Showing papers on "Tobit model published in 2000"
TL;DR: A Monte-Carlo simulation study was carried out to contrast the performance of the Tobit model for censored data with that of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, and it was demonstrated that in the presence of a ceiling effect, if the conditional distribution of the measure of health status had uniform variance, then the coefficient estimates from the tobit model have superior performance compared with estimates from OLS regression.
Abstract: Self-reported health status is often measured using psychometric or utility indices that provide a score intended to summarize an individual's health. Measurements of health status can be subject to a ceiling effect. Frequently, researchers want to examine relationships between determinants of health and measures of health status. Regression methods that ignore the presence of a ceiling effect, or of censoring in the health status measurements can produce biased coefficient estimates. The Tobit regression model is a frequently used tool for modeling censored variables in econometrics research. The authors carried out a Monte-Carlo simulation study to contrast the performance of the Tobit model for censored data with that of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. It was demonstrated that in the presence of a ceiling effect, if the conditional distribution of the measure of health status had uniform variance, then the coefficient estimates from the Tobit model have superior performance compared with estimates from OLS regression. However, if the conditional distribution had non-uniform variance, then the Tobit model performed at least as poorly as the OLS model.
209 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an alternative econometric methodology was developed to estimate a system of censored demand equations using a large cross-section data from Colombian urban households. But the Tobit model was not considered.
Abstract: The article develops an alternative econometric methodology to estimate a system of censored demand equations using a large cross-section data from Colombian urban households. The approach preserves the behavioralinformation expressed by zero expenditures and conforms with the requirements imposed by consumer theory in a way consistent with the random utility hypothesis. We motivate the choice of the Tobit modelas a statistical representation of consumer behavior and introduce the methodology by specifying the AIDS model modified according to both a translating and scaling demographic transformation. We propose to estimate each demand equation in unrestricted form using the jackknife technique. We then recover the demand parameters imposing the cross-equations restrictions by using minimum distance estimation. The empirical results of the censored demand system for specific households of policy relevance are reported. Copyright 2000, Oxford University Press.
138 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the potential of migration with remittance strategies in stabilizing the income of rural households was analyzed based on a microeconomic survey from Cameroon in 1991/92, where a Probit model was applied to analyse access to remittances and a Tobit model was used to look into their extent.
Abstract: Labour migration is traditionally considered to be a way of protecting household members at the migrant's place of origin from economic pitfalls by receipt of remittances. More recently, young urban migrants from rural regions have been observed to neglect their traditional obligations to support their elderly parents, especially if they do not intend to return to their native village, do not expect any sizeable inheritance and have no reciprocal insurance commitment with their parents. Under such circumstances, rural people are exposed to the risk of staying without support in times of economic crises or during their old age. This paper analyses the potential of migration with remittance strategies in stabilizing the income of rural households. The analytical results are based on a microeconomic survey from Cameroon in 1991/92. A Probit model is applied to analyse access to remittances and a Tobit model to look into their extent. A major result of this analysis is that migration with remittance strategie...
129 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the contingent valuation method was used to examine the determinants of the value of community forestry in rural Ethiopia and its feasibility, when the plantations are established, managed, and used by the communities themselves.
Abstract: Community forestry projects in Ethiopia have been implemented using the top–down approach, which may have contributed to the failure of most of these projects. The so-called community plantations practically belonged to the government and the labour contribution of the local communities in the establishment of the plantations was mainly in exchange for wages. In this paper, we use the contingent valuation method to examine the determinants of the value of community forestry in rural Ethiopia and its feasibility, when the plantations are established, managed, and used by the communities themselves. The value elicitation format used is discrete question with open-ended follow-up which is closer to the market scenario our respondents are familiar with compared, for example, with the single discrete choice format. Unlike most other studies, we use a tobit model with sample selection in the empirical analysis of the bid function to correct for the effect of excluding invalid responses (protest zeros, outliers and missing bids) from the analysis. The analysis of the bid function shows that household size, household income, distance of homestead to proposed place of plantation, number of trees owned and sex of household head are significant variables that explain willingness to pay. We also find that there are significant differences in willingness-to-pay across sites. It is hoped that this study contributes to the limited empirical literature on community forestry in developing countries by indicating some of the conditions under which community plantations will be acceptable and feasible.
101 citations
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TL;DR: This paper found that only 4 percent of parents who give divide their gifts equally among their children, and that a child is more likely to receive a gift if she works fewer hours and has lower income than her brothers and sisters.
Abstract: Empirical studies of intergenerational transfers usually find that bequests are equally divided among heirs while inter vivos gifts tend to be compensatory. Using the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we find that only 4 percent of parents who give divide their gifts equally among their children. Estimating probit models using family panels, we find that gifts are compensatory in the sense that a child is more likely to receive a gift if she works fewer hours and has lower income than her brothers and sisters; these results carry over to the amounts given. Fixed effects Tobit estimations show that the fewer hours a child works and the lower her income is, the more the parents give. These results imply that gifts are compensatory. The empirical results are, therefore, consistent with the predictions of the altruistic model of intergenerational transfers.
79 citations
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the performance of Turkish commercial banking sector using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and found that larger and profitable banks are more likely to operate at higher levels of technical efficiency.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of Turkish (TR) commercial banking sector. We evaluate the technical efficiency of individual TR banks using the nonparametric frontier methodology, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). To investigate the determinants of efficiency, we use the Tobit model. This analysis aims to explain the variation in calculated efficiencies to a set of explanatory variables, i.e. banks size, number of branches, profitability, ownership, and capital adequacy ratio. The analysis covers the year, 1998. We find that larger and profitable banks are more likely to operate at higher levels of technical efficiency. Also another finding reveals that the capital adequacy ratio has a statistically significant adverse impact on the performance of banks, which may reflect a risk-return tradeoff in the sector.
68 citations
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the sensitivity of the results to specification of the dependent variable and found that misspecification bias from modeling discrete data with continuous distributions is important, and that the results are sensitive across specifications.
Abstract: Previous studies have drawn a theoretical and empirical connection between foreign direct investment (FDI) and exchange rates using continuous measures of FDI. However, FDI data are often in discrete count form. I take a representative study of the FDI/exchange rate relationship by Jose M. Campa (1993), and I analyze the sensitivity of the results to specification of the dependent variable. Whereas Campa uses a Tobit specification, I use a count data specification to model counts of FDI occurrences. Using data on FDI in the United States from 1982 to 1993, controlling for the traditional determinants of FDI, I find that the results are sensitive across specifications. Significance levels and the magnitude of the coefficients change when going from a continuous Tobit specification to a zero inflated Poisson (ZIP) model designed for count data. Formal statistical testing finds that the ZIP specification likely models the data most properly. Thus, I indicate that misspecification bias from modeling discrete data with continuous distributions is important.
63 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Linder hypothesis was examined using data from the OECD countries and significant empirical evidence was found in support of Linder's hypothesis regarding demand similarity for 18 of the 19 OECD countries under investigation here.
Abstract: This paper examines one of the main theories of international trade, the Linder hypothesis, using data from the OECD countries. The paper makes two primary contributions. First, significant empirical evidence is found in support of Linder's hypothesis regarding demand similarity for 18 of the 19 OECD countries under investigation here. Second, the use of a censored dependent variable in this analysis corrects a major methodological shortcoming in the existing literature by including data on all potential trading partners, even when the given OECD country has a zero or negative desire to export to that potential trading partner. [F10]
43 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of local factors on R&D involvement for various types of firms is investigated by means of a to-bit model, and strong differences are found between zones in the same urban region.
Abstract: Regions vary strongly according to the participation of firms in R&D activity. By linking data on R&D activity at the firm level with GIS-based data on economic and other location features of regions, we are able to investigate the impact of local factors on R&D involvement for various types of firms. The relative importance of local factors as determinants of the R&D involvement of firms is estimated by means of a tobit model. Rather strong differences are found between zones in the same urban region. For example, modern manufacturing firms located in the centre of large cities have relatively low levels of R&D, and the opposite holds for rings of zones at certain distances from the cities. Bayesian methods are used for map presentations of the survey data.
40 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a least absolute deviations estimator is proposed for the censored data structure and is robust to heteroscedasticity and non-normal error structure, which is useful in the case of small amounts of data.
Abstract: Data on willingness-to-pay (WTP) collected from contingent valuation surveys are usuallycensoredat zero. Insuch cases, ordinary least squares estimationof the WTP equation produces inconsistent parameter estimates. The maximum likelihood estimation of the Tobit model, which is widely used in this case, is not robust to heteroscedasticity and non-normal error structure. A least absolute deviations estimator allows for the censored data structure and is robust to these problems. In addition, the technique is useful in the case of small amounts of data. It is applied to household survey data in which the contingent valuation question involved the benefit of greenhouse gases reduction policy in Korea.
35 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the implications of a simple model of learning and innovation by firms and find that learning effort increases in response to industrial and academic R&D spillovers.
Abstract: This paper explores the implications of a simple model of learning and innovation by firms. In this model R&D spillovers are partly determined by firms, rather than by the given economic environment. According to this approach the full effect of spillovers on research productivity of firms exceeds the structural effect because it includes an active learning' response of firms to new information. Furthermore, effective spillovers grow faster or slower than potential spillovers, depending on the returns to scale of production processes for learning and invention. The empirical work is based on a sample of R&D laboratories in the chemicals, machinery, electrical equipment, and transportation equipment industries. I estimate negative binomial regressions for the number of patents as a function of academic and industrial spillover pools, learning expenditures and internal research expenditures. The findings are consistent with the view that learning expenditures transmit the effect of spillovers. I also perform tobit, ordered probit and grouped probit estimation of learning effort. I find that learning effort increases in response to industrial and academic R&D spillovers. Lastly, academic spillovers appear to have a more pervasive effect on R&D than do industrial spillovers. Overall these results suggest a sequence of events underlying learning and innovation, with learning responding to opportunities, innovation responding to learning and own R&D, and a stream of innovations leading to the accumulation of new product introductions that ultimately are reflected in the value of enterprise.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify industries filing successful petitions in good times according to demand, capacity utilization, concentration, and import-penetration ratio under the U.S. antidumping procedures and using data from the International Trade Commission (ITC).
Abstract: The goal of this article is to identify industries filing successful petitions in good times according to demand, capacity utilization, concentration, and import-penetration ratio under the U.S. antidumping procedures and using U.S. data. Good times means that the domestic industry is facing increasing consumption prior to filing. This article examines: (a) the relation between the dumping estimates and the conditions facing the petitioning industry prior to filing; (b) the relation between the dumping estimates and the outcome of the petitions; and (c) the factors affecting the probability of filing, the dumping estimates, and the probability of success of a petition. The decision to file and the probability of success of petitions are estimated using univariate probit and a bivariate probit model with sample selection. The dumping estimates are analyzed using a Tobit model. The primary metal products and the stone and concrete industries are also analyzed separately. The empirical analysis indicates tha...
TL;DR: In this article, the Tobit censored regression model was applied to examine the relationship between technical efficiency and firm-specific characteristics, such as size, age, service concentration, CPA-to-employee ratio and training expenditure per employee.
Abstract: This paper uses DEA to assess the technical efficiencies of CPA firms, and applies the Tobit censored regression model to examine the relationship between technical efficiency and firm-specific characteristics. The results show that in 1994, Taiwan's CPA firms could have reduced inputs by 27.8 percent, on average, and still have produced the same level of services. In addition, a firm's size, age, service concentration, CPA-to-employee ratio and training expenditure per employee have positive impacts on its efficiency, and the firms with branches are less efficient than those without any branch.
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TL;DR: This paper found that only 5% of parents who give, divide their gifts equally among their children, while the other 95% of the parents find that a child is more likely to receive a gift if she works fewer hours and has lower earnings than than her siblings.
Abstract: Empirical studies of intergenerational transfers usually find that bequests are equally divided among heirs while inter vivos gifts tend to be compensatory. Using the HRS data set from the U.S. we find that only 5 % of parents who give, divide their gifts equally among their children. Estimating probit models, using family panels, we find that gifts are compensatory in the sense that a child is more likely to receive a gift if she works fewer hours and has lower earnings than than her brothers and sisters. These results carry over to the amounts given. Fixed effects Tobit estimations show that the fewer hours a child works and the lower her income is, the more the parents give. Gifts are compensatory. The empirical results are, therefore, consistent with the predictions of the altruistic model of intergenerational transfers.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the economic efficiency and factors affecting it in the Caribbean between 1983 to 1992 and found that the efficiency measures were lower and more variable than in other Western Hemisphere countries (i.e. North America and Latin America).
Abstract: Productive (economic) efficiency and factors affecting it was evaluated in the Caribbean between 1983 to 1992. Results from non-parametric programming indicated that efficiency (i.e. pure technical, allocative and economic) measures were lower and more variable in Caribbean than in other Western Hemisphere countries (i.e. North America and Latin America). Tobit regression analysis indicated higher levels of private and foreign investments, productive infrastructure, credit availability, education level, and consumption of domestically produced goods had positive impacts on the efficiency measures. On the other hand, higher levels of public expenditure, income tax, and export taxes, and higher inflation rates had negative effects. These results support the current trend towards advocating more open economies (i.e. letting the free market work) and encouraging governments to confine their functions to facilitative/regulatory type roles and to undertaking tasks that are not generally undertaken by the privat...
TL;DR: In this article, the application of the tobit model to estimate economic welfare is transferred from the consumer side to the producer side, and empirical procedures are developed for computing expected producer's surplus from the output supply functions.
Abstract: Application of the tobit model to estimate economic welfare is transferred from the consumer side to the producer side. Supply functions are estimated for multioutput irrigators in the Pacific Northwest. Empirical procedures are then developed for computing expected producer's surplus from the output supply functions. Confidence intervals for the surplus measures are generated using the Krinsky-Robb method. An experiment predicts decreases in surplus given increases in water pumping cost. The experiment replicates possible increases in hydroelectric prices due to the salmon recovery program in the Columbia-Snake River Basin. Output substitution explains producers' ability to mitigate the effect of the price increases on producer's surplus.
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01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose econometric tests for examining whether the theoretical divergences between the space of "capabilities" and that of "utility" have, in practice, some importance.
Abstract: The study proposes econometric tests for examining whether the theoretical divergences between the space of «capabilities» and that of the «utility» have, in practice, some importance. Based on the household survey of Burkina Faso carried out by 1994-95, the empiricalanalysis arrives at three conclusions. Firstly, a measure of poverty based on the monetaryexpenditures has, to a certain extent, the capacity to capture important dimensions of thewellbeing suggested by the approach of the rights, in particular, access to adapted educationaland health levels, and to adequate conditions of housing and sanitary environment. Secondly, thestudy shows the opportunity of a micro-multidimensionalmeasure of the deprivation of certainrights as an approximation of monetary poverty. On the one hand, the approach of the rightssuggests a proximity of situations between the configuration of the non-monetary poverty,apprehended by the micro-multidimensional index, and the profile of monetary poverty. On theother hand, the binary Probit, Tobit and ordered Probit estimates show that the role of theattributes related to housing, sanitary environment and instruction is essential in theexplanation, not only of the ratio and the monetary poverty gap, but also of the classificationof the households according to the per capita expenditures. However, taking into considerationof the nutrition leads to more contrasted conclusions. Thirdly, the empirical tests tend,nevertheless, to support the idea – and the theoretical argumentation – that the coexistence oftwo «spaces» introduces essential additional information in terms of evaluation of poverty andpromotion of human development. Three principal effects explain this conclusion: (i) an effectof level – the sensibility of the access to capabilities is related to the level of householdexpenditures ; (ii) an effect of structure – the relation between the standard of living of thehouseholds and the access to the capabilities is complicated by the heterogeneity of the ruraland urban sectors, and the social institutions; (iii) an effect of eviction – for example, therelative non-access of girls to education or to an adequate nutrition grows with the per capitadepenses, especially in the rural sector. Consequently, if the increasing availability of themonetary resources of the households are a major determinant of human development, theapproaches of the capabilities and utility are more complementary than opposed, and it would beprobably economically and socially ineffective to want to completely substitute one for theother.(Full text in French)
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TL;DR: In this paper, the main determinants of a firm's probability to export and export intensity were analyzed for a large sample of Italian firms, considering the firms' size and industry, the geographical location, the working as a subcontractor, and the affiliation with business groups.
Abstract: This paper analyses the main determinants of a firm's probability to export and export intensity and presents the findings of an empirical study carried our for a large sample of Italian firms. Among these determinants, the study considers the firms' size and industry, the geographical location, the working as a subcontractor, and the affiliation with business groups. Moreover, along with R&D intensity, other qualitative indicators of innovation are taken into account. On the basis of Probit and Tobit estimates, it emerges that the determinants of export performance change according to the size of firms. In particular, only for small firms the relationship between size and export performance is positive. The export probability and intensity of SMEs decrease with the share of sales due to subcontracting. Larger firms, instead, benefit more from being affiliated with business groups. Finally, innovative activities are particularly effective in raising the export performance of medium-sized and large firms.
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employed the flexible complete demand system for the recent cross-sectional data in Japan in order to analyze the food consumption patterns and conduct econometric analysis of food demand structure.
Abstract: Researchers believe that rice in developed countries such as Japan became an inferior good a few decades ago. This study employs the flexible complete demand system for the recent cross-sectional data in Japan. Our results clearly show that rice in Japan is a normal good contrary to the preceding studies. The objective of this research is to analyze the food consumption patterns and to conduct econometric analysis of food demand structure. We use the monthly basis cross-sectional household data, Annual Report on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) in 1997. Food items are non-glutinous rice, bread, noodle, fresh fish, and shellfish, fresh meat, milk, eggs, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, fats and oil, and food away from home. We apply various single equation models: Working-Leser model is estimated by OLS, Heckman’s two-step estimator, and Tobit estimator. All coefficients have correct signs and are statistically significant. For the complete demand system analysis, we apply the almost ideal demand (AIDS) system. To correct a censored dependent variable problem, we additionally utilize a censored regression approach. Results from AIDS models show that the expenditure elasticity of rice is positive and close to one. Marshallian and Hicksian ownprice elasticities for rice are highly elastic for all models. Fresh meats and rice are mild complements in all models; however, fresh fish and rice show the mixed results.
31 Jul 2000
TL;DR: In this article, a decomposition of producer milk prices across time, space, and market outlet suggests that reliability of outlet is worth up to 17 % of the spot price, in addition to waiting a month to be paid.
Abstract: season is also a consideration, and credit sales typically are matched with a commitment to be a steady customer. Two salient phenomena are observed: reported unit milk prices differ widely within the same location and time period, and spot sales for cash tend to be at a higher unit price than sales on monthly credit. We hypothesize that dairy farmers in the Nairobi milk shed choose market outlets and levels of cash sales that reduce transactions costs and help assure reliable future outlets, at the expense of current income. A decomposition of producer milk prices across time, space, and market outlet suggests that reliability of outlet is worth up to 17 % of the spot price, in addition to waiting a month to be paid. Risks of credit default are illustrated by predicted weekly credit prices that are 5 % lower than monthly credit prices. Data from 21 smallholder farms monitored daily over one year are used to estimate a twolimit Tobit model of the role of the characteristics of market outlets and producers in explaining the share of producer output sold for cash rather than credit. Younger, more educated producers, receiving a regular off-farm salary, and near market centres are shown to be more likely to accept sales on credit. Older producers with more experience but less formal education are more likely to sell for cash rather than credit. The power of the model to explain different prices for milk in the same location and week suggests that such price differences viewed unidimensionally are not evidence of lack of market integration as conventionally defined, but an outcome of differential transactions costs and perceptions of risk by different producers.
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TL;DR: In this article, the Tobit model was used to analyze forward pricing behavior of producers in Indiana, Mississippi, and Nebraska with respect to soybeans, and the percentage of expected soybean production forward priced was analyzed.
Abstract: Indiana, Mississippi, and Nebraska producers’ forward pricing behavior was analyzed with Tobit models. Percent debt, percent soybean acres, risk aversion, market consultants, comfort level with futures and options, lenders' opinions, written marketing plans, crop insurance, and geographic location were significant in explaining the percentage of expected soybean production forward priced.
TL;DR: In this paper, an alternative estimation procedure for a panel data Tobit model with individual specific effects based on taking first differences of the equation of interest is proposed, which helps to alleviate the sensitivity of the estimates to a specific parameterization of the individual specific effect and some Monte Carlo evidence is provided in support of this.
Abstract: This paper proposes an alternative estimation procedure for a panel data Tobit model with individual specific effects based on taking first differences of the equation of interest. This helps to alleviate the sensitivity of the estimates to a specific parameterization of the individual specific effects and some Monte Carlo evidence is provided in support of this. To allow for arbitrary serial correlation estimation takes place in two steps: Maximum Likelihood is applied to each pair of consecutive periods and then a Minimum Distance estimator is employed.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the efficiency of public education by local authorities using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and found that municipalities with a socialistic majority in the city council are less efficient, and that the share of teachers having a permanent tenure increases efficiency significantly.
Abstract: This paper studies efficiency in the provision of public education by local authorities using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Viewing education as a multilevel production process the models control for differences at other levels. Most important is the students' socioeconomic backgound and a number of alternative ways of modelling this are proposed. Mean efficiency is estimated to between 0.87 and 0.96. To explain the efficiency we use the estimated scores as dependent variable in a Tobit regression. The primary findings are that municipalities with a socialistic majority in the city council are less efficient, that the share of teachers having a permanent tenure increases efficiency significantly which empasize the importance of employment contracts and, contrary to our expectations, that municipalities with many pedagogially skilled teachers are less efficient. We find no evidence of efficiency increases due to competition from private schools.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the Consumer Expenditure Survey data to estimate the price elasticity of all deductible contributions and found that the tax-price elasticity exceeds unity. But they did not use the covariance matrix estimator of Ahn and Powell, instead bootstrapping a confidence interval.
Abstract: While many studies find that the tax-price elasticity of giving exceeds unity, several recent studies find the contrary. This is important because it can be shown that if the elasticity exceeds one, then allowing taxpayers to deduct charitable giving from their taxable income is efficient in the sense that the amount donated exceeds the loss to the treasury. Here we use Consumer Expenditure Survey data to estimate the price elasticity of all deductible contributions. Because specification tests reject the consistency of estimators such as Tobit or the two-stage Heckman we use the semiparametric method of Ahn and Powell (1993). Rather than selecting bandwidths through cross-validation we demonstrate that because high and low bandwidths lead to the standard linear model one may use visual inspection for bandwidth selection. We also do not use the covariance matrix estimator of Ahn and Powell, instead bootstrapping a confidence interval. These bootstraps are also used to remove the finite sample bias inherent in nonlinear estimators. In our results we find an elasticity estimate greater than unity for the Tobit and Heckman methods but less than one for the Ahn and Powell method. Because specification tests suggest that the likelihood assumptions ensuring the consistency of the Tobit and Heckman do not hold, our results suggest that previous high tax-price elasticities may be caused by misspecification. However, our estimate of the elasticity of contributions to just social welfare organizations exceeds unity. In this sense the deduction for those types of contributions is efficient.
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01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, four sources of economic inefficiency: allocative, technical, pure technical and scale inefficiency of a sample of seventy-six Nepalese rice farmers were examined using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) decomposition method.
Abstract: Efficiency has been proven to be an important managerial tool in improving total factor productivity in agriculture. The four sources of economic inefficiency: allocative, technical, pure technical and scale inefficiency of a sample of seventy-six Nepalese rice farmers were examined using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) decomposition method. The inefficiency indices computed by the DEA were then used as the dependent variable in a Tobit (censored) regression model using decision- makers’ attributes as the explanatory variables. The results revealed relatively large inefficiencies among the farms sampled. The average economic, allocative, technical, pure technical and scale inefficiencies were 34%, 13%, 24%, 18%, and 7% respectively. There is also a significant variation in the level of inefficiency across farms. The inefficiencies are attributed to the variations in use intensities of resources such as farm land, seed, human labour, fertilisers and mechanical power. The inefficiencies were explained by farmers’ level of age, education, gender, family labour endowment and risk aversion. Therefore, to be successful the efficiency improvement program must be flexible enough to accommodate the diversity of farmers and their improvement needs. The results also suggest that increasing effort towards educating farmers on best practices can enhance efficiency in Nepalese rice farming. Other policy implications and development strategies are also drawn from the findings.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of female and male unemployment on household demand of a selection of goods and services was investigated and it was shown that male and female unemployment has a different impact on the household consumption.
Abstract: In this paper we obtain empirical evidence about the effect of female and male unemployment on household demand of a selection of goods and services. We analyse the percentage of the family income expenditure on a particular group of goods concerning education, domestic services, leisure goods, hotels etc. The impact of several determinants on each group of commodities is estimated using a Tobit specification. The data used for estimation have been taken from The Household Expenditure Survey (1990–91). Our main result is that male and female unemployment has a different impact on the household consumption.
TL;DR: In this paper, four sources of economic inefficiency: allocative, technical, pure technical and scale inefficiency of a sample of seventy-six Nepalese rice farmers were examined using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) decomposition method.
Abstract: Efficiency has been proven to be an important managerial tool in improving total factor productivity in agriculture. The four sources of economic inefficiency: allocative, technical, pure technical and scale inefficiency of a sample of seventy-six Nepalese rice farmers were examined using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) decomposition method. The inefficiency indices computed by the DEA were then used as the dependent variable in a Tobit (censored) regression model using decision- makers’ attributes as the explanatory variables. The results revealed relatively large inefficiencies among the farms sampled. The average economic, allocative, technical, pure technical and scale inefficiencies were 34%, 13%, 24%, 18%, and 7% respectively. There is also a significant variation in the level of inefficiency across farms. The inefficiencies are attributed to the variations in use intensities of resources such as farm land, seed, human labour, fertilisers and mechanical power. The inefficiencies were explained by farmers’ level of age, education, gender, family labour endowment and risk aversion. Therefore, to be successful the efficiency improvement program must be flexible enough to accommodate the diversity of farmers and their improvement needs. The results also suggest that increasing effort towards educating farmers on best practices can enhance efficiency in Nepalese rice farming. Other policy implications and development strategies are also drawn from the findings.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the implications of a simple model of learning and innovation by firms and find that learning effort increases in response to industrial and academic R&D spillovers.
Abstract: This paper explores the implications of a simple model of learning and innovation by firms. In this model R&D spillovers are partly determined by firms, rather than by the given economic environment. According to this approach the full effect of spillovers on research productivity of firms exceeds the structural effect because it includes an active learning' response of firms to new information. Furthermore, effective spillovers grow faster or slower than potential spillovers, depending on the returns to scale of production processes for learning and invention. The empirical work is based on a sample of R&D laboratories in the chemicals, machinery, electrical equipment, and transportation equipment industries. I estimate negative binomial regressions for the number of patents as a function of academic and industrial spillover pools, learning expenditures and internal research expenditures. The findings are consistent with the view that learning expenditures transmit the effect of spillovers. I also perform tobit, ordered probit and grouped probit estimation of learning effort. I find that learning effort increases in response to industrial and academic R&D spillovers. Lastly, academic spillovers appear to have a more pervasive effect on R&D than do industrial spillovers. Overall these results suggest a sequence of events underlying learning and innovation, with learning responding to opportunities, innovation responding to learning and own R&D, and a stream of innovations leading to the accumulation of new product introductions that ultimately are reflected in the value of enterprise.
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: This paper present an econometric model of contributions in sequential play, which takes into account the censoring, admits variation both within and between individuals, and allows for the existence of a distinct class of free-riders.
Abstract: Contributions to public goods simulated in economists' laboratory experiments have two peculiarities from the perspective of statistical modelling. There is a variety of contributor behaviours (Ledyard, 1995), suggestive perhaps of separate classes of individuals, and contributions are doubly censored. We present an econometric model of contributions in sequential play, which takes into account the censoring, admits variation both within and between individuals, and allows for the existence of a distinct class of free-riders. The model synthesises the 2-limit tobit analysis of Nelson (1976), the extension of tobit to panel techniques by Kim and Maddala (1992) and the " p-tobit " hurdle model of Deaton and Irish (1984). We estimate it for panel data from a public good experiment reported in Bardsley (2000). It reveals pronounced inter-and intra-individual variation, and shows significant effects for subjects' order in a sequential game, others' contributions and the position of the choice task within the experiment. These effects are plausibly attributable to egoism, reciprocity and learning respectively. In addition, the existence of a distinct class of free-riders, who conform to a game theoretic prediction of unconditional non-contribution, is confirmed. The model is estimated for tasks in which " others' behaviour " was controlled by the experimenter (but without using deception). We compare its predictions for actual play (in which others' behaviour is not controlled) with behaviour in a real game task. The predictions are consistent with the data.