Gross margin sales compensation plans

The notion that gross margin commission plans lead to optimum wages for salespeople and maximum profits for the firm was tested using data from 108 medical supply wholesalers. Results suggest that although gross margin plans may increase wages, they do not improve the contribution profits of the firm.     

Unique non-boundary equilibria in the Morishima system

In the extensive literature on the Morishima system, the issue of the uniqueness and positiveness of equilibria has been neglected. It is shown that three conditions known to be sufficient for local stability also imply unique, non-boundary equilibria. Other implications of these three conditions such as numeraire independence and global stability are also discussed.     

Public Policy and Extended Families: Evidence from Pensions in South Africa

How are resources allocated within extended families in developingeconomies? This question is investigated using a unique socialexperiment: the South African pension program. Under that programthe elderly receive a cash transfer equal to roughly twice theper capita income of Africans in South Africa. The study examineshow this transfer affects the labor supply of prime-age individualsliving with these elderly in extended families. It finds a sharpdrop in the working hours of prime-age individuals in thesehouseholds when women turn 60 years old or men turn 65, theages at which they become eligible for pensions. It also findsthat the drop in labor supply is much larger when the pensioneris a woman, suggesting an imperfect pooling of resources. Theallocation of resources among prime-age individuals dependsstrongly on their absolute age and gender as well as on theirrelative age. The oldest son in the household reduces his workinghours more than any other prime-age household member.     

Traditional fuel usage and the rural poor in Bangladesh

Food and fuel production in the rural environment of developing countries are linked to income, and both are fundamental to welfare. It is difficult to measure the condition of the overall traditional fuel resource, but in Bangladesh the usage of village trees can be used as an indicator. Traditional fuel consumption per capita in the country seems to be more or less what would be expected for a country of this type, but it also seems that, at these levels of usage, serious shortages must soon appear. Because of the existing socio-economic structure of the rural population, the poor, landless stratum will be disproportionately affected by such shortages. Within the political and implementation constraints that exist, certain steps can be taken to offset the fuel shortage. These might at least include the rural poor, if not distributing all benefits directly to them.     

Econometric analysis of residential time-of-use electricity pricing experiments

This paper adapts the two-stage neo-classical model of consumer behavior to the analysis of time-of-use pricing of electricity. Emphasis is placed upon the relationship between partial elasticities, which can be accurately estimated from the first stage, and total elasticities, which can be estimated only by using less reliable information to estimate the second stage. Three functional forms are implemented with data from the Wisconsin Pricing Experiment. Results indicate that (1) the CES and generalized Leontief functional forms are preferred, (2) price elasticities vary substantially with price, and (3) peak and off-peak electricity are partial substitutes but total complements.