scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
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.
Citations
More filters
01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: In this article, an economic analysis of the demand for fuelwood in urban areas using Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, as a case study is carried out, where the authors developed an energy mix model as the conceptual framework, using the energy ladder hypothesis as a starting point.
Abstract: This study carries out an economic analysis of the demand for fuelwood in urban areas using Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, as a case study. The demand for fuelwood in urban areas is one of the causes of several environmental and health problems in Africa, where the up to 90% of energy requirements are met by wood.The study first develops an energy mix model as the conceptual framework, using the energy ladder hypothesis as a starting point. The energy mix model is based on the fact that in any one period, urban households use multiple sources of energy. Consumer theory is used to underpin this reality, and link it to the analyses that fo11ow. System of demands is used in the empirical analysis, using the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS model), in linear approximate form, as the empirical model, incorporating the effects of other household characteristics in addition to income and prices. A multi-stage budgeting process is used the analyses, which assumes that households first decide how much of their total expenditures to a11ocate to energy, among other household goods. At the second stage, they decide how much of their total energy outlays to a11ocate to specific fuels. Empirical analyses are carried out using household survey data co11ected in Harare from a sample of 500 households.The share of energy in total expenditure is shown to be 13% and 11% for electrified and unelectrified households respectively. For a11 households, total energy expenditure increases with total household expenditure. Other factors that explain household differences in total energy expenditure shares are household size, energy-using appliances owned, the number of rooms owned, the number of families living together at the same property and the level of education of the household head. The main sources of energy are electricity, firewood and kerosene, accounting for 73%, 14% and 13% of total energy expenditure respectively. Electrified households spend 81 %, 9% and 10% of their total energy outlays on these fuels respectively, while unelectrified households spend 55% and 45% of their total energy budgets on firewood and kerosene respectively. Among electrified households, the share of the energy budget a11ocated to fuelwood increases as household size, the number of households living together at the same property, the number of rooms being used by a household, the prices of electricity and kerosene increase. It decreases with total household expenditure, the educational level of the household head, the value of energy appliances, the square of household size and the price of fuelwood. Among unelectrified households, the share of fuelwood in the energy budget increases with total energy expenditure, the value of appliances, household size, the educational level of the household head and the price of kerosene. It decreases with households living together at the same property, the square of household size, the number of rooms used and the price of fuelwood. The shares of other fuels estimated in the same system of equations respond in different ways to these variables. The main policy implication of the findings is that fuelwood demand management is best approached by taking the whole energy urban system into account. The specific management options are pointed to by the response of demand to the different demand variables. Total electrification will not eliminate urban fuelwood demand if other demand variables are not attended to.

41 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The proposed FRD-VCG mechanism has the potential to persuade participants to remain in the market whilst it improves the market's retention rate, the parking slot’s utilization rate and the participants’ utilities.
Abstract: We propose a fair recurrent double VCG (FRD-VCG) auction mechanism to approach the emerging shared parking management problem. In a given shared parking environment with a parking management platform and a double-side perspective, the proposed mechanism considers how to restrain the potential participants (parking slot demanders and slot suppliers) opt out, which is based on the participants’ priority attributes and are calculated with respect to historic auction records provided by the parking platform. Participants’ fairness bids are then generated combining their priority attributes and their submitted bids (bid price and parking time) with the support of a novel evaluation function, which integrates priority attributes, bid price and parking time into an output value. The parking slot allocation rule and transaction payment rule are further designed to dealing with these issues include winner determination and price setting, respectively. Simulations show advantages of the proposed FRD-VCG mechanism, i.e., comparing with the double VCG (D-VCG) mechanism for the shared parking management problem where priority attributes and evaluation function are not considered, the proposed FRD-VCG mechanism has the potential to persuade participants to remain in the market whilst it improves the market’s retention rate, the parking slot’s utilization rate and the participants’ utilities.

41 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of Portuguese pension funds management companies from 1994 to 2003, combining operational and financial variables.
Abstract: This article uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of Portuguese pension funds management companies from 1994 to 2003, combining operational and financial variables. We evaluate how close the pension funds management companies are to the best practices frontier, also analyzing how they manage their funds. Implications of this research for managerial purposes are then drawn. INTRODUCTION Pension hinds are funds that are managed either by an enterprise designated as a pension funds management company or by an insurance company with the aim of attracting one or more pension plans (Garcia, 2004). Active investment management helps to keep markets efficient and to ensure the flow of funds to the most successful enterprises, playing a major role in the allocation of resources within the economy. Additionally, pension funds provide people with retirement income and security. These management companies are of paramount importance to the contemporary economy, given the increase in the size of the aged and retired population and the consequent problems in guaranteeing the financial sustainability of social security (Valdes Prieto, 1997). In this article, we analyze the technical efficiency of Portuguese pension funds management companies from 1994 to 2003 with the aid of four well-known DEA models: (i) the DEA-CCR model (Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes [CCR], 1978); (ii) the DEA-BCC model (Banker, Charnes, and Cooper [BCC], 1984); (iii) the Cross-Efficiency DEA model (Sexton, Silkman, and Hogan, 1986; Doyle and Green, 1994); and (iv) the Super-Efficiency DEA model (Andersen and Petersen, 1993). Previous research into pension funds management companies was carried out by Barrientos and Boussofiane (2005), with the use of DEA-CCR and DEA-BCC models, with Chilean data. DEA is a linear programming technique that enables management to benchmark the best-practices decision-making units (DMUs), (in this case, pension funds management companies), by calculating scores denoting their efficiency (Brocket et al., 2004). Furthermore, DEA provides estimates of the potential improvement that can be made by inefficient DMUs. Throughout this article, we shall assume some knowledge of DEA on the reader's part. Readers who are not familiar with DEA are referred to Fare, Grosskopf, and Lovell (1994); Charnes et al. (1995); Coelli, Rao, and Battese (1998); Cooper, Seiford, and Tone (2000); Thanassoulis (2001); and Zhu (2002). This article expands upon previous research into the pension industry by analyzing the efficiency of its management companies with a DEA model. In the first stage, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model is used to calculate both technical and scale efficiency. In the second stage, the Mann-Whitney U-test is used to test some hypotheses. To the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first articles to examine the relative efficiency of pension funds management companies. From an academic perspective, the particular contribution of this article lies in the use of alternative DEA models, whereas previously published articles have mainly restricted the analysis to one model. The motivation for the present research is derived from the following circumstances faced by the Portuguese pension funds management companies. First, mergers and acquisitions are present in the market during the period of analysis, which signifies a constant effort by the pension funds management companies to increase their size.1 second, performance evaluation should not be restricted solely to an assessment of investment performance. The management institution, whether a pension funds management company or an insurance company, enjoys a special relationship of trust and responsibility with the principal (either a person or an organization) and must resolve conflicts of interest in favor of the principal or beneficiary (Lakonishok, Shleifer, and Vishny, 1992). The Portuguese pension funds management industry reacts to these circumstances by attempting to increase the efficiency of input usage. …

41 citations


Cites background or methods from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."

  • ...This is clearly an ill-specified empirical cost function without the price of factors of production (labor and capital) (Varian, 1987)....

    [...]

  • ...Given the scant guidance provided in the literature as to which variables to use in the analysis, we relied on microeconomics (Varian, 1987) to choose outputs and inputs....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of multifunctional land use is described in detail, and the underlying relevant background and related principles are outlined. Directions for new research ideas come to the fore, some of which will be dealt with in subsequent contributions.
Abstract: This paper describes the concept of multifunctional land use in detail, and outlines the underlying relevant background and related principles. Directions for new research ideas will also come to the fore, some of which will be dealt with in subsequent contributions to this special issue.

40 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the conditions of the initial internationalization decision in the network economy are analyzed based on information systems, international entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship literature, factors which constitute the internationalization propensity are elicited.
Abstract: This study aims to analyze the conditions of the initial internationalization decision in the network economy. Based on the information systems, international entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship literature, factors, which constitute the internationalization propensity, are elicited. The results of this study suggest that a holistic perspective including the founder, business model, and the firm should be considered when explaining the internationalization propensity of entrepreneurs. Our analysis also shows that, depending on the entrepreneur’s entrepreneurial orientation, the internationalization propensity varies. Data were obtained by conjoint analysis experiments conducted with German network economy entrepreneurs.

40 citations