Accounting Price of an Exhaustible Resource: Response and Extensions

Wei (Environ Resour Econ 60:579–581, 2015) presents a novel derivation of the accounting price for an exhaustible resource in a non-optimal economy subject to an allocation mechanism. We show that Wei (2015) and Hamilton and Ruta (Environ Resour Econ 42:53–64, 2009) are in fact employing different and mutually exclusive allocation mechanisms for the economy, and this explains the differences between the respective accounting prices. Because accounting prices must be defined subject to the allocation mechanism for the economy, the prices derived in the two papers are equally valid within their respective allocation domains. Further analysis shows that if there is declining marginal product of factors, a ‘Hartwick investment rule’ for the model economy (set investment just equal to depletion, valued at the accounting price) will lead to declining consumption for the Wei (2015) accounting price, and increasing consumption for the Hamilton and Ruta (2009) accounting price. This result is extended to consider the accounting standards recommended in the UN SEEA (System of environmental-economic accounting 2012: central framework. United Nations, European Commission, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Bank, 2012), as well as accounting for environmental externalities from resource use.     

Consumer and managerial goals in assortment choice and design

In many domains, consumers must deal with an increasing number of choices—spanning where, when, what, and how many items to buy; how many and which options to consider; and how best to weigh the pros and cons of these options. This paper considers how consumer and managerial goals and the ensuing tradeoffs affect the optimal design of assortments in order to help enhance our understanding of assortment choice, identify issues that merit particular attention, review some of the recent research in pertinent areas, and suggest directions for future research.     

Contraction of the coal industry and the local economy

The coal industry has contracted significantly during the 1980s. Further decline will take place in the 1990s as a result of the privatization of the electricity supply industry (ESI), the relaxation of planning regulations on opencast mining, and increasing productivity in the pits.

This article looks at the actual and anticipated impact on local economies of this decline and considers the policy implications for those local authorities most affected by the future restructuring of the energy sector.     

The Government's Deregulation Initiative

The Government is undertaking a range of measures to tackle the burden of excessive red tape on business, This is a continuing programme requiring inputs from both government and business.