Market structure and demand-side substitutability of chained urban hotel segments

This study analyzes how the demand in hotel markets is divided amongst chained hotel segments. Hypotheses regarding consumers’ switching behavior due to changes in income levels and relative prices are tested using data from 25 major urban markets in the United States, encompassing segments ranging from luxury to economy over 43 quarters. The effects of differentiation and market concentration are also investigated in this context. The results suggest that leisure and individual consumers of the low-scale segments may be trading “up” to higher scales when their income increase, but that upscale segments’ corporate consumers are not necessarily trading “down” when Corporate Income fall. In addition, only low-scale segments appear to be substitutes to upscale segments, but the inverse seems not to be true. Also, properties in mid-range segments are found to be the only ones benefiting from a high market concentration, while low-scale properties turn out to be the ones gaining from differentiation through price.     

Impact of land fragmentation and resource ownership on productivity and efficiency: The case of rice producers in Bangladesh

The paper analyzes the impact of land fragmentation and ownership of resources on productivity and technical efficiency in rice production in Bangladesh using farm level survey data. Results reveal that land fragmentation has a significant detrimental effect on productivity and efficiency as expected. The elasticity estimates of land fragmentation reveal that a 1% increase in land fragmentation reduces rice output by 0.05% and efficiency by 0.03%. On the other hand, ownership of key resources (land, family labour, and draft animals) significantly increases efficiency. The mean elasticity estimates reveal that a 1% increase in family labour and owned draft animal improve technical efficiency by 0.04% and 0.03%, respectively. Also, a 1% increase in the adoption of modern technology improves efficiency by 0.04%. The mean technical efficiency in rice production is estimated at 0.91 indicating little scope to improve rice production per se using existing varieties. Policy implications include addressing structural causes of land fragmentation (e.g., law of inheritance and political economy of agrarian structure), building of physical capital (e.g., land and livestock resources), improvements in extension services and adoption of modern rice technology.     

贵州劳动力单向流动的原因、影响与解决途径

劳动力在地区之间流动,本质上是供求关系作用的结果.贵州因产业结构等因素的影响,导致就业弹性小,劳动力需求少于供给而呈单向流出.劳动力长期流出影响经济的持续发展和社会的稳定,贵州应按比较优势原则确定经济增长方式和产业结构,在经济增长的同时增大就业弹性,扩大劳动力的需求.     

The Elasticity of Taxable Income: The Case of South Africa

A key tax policy parameter that has received much attention in the international literature, but about which there is substantial uncertainty, is the overall elasticity of taxable income. The size of this parameter is central to the formulation of tax and transfer policy, as well as for the study of the welfare implications of tax decisions. This paper uses a panel of individual tax returns for the period 2009–2013 and the phenomenon of “bracket creep” to construct instrumental variable estimates of the sensitivity of income to changes in tax rates. Estimates suggest that the overall elasticity of taxable income is approximately 0.3, while that of broad income is significantly lower. The overall response is primarily driven by the elastic response of taxable income for high‐income earners, who have an elasticity of closer to 0.4. Using the elasticity estimates within an optimal tax framework, it is determined that the optimal marginal tax rate for the top 10% of income earners is broadly in line with the current income tax schedule. However, results also suggest that there is little scope for raising marginal rates on high‐income earners further without inducing a negative revenue response.     

Price elasticity of water allocations demand in the Goulburn–Murray Irrigation District*

Bid prices for the demand and supply of water allocations between 2001 and 2007, and average monthly prices paid for water allocations from 1997 to 2007 in the Goulburn–Murray Irrigation District are analysed to estimate price elasticities. Based on bid prices, the price elasticity of demand for water allocations appears highly elastic, with elasticities strongly influenced by the season and drought. The price elasticity of supply for water allocations is also elastic, albeit less elastic than demand. Using actual prices paid, water demand is negatively related to price and is inelastic, and appears to be most influenced by demand the previous month, drought and seasonality factors.     

On the rebound: estimating direct rebound effects for Australian households

Reducing dependence on fossil fuels by decreasing energy consumption is a common environmental policy. One mechanism used to achieve this is to encourage increased energy efficiency. However, improving efficiency may have an opposing effect and cause an increase in energy consumption if the intensity of use changes. This phenomenon is known as the rebound effect. We estimate direct rebound effects for energy use in Australia based on both aggregate residential energy use data and on household energy expenditure data. Our approach implements a new methodology developed by Hunt and Ryan (2014, Catching on the rebound: Why price elasticities are generally inappropriate measures of rebound effects. Surrey Energy Economics Discussion Paper Series SEEDS 148; 2015, Energy Economics 50, 273) that explicitly relates energy service use with energy source demand and directly incorporates measures of efficiency changes. The results indicate that the rebound effect is relatively high for energy use by Australian households. Due to the unique nature of our household data set, we can examine the influence of demographic and housing characteristics. We find that low‐income households and households with vulnerable members have the largest rebound effects. The relatively large rebound effects found here suggest that consumers gain from efficiency by improved energy services, and thus, policy targeting energy efficiency is not likely to be successful at reducing energy consumption.     

A Meta‐Analysis on the Elasticity of Demand for Pesticides

There is an increasing policy interest in pesticide taxation schemes as a measure to reduce harmful effects of pesticide use. The effectiveness of such tax depends, however, on the price elasticity of demand for pesticides. Moreover, information on these demand elasticities and their determinants is of crucial relevance for policy‐making and normative modeling approaches. In this article, we present a meta‐analysis based on studies that have estimated pesticide demand elasticities in Europe and North America. Our meta‐analysis reveals that the own‐price elasticities of demand for pesticides are, with a median of ?0.28, significantly smaller than zero, but also significantly larger than ?1, i.e. to be inelastic. We find that the demand for pesticides for special crops is less elastic than that for arable and grassland. In addition, the demand for herbicides is more elastic than for other pesticides. Studies that consider only short‐term horizons and little flexibility for farmers to adjust to price changes generate significantly less elastic pesticide demands. The results also indicate that more recent studies identify lower pesticide price elasticities of demand. Furthermore, we find that peer‐reviewed studies tend to find more inelastic results compared to grey literature.     

中国原木进口与国际原木非法贸易问题的若干思考

在分析认识中国木材供需矛盾问题的基础上,对中国的原木进口和国际非法采伐加剧原木非法贸易之间的关系进行了探讨。中国原木进口依存度高,非法原木进口防范程度低,缺乏应有的进口门槛,行业自律机制不健全,给非法原木贸易提供了机会。为进一步探讨国际反原木非法贸易对中国原木进口需求的影响,文章采用差异化进口需求模型方法,分析了国际打击原木非法贸易背景下中国原木进口需求的相关数量变化关系。研究结果表明,中国的原木进口正在朝着理性的方向进展,来自美国、新西兰的原木进口比重日益增加而来自非法原木高危国的原木进口日益减少。基于研究提出中国应提高自身的生产能力以及完善合法认证体系,降低原木的进口依赖,同时发挥大国作用,一起推动非法原木高危国的木材合法认证体系的发展。     

同类产品的定价模型研究

针对完全市场经济条件下运行的库存-销售系统中同类产品定价问题,提出了多产品组合定价决策模型.考虑到多产品的需求价格弹性和交叉弹性的影响,假定在已知价格浮动比例的情况下为产品制定投放市场价,使得价格发生调整后产品在一段时期内取得的投资收益最大,从而建立了一般化的二次规划模型.最后给出两种产品组合定价决策的案例,用二次规划的有效集法计算获得最优定价结果,对于多产品组合定价问题具有理论和实际价值.     

辽宁省产业结构与就业结构协调发展研究

产业结构与就业结构的协调发展是促进就业和经济持续稳定增长的必然要求,是考察一国或一地区产业结构调整合理化水平的重要指标。针对辽宁省产业结构与就业结构出现的不协调性问题,利用1978-2007年相关数据,采用结构偏离度、就业吸纳弹性等实证分析方法,得出二元经济体制惯性、资本密集型主导、科技含量低等是其形成的主要原因,最后提出了相应的对策建议。