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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Dissertation•
01 Nov 2006
TL;DR: This article developed an agricultural sector model with the Positive Mathematical Programming calibration approach and Expected-Variance Risk analysis to represent and simulate the potential effects of risks in selected crops and livestock, the targeted rate of land redistribution, and the proposed land tax on farm-level resource use and output supply response.
Abstract: The ability to use knowledge of factors that affect resource use and output supply response to achieve a highly efficient and economically viable market-directed farming sector is explored in the context of implementing market and land reform in a Free State case study. This study developed an agricultural sector model with the Positive Mathematical Programming calibration approach and Expected-Variance Risk analysis to represent and simulate the potential effects of risks in selected crops and livestock, the targeted rate of land redistribution, and the proposed land tax on farm-level resource use and output supply response. The study aggregated established large-scale commercial (mainly white) farms into a large farm type and developing (mainly black) farms into a small farm type to evaluate how responses differ between farm types and different farm enterprises. Policies on land redistribution and the proposed agricultural land tax were conceptualised into some scenarios. The model was used to simulate the possible impacts of these scenarios.
11 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the determinants of subjective well-being, with the main focus on the data relating to developing countries, and found that individuals' perceptions of economic rank in the economy are more dependent on his or her socio-economic characteristics (i.e., health, education, marital status), as well as attitudes towards future economic ladder, than the current spending behaviour would normally reveal.
Abstract: This thesis studies the determinants of subjective well-being, with the main focus on the data relating to developing countries. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 use new South African integrated household data to study the determinants of perceived quality of life at the cross-section. The fifth chapter compares the cross-sectional and over time structures of subjective economic well-being for Indonesia, whilst the sixth chapter uses reported well-being data from the British household panel survey to test an 'old' economic hypothesis in a new way.
Chapter 2 tests whether the determinants of subjective well-being are the same when comparing poor and rich nations. Using South Africa as a case study, we find from the full sample analysis that in most comparable cases, the coefficient signs of the usual socio-economic factors in the life satisfaction regression equations for South Africa in 1993 are typically similar to that which would have been expected from data in the more-developed countries. However, our subpopulation regressions reveal very distinct life satisfaction patterns by race and region prior to the end of apartheid in South Africa.
Chapter 3 analyses the labour market phenomenon in South Africa. We test whether unemployment hurts less in terms of life satisfaction when there is more of it around. After controlling for the relevant socio-economic factors, we find the unemployed's well-being to be significantly and positively correlated with the levels of others' unemployment in the region.
Using the South African data set of 1997, the fourth chapter explores the contemporaneous relationship between measures of criminal victimization and reported well-being. We find crime victims to report significantly lower well-being than the non-victims, ceteris paribus. Reported life satisfaction is lower for nonvictimized respondents currently living in higher crime areas. However, we find some evidence that criminal victimization hurts less in areas of higher crime rates.
Chapter 5 examines the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between objective and subjective economic ladder for Indonesia. It finds that individuals' perceptions of economic rank in the economy are more dependent on his or her socio-economic characteristics (i.e. health, education, marital status), as well as attitudes towards future economic ladder, than the current spending behaviour would normally reveal. The correlation between objective and subjective economic ladder is also weakened considerably when an individual's inborn predispositions are controlled for in the regression.
Chapter 6 tests whether one's partner's happiness increases one's own happiness in a marriage. After using "residual" self-rated health to provide an instrument for the partner's life satisfaction and allowing controls on individual fixed-effects, we find strong evidence of an interdependent relationship in the reported life satisfaction between married partners, which is not present for those whom are merely Cohabiting.
11 citations
Additional excerpts
...It has become evident that the analysis of consumer demand can be undertaken using only statements 1See Pindyck and Rubinfeld (1997), Frank (2002), and Varian (2002), among others....
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18 Oct 2019
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the algorithm can release earnings distributions with low error, and the algorithm out-performs prior work based on the concept of smooth sensitivity from Nissim, Raskhodnikova and Smith (2007).
Abstract: The U.S. Census Bureau recently released data on earnings percentiles of graduates from post-secondary institutions. This paper describes and evaluates the disclosure avoidance system developed for these statistics. We propose a differentially private algorithm for releasing these data based on standard differentially private building blocks, by constructing a histogram of earnings and the application of the Laplace mechanism to recover a differentially-private CDF of earnings. We demonstrate that our algorithm can release earnings distributions with low error, and our algorithm out-performs prior work based on the concept of smooth sensitivity from Nissim et al. (2007).
11 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the impact of reduced VAT rates and of derogations, not only for locally supplied services, but also more globally, on income distribution, the informal economy and compliance costs for businesses.
Abstract: The study examines the impact of reduced VAT rates and of derogations, not only for locally supplied services, but also more globally. The effects on income distribution, the informal economy and compliance costs for businesses were also taken into consideration.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors ask textbook writers to provide greater precision in their explanation of why differing elasticities are associated with the prices paid by two (or more) distinct groups of buyers facing third-degree price discrimination.
Abstract: Third-degree price discrimination is taught in almost every intermediate microeconomics class. The theory, geometry, and the algebra behind the concept are simple, and the phenomenon is commonly associated with the sale of many of the goods and services used frequently by students. Classroom discussion is usually vibrant as students can relate their experiences of being on the receiving end of third-degree price discrimination, usually to their advantage. However, the precision of the language used in the exposition of the theory in textbooks is generally less precise than one would hope for, leading students to confuse slope and elasticity. The authors ask textbook writers to provide greater precision in their explanation of why differing elasticities are associated with the prices paid by two (or more) distinct groups of buyers facing third-degree price discrimination.
11 citations
Cites background from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."
...The best presentations of the theoretical characteristics of third-degree price discrimination were in Pashigian (1998) and Varian (2003)....
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