Economics Commons^™

Us Pharmaceutical Policy In A Global Marketplace, Darius Lakdawalla, Dana Goldman, Pierre-Carl Michaud, Neeraj Sood, Robert Lempert, Italo Gutierrez, Ze Cong

Darius N. Lakdawalla

No abstract provided.

Individuals' Use Of Care While Uninsured: Effects Of Time Since Episode Inception And Episode Length, Carole Gresenz, J. Rogowski, Jose Escarce

Carole Roan Gresenz

No abstract provided.

Sourwood: An Apiforestation Story, Tammy Horn

Tammy Horn

No abstract provided.

Comments On “Assessing The Predictive Power Of Labor-Market Indicators Of Inflation,” By Farrokh Nourzad, Maria Ibanez

Maria Ibanez

No abstract provided.

Systemic Analysis Of Social Scientists Policy Research And Economic Reforms In Nigeria, Sikir Abdulsalam

Sikiru Abidemi Abdulsalam

Despite numerous policy research institutes, organizations and social research in Nigeria, social outputs seem to have contributed little to policy articulation and formulation process. This feeble interface between knowledge base and policy formulation reduces the latter to a subject of intuitive judgment. This paper uses a schematic analysis approach to examine the relationship between policy space, social scientist and economy performance in Nigeria. The paper found that the input of policy research which should necessarily underscore economic reforms is inadequate and not effective. These adverse weaknesses are assumed to have substantiated the economic downtrodden in Nigeria. We recommend that the …

Political Altruism Of Transboundary Water Sharing, Anik Bhaduri, Edward Barbier

Edward B Barbier

In the paper, using a political altruism model, we make an attempt to explain why an upstream country might agree to a treaty that recognizes and enforces the water claims of a downstream country. In a natural extension of the standard economic model, it is possible to explain the above phenomena, by allowing for altruism between countries. The altruistic concerns of the countries are dependent on the other country’s willingness to have a good political relationship. If both the countries maintain favorable political relations with one another, then the upstream country will care about the impacts of its water diversion …

Corruption, Trade And The Political Economy Of Resource-Based Development: A Comparison Of Africa And Asia, Edward Barbier

Edward B Barbier

No abstract provided.

Natural Resource Scarcity, Ecological Scarcity And Sustainable Development 20 Years On: What Have We Learned That Is Relevant To Developing Countries?, Edward Barbier

Edward B Barbier

No abstract provided.

Bayesian Identification, Selection And Estimation Of Functions In High-Dimensional Additive Models, Anastasios Panagiotelis, Michael Smith

Michael Stanley Smith

In this paper we propose an approach to both estimate and select unknown smooth functions in an additive model with potentially many functions. Each function is written as a linear combination of basis terms, with coefficients regularized by a proper linearly constrained Gaussian prior. Given any potentially rank deficient prior precision matrix, we show how to derive linear constraints so that the corresponding effect is identified in the additive model. This allows for the use of a wide range of bases and precision matrices in priors for regularization. By introducing indicator variables, each constrained Gaussian prior is augmented with a …

The Economic Costs Of Childhood Poverty In The United States, Harry Holzer, Diane Schanzenbach, Jens Ludwig, Greg Duncan

Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

No abstract provided.

Does Volatility In Government Borrowing Leads To Higher Inflation? Evidence From Pakistan, Safdar Khan

Safdar Khan

No abstract provided.

Chronicles Of A Failure: From A Renegotiation Clause To Arbitration Of Transnational Contracts, Luigi Russi

Luigi Russi

The present paper recounts the various steps which parties to a transnational contract containing a renegotiation clause may need to go through, should the circumstances accounted for in the renegotiation clause come to existence. To this end, the article sets off from an outline of the most relevant structural features and functions of renegotiation clauses, and of the typical obligations which may derive therefrom.

Secondly, the paper’s focus narrows down to the – by no means infrequent – case of failure to renegotiate in presence of an arbitration clause governing the parties’ agreement. In the latter case, in particular, several …

An Analysis Of Pakistan’S Vulnerability To Crisis, Safdar Khan

Safdar Khan

No abstract provided.

Modes, Weighted Modes, And Calibrated Modes: Evidence Of Clustering Using Modality Tests, Daniel Henderson, Christopher Parmeter, R. Russell

Christopher F. Parmeter

We apply recent results from the statistics literature to test for multimodality of worldwide distributions of several (unweighted and population-weighted) measures of labor productivity. Specifically, we employ Silverman (Bump) and Dip modality tests, calibrated to correct for their incorrect asymptotic levels. We show that test results are sensitive to the test statistic employed and to population weighting. But regardless of the statistical criterion used, multimodality is present throughout, or emerges during, our sample period (1960–2000). We also examine (a) movements of economies between modal clusters and (b) relationships between certain key development factors and multimodality of the productivity distribution.

Fairness In Contractual Relations: An Economic-Oriented Understanding Of Good Faith Performance, Luigi Russi

Luigi Russi

This is a derivative version of 'Can Good Faith Performance Be Unfair? An Economic Framework for Understanding the Problem', which appeared in the Whittier Law Review, vol. 29, 2008. In comparison to the version therein published, I have eliminated the mathematical appendix, and attempted to outline my reasoning exclusively in words, for it to be accessible to a wider readership.

In The Wake Of Tsunami: Lessons Learned From The Household Decision To Replant Mangroves In Thailand, Edward Barbier

Edward B Barbier

No abstract provided.

Ethnobiology, Socio-Economics And Management Of Mangrove Forests: A Review, Edward Barbier, Bradley Walters, Patrik Rönnbäck, Beatrice Crona, John Kovacs, Syed Hussain, Ruchi Badola, Jurgenne Primavera, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas

Edward B Barbier

No abstract provided.

The Economics Of Renewable Resource Credit, Christiaan Hogendorn

Christiaan Hogendorn

No abstract provided.

A Note On Sustained Economic Growth For Pakistan, Safdar Khan

Safdar Khan

No abstract provided.

Fertility And The Health Of Children: An Application Of A Nonparametric Conditional Late Estimator, Daniel Henderson, Daniel Millimet, Christopher Parmeter, Le Wang

Christopher F. Parmeter

Although the theoretical trade-off between the quantity and quality of children is well established, empirical evidence supporting such a causal relationship is limited. This chapter applies a recently developed nonparametric estimator of the conditional local average treatment effect to assess the sensitivity of the quantity-quality trade-off to functional form and parametric assumptions. Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey and controlling for potential endogeneity of fertility, we find mixed evidence supporting the trade-off.

Insurer Competitive Strategy And Enrollment In Newly Offered Preferred Provider Organizations (Ppo), Richard Hirth, Kyle Grazier, Michael Chernew, Edward Okeke

Edward Okeke

While early PPO growth coincided with growth of managed care generally, recent growth has come primarily at the expense of other managed care plans. Little is known about the micro behavior underlying these trends. In 2005, University of Michigan employees were offered PPOs for the first time by vendors who also offered other plans. PPOs helped the offering vendors maintain or grow their total enrollment share. PPOs were most attractive to workers who had previously chosen less managed plans. Because PPOs drew few enrollees from HMOs, there was little evidence of a backlash against managed care in the context of …

“Poverty, Development, And Ecological Services”, Edward Barbier

Edward B Barbier

No abstract provided.

Heterogeneity In Smoker Preferences For Increased Efficacy Of Cessation Therapies, Robert Paterson, Kevin Boyle, Christopher Parmeter, James Neumann, Paul De Civita

Christopher F. Parmeter

Promoting cessation is a cornerstone of tobacco control efforts by public-health agencies. Economic information to support cessation programs has generally emphasized cost-effectiveness or the impact of cigarette pricing and smoking restrictions on quit rates. In contrast, this study provides empirical estimates of smoker preferences for increased efficacy and other attributes of smoking cessation therapies (SCTs). Choice data were collected through a national survey of Canadian smokers. We find systematic preference heterogeneity for therapy types and SCT attributes between light and heavy smokers, as well as random heterogeneity using random parameters logit models. Preference heterogeneity is greatest between length of use …

Estimating Output Gap For Pakistan Economy: Structural And Statistical Approaches, Safdar Khan

Safdar Khan

No abstract provided.

Bayesian Density Forecasting Of Intraday Electricity Prices Using Multivariate Skew T Distributions, Anastasios Panagiotelis, Michael Smith

Michael Stanley Smith

Electricity spot prices exhibit strong time series properties, including substantial periodicity, both inter-day and intraday serial correlation, heavy tails and skewness. In this paper we capture these characteristics using a first order vector autoregressive model with exogenous effects and a skew t distributed disturbance. The vector is longitudinal, in that it comprises observations on the spot price at intervals during a day. A band two inverse scale matrix is employed for the disturbance, as well as a sparse autoregressive coefficient matrix. This corresponds to a parsimonious dependency structure that directly relates an observation to the two immediately prior, and the …

Securing America's Future: A Bold Plan To Preserve And Expand Social Security, Max Skidmore

Max J. Skidmore

Analysis of the American system of Social Security, with proposals for expansion and for universal health care.

The Effect Of Measurement Error On The Shape Of The World Distribution Of Income, Christopher Parmeter

Christopher F. Parmeter

This note examines the robustness that two modes exist in the world's density of per capita income. Our results suggest that this bimodal feature is robust and are arrived at using recently developed nonparametric deconvolution techniques.

The Role Of Higher Oil Prices: A Case Of Major Developed Countries, Terry O'Neill, J. Penm, R. D. Terrell

Terry O'Neill

Ability Grouping And Academic Inequality: Evidence From Trinidad And Tobago, Clement (Kirabo) Jackson

C. Kirabo Jackson

In Trinidad and Tobago students are assigned to secondary schools after fifth grade based on achievement tests, generating large differences in school and peer quality. Using instrumental variables to address self-selection bias, I find that being assigned to a school with high-achieving peers has large positive effects on examination performance, particularly for girls. This suggests that ability grouping (or school tracking) reinforces achievement differences by assigning the weakest students to schools that provide the least value-added. While students benefit from attending schools with brighter peers on average, the marginal effect is non-linear such that there are small benefits to attending …

What Impact Will Current Capital Market Conditions Have On Public Private Partnerships?, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Extract: This research report is prepared for the Infrastructure Association of Queensland and is a joint undertaking of the Association and the Mirvac School of Sustainable Development at Bond University. He purpose of this study is to examine the present and future use of public private partnerships (PPPs) in Queensland given recent events in international and domestic credit markets and prevailing capital market conditions. The essential research question to be answered here is whether current volatility and uncertainty in capital markets in Australia affects the feasibility of privately financed infrastructure and specifically, the PPP method of procurement.