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Full-Text Articles in Economics

Informative Advertising In Differentiated Oligopoly Markets, Stephen F. Hamilton Jan 2009

Informative Advertising In Differentiated Oligopoly Markets, Stephen F. Hamilton

Economics

This paper examines the welfare implications of informative advertising in differentiated product oligopoly markets. The analysis reconciles the conflicting results in previous studies that find advertising to be undersupplied in homogeneous product markets, but oversupplied in differentiated product markets when the degree of differentiation is "small". In equilibrium, purely informative advertising is undersupplied when brands are sufficiently close substitutes and oversupplied when brands are more differentiated. Product differentiation also has welfare implications for the effect of technological change in the advertising sector. In response to an advertising cost innovation, equilibrium prices fall and the market converges to the socially optimal …


State And Regional Variation In The Effects Of Trade On Job Displacement In The Us Manufacturing Sector, 1982-1999, Roger White Dec 2008

State And Regional Variation In The Effects Of Trade On Job Displacement In The Us Manufacturing Sector, 1982-1999, Roger White

Economics

Worker-level data from the 1984–2000 Displaced Worker Surveys are employed to examine the effects of trade on manufacturing workers’ probabilities of job displacement. Observed changes in import and export penetration rates yield increases in displacement probabilities for the North Central, Middle Atlantic and South Central regions yet lower displacement probabilities for the Plains/West and Pacific regions. Changes in import and export price indexes lead to increases in displacement probabilities for the Pacific, Southeast and Northeast regions and decreases for the South Central and Middle Atlantic regions. However, while the influences of imports and exports on job displacement vary considerably across …


Do Immigrants Counter The Effect Of Cultural Distance On Trade? Evidence From Us State-Level Exports, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse Dec 2008

Do Immigrants Counter The Effect Of Cultural Distance On Trade? Evidence From Us State-Level Exports, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse

Economics

We examine the effects of immigrants and cultural distance on US state-level exports, placing emphasis on the extent to which immigrants may offset the influence of cultural distance with respect to the initiation and intensification of exports. Our findings suggest that greater cultural differences between the US and immigrants’ home countries reduce both the likelihood that exporting occurs and, when exporting is taking place, the level of exports. Immigrants are found to exert pro-export effects that offset, at least partially, the trade-inhibiting effects of cultural distance. The estimated effects of both cultural distance and immigrants are found to be greater …


Immigrants, Cultural Distance And Us State-Level Exports Of Cultural Products, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse Dec 2008

Immigrants, Cultural Distance And Us State-Level Exports Of Cultural Products, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse

Economics

We examine the relationships between immigrants, cultural distance and state-level exports, employing state-specific immigrant stocks and total US immigrant stocks, separately, and a measure of cultural distance recently introduced by [Tadesse, B., & White, R. (2008b). Cultural distance as a determinant of bilateral trade flows: Do immigrants counter the effect of cultural distance? Applied Economic Letters]. A positive link between immigrants and aggregate exports is reported and, while cultural distance is found to reduce exports, immigrants partially offset the effects of cultural distance by increasing both the intensity of existing exports and the likelihood that exporting occurs. However, heterogeneity in …


Economic Effects Of Smoking Bans On Restaurants And Pubs, Barrie Craven, Michael L. Marlow Dec 2008

Economic Effects Of Smoking Bans On Restaurants And Pubs, Barrie Craven, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

The United Kingdom has recently enacted smoking bans in public places such as restaurants and pubs. Public health advocates argue that bans are necessary because non-smokers need protection from second-hand smoke. Advocates also claim that bans do not exert harm on owners because of a vast empirical literature showing that restaurants and bars in the United States never suffer harm following bans. This paper examines whether these claims are true by developing a model within the Coasian framework whereby owners of businesses have incentives to deal with smoking disputes between smokers and non-smokers. Our model demonstrates that it is incorrect …


Why Multilevel Selection Matters, Alexander J. Field Dec 2008

Why Multilevel Selection Matters, Alexander J. Field

Economics

In spite of its checkered intellectual history, and in spite of the myriadproposals of alternative models that claim both to account for the range of humanbehavior and to dispense with the need for selection above the organism level, a mul-tilevel selection framework allowing for biological as well as cultural group selectionremains the only coherent means of accounting for the persistence and spread ofbehavioral inclinations which, at least upon first appearance at low frequency, wouldhave been biologically altruistic. This argument is advanced on three tracks: througha r eview of experimental and observational evidence inconsistent with a narrow ver-sion of rational choice …


What Explains The Increased Utilization Of Powder River Basin Coal In Electric Power Generation?, Shelby Gerking, Stephen F. Hamilton Nov 2008

What Explains The Increased Utilization Of Powder River Basin Coal In Electric Power Generation?, Shelby Gerking, Stephen F. Hamilton

Economics

This article examines possible explanations for increased utilization of Powder River Basin (PRB) coal in electric power generation that occurred over the last two decades. Did more stringent environmental policy motivate electric power plants to switch to less polluting fuels? Or, did greater use of PRB coal occur because relative price changes altered input markets in favor of this fuel. A key finding is that factors other than environmental policy such as the decline in railroad freight rates together with elastic demand by power plants were major contributors to the increased utilization of this fuel.


Cultural Distance And The Us Immigrant-Trade Link, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse Aug 2008

Cultural Distance And The Us Immigrant-Trade Link, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse

Economics

Using data from the World and the European Values Surveys, we calculate cultural distances between the US and 54 immigrant home countries and examine the influences of cultural distance and immigrant populations on US imports from and exports to immigrants’ home countries during the years 1997–2004. Our study indicates that, for both US imports and exports, the trade‐enhancing effect of immigrants partially offsets the trade‐inhibiting effect of cultural distance. Further, decomposing our measure of cultural distance into two component dimensions and revisiting the immigrant–trade relationship, we find significant variation in the extent to which immigrants counter the trade‐inhibiting influences of …


Experiments With Arbitrage Across Assets, Eric O'N. Fisher Aug 2008

Experiments With Arbitrage Across Assets, Eric O'N. Fisher

Economics

No abstract provided.


The Impact Of The Second World War On U.S. Productivity Growth, Alexander J. Field Aug 2008

The Impact Of The Second World War On U.S. Productivity Growth, Alexander J. Field

Economics

This paper considers the productivity impact on the US economy of the period of war mobilization and demobilization lasting from 1941 to 1948. Optimists have pointed to learning by doing in military production and spin-offs from military R & D as the basis for asserting a substantial positive effect of military conflict on potential output. Productivity data for the private non-farm economy are not consistent with this view, as they show slower total factor productivity (TFP) growth between 1941 and 1948 than before or after. The paper argues for adopting a less rosy perspective on the supply side effects of …


Import Source Reallocation And Us Manufacturing Employment, 1972-2001, Roger White Jul 2008

Import Source Reallocation And Us Manufacturing Employment, 1972-2001, Roger White

Economics

Examining the US manufacturing sector, we focus on the potential employment effects of shifts in import sources from relatively high- to low-income nations. Data for 384 6-digit NAICS US manufacturing industries that span the years 1972–2001 are utilized. Increased import penetration is found to reduce both production and non-production employment; however, such job loss is countered by export-led job creation. Extending the literature, we report that reallocation of import sources from high- to low-income nations reduces manufacturing employment, and when shifts in import sources coincide with rising import penetration the result is an acceleration of job loss.


Expected Utility Inequalities: Theory And Applications, Eduardo Zambrano Jul 2008

Expected Utility Inequalities: Theory And Applications, Eduardo Zambrano

Economics

Suppose we know the utility function of a risk averse decision maker who values a risky prospect X at a price CE. Based on this information alone I develop upper bounds for the tails of the probabilistic belief about X of the decision maker. In the paper I also illustrate how to use these expected utility bounds in a variety of applications, which include the estimation of risk measures from observed data, option valuation, and the study of credit risk.


Darfur: Rainfall And Conflict, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray May 2008

Darfur: Rainfall And Conflict, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray

Economics

Data on rainfall patterns only weakly corroborate the claim that climate change explains the Darfur conflict that began in 2003 and has claimed more than 200,000 lives and displaced more than two million persons. Rainfall in Darfur did not decline significantly in the years prior to the eruption of major conflict in 2003; rainfall exhibited a flat trend in the thirty-years preceding the conflict (1972-2002). The rainfall evidence suggests instead a break around 1971. Rainfall is basically stationary over the pre- and post-1971 sub-periods. The break is larger for the more northerly rainfall stations, and is less noticeable for En …


Epistemic Conditions For Rationalizability, Eduardo Zambrano May 2008

Epistemic Conditions For Rationalizability, Eduardo Zambrano

Economics

In this paper I present conditions, not involving common knowledge of rationality, that lead to (correlated) rationalizability. The basic observation is that, if the actual world belongs to a set of states where the set Z of action profiles is played, everyone is rational and it is mutual knowledge that the action profiles played are in Z, then the actions played at the actual world are rationalizable actions. Alternatively, if at the actual world the support of the conjecture of player i is Di, there is mutual knowledge of: (i) the game being played, (ii) that …


Honestly, Who Else Would Fund Such Research? Reflections Of A Non-Smoking Scholar, Michael L. Marlow May 2008

Honestly, Who Else Would Fund Such Research? Reflections Of A Non-Smoking Scholar, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

Many public-health researchers are quick to raise charges of bias to explain away the few studies that reach politically incorrect conclusions. Claims of bias are often thrown at researchers who are funded by the industries targeted for aggressive intervention. This paper discusses whether it makes sense that bias is a relevant issue only when researchers have connections to private industry or find fault with government intervention. I focus on the issue of whether smoking bans harm any restaurant or bar owners. This area of research has experienced a large number of claims of bias and deception, leveled against research that …


Exploring A Us Immigrant – Intra-Industry Trade Link, Roger White Apr 2008

Exploring A Us Immigrant – Intra-Industry Trade Link, Roger White

Economics

We extend two strands of literature: the determinants of intra-industry trade (IIT) and the effect of immigration on trade flows. Product-level (HS10) data for US trade with 62 nations spanning the years 1989–2001 are used to construct industry-level (HS6) IIT values. A positive relationship is reported between immigration and the level of aggregate IIT. Immigration also increases vertical IIT and horizontal IIT; however, coefficients are of greater magnitude for the latter measure. Examining variation across home countries, immigrants from lower income countries appear to exert a greater influence on IIT measures than do immigrants from higher income countries.


Do Smoking Bans Reduce Heart Attacks?, Michael L. Marlow Apr 2008

Do Smoking Bans Reduce Heart Attacks?, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

Recent newspaper articles have heralded studies concluding that smoking bans lead to dramatic decreases in the annual incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Coupled with studies concluding that bans never harm businesses and that environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) significantly endangers health of nonsmokers, studies claiming AMI reduction have provided governments with additional evidence to support bans in the name of public health. Some communities have expanded bans from workplaces to include parks, beaches, and other open areas, based on this growing body of evidence. This commentary argues that, as with distorted claims regarding economic harm and ETS, recent studies concluding …


Expanding Philanthropy’S Reach, Michael E. Swack Apr 2008

Expanding Philanthropy’S Reach, Michael E. Swack

Economics

When New York’s F.B. Heron Foundation, a private, grant-making institution, was created, it had a mandate to invest assets and donate 5 percent of returns annually to help low-income people and communities to help themselves.1 The year was 1992, the cusp of one of the greatest economic booms in U.S. history. But as Heron’s asset base swelled, 5 percent for community work began to look insufficient to help the many Americans who were missing out on the boom. In a 1996 meeting, directors realized they were spending too much time reviewing a particular investment manager’s performance and too little time …


Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane Jan 2008

Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane

Economics

Burkina Faso's rich civic institutions are rooted in the history of the precolonial Mossi kingdoms, the traditions of stateless societies in the southwest, the Islamic brotherhoods that structure the lives of Muslims, the hundred-year presence of the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant missionary societies, and popular struggles for representation during the colonial and postindependence periods. This heritage is a constant feature of contemporary political discourse, with critics accusing the current regime of betraying the country's political traditions. The regime's defenders emphasize its continuity with the past and its efforts to restore civic life after the excesses of the revolutionary period …


Economic Systems In Africa, Michael Kevane Jan 2008

Economic Systems In Africa, Michael Kevane

Economics

An enormous variety of experiences and possibilities characterized African economic systems at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Small village communities continued to till the soil and raise goats, sheep, cows, and chickens using the same techniques of their grandfathers, renewing all the while traditions of social solidarity and hospitality that have characterized rural Africa for centuries.Overhead, however,multinational corporations owned and operated by African nationals organized transcontinental air travel, microwave and satellite transmissions, and cell phone networks. Africa globalized with the rest of the world, though in different ways. Exports of goods and services stagnated even as migration generated new …


Diminished Access, Diverted Exclusion: Women And Land Tenure In Sub-Saharan Africa, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray Jan 2008

Diminished Access, Diverted Exclusion: Women And Land Tenure In Sub-Saharan Africa, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray

Economics

Increasing commercialization, population growth and concurrent increases in land value have affected women's land rights in Africa. Most of the literature concentrates on how these changes have led to an erosion of women's rights. This paper examines some of the processes by which women's rights to land are diminishing. First, we examine cases where rights previously utilized have become less important; that is, the incidence of exercising rights has decreased. Second, we investigate how women's rights to land decrease as the public meanings underlying the social interpretation and enforcement of rights are manipulated. Third, we examine women's diminishing access to …


Land Tenure And Rental In Western Sudan, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray Jan 2008

Land Tenure And Rental In Western Sudan, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray

Economics

This paper reports on aspects of land tenure in western Sudan, especially the nature of tenure insecurity and the functioning of the land rental market. The active land rental market accounted for about one-third of cultivated land. Patterns of land rental transactions, and tests of the importance of insecurity in renting land, where the owner may not be able to reclaim land rented out, do not support the presumption that rental markets perform poorly. The role of the sheikh as administrator of village land, and the claims of large landowners to vast tracts, are, however, important political problems that must …


How Much Do Village Libraries Increase Reading? Results Of A Survey Of 10th Graders In Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane, Alain Joseph Sissao Jan 2008

How Much Do Village Libraries Increase Reading? Results Of A Survey Of 10th Graders In Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane, Alain Joseph Sissao

Economics

This paper offers an estimate of the impact of small public libraries in villages in Burkina Faso on reading habits. A survey of secondary school students was conducted in March 2005. Students were selected in eight villages that matched the criteria ‘with library’ and ‘without library’. Overall the reading level of students in the sample was quite low, but the results indicate that the presence of a well-functioning library leads to an increase in reading on the order of 50%.


An Examination Of The Danish Immigrant-Trade Link, Roger White Dec 2007

An Examination Of The Danish Immigrant-Trade Link, Roger White

Economics

This paper investigates the influence of immigrants on Danish imports and exports. As public and political debates concerning immigration policy are expected to continue, the findings presented here provide valuable information. Prior to 2002, Denmark’s immigration policy was among the most liberal in Europe. However, concerns regarding terrorism, social services depletion, and detrimental labour market effects, all purported to stem from immigration, led the Danish government to severely tighten its policy. In examining Denmark, we explore the immigrant-trade relationship in a small host country that is globally well-integrated, open to trade, and proximate to both major trading partners and primary …


Fast Food, Addiction, And Market Power, Timothy J. Richards, Paul M. Patterson, Stephen F. Hamilton Dec 2007

Fast Food, Addiction, And Market Power, Timothy J. Richards, Paul M. Patterson, Stephen F. Hamilton

Economics

No abstract provided.


Beyond Foraging: Behavioral Science And The Future Of Institutional Economics, Alexander J. Field Dec 2007

Beyond Foraging: Behavioral Science And The Future Of Institutional Economics, Alexander J. Field

Economics

Institutions affect economic outcomes, but variation in them cannot be directly linked to environmental factors such as geography, climate, or technological availabilities. Game theoretic approaches, based as they typically are on foraging only assumptions, do not provide an adequate foundation for understanding the intervening role of politics and ideology; nor does the view that culture and institutions are entirely socially constructed. Understanding what institutions are and how they influence behavior requires an approach that is in part biological, focusing on cognitive and behavioral adaptations for social interaction favored in the past by group selection. These adaptations, along with their effects …


Do Tobacco-Control Programs Lower Tobacco Consumption? Evidence From California, Michael L. Marlow Nov 2007

Do Tobacco-Control Programs Lower Tobacco Consumption? Evidence From California, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

California is often considered the model for tobacco-control programs due to its early adoption of comprehensive programs aimed at lowering tobacco consumption. Tobacco control began when voters approved the California Tobacco Tax and Health Promotion Act of 1988. More than $2 billion has been spent on tobacco-control in California since 1988. The findings of this article indicate that tobacco-control spending is a significant factor for the widening gap between consumption in the United States and in California only in equations that exclude cigarette prices and smoking bans as control variables. When significant, however, estimates suggest that, for every $1 increase …


Immigration Policy, Cultural Pluralism And Trade: Evidence From The White Australia Policy, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse Oct 2007

Immigration Policy, Cultural Pluralism And Trade: Evidence From The White Australia Policy, Roger White, Bedassa Tadesse

Economics

Examining data for Australia and 101 trading partners that span the years 1989–2000, we find immigrants from nations afforded preference under the White Australia policy exert greater proportional influences on Australian imports from their home countries compared to immigrants from nations not privy to such preference. Immigrants from this latter group of countries influence Australian exports to their home countries proportionally more than do immigrants from the former group. We also find immigrant-trade links vary across disaggregated measures of trade. The results suggest that cultural diversity, affected here by immigration policy, is relevant to a nation’s trade patterns.


Determinants Of State Tobacco-Control Expenditures, Michael L. Marlow Jul 2007

Determinants Of State Tobacco-Control Expenditures, Michael L. Marlow

Economics

While Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe that most state governments under-fund tobacco-control programs, little is known about why large variation in spending exists between state governments. This study explores reasons for spending variation through an econometric model of per capita spending on tobacco-control programs that explores the effects of smoking prevalence while holding constant tobacco settlement funds, state budget deficits, and other factors that might also be expected to influence spending variation. Empirical evidence indicates no support for the hypothesis that states with high smoking prevalence spend more on tobacco-control than other states. This finding may be quite …


Immigrant-Trade Links, Transplanted Home Bias And Network Effects, Roger White Apr 2007

Immigrant-Trade Links, Transplanted Home Bias And Network Effects, Roger White

Economics

Macro-level data for the US and 73 trading partners spanning the years 1980 to 2001 is used with a gravity specification to investigate the influence of immigration on bilateral trade. Prior research has identified immigrant stocks as a significant determinant of trade; however, this study indicates that the US immigrant-trade link is driven by immigration from relatively low income countries. A 10% increase in the immigrant stock is found to generate respectively 4.7 and 1.5% increases in domestic imports from and exports to the typical low income home country. The observed link is decomposed into two hypothesized channels – network …