Business climate as a leading indicator? An empirical investigation for west Germany from 1978 to 1990

For twenty-five years now, the leading indicator “Business Climate” of the Ifo Institute has been applied in the Federal Republic of Germany. The intent of this note is to provide answers to two questions by means of econometric methods. The first question is: Is the business climate really a leading indicator? The second question is: How much time is the indicator ahead? For verification and in order to respond to both questions, the Granger causality test is used in the version of Hsiao.     

Ein empirischer Test der Annahme der permanenten Einkommenshypothese von Milton Friedman

Summary We apply the Variate-Difference-Method to yearly Austrian data from 1956 to 1975 to test the permanent-income-hypothesis byM. Fiedman.First we determe the degree of the polynomial, which is sufficient to eliminate the trend (i.e. the permanent part) from time series of disposable income. Then the permanent income variable is constructed in two alternative ways: first, as a polynomial in time and second bySheppard's smoothing formulae. Transitory consumption is identified with the residuals of the consumption function. A correlation analysis shows that, transitory income and consumption are correlated, if permanent income is determined by a trend polynomial, while this is not the case ifSheppard's smoothing formulae is used to estimate permanent income.Consumption functions are specified for total consumption, durables and non-durables and eleven sub-groups of total private consumption. The results indicate that autocorrelation can considerably be reduced by usingSheppard's smoothing formulae.     

Applied Welfare Economics with Bounded Rationality: Public Policies Toward Remote Sensing

Earlier experimental evidence indicates that some decision makers under-invest in information when it is costly. This insight is applied to the cost–benefit analysis of the provision of data obtained by satellites. In fields like agriculture, remotely sensed information of great precision can be provided to additional farmers at minimal extra costs if a service for farmers with similar information needs is set up. Here, the tendency to under-invest in information asks for creative solutions by the private sector: bankers may work together with rational producers in setting up the information service and promoting it. However, if producers financial resources are insufficient, public intervention, in the form of a free information service may be necessary.The author would like to thank an anonymous referee, Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel, Sean Flynn, Daniel Heller, and Carlos Lenz and participants of the Lisbon Conference of the International Atlantic Economic Society, particularly Asatoshi Maeshiro, for helpful comments.     

Regional rigidities in the process of economic structural development

This paper outlines a framework for a vintage type analysis of structural change in production systems. By focusing on the existing industrial establishments in a region, rigidities are described with regard to (i) production techniques and input requirements, (ii) the semi-fixed location of the labour force and its specific set of production skills, (iii) the existing patterns of intersectoral deliveries. A scenario technique, utilizing programming models, is suggested as a method to study the effects on structural change of such rigidities.     

Wealth and sustainable development: the role of David Pearce

Green net national product was thought to be one way of measuring sustainable income. However, David Pearce understood that a better measure of sustainable development was to look at what a generation is leaving in form of capital assets to later generations. In this article, his arguments and insights are highlighted against recent theoretical advances.     

The long-run determinants of inequality: What can we learn from top income data?

This paper studies determinants of income inequality using a newly assembled panel of 16 countries over the entire twentieth century. We focus on three groups of income earners: the rich (P99–100), the upper middle class (P90–99), and the rest of the population (P0–90). The results show that periods of high economic growth disproportionately increases the top percentile income share at the expense of the rest of the top decile. Financial development is also pro-rich and the outbreak of banking crises is associated with reduced income shares of the rich. Trade openness has no clear distributional impact (if anything openness reduces top shares). Government spending, however, is negative for the upper middle class and positive for the nine lowest deciles but does not seem to affect the rich. Finally, tax progressivity reduces top income shares and when accounting for real dynamic effects the impact can be important over time.     

Budget impact analysis of secukinumab versus adalimumab in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis

Background: Biologic treatments have enhanced the treatment outcomes of patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Until recently, TNF-alpha-inhibitors have been the only biologics approved for the treatment of active AS. The objective of this study was to assess the potential financial impact of the first non-TNF-alpha biologic secukinumab (fully human IL-17A-inhibitor) vs adalimumab (TNF-alpha-inhibitor) in the treatment of AS in Finland.

Materials and methods: In this model-based budget impact analysis, patients were treated either with secukinumab (150?mg) or adalimumab (40?mg). The number of patients and market share of different biologics were based on national reimbursement registry data. Adalimumab was the most commonly used biologic treatment for AS, and in the base case analysis all adalimumab patients are assumed to switch to secukinumab. Response rates were based on a matching-adjusted indirect comparison between secukinumab and adalimumab. Patients not achieving response were switched to another biologic treatment.

Results: Treating AS patients with secukinumab instead of adalimumab leads to potential savings of 18.2 million euros within a 5-year time period. The total costs within the follow-up time were 59.5 million euros and 77.7 million euros with and without secukinumab, respectively. According to sensitivity analyses, a higher adoption rate of secukinumab corresponds to higher potential savings.

Conclusions: Secukinumab is a cost-saving treatment option compared with adalimumab in the treatment of AS in Finland. More patients could be treated with a biologic by allocating resources more efficiently.