Selecting Sites for New Facilities Using Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper develops a mathematical programming model for obtaining a best set of sites for planned facilities. The model is concerned with those situations where resource constraints are present. The specific setting for the paper involves the selection of sites for a set of retail outlets, wherein the ratio of aggregate outputs to inputs for the selected set is maximal among all possible sets that could be chosen. At the same time, the model guarantees that the only sets of stores allowable are those for which the available resources are used to the maximum extent possible.     

The effect of a currency union on trade: Lessons from the Irish experience

This paper studies the introduction of an exchange rate between Ireland and the UK in 1979 to shed light on the effects of a common currency on the composition of international trade. No evidence is found from time series or panel regressions that the change of exchange rate regime had a significant effect on Anglo-Irish trade. This finding is consistent with previous studies of currency unions between larger, developed countries but conflicts with findings based on more heterogeneous country groupings. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.     

RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS AND PRO SPORTS LEAGUES

We put a new set of shoes on that old workhorse, the competitive talent market (CTM) model in sports economics. There exist unique rational expectations equilibria for both national football league (NFL‐type leagues) and major league baseball (MLB‐type leagues) under the CTM model. A cursory statistical test fails to reject the empirical implications for the NFL‐type league. The model also suggests empirical tests of whether or not talent demand (marginal revenues from talent), including induced effects, actually slopes down. But like all models, the competitive talent model should be applied in its context. It describes highly cooperative North American sports leagues that have a wealth of common information. But it may not do the same for other leagues if they lack this common information.     

Inoculating consumers against deception: The influence of framing and executional style

This study examines conditions affecting consumer susceptibility to advertising deception and educational efforts designed to inoculate consumers against it. Results show that consumers are best able to detect deception when their frame of reference (cognitive or affective) is incongruent with the advertisement's executional style (attribute or emotional). Attempts to inoculate consumers against deception by providing factual brand comparisons have their strongest effect among consumers with an affective frame of reference and for emotionally charged ads.

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Die Immunisierung von Konsumenten gegen werbliche Irreführung: Der Einflu der persönlichen Informationsausrichtung und des werblichen Argumentationsstils

Zusammenfassung Die Studie befa\t sich mit den Bedingungen werblicher Irreführung von Konsumenten und mit den Bemühungen der Verbrauchererziehung, Konsumenten durch vergleichende Warentestergebnisse gegen solche Irreführung zu immunisieren. Ihre Ergebnisse zeigen, da\ Konsumenten werbliche Irreführung am ehesten dann durchschauen, wenn ihre persönliche Informationsausrichtung (kognitiv oder affektiv) nicht mit dem werblichen Argumentationsstil (informativ oder emotional) übereinstimmt. Versuche, Konsumenten mit Hilfe vergleichender Warentest-Informationen gegen werbliche TÄuschung zu immunisieren, sind am wirkungsvollsten bei Konsumenten mit affektiver Informationsausrichtung und bei emotionshaltiger Werbung.

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The authors wish to thank Joel Cohen and the Editors and reviewersof Journal of Consumer Policy for their valued suggestions, and Jill Joyce for assistance in data collection and analysis.     

N‐FIRM OLIGOPOLY WITH GENERAL ISO‐ELASTIC DEMAND

In this note oligopoly with iso‐elastic demand is analysed. Unlike previous studies we consider general iso‐elastic demand rather than the case of unit elasticity. An n‐firm Nash‐Cournot equilibrium for the case of heterogeneous constant marginal costs is derived. The main result is a closed‐form solution that shows the dependency of the equilibrium on the elasticity of demand and the share of industry costs. The result has applications to a wide range of areas in oligopoly theory by allowing comparisons across markets with different elasticities of demand.     

The response of vital rates to harvest fluctuations in pre-industrial Sweden

This study examines whether there was a Malthusian equilibrium mechanism in Sweden in the pre-industrial period. A unique data set on harvests, deaths, marriages and births going back to 1630 is used to calculate cumulative elasticities of vital rates with respect to harvest. While earlier studies have mostly focused on the impact of real wage, this study uses the calorie content of per capita harvests as an indicator of living standards. It finds that there indeed was a response of vital rates to harvest fluctuations, but there were important structural breaks. While positive checks attenuated after 1720, preventive checks were strengthened. After 1870 preventive checks disappeared, and possibly also positive checks. The results are robust to different models and trend specifications, with one crucial difference: while the distributed lag model shows that positive checks were significant up to 1920, the SVAR model shows that positive checks disappeared after 1870.