Book•
Intermediate microeconomics : A modern approach
01 Jan 2006-
TL;DR: The Varian approach as mentioned in this paper gives students tools they can use on exams, in the rest of their classes, and in their careers after graduation, and is still the most modern presentation of the subject.
Abstract: This best-selling text is still the most modern presentation of the subject. The Varian approach gives students tools they can use on exams, in the rest of their classes, and in their careers after graduation.
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01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Probit model to explore the impact of different variables that determine the forest dependency and found that the dependency decreased when the households became richer, and that forest was more important for the poor households compared to non-poor.
Abstract: Forestry is one of the main sources of income and energy for the local people in Uganda. It is contributing a large share in the rural household economy. This study looks at local peoples’ attitudes towards their forest resources and the role of forestry in their livelihoods. The Probit model was used to explore the impact of different variables that determine the forest dependency. The IMR derived from Probit was used as one of the regressors in the regression analysis to find the effect of different factors on forest income. Poverty measures (Gini coefficients and Lorenz curve) were used to find the poverty and income distribution among the households. Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) was used to examine the change in local peoples’ attitude towards the forests. Several household characteristics and economic variables were found affecting forest dependency. It was found that the forest dependency decreased when the households became richer. Regression analysis and simple table analysis showed that the forest was more important for the poor households compared to non-poor. It was found that forest was more important for the landless or small landholders than for the big landholders. Among those heavily dependent on forests (more than 40 % of their income), the average income is only 54% of the income of the rest of the sample. Forest was found to be more important for young households than the old households. Moreover, forest was found to be helpful in attracting the tourists and promoting the tourism industry in the area. The tourism had benefited to local communities by providing a substantial amount to them around 9% of their total forest income. Poverty was prevalence in the area, with 64.7% under poverty line of US$ one per day, which is much higher than the national 36.7%. The income distribution in the area was very unequal with a Gini coefficient of 0.55. Forest was found to reduce the income inequality in the area. Decomposition of income inequality also showed that the forest contributed for equal distribution of income. Gini coefficient was less when the forest income was included in the total income showing that forest income helped in reducing income inequality. Local peoples’ attitude towards forest had changed since the last study was done in 1990. The priority of forest benefits was changed from basic household needs to the environmental and other benefits. Also the local people were found to be positive towards their forest resources and in favour of conservation.
11 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, a choice experiment survey was developed to investigate consumers' reactions to GMF and their willingness to pay for it, and the results from a neoclassical analysis of the survey data suggest that some consumers consider the type of benefit created with GM technology in making their choices.
Abstract: As economies develop, novel products are created and markets for these products arise. Genetically modified food (GMF) is an example of such a novel product and provides economists with the opportunity to investigate an infant market. Of particular interest with GMF is the impact of consumer reactions on the market. The response of consumers to GMF and their willingness to pay for it has emerged as an important factor in the development of this technology. This research investigates these consumer responses. Prior research suggests that two aspects of consumer behaviour may be relevant for the GMF market. First, consumers may react differently to different types of GMF, so that some products are potentially more economically viable. Secondly, some consumers appear to prefer not having GMF at all. Consumer behaviour is often framed according to neoclassical economic theory. Consumer preferences over goods and the attributes of those goods are generally held to have certain properties. The aspects of consumers' reactions to GMF noted above, however, may be in conflict with two properties of preferences in neoclassical theory. First, preferences over food attributes are not separable, but may interact with each other. Secondly, some consumers may have preferences regarding GMF that are not continuous. As a result, aggregate impacts of introducing GMF may be difficult to measure, which raises a third issue for investigation, aggregation. Finally, an alternative model of consumer behaviour is bounded rationality, which theorises that choices may be discontinuous as a result of specific protocols. It also suggests that consumers seek to make good-enough choices, rather than attempting to maximise their satisfaction. Thus, optimisation or maximisation is the fourth issue considered in this thesis. In order to investigate these properties of consumers' preferences, a choice experiment survey was developed. The strength of a choice experiment for examining these issues is its focus on the impact of each product attribute on a respondent's choices. Thus, it may be possible to identify potentially discontinuous choice patterns and to identify choices affected by interactions between GM technology and other food attributes. Results from a neoclassical analysis of the survey data suggest that some consumers consider the type of benefit created with GM technology in making their choices. In addition, one-quarter to one-half of respondents may have had discontinuous preferences with respect to GMF. Reactions to GMF appear related to respondents' attitudes, but not to socio-economic or demographic descriptors. As a result, aggregate measures of the impact of GMF may not fully account for consumers' responses. A boundedly rational model also has reasonable goodness of fit, and may provide a different perspective on consumer behaviour. It is hoped that the results of this research provide a better understanding of consumer behaviour regarding GMF and, by extension, of the process of consumer adoption of novel products. It is further…
11 citations
Cites background from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."
...By including this axiom, it is now possible to represent preferences with a unidimensional utility function (Deaton & Muellbauer, 1980; Fishburn, 1974; Varian, 1996)....
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...Well-behaved indifference curves are generally held to have certain properties (Varian, 1996): 34 • They are convex to the origin....
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...These three axioms are generally treated as the main axioms for preferences (Arrow, 1963; Deaton & Muellbauer, 1980; Varian, 1996)....
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...These properties are not always assumed to hold (Deaton & Muellbauer, 1980; Quirk, 1982; Varian, 1996), but they do tend to underpin analysis of preferences and willingness to pay....
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...This assumption in goods space allows for a marginal rate of substitution to be calculated between two goods without reference to the level of consumption of other goods (Deaton & Muellbauer, 1980; McIntosh & Ryan, 2002; Varian, 1996)....
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Dissertation•
01 Jan 2010
Abstract: .................................................................................................................................. iii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ viii List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... ix List of acronyms ....................................................................................................................... x Chapter
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a critical analysis of the interactions between humans and the ecosystem in terms of the human consumption of ecosystem services to maintain a comfortable lifestyle, and develop a conceptual framework that links ecosystem services with consumption of these services and ecosystem management.
Abstract: The global ecosystem is changing due to human and natural causes, and only the human aspects of this interaction are within our control. This paper provides a critical analysis of the interactions between humans and the ecosystem in terms of the human consumption of ecosystem services to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. It starts by reviewing human consumption of ecosystem services, and then develops a conceptual framework that links ecosystem services with consumption of these services and ecosystem management to construct a general functional model of the factors that affect the consumption of ecosystem services. A case study is introduced to show how the model can be used to provide specific assessments of patterns of direct human consumption of ecosystem services in China's Jinghe watershed.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the dynamics of the next Euro 2004, which will be staged in Portugal, and concluded that the regulatory procedures applied to economic and democratic principles are problematic.
Abstract: European football is currently adjusting to a new regulatory environment, known as the SMP or Single Market Programme, which places great an emphasis on the trans‐European context. The UEFA European Football Championship ‐ a tournament for national representative teams, which has taken place every four years since its inception in 1960 ‐ has evolved along with the European Union project and in parallel with the liberalisation policies influencing the burgeoning sports industry and its labour market. This paper examines the dynamics of the next Championship, Euro 2004, which will be staged in Portugal. Support for this event among the Portuguese public is tested with the CVM‐Contingent Valuation Method, and the paper concludes that the regulatory procedures applied to economic and democratic principles are problematic.
11 citations