Airport Concentration and Market Power: An Events Study Approach

This paper presents independent confirmation of the results obtained in recent studies that suggest mergers and acquisitions creating airline dominance at the airport level lead to market power. Using a different methodology – an events study for the 1986 merger of Northwest Orient Airlines and Republic Airlines – this paper confirms those results, indicating that concentration in the context of the sunk costs associated with the operation at a particular airport facility allows market power in the airline industry.     

The promotion of maize fertiliser packages: A cause of household food insecurity and peasant impoverishment in high rainfall areas of Zimbabwe

Child malnutrition is a continuing problem in Zimbabwe's communal areas. These include some high rainfall areas, which make a contribution to the country's maize surplus during non‐drought years. A survey of farmers and extension workers in four high rainfall communal areas was carried out to investigate the effects of following recommended practices for maize production on household economy and food security.

Thirty‐two per cent of communal farmers had applied all the officially recommended fertiliser to their 1990/91 maize crop, often by obtaining these inputs on credit in lieu of grain sales receipts from the subsequent harvest. Yet. yields were so low that 48 per cent of these farmers would have been unable to retain sufficient grain to satisfy their families’ minimum requirements, if they had reimbursed the full cost of the input credit.

The majority (64 per cent) of farmers had deviatedfrom the recommended practice by adopting ‘low external input strategies’. A key feature of most of these strategies was the substitution of manure for part or all of the recommended fertiliser. In three of the four communal areas studied, this had improved the chances not only of recovering input costs, but also of achieving maize self‐sufficiency.

These results suggest that policy‐makers should shift emphasis from a dependence on costly external inputs to the integration of low levels of fertiliser with a range of more natural methods of soil improvement, in an effort to improve household food security in the communal areas.     

企业财务危机运营战略

企业一旦出现财务危机，便站在了崩溃边缘，随时都有“生命危险”。化解财务危机，必须面对现实，分析原因，制定切实可行的财务重整计划；确定短期行动方案，降低现金需求、扩大现金来源；寻求过渡时期的资产支援；检讨企业策略与目标，吸取教训，拟定长期整顿方案及实施时间表。     

Deposits and relationship lending

We empirically examine whether access to deposits with inelasticrates (core deposits) permits a bank to make contractual agreementswith borrowers that are infeasible if the bank must pay marketrates for funds. Such access insulates a bank's costs of fundsfrom exogenous shocks, allowing it to insulate its borrowersagainst exogenous credit shocks. We find that, controlling forloan market competition, banks funded more heavily with coredeposits provide more loan rate smoothing in response to exogenouschanges in aggregate credit risk. Thus we provide evidence fora novel channel linking bank liabilities to relationship lending.     

Update on coronary artery calcium imaging

This update of coronary calcium imaging discusses methods of detecting and measuring coronary artery calcium and their correlation to coronary artery disease risk. The value of EBCT to traditional non-invasive cardiovascular tests is compared. A negative EBCT test makes the presence of atherosclerotic plaque, including unstable plaque, very unlikely. Negative EBCT may be consistent with low risk of a cardiovascular event over the next 2-5 years. Conversely, positive EBCT confirms the presence of a coronary plaque. The greater the amount of calcium, the greater the likelihood of occlusive disease, but there is a not a 1:1 relationship and findings may not be site specific. A high calcium score may be consistent with moderate to high risk of cardiovascular event within the next 2-5 years. Limitations and cautions concerning the general use of EBCT for screening are discussed.     

三峡库区农业产业结构坝状及调整对策

在对库区农业产业结构现状进行深入考察的基础上。针对当前库区农业产业结构调整存在的一些问题。提出了制定优惠政策，产学研结合建设农业示范基地，实施精品名牌战略等对策。