Inflation, investment and economic performance: The role of internal financing

This paper studies a link between inflation and economic activity that is built on two hypotheses. First, firms mitigate informational frictions in financial markets by accumulating retained earnings over a period of time. Second, firms allocate earnings among three competing uses - dividends, current investment, and the accumulation of internal funds - and inflation directly distorts this allocation decision as well as the real value of accumulated internal funds. The model predicts that the level of inflation - both unanticipated and expected inflation - as well as the variability of inflation distort firms’ internal financing decisions, increases frictions in financial markets, reduces the level and efficiency of investment, and reduces aggregate output. The marginal effects of inflation are increasing in the inflation rate.     

Regulating an Externality-Generating Utility Environmental Taxes Under Limited Information

Global warming is currently an important item on most nationalenvironmental agendas. In many countries, coal-fired electricity generatingstations represent an important source of greenhouse gases. We examinehow regulations to curb emissions affect public utility pricing regulationwhen regulators act non-cooperatively. We show that, when there is limitedinformation on fixed abatement costs, an environmental regulator prefersan emission tax over an output tax or a lump sum environmental tax. Thepublic utility regulator prefers the lump sum tax regime.     

International capital and nontraded goods in the long run

The present paper develops the comparative static properties of a small open economy which produces both traded goods and nontraded goods, and is a price taker in the international market for productive capital. Assumptions of full employment, competitive markets, and international mobility of productive cap ital input capture a long run horizon. Comparative static results associated with the wage, labor, and the price of the nontraded good are independent of factor intensity, factor substitution, and demand for the nontraded good. A tax on the traded good and a capital subsidy together raise national income and the real wage.     

Regulating an externality-generating public utility: A multi-dimensional screening approach

In this paper, I present a monopoly screening model in which a firm holds private information on fixed abatement costs. Because of the nature of the optimal contracts, bunching is never optimal even with ‘n’ distinct types. A characterization of full and limited information solutions is offered and it is shown that the design standards alone determine the value of an information rent. The variable charge is completely free of any marginal information costs. This allows the variable charge to track marginal damages and thereby ensures that marginal social costs are covered. A fixed charge implements the optimal solution.     

Are There Differential Effects of Price and Policy on College Students’Drinking Intensity?

This article investigates the impact of campus bans on alcohol use and the price of alcohol on college students'drinking intensity. The impact of a campus ban on drinking appears to depend on the ability of students to substitute off-campus access to alcohol for on-campus access. Where few off-campus alternatives exist, campus bans reduce the odds that a student becomes a heavy drinker but have no impact on the odds of transitioning from abstainer to drinker. Where off-campus alternatives are more plentiful, campus bans are less effective. Increasing the price of alcohol appears to be equally effective at reducing the likelihood of drinking and heavy drinking. (JEL)     

Climate Change Taxes and Energy Efficiency in Japan

In 2003 Japan proposed a Climate Change Tax to reduce its CO₂ emissions to the level required by the Kyoto Protocol. If implemented, the tax would be levied on fossil fuel use and the revenue distributed to encourage the purchase of energy efficient equipment. Analysis using the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model shows that this policy is unlikely to bring Japan into compliance with its Kyoto target unless the subsidy encourages improvement in energy intensity well beyond Japan’s recent historical experience. Similar demand-management programs in the US, where there has been extensive experience, have not been nearly as effective as they would need to be to achieve energy efficiency goals of the proposal. The Tax proposal also calls for limits on international emission trading. We find that this limit substantially affects costs of compliance. The welfare loss with full emissions trading is 1/6 that when Japan meets its target though domestic actions only, the carbon price is lower, and there is a smaller loss of energy-intensive exports. Japan can achieve substantial savings from emissions trading even under cases where, for example, the full amount of the Russian allowance is not available in international markets.     

Bargaining Strength and Property Class in Office Markets

This paper examines the influence of bargaining power and property class on the prices of heterogeneous goods. Specifically, it explores the impact of buyer and seller characteristics on the transaction prices of office properties. The empirical model is based on the work of Harding, Rosenthal, and Sirmans (2003), which developed a method to distinguish between the impact of buyer and seller attributes on bargaining power and the choice of otherwise unidentified price effects (i.e., property class) in the context of hedonic price models. The data set contains information on transaction prices of office properties in Cook, DuPage, and Lake Counties, Illinois from 1995 to 1997. The results reveal systematic differences in bargaining power and property class for certain groups of buyers and sellers contained within the sample.     

THE CONCEPT OF EFFECTIVE SUBSIDY AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE CANADIAN FLOUR MILLING INDUSTRY*

The export subsidy has been a perennial bone of contention to competing exporters of various commodities in international trade, particularly in agricultural trade. A typical example is the world trade in flour. Export subsidies on flour exports by large competitors are generally thought to be one of the main causes of the decline in the Canadian share of the world flour market. Previous studies have been confined to an analysis of nominal subsidy rates on flour; quantifications are needed to estimate the effectiveness of the subsidies in fuller terms. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an appropriate concept for treating export subsidies explicitly. The present study attempts to develop a model to estimate the effectiveness of export subsidies net of input distortion so as to arrive at “the effective rate of subsidy.” Then, the mode! so developed is applied to the U.S. and Canadian exports of flour. The results show that Canada had negative effective rates of subsidy throughout the years 1960-61 to 1969-70 while the U.S. rates remained positive during this entire period. These estimations provide quantification of the disadvantage caused for Canadian flour exports by export subsidies on flour by large competitors. A fin ?étudier explictement les primes ?exporiations ont Aeté une source continuelle de mé-sentente entre les exponateurs compétitifs des diverses marchandises au sein du marché international. Ceci est paniculièremeni vrai en ce qui a trait au marché agricole. Un exemple lypique est le marché mondial des farines. ?on croit que i'une des principals causes de la baisse de la part Canadienne dans le marché mondial des farines sont les primes ?exporiations accordées aux gros compétiteurs. Les études précédenles furenl limitées à?analyse de taux nominal de subventions sur les farines; des estimations quan-titatives sont nécessaires afin ?évaluer ?efficacile des subventions en termes plus précis. Done, it est necessaire de développer un concept approprté afin ?étudier les primes ?exporiations explicitement. La préseme étude tente de développer un modèle ?évaluation de ?efficacité des primes ?exporiations libres de loutes déformations afin ?obtenir “un taux efficace de subvention.” Ce modèle est alors appliqué aux exportalions Américaines el Canadiennes de farine. Les résultats démontrent que le Canada possèdait des “taux efficaces de subventions” négalifs pendant les années 1960-61 à 1969-70 el que les taux Américains demeurerent positifs durant la même période. Ces résultats nous donnent la dimension du désavantage causé aux exportalions Canadiennes de farine par les primes ?exporiations accordees aux gros compétiteurs.     

When Research Meets Development: Antecedents and Implications of Transfer Speed

This paper focuses on the organization of new product development in large, R&D‐intensive firms. In these firms, research and development activities are often separated. Research is conducted in dedicated research projects at specialized research labs. Once research results are achieved by research projects, they are transferred to business units for further development and commercialization. We investigate the speed whereby research projects transfer their first research results to business units (hereafter: transfer speed). In particular, we analyze the antecedents and performance implications of transfer speed. Based on data of 503 research projects from a European R&D intensive manufacturing firm, our results suggest that a fast transfer speed (as measured by the time it takes for a research project to develop and transfer its first research result to business units) is associated with a better research performance (as measured by the total number of transfers the research project generates). Moreover, we find that different types of external R&D partners—science‐based and market‐based partners—play distinct roles in speeding up project first research transfers. While market‐based partnerships (i.e., customers and suppliers) generally contribute to a faster transfer of first research results, science‐based partnerships (i.e., universities and research institutions) only speed up first research transfers of technologically very complex projects. Our results also show that early patent filings by research projects accelerate first research transfers.