Bayesian Estimation of Entry Games with Multiple Players and Multiple Equilibria

Entry game models are often used to study the nature of firms' profits and the nature of competition among firms in empirical studies. However, when there are multiple players in an oligopoly market, the resulting multiple equilibria have made it difficult in previous studies to estimate the payoff functions of players in complete information, static and discrete games without using unreasonable assumptions. To overcome this difficulty, the present paper proposes a practical estimation method for an entry game with three players using a Bayesian approach. Some mild assumptions are imposed on the payoff function, and the average competitive effect is used to capture the entry effect of the number of firms. Our proposed methodology is applied to Japanese airline data from the year 2000, when there were three major airline companies, ANA, JAL and JAS. The model comparison is conducted to investigate the nature of strategic interaction among these Japanese airline companies.     

The effect of education subsidies on regional economic growth and disparities in China

This paper examines the impact of education subsidies on regional economic growth and the disparities between two Chinese regions, Jiangsu and Liaoning, by simulating their economies in a six-period overlapping generations model in which individuals decide their length of education. This study estimates the long-run growth rates, that is, the steady growth paths of the regional economies based on current education subsidies, and explores their effect on human capital accumulation, namely in terms of economic growth while considering the increase in education subsidies. Because greater government subsidies in education induce individuals to invest in human capital, both regions achieve higher economic growth. Moreover, because of the large differences in productivity between the regions, the growth gap widens with evenly raised education subsidy rates.     

Effects of Japanese macroeconomic statistic announcements on the dollar/yen exchange rate: High-resolution picture

Using high-frequency transaction data of the actual trading platform, we examine market impact of Japanese macroeconomic statistics news within minutes of their announcements on the dollar/yen exchange rate. Macroeconomic statistics surprises that consistently have significant effect on dollar/yen returns include Tankan (business condition survey conducted by Bank of Japan), GDP, industrial production, price indices and balance of payment. The announcement itself, in addition to the magnitude of the surprise, is found to increase the number of deals and price volatility immediately after the announcement. Most effects, when significant, take place within 30 min of statistics announcements.     

Regional Diversity and Sources of Economic Growth in China

Regional diversity in the process of economic growth is the major concern in this paper. We will try to identify its sources for growth and to specify production functions in each province by estimating translog production function. This paper clarifies the following four facts: First, capital accumulation was a major source for growth in the earlier stage of the Chinese economy, especially in the eastern coastal region. Unexpectedly, capital accumulation is losing its ground over the years. Second, the employment structure of the economy in the eastern region has changed significantly and the shares of workers in the secondary and tertiary industries increased until 1992. Since 1992, these figures have not changed significantly despite China's continuous economic high growth. Third, four distinguishable regional growth patterns have contributed to China's economic growth. Finally, production technologies in each province vary both in the direction of factor intensity and in the elasticity of substitution between inputs.     

Correlation and Regression Analysis for Characterizations of a University Hospital

One of the most important issues in hospital management is how to determine the indicators for revenue of a large-scale hospital. Although it has been pointed out that the averaged value of length of stay in a hospital is an indicator of its revenue, quantitative evaluation has not been conducted. In this paper, we propose an analytic process based on methods for correlation and regression analysis to evaluate this indicator by using stored data in hospital information systems. We applied this method to data combined with discharge summaries and medical treatment fees, collected from 1997 to 2000 in Chiba University Hospital. The result shows that the length of stay can explain around 60-90% of the revenue during this period.     

Assessing collective firm behavior: comparing industrial symbiosis with possible alternatives for individual companies in Oahu,HI

Are companies better off acting collectively in sharing resources, such that one company's waste becomes another company's feedstock, or is it strategically preferable to act individually to minimize resource flows? Eleven enterprises on Oahu, HI, were found to be exchanging nine different materials, constituting previously undocumented industrial symbiosis collaboration, anchored by a coal‐fired power plant in the Campbell Industrial Park. The environmental and economic performance of eight companies exchanging six of these materials is assessed based on price and quantity data collected during interviews with the participants. The largest environmental benefits were found to be reduced landfilling and conservation of primary materials, including 40 million gallons of fresh water and approximately 17 800 tons of coal annually. The research finds that symbiotic solutions, when made visible, are often preferable, especially on an island. Indeed, company managers who fail to consider symbiotic solutions for resource issues risk overlooking the most effective strategic options. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.