes in the relative prices of these products. A scheme is devised and implemented that shares out total production into motor gasoline, distillate fuel oil, kerojet fuel, and other refined products. A multinomial logit specification is used whereby the share of each of these products is a function of relative prices, a seasonal factor, and the relative amount of crude output to total product output. Finally, the structural stability of the estimated relationships are tested for and the null hypothesis of stability is not rejected.