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 Jan 2014
TL;DR: In this paper, a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree is described as a "partial fulfilment" of the requirement for the degree.
Abstract: of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy
10 citations
Cites background from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."
...161 Table 5-13: Average marginal rate of substitution (MRS) for number of jobs across the user groups ...................................................................................................... 163 Table 5-14: Differences in MRS for jobs across the user groups: Convolution test ......... 163 Table 5-15: Summary of the individual RPL model estimates ............................................
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...16 The transitivity axiom states that if good AB and good BC then good AC (Varian, 2006)....
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...182 Table 5-25: Differences in WTP between Control design and Utility design surveys: Convolution test .............................................................................................. 182 Table 5-26: Model comparison for pooled data ................................................................ 186 Table 5-27: Choice analysis results: RPL-EC “best” model for pooled data .................... 189 Table 5-28: The WTP estimates for the freshwater attributes ........................................... 192 Table 5-29: Marginal rate of substitution (MRS) for number of jobs ..................................
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...These utility weights can then be used to indicate preference ranking of the attributes, to assess WTP values (based on marginal rate of substitution, MRS) and to estimate the Hicksian consumer surplus (based on the change in the utility) (Bateman et al., 2002)....
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...Based on consumer theory, how people trade-off one attribute to another can be calculated as the marginal rate of substitution (MRS) (Hoyos, 2010; Holmes & Adamowicz, 2003; Varian, 2006)....
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08 May 2017
TL;DR: This paper shows that in finitely repeated games, the best response of a k- memory strategy may not even be a constant-memory strategy, however, in infinitely repeatedgames, one of the best responses against any given $k$- Memory strategy must be k-memory.
Abstract: In this paper, we study k-memory strategies in two-person repeated games An agent adopting such a strategy makes his decision only based on the action profiles of the previous k rounds We show that in finitely repeated games, the best response of a k-memory strategy may not even be a constant-memory strategy However, in infinitely repeated games, one of the best responses against any given $k$-memory strategy must be k-memory Our results are enabled by a graph-structural characterization of the best responses of k-memory strategies We put forward polynomial algorithms to compute best responses
10 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors tried to estimate price premium or additional willingness to pay (WTP) for electricity generated using domestic solar power facilities over that from imported ones using contingent valuation.
10 citations
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: Hardeweg et al. as discussed by the authors investigated the question whether large sums of money were spent to buy pesticides and offer them as aid to developing countries to combat locust swarms.
Abstract: The difficulty lies not in new ideas, but in escaping from old ones. Preface The desert locust is an ancient problem. People in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia had to live and cope with it for many centuries. It is only with the development of chemical pesticides that man developed the belief he could solve this problem by adopting a strategy of war against nature. Spraying poisonous pesticides to combat locust swarms became an approach which was highly spectacular. Locust outbreaks quickly made the political action threshold to become surpassed and stimulated governments for intervention. By adopting a strategy of early control national governments often supported by FAO, were able to demonstrate to their people that they are doing something. Consequently, for a long time large sums of money were spent to buy pesticides and offer them as aid to developing countries. It became more and more impossible for decision-makers in development and donor agencies to deny a request for support to fight off locusts. Wouldn't it be unethical to even question the justification for support when being faced with the picture of terrifying locust swarms eating up the hard work of poor farmers in just a matter of hours? Disasters rightly create compassion and sympathy was the main driving force in providing funds for support. Hence asking the question whether locust control campaigns really pay off, for a long time simply was an irrelevant question. Unfortunately sympathy has gradually and steadily developed into subsidy and the distinction between the two has become blurred. With the advancement of a better scientific understanding on the desert locust problem and as the negative effects of chemical pesticides became more widely known the situation began to change. Today, financial support for dessert locust control is a controversial issue in international development circles. It has come to a point where the popular phrase of " more research is needed before we can make further decisions " was no longer enough. For a very long time, data have been collected and modeling exercises were performed. Yet very little could be said on whether the resources spent are justifiable. It is here where the research of Bernd Hardeweg, a young and promising economist of the University of Hannover, on the Economics of Desert Locust Management fills an important gap. His most important contribution is the rigorous attempt to overcome the " language of …
10 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, a real options approach was used to analyze the economic incentives for entry (planting gum tree) and exit (abandoning gum forest) in the gum arabic agroforestry system in Kordofan region.
Abstract: Keywords: Gum Arabic; Deforestation; Entry and Exit; Real options Drought; Socio-economic, Oligopoly; Interdependent markets; Stackelberg. The gum arabic belt in Sudan offered in the past an example of how environmental conservation and economic development could be achieved simultaneously as it generates a number of private and social benefits to gum producers and the country as a whole. The most important benefits from the gum based system are income from the gum harvest to the poor farmers and combating large scale desertification in the Sudan-Sahel zone. Over the last few decades, however, the gum belt suffered from increased degradation, gum production decreased and Sudan lost its near monopoly position in the gum export market. The main purpose of this study is to obtain a better understanding of the factors underlying the deforestation of the gum belt and the decline in gum production in Sudan during recent years. Two important gum arabic producing acacias are found in the gum belt: Acacia senegal that produces high quality gum and Acacia seyal that produces low quality gum. The analysis in this study focuses mainly on Acacia senegal and Acacia senegal -based agroforestry system in Kordofan region - a major gum production area in Sudan . Various methodological approaches including theoretical and empirical analysis are employed in the study. A micro econometrics technique is used to identify the effect of socio-economic factors assumed to influence the disadoption of gum production. The study merges the real options approach with agroforestry to analyze farmers' investment decision in the choice between three different land use systems (gum agroforestry, gum forestry and agriculture). Moreover a theoretical scheme of Stackelberg model (non-cooperative oligopoly model) is deployed to analyze the competition in the gum export market for high and low quality gum between the (leader) Sudan and the followers ( Chad and Nigeria ). It attempts to investigate the effects of market interventions-such as international subsidies on gum market equilibrium and leader's ( Sudan 's) long run performance of profits from the gum export. The micro-econometric approach used to analyze the determinants of farmers' disadoption of gum production shows that factors which affect the opportunity cost of labor and income from annual crops tend to influence the observed variation in the behavior of adoption practices in gum production. Income from annual crops has a positive effect on continuous adoption of gum agroforestry. This specific result suggests that gum arabic and other agricultural crops (except groundnut because of overlap in harvest time) do not compete but rather complement one another in the household farming economy. Policy measures that aim to improve agricultural production in the region will induce farmers to settle in their village and reduce the seasonal labor migration trend which in turn will increase the availability of labor for gum production. The theoretical framework developed using a real options approach aimed to analyze the economic incentives for entry (planting gum tree) and exit (abandoning gum forest) in the gum arabic agroforestry. Monte Carlo simulation shows that higher economic benefit is observed from agricultural production than the gum production. Results also suggest that an increase of about nine to ten times on the average opportunity costs of labor is necessary in order for farmers to further abandon gum arabic production and neglect the gum forest. As for the expansion (plantation) of gum forest we analyzed two options: converting idle land into gum forest and converting agricultural land into gum forest. Results show that the incremental average annual benefits of gum agroforestry or forestry systems are above the critical values for converting idle land to a gum arabic forest. This suggests that farmer's could expand gum forest. However, this is not observed, and we suggest two interpretations to explain the observed non-expansion of gum forest into idle lands: scarcity of labor and insecure property rights caused by political instability in the country which discourage long-term investments. Furthermore, the current incremental average annual benefits for converting agricultural land to gum arabic agroforestry (forestry) system are found to be below the calculated threshold values needed for the investment. Results suggest that an increase in the prices of gum arabic respectively of about 315 per cent and 775 percent is needed to induce a shift in land use system from continuous agricultural production to gum agroforestry or forestry land use systems respectively. The analysis of the competition in the gum export market between the three major gum exporters attempts to assess the best strategy for Sudan to pursue in light of the recent changes in the gum market structure and the proposed donor policies of subsidizing gum production in Sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis is based on von Stackelberg model and investigates the effect of different subsidy scenarios. Our result shows that the proportionate increase in Sudan 's profit is higher when the leader ( Sudan ) uses a subsidy to promote high quality gum than when it uses the subsidy to promote the low quality gum. In the case of followers ( Chad , Nigeria ), however, the decision on which quality to promote appears to be sensitive to the levels of own and cross price elasticities. Moreover, the results suggest that it is in the advantage of Sudan, Chad and Nigeria to adopt an export coordination strategy with some side payments to be made by Sudan as compensation for Chad's and Nigeria's lost profits in case they agree to curtail their export of high quality gum.
10 citations
Cites methods from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."
...Stackelberg models rely on leadership by one of the rivals and extend the Cournot model to include leadership behavior (Varian 1999)....
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