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Objective/Context: This article reconstructs the struggle that consumers and the state waged to contain inflation and consumer scarcity in mid-twentieth-century Chile. Methodology: Drawing on records from Chile’s Ministry of Economy and print media, it first assesses how in the 1930s, mobilized consumers and Chile’s national price control office worked together to create an expectation that a strong interventionist state could prevent inflation and shortages by monitoring and regulating the speculative behavior of private merchants. Then, by examining the writings of leading economic thinkers of the postwar era, it details how the state’s understanding of rising prices and scarcity increasingly turned to structural matters of economic production and distribution, particularly in Chile’s rural economy. Originality: While most scholarship on inflation and scarcity in twentieth-century Latin America tends to either focus on the intellectual debate surrounding shortages and price volatility or on the grassroots political experience with these problems, I show how interactions between consumers and the state created a paradox. On the one hand, consumers came to expect that the state had an immediate duty and capacity to minimize short-term economic hardship. But on the other hand, by continuing to identify inflation and scarcity as problems driven by individual acts, many consumers, including some of the political left, lost faith in the state’s long-term planning capacity. Conclusions: The article concludes by showing how in the early 1970s, during a period of heightened class conflict, the state’s embrace of a longer-term, structural approach to inflation and scarcity drove a wedge between Salvador Allende’s Unidad Popular (up) government and its political base. Objetivo/Contexto: Este artículo reconstruye la lucha que libraron los consumidores y el Estado para contener la inflación y la escasez de productos en el Chile de mediados del siglo xx. Metodología: Basándose en archivos del Ministerio de Economía de Chile y la prensa impresa, se evalúa primero cómo, en la década de 1930, consumidores movilizados y la oficina nacional de control de precios chilena trabajaron juntos para crear la expectativa de que un Estado fuertemente intervencionista podría contener la inflación y la escasez al vigilar y regular el comportamiento especulativo de los comerciantes privados. Luego, mediante un estudio de los escritos pensadores económicos prominentes de la posguerra, detalla cómo la comprensión estatal del alza en los precios y la escasez se volvió cada vez más hacia cuestiones estructurales de producción y distribución económica, particularmente en la economía rural chilena. Originalidad: Mientras que la mayor parte de los estudios sobre inflación y escasez en la América Latina del siglo xx tienden a centrarse en el debate intelectual que rodeó los recortes y la volatilidad de los precios, o en las bases de la experiencia política con estos problemas, se muestra cómo las interacciones entre los consumidores y el Estado crearon una paradoja: de un lado, los consumidores llegaron a esperar que el Estado tuviera el deber inmediato y la capacidad de minimizar las dificultades económicas a corto plazo y, de otro, al continuar identificando la inflación y la escasez como problemas impulsados por actos individuales, muchos consumidores, incluidos algunos de la izquierda política, perdieron la fe en la capacidad de planificación del Estado a largo plazo. Conclusiones: El artículo concluye mostrando cómo a principios de la década de 1970, durante un período de intenso conflicto de clases, la adopción por parte del Estado de un enfoque estructural a la inflación y la escasez a largo plazo abrió una brecha entre el gobierno de la Unidad Popular (up) de Salvador Allende y su base política. Objetivo/Contexto: neste artigo, é reconstruída a luta que os consumidores e o Estado enfrentaram para conter a inflação e a escassez de produtos no Chile de meados do século xx. Metodologia: com base em arquivos do Ministério de Economia do Chile e na imprensa impressa, é avaliado como, na década de 1930, consumidores mobilizados e a Oficina Nacional de Controle de Preços chilena trabalharam juntos para criar a expectativa de que um Estado fortemente intervencionista pudesse conter a inflação e a escassez ao vigiar e regularizar o comportamento especulativo dos comerciantes privados. Logo, mediante um estudo dos textos de pensadores econômicos proeminentes do pós-guerra, é detalhado como a compreensão estatal do aumento nos preços e a escassez se voltou cada vez mais a questões estruturais de produção e distribuição econômica, particularmente na economia rural chilena. Originalidade: enquanto a maior parte dos estudos sobre inflação e escassez na América Latina do século xx tendem a se focar no debate intelectual que rodeou os recortes e a volatilidade dos preços ou nas bases da experiência política com esses problemas, aqui é apresentado como as interações entre os consumidores e o Estado criaram um paradoxo: de um lado, os consumidores chegaram a esperar que o Estado tivesse o dever imediato e a capacidade de minimizar as dificuldades econômicas em curto prazo e, de outro, ao continuar identificando a inflação e a escassez como problemas impulsionados por atos individuais, muitos consumidores, incluídos alguns da esquerda política, perderam a fé na capacidade de planejamento do Estado em longo prazo. Conclusões: conclui-se com a apresentação de como, no início da década de 1970, durante um período de intenso conflito de classes, a adoção por parte do Estado de uma abordagem estrutural da inflação e da escassez em longo prazo abriu uma brecha entre o governo da Unidad Popular de Salvador Allende e sua base política.

Parking regulations have been widely adopted by cities as a tool to tackle traffic-related externalities. Both researchers and practitioners have proposed parking policy interventions that tend to rely on the assumption that parkers have perfect information about the availability of parking options and their characteristics (prices and quality) when determining consumers' behavior. However, research shows that when information acquisition (search) is costly it is rational for consumers not to be fully informed at the expense of their taking non-optimal decisions, with negative welfare implications. We conduct an empirical study of the level of knowledge and information held by drivers in the car parking market. We draw on a survey conducted with 576 garage customers in Barcelona to estimate different regression models to assess how drivers transform information into actual knowledge, identifying the factors that aggravate/mitigate misinformation and misperception (subjective information levels and its accuracy). We find that parkers know little about available parking alternatives and their prices, and the accuracy of their knowledge is poor and biased towards prioritizing curbside parking. Costly search does not help drivers increase their knowledge levels, with garage facilities' and surrounding areas' characteristics playing a relevant role. We also find that garages have effective obfuscation strategies to keep drivers uninformed and exploit their localized market power by reducing price saliency and increasing fee complexity. Our results suggest that information should be carefully considered in the design and implementation of parking policy interventions and transport information systems, in order to avoid undesired market distortions.

Background: Centralizing procurement for prescription drugs has the potential to reduce drug spending by creating economies of scale and by improving purchasing power. In March 2019, the Chinese government launched a volume-based purchasing (VBP) pilot program using a competitive bidding process to purchase high-quality generic drugs for which branded drug substitutes were available. We evaluated the impact of introducing the VBP pilot on drug purchase quantity and spending. Methods: We performed an interrupted time-series design to estimate the change in monthly drug purchase quantity and spending comparing fourteen months before and seven months after the VBP pilot. We obtained monthly prescription drug purchase data for all purchases from public hospitals in the three large pilot cities (Beijing, Shanghai and Xi’an) and two non-pilot cities (Changsha and Zhengzhou) between January 2018 to September 2019. We measured quantity and spending outcomes separately for the branded and generic substitutes that were selected in the VBP, and other drugs for the treatment of the same diseases. We evaluated heterogeneity of impact by pilot city, drug type, and therapeutic class (cardiovascular disease, mental disorder and cancer) separately. Findings: The VBP pilot in these three cities covered 60 million individuals. The implementation of the pilot reform was associated with a 132% (95%-CI: 104%-165%, p

Transfer pricing as an economic and legal phenomenon is currently one of the most discussed topics affecting a large number of aspects of legal regulation and currently Transfer pricing is one of the most serious and urgent problems of international taxation. The tax (fiscal) authorities have a priority task to find out whether the use of transfer prices in taxpayers' transactions does not lead to the minimization of tax liabilities. The article makes an attempt to appreciate the impact of international legislation on legislation and foreign experience on the tax legis�lation of Russia in the field of control over transfer pricing.

The use of price controls is widespread across emerging markets and developing economies, including for food and key imported and exported commodities. Although they are sometimes used as a tool for social policy, price controls can dampen investment and growth, worsen poverty outcomes, cause countries to incur heavy fiscal burdens, and complicate the effective conduct of monetary policy. Replacing price controls with expanded and better-targeted social safety nets, coupled with reforms to encourage competition and a sound regulatory environment, can be pro-poor and pro-growth. Such reforms need to be carefully communicated and sequenced to ensure political and social acceptance. Where they exist, price control regimes should be transparent and supported by well-capitalized stabilization funds or national hedging strategies to ensure fiscal sustainability.

I exploit a change in Spanish regulations to test the effect of the relaxation of entry restrictions on the equilibrium retail price of diesel. In February 2013, a Central Government reform permitted gasoline stations to operate in industrial and commercial areas. Over the following 2-year period, this deregulation led to a high number of new market entrants in these newly designated free entry areas. By isolating markets exposed to entry and markets unaffected by new entrants, and adopting a difference-in-difference approach, results show that gasoline stations exposed to a new market entrant within a one-mile radius lower their prices by an average 1.04%. This result is significant, representing almost one fifth of the average retail margin. Additionally, the results show that the reduction in the equilibrium price is caused by the first market entrant and that the effect decreases over time.

International audience; Prices that end with 9, also known as psychological price points, are common, comprising about 70% of the retail prices. They are also more rigid than other prices. We take advantage of a natural experiment to document an emergence of a new price ending that has the same effects as 9-endings. In January 2014, the Israeli government passed a new regulation prohibiting the use of non 0-ending prices, bringing an end to 9-ending prices. We find that seven months after 9-ending prices have disappeared, 90-ending prices acquired the same status as 9-ending prices had before the new regulation was adopted. Thus, 90-ending prices became the new psychological price points, partially eliminating the regulation’s intended effect.

Price control can restore efficiency in some cases, but an uncarefully designed policy fails to restore efficiency, yields side effects, or even exacerbates efficiency losses. This paper shows that the copyright royalty rule, which takes the greater of ad valorem royalties and perunit royalties, tends to fix the prices of final goods at a specific level. Such a rule weakens competition as it prevents prices from decreasing even when market conditions change, having negative effects on social welfare as well as consumer surplus. Counterfactual analyses using estimation results in the Korean online music service industry show that firms could have profitably reduced prices if the ad valorem rule had been applied instead, although they did not have an incentive to do so under the original combination rule.

In this article I evaluate the aims and means of the legislator in the regulation of the Finnish taxicab industry. Currently, the taxicab industry is one of the most regulated and restricted industries in Finland. Local state authorities limit the quantity of taxi permits which creates a barrier of entry to different kind of taxicab markets. Furthermore, taxi fares are regulated by a statutory price control mechanism. The explicit aim of the legislator is to ensure the nationwide supply of high quality taxicab services and to ensure safety of the rides both to customers and drivers. However, the implicit aim of the legislator is to ensure that the taxi business provides a sustainable source of income to the authorized taxi entrepreneurs. Due to the legal barriers to entry and the subsequent lack of competition, the entrepreneurs with the taxi permits are getting monopoly profits. The legislator’s means to accomplish the aforementioned explicit goals are inefficient and contrary to the interests of the customers. Local state authorities have been given an impossible task to create a balance between supply and demand. A free market mechanism would do the job better. Additionally, there are more efficient ways to ensure safety of the customers and drivers than the existing legislation. Price regulation is unnecessary and also partly decreases competition. Issues with consumer protection could be resolved in lighter ways e.g. with duties to inform customers. Due to the latest smartphone applications, information asymmetry between customers and the taxi entrepreneurs is vanishing. Both the barriers to entry and the price control mechanism are not efficient enough to accomplish the legislator’s explicit goals and their necessity should be evaluated very critically.

Рассматриваются основные проблемы хлебопекарного производства. На примере одного из хлебозаводов показаны изменения в структуре затрат на производство белого хлеба за 1999-2019 годы. Анализируются последствия отмены возврата нереализованного хлеба от торговых предприятий, а также причины ухудшения качества пшеничной муки и белого хлеба. Затрагивается проблема повышения рентабельности производства за счет изменения ценовой политики как условия улучшения финансового состояния хлебозаводов и создания предпосылок для инвестиций.

El objetivo es hacer una lectura histórica, biográfica y analítica de las principales contribuciones de John K Galbraith, un economista de su tiempo. Se indaga acerca de las más importantes influencias que su obra fue mostrado, así como de las mayores contribuciones que su obra ha representado para la construcción de modelos de desarrollo capitalista más estables. Se sostiene que aunque no pueda situarse un espacio académico de desarrollo del pensamiento de Galbraith, ha sido muy potente su influencia en el desarrollo de países como Alemania, Japón o China. Aunque dejo de serlo en los Estados Unidos principalmente debido al ascenso del poder oligárquico financiero desde los años setenta. JEI: B25; B31; B52; E31

In this paper, we study the welfare implications of the zero-price rule of the Net Neutrality (NN) regulation in an economy where two competing Content Providers (CPs) can engage in interlinking agreements. When CPs link their contents, they attract indirect visitors who first visit one CP and then the other so as to benefit from the complementarities of their products. We show that CPs are interested in reaching a linking agreement when the termination fee set by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) is not particularly high. The ISP may also find it profitable to set a low termination fee that leads CPs to reach a linking agreement. First, it benefits from the increase in the Internet traffic, provided that its cost of transmitting content is not too high. And second, the links increase the consumers’ willingness to pay for the service, which allows it to set a higher subscription fee. Last, we show the cases in which the regulation of the termination fee can increase social welfare. We also point out that when the ISP’s transmission cost is sufficiently low the imposition of the NN principle is justifiable, although this is a sufficient, but not a necessary, policy intervention for welfare maximization.

The main focus of the literature on the economics of parking has been on the cruising-for-parking externality and garage market power. However, all studies to date assume the existence of perfect information. Yet, imperfect information may well arise as drivers: (1) may not be aware of all the options available in their choice set; and (2) lack the information required to evaluate them, thus exacerbating the aforementioned distortions. We provide compelling evidence for the existence of information frictions in this market by examining the case of Barcelona, and we test whether users' lack of knowledge translates into undesirable market outcomes.

Economy

Price controls are used in many regulated markets and well recognized as the cause of market inefficiency. This paper examines a practical housing market in the presence of price controls and provides a solution to the problem of how houses should be efficiently allocated among agents through a system of prices. We demonstrate that the dynamic auction by Talman and Yang (2008) always finds a core allocation in finitely many iterations, thus resulting in a Pareto efficient outcome.

Parking economics literature main attention has been paid to the cruising externality and garage market power issues, but all works assume that perfect information exists. But imperfect information may arise as (1) drivers may not know all available options in their choice set; and (2) they lack of information to evaluate them; further exacerbating already mentioned distortions. In this paper we provide compelling evidence on the existence and extent of information frictions in this market; based on the case study of Barcelona. We also test whether parkers’ lack of knowledge translates into undesirable market outcomes.

International audience; The declining price anomaly for sequential sales of identical commodities challenges auction theory which predicts constant prices within a day. Among other hypotheses explaining the phenomenon stands the dual value of goods including a risk premium in early transactions. We consider that asymmetric bidder groups (primary processors, fishmongers, supermarket buyers) and seasonal landings may also affect the daily price pattern. On the basis of stylized facts and several panel data models, this hypothesis is tested on a Redundant French fish market of homogenous goods (live Nephrops norvegicus) when the time effects (high and low seasons, weekday effect) affecting the demand and supply conditions are taken into consideration. All models support the evidence of a daily declining pattern, but not to the same extent for all days and seasons, and all categories of buyers. Our results also show an earlier and steeper decline on periods of lower supply (or higher demand), supporting the theoretical hypothesis of risk-averse behaviors of bidders, especially fishmongers with respect to primary processors and supermarkets.

Dynamic demand response is increasingly needed and dynamic retail tariffs are available in Finland. Heat pumps and solar panels increasingly affect electricity consumption of houses. Thermal and electricity storages offer potential to reduce electricity costs by providing flexibility to the power system. This paper analyses the potential of nonlinear optimisation in dynamic price control of such resources in the houses.

Traditional interventions during and after major disaster events usually focus on the welfare of individuals and households, often at the expense or neglect of local economic recovery. The Price Act (Republic Act or RA 7581) establishes a mechanism that supposedly protects consumers from inadequate supply of goods and unreasonable price increase in occasions of disasters and emergencies. RA 7581 is an example of a double-edged policy which protects a section of the populace (consumers) and holds back another (local enterprises). This study focuses on the implications of RA 7581 during disaster events and answers issues on the effects of price control on consumer protection and local economic recovery as well as provides discourse on the effects of price control imposition during occasions of calamities, emergencies, and like occurrences.

Dynamic demand response is increasingly needed and dynamic retail tariffs are available in Finland. Heat pumps and solar panels increasingly affect electricity consumption of houses. Thermal and electricity storages offer potential to reduce electricity costs by providing flexibility to the power system. This paper analyses the potential of nonlinear optimisation in dynamic price control of such resources in the houses.

We take advantage of a natural experiment to document an emergence of a new price ending that has the same effects as 9-endings. In January 2014, the Israeli parliament has passed a law prohibiting the use of non 0-ending prices. We find that one year after 9-ending prices have disappeared, 90-ending prices acquired the same status as 9-ending prices had before the law was passed. 90-ending prices became the new psychological price points. The retailers and the shoppers both reacted to the regulatory intervention optimally, which has eliminated the regulation's intended effect.

Rent control, to the economically uninitiated, sounds like a good idea. After all, given that poor people spend a disproportionate percentage of their incomes on housing, what policy could possibly be of more help to them than to lower their rents? Profit-seeking landlords can hardly be expected to do so on their own. Their inability to undertake so public-spirited a policy thus constitutes a “market failure,” and only government can ride to the rescue the suffering masses. This at least is the story widely told by journalists, clergy, teachers, etc. The present paper is an attempt to shed some light on the very opposite perspective: that rent controls lower the supply of residential rental housing, and thus hurt the poor, the very people supposedly helped by this unwarranted legislation. Key words: Price control; rent control; housing; profits; shortages.JEL: R31.

This report shows how competition policy can help African countries boost inclusive and sustainable development. Prepared by the World Bank Group (WBG) in partnership with the African Competition Forum, the study reviews the implementation of competition frameworks in Africa and examines competition issues that affect market performance in three important sectors for Africa's competitiveness: cement, fertilizers, and telecoms. It uses the WBG's Markets and Competition Policy Assessment Tool to identify how competition rule and their enforcement could be made more effective, and to highlight economic and regulatory characteristics of cement, fertilizers and telecoms markets that dampen competition and increase the risk of anticompetitive business practices. Conservative estimates put forward by this report suggest that addressing weak competition in principle staple foods across three countries would have the effect of lifting around 500,000 people above the poverty line by lowering consumer prices. Fundamental market reforms to increase competition in key input services would also boost economic growth. For example, professional services reforms would deliver an additional 0.16–0.43 percent of additional annual gross domestic product growth. While the benefits of competition are clearly observable in Africa, considerable effort is still required to ensure effective implementation of competition laws and incorporation of competition principles in government policies.

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine the impact of medicines price regulation (Drug Price Control Order, 2013) on the market share of atorvastatin in the Indian retail market for statins.SettingAll Indian states, January 2012 to December 2015.DesignQuasi-experimental—interrupted time series analysis.DataPharmaceutical sales audit data set from IMS Health (now IQVIA) for the 48-month period from January 2012 to December 2015.Outcome measureShare of atorvastatin (in percentage) in the Indian market for statins in terms of sales volumes.ResultsWe observed that the price regulation notification (Drug Price Control Orders, 2013) was associated with 0.12% (pConclusionsPrice control as a public intervention did improve the relative sales of atorvastatin in the statin market in India.

Like many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal has struggled to develop its industrial sector in the face of import competition. For basic food products, there is an implicit trade-off between the objectives of maintaining employment and lowering the cost of living, both of which figure prominently in current government policy. Conflicting pressures have led to a rather inconsistent policy mix of high levels of protection with price ceilings. The products of the three industries examined here—sugar, vegetable oil, and flour—account for roughly 14 percent of the consumption basket of the poor, so distortions in their prices can have a significant effect on poverty reduction. This paper compares domestic prices in Senegal with world prices since 2000, and then explains the difference by examining the protection enjoyed by these industries, along with their market structure. The analysis finds that high protection and market power have resulted in domestic prices which were often two or three times the equivalent world price. Tightening of price ceilings and some liberalization have taken place recently, but consumers have continued to pay above world prices for sugar and edible oil in 2014. The paper estimates that if this differential were eliminated, the purchasing power of households around the poverty line would increase by 3 percent, 227,000 people would move above the poverty line, and the national poverty rate would drop by 1.9 percentage points. The cost to consumers far exceeds the total wage bill paid by these industries. Further liberalization of these industries is recommended, along with phasing out price controls and shifting government policy from protecting traditional enterprises to the promotion of new export-oriented ones.

Vietnam und Thailand sind zwei der führenden Exporteure für Reis. Zurzeit hat die staatliche Preispolitik den stärksten und meisten Einfluss auf die vietnamesische Branche für Reis. Es beschränkt die Exportmenge, um die Menge für den nationalen Nahrungsmittelbedarf sicherzustellen. Diese Regulierung hält die vietnamesische Produktion unter ihrem vollständigen potenzial, im Vergleich zu der Reisproduktion in Thailand, zurück. Viele Experten unterstellen, dass Vietnam mehr Aufmerksamkeit der nationalen Strategie zur Ernährungssicherung schenkt als es notwendig wäre. Das verursacht Marktverzerrung und schwächt den landeseigenen Reisexport im Vergleich zu Thailand. Um die Auswirkungen der staatlichen Preispolitik mit einer quantitativen Methode zu untersuchen, wird über ein Gleichgewichtsmodell drei verschiedenen Szenarien eruiert: (1)Die Regulierungsrichtlinie für Reispreise wird wöchentlich aktualisiert; (2)Die Regulierungsrichtlinie für Reispreise wird monatlich angepasst; (3)Die Regulierungsrichtlinie für Reispreise wird quartalsweise überabeitet. Basierend aus den Produktionsdaten, dem Konsum, inländischen Preis, Transportkosten, der Elastizität der Nachfrage und der Angebotsfunktion der vietnamesischen und thailändischen Reisbranche zeigt dieses Modell Resultat: Mit kleinen Anpassungen in der Preispolitik wächst der Wettbewerb in Bezug auf der vietnamesischen Exportmenge auf dem internationalen Markt ohne negative Auswirkungen auf die Ziele der nationalen Ernährungssicherung. Nicht-Reisbauern werden in eine nachteilige Position gestellt aufgrund von höheren Preisen auf dem inländischen Markt. Jedoch Bevölkerung, welche Reisbauern sind, werden von den höheren Handelsmengen, den steigenden Umsätzen und ebenfalls von dem steigenden Nettoeinkommen der Reisexporteure profitieren. Deshalb empfehlen wir nicht die staatliche Preispolitik regelmäßig zu überarbeiten, um das Ziel einer besseren Wetbewerbsfähigkeit von Vietnam zu erreichen Vietnam and Thailand are the top two rice exporters who contribute more than 50 per cent of market shares in the international market. Therefore, any changes in their rice policies have a strong influence on the world market. Currently, one of the strongest and most often impacts on the Vietnamese rice industry is the Price Controls Policy that regulates the competition in rice market. It restricts the export amount in order to ensure national food security. This policy keeps Vietnamese rice production under its full potential compared with the rice industry in Thailand. Many experts suggest that Vietnam pays more attention on national food security than necessary. This causes market distortion and weakens the country’s competitiveness with Thailand. In order to examine the effects of the Price Controls Policy with a quantitative method, we build and run a spatial equilibrium model with 3 different scenarios: (1) Price Controls Policy updated every week; (2) Price Controls Policy updated every month; (3) Price Controls Policy updated quarterly. Base on the available data of production, consumption, domestic price, transportation cost and elasticities of demand and supply function of Vietnamese and Thai rice industry, the model shows the following result. With less changes in the Price Control policy, the competitiveness in terms of export quantity of the Vietnamese rice on international markets rises without having negative effects on the national food security goal. Non-rice farmers will be in disadvantage position due to higher domestic prices for rice, but the majority of the population who are rice farmers, accounting for more than 70 per cent of the population, will benefit from the higher volume and turnover of rice export, and so the net social revenue will increase also. Therefore, we highly recommend that the Price Controls Policy should not be revised on regular to serve the purpose of achieving better competitiveness of Vietnamese rice

A public economics framework is used to consider how pharmaceuticals should be priced when at least some of the research and development incentive comes from sales revenues. Familiar techniques of public finance are used to relax some of the restrictions implied in the standard use of Ramsey pricing. Under the more general model, poor countries should not necessarily cover even their own marginal costs, and the pricing structure is not related to that which will be chosen by a monopolist in a simple way. This framework is then used to examine ongoing debates regarding the international patent system as embodied in the world trade organization's agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights.

Pricing in the market is the most sensitive part of trade. It is through pricing where the buyers are able to acquire goods and it is through it also that the sellers get their profit. Pricing of commodities can be said to be the lifeline of trade and also the lifeline of competition. Competition law, in addition to other factors such as quality of goods and their availability, also deal with the issue of pricing of goods. It is touted that competition law has a strong inclination to supervise pricing of commodities and how the conduct of market players influence pricing of goods. Competition law does this by making the market as competitive as possible in order to prevent any firm from dictating prices. It short, it strives to make the firms in the market to be price takers and not price setters as a way of reigning in on high prices in the market. However, in certain circumstances the competition laws become unable to supervise the market. In times such as those, the governments have been forced to intervene through other laws and policies in order to protect the market from possible abuse. This study looked at government intervention in the market through price control legislation. Price control legislation is a legislation that gives the government powers to artificially set prices of commodities. This is done in those dire circumstances where the market out of unforeseeable circumstances, is unable to be competitive. Examples of such instances include national crises, innovations and legal huddles. Price control legislations unlike the traditional competition laws are not created to promote competition per se. They are created on the back of competitive conduct to provide a safety net to consumers from exploitative activities of producers in instances where the influence of competition laws is ineffective. Price control legislations are there to make sure that when all competition laws and interventions are unable to protect consumers from the condition of the market and the exploitative actions of the producers, then there are certain laws created as a safety net to the consumers. Price control is used to mitigate the circumstances that make it impossible for the market through competition to control pricing of commodities. Currently, price control is becoming a prevalent way oftarning prices in many jurisdictions. A policy used in the medieval times in simple markets, with little or no inclination towards the market, has now become more imposing even in the most sophisticated markets. Price controls in areas like Canada and the European Union are being used together with competition laws to cater for areas where the governments feel that the market is not competitive enough and competition laws are not effective. In other areas such as Zimbabwe, it is being abused for political purposes to influence prices against a competitive market and the competition laws. What is clear and true is that price control having both an immediate impact and being effective, is one mechanism that has far reaching and substantial effects on the competitiveness in the market. With its target being the most sensitive area of trade, this makes it a very important policy issue that competition lawyers should not ignore. Price control ability of superseding the market mechanism of supply and demand, to impose prices and the way it is implemented gives it the power to reduce and even kill competition in a particular market. That is why it is imperative to understand this safety net as competition lawyers in order to know whether it is needed and if so how we can limit its negative effects in the market.

This paper discusses the American debate over price controls and economic stabilization after World War II, when the transition from a war economy to a peace economy was characterized by bottlenecks in the productive system and shortages of food and other basic consumer goods, directly affecting the living standard of the population, the public opinion, and political discourse. Specifically, we will focus on the economist Franco Modigliani and his proposal for a "Plan to meet the problem of rising meat and other food prices without bureaucratic controls." The plan prepared by Modigliani in October 1947 was based on a system of taxes and subsidies to foster a proper distribution of disposable income and warrant a minimum meat consumption for each individual without encroaching market mechanisms and consumers' freedom. We will discuss the contents of the plan and its further refinements, and the reactions it prompted from fellow economists, the public opinion, and the political world. Although the Plan was not eventually implemented, it was an important initiative for several reasons: first, it showed the increasing importance of fiscal policy among postwar government tools of intervention in the economic sphere; second, it showed a third way between direct government intervention and full-fledged laissez faire, in tune with the postwar political climate; third, it proposed a Keynesian macroeconomic approach to price and income stabilization, strongly based on econometric and microeconomic foundations. The Meat Plan was thus a fundamental step in Modigliani's effort to build the "neoclassical synthesis" between Keynesian and Neoclassical economics, which would deeply influence his own career and the evolution of academic studies and government practices in the United States.

Price controls are used in many regulated markets and well recognized as the cause of market inefficiency. This paper examines a practical housing market in the presence of price controls and provides a solution to the problem of how houses should be efficiently allocated among agents through a system of prices. We demonstrate that the dynamic auction by Talman and Yang (2008) always finds a core allocation in finitely many iterations, thus resulting in a Pareto efficient outcome.

In this paper the role of the Russian government in overcoming the crisis of 1998 is considered. The changes adopted by Russian authorities after the whole government, including the head of the Central Bank and the head of Russian government, was changed had a vital role on the recovery of the economy after the crash. Further, the most important shifts, which were undertaken in order to improve the situation, including the transition to the free exchange rate of ruble, the change of monetary control, changes made in the budget policy and the commencement of price control will be analyzed. However, the work will not be limited just to the analyses of the responses of the Russian government to the crisis, but will also cover their premises and long-term effect.

Desde una perspectiva histórica, este artículo analiza los modelos de determinación de los precios de los bienes agroalimentarios en Venezuela y sus consecuencias. Si, como ocurre en otros países del mundo, la formación real de los precios de las materias primas agrícolas y los alimentos se aparta de las previsiones de los mercados perfectos por la naturaleza misma de los mercados agroalimentarios y las políticas agrarias, en el caso venezolano hay que añadir los efectos derivados del boom petrolero y las reformas políticas que se han realizado desde la llegada del presidente Hugo Chávez al poder en febrero de 1999. A los efectos del análisis considera dos etapas: en primer lugar, la anterior a la nueva Constitución Nacional de 1999 y, en particular, al Golpe de Estado de 2002; y, en segundo lugar, la correspondiente a los hechos acaecidos desde entonces hasta 2012, período en el que el gobierno ha ido introduciendo cambios graduales pero inequívocos hacia un modelo de orientación socialista del funcionamiento de la economía -incluidos los mercados agroalimentarios-. El resultado de este proceso ha sido un alejamiento de los mercados libres y un notable incremento del grado de intervención del gobierno en la cadena alimentaria, en especial en los en los precios de venta al público y en la distribución de alimentos. Los resultados de este proceso permiten adelantar que Venezuela se ha alejado de los objetivos de producción de alimentos y de soberanía alimentaria fijados como prioritarios desde el propio gobierno. From a historical perspective, this paper discusses models for determining the prices of agro-food goods at Venezuela and their consequences. If the formation of real prices of agricultural raw materials and food away from forecasts of perfect markets due to the nature of agro-food markets and agricultural policies, as in other countries of the world, the Venezuelan case there be added the effects of the oil boom and political reforms that have been made since the arrival of President Hugo Chavez to power in February 1999. For the purposes of this article the analysis considers two stages: first of all, the previous to the new National Constitution of 1999 and, in particularly, to the 2002 “Coup d´État”; and, secondly, for the events since then to the present day, period in which the Government has been introducing gradual but clear change towards a model of Socialist orientation of the functioning of the economy, including agro-food markets. As a result, it has been a move away from free markets and a remarkable increasing of the degree of intervention of the Government in the food chain, notably in retail prices and food distribution. Main results of this process allow advance that Venezuela has moved away from the food production and food security objectives as a priority from the Government itself. Dans une perspective historique, cet article discute des modèles permettant de déterminer les prix des produits agro-alimentaires au Venezuela et ses conséquences. Si, comme dans d´autres pays du monde, la vraie formation des prix des matières premières agricoles et alimentaires loin des prévisions de marchés parfaits en raison de la nature des marchés agroalimentaires et agricoles, l´affaire vénézuélien y ajouter les effets du boom pétrolier et des réformes politiques qui ont été faites depuis l´arrivée du président Hugo Chávez au pouvoir en février de 1999. Aux fins du présent article, l´analyse considère deux étapes : tout d´abord, la précédente à la nouvelle Constitution Nationale de 1999 et, en particulier, pour le coup d´État 2002; et, deuxièmement, pour les événements depuis lors jusqu´à nos jours, période dans laquelle le gouvernement a été une introduction graduelle mais claire change vers un modèle de l´orientation socialiste du fonctionnement de l´économie compris les marchés agroalimentaires. Le résultat de ce processus a été s´éloignant des marchés libres et une remarquable augmentation du degré d´intervention du gouvernement dans la chaîne alimentaire, notamment dans les prix de détail et la distribution de nourriture. Les résultats de ce processus permettent avance que le Venezuela s´est éloignée de la production alimentaire et les objectifs de sécurité alimentaire, une priorité du gouvernement lui-même. Em uma perspectiva histórica, esse artigo discute modelos para determinação de preços de produtos agroalimentares na Venezuela e suas consequências. A formação dos preços reais de produtos agrícolas in natura e de alimentos prontos se descola das previsões de mercados perfeitos, devido à natureza dos mercados agroalimentares e das políticas agrícolas. No caso venezuelano há de se considerar os efeitos do boom do petróleo e das reformas políticas efetivadas desde a chegada do presidente Hugo Chavez ao poder em fevereiro de 1999. Para as análises, foram considerados dois estágios: primeiro, o período anterior ao da Nova Constituição Nacional de 1999, e, em particular, até o golpe de estado de 2002; segundo, de 2002 até os presentes dias, período em que o governo tem introduzido mudanças graduais e claras para um modelo de orientação socialista para a economia, incluindo o setor agroalimentar. Como resultado, detecta-se um movimento de distanciamento dos mercados livres e um aumento considerável da inter venção do governo na cadeia alimentar, notadamente nos preços do atacado e do varejo. Entre os principais resultados desse processo está o distanciamento dos objetivos de aumento na produção e soberania alimentar que o próprio governo havia estabelecido como política. 17-33 moralesa@agr.ucv.ve rcastillo@ucla.edu.ve semestral

Como consecuencia de la crisis de 2007/2008, que inició en los Estados Unidos en el sector financiero y que luego se extendió a la economía real, los gobiernos de varios estados tuvieron que rescatar a instituciones financieras y a empresas. Los bancos centrales, especialmente en los EE.UU. y Europa, inyectaron en grandes volúmenes liquidez a los mercados con el fin de estabilizar el sector financiero, un proceso que podría producir una mayor inflación. En este artículo se analizó cómo la inflación se mide y se encontró que la medida no incluye adecuadamente la evolución de los precios de los activos financieros. Por otra parte, se discutió que la oferta de dinero debe incluir los préstamos, ya que crédito tiene las características de dinero y tiene un impacto sobre la inflación. Una de las conclusiones principales es que existe una posibilidad real de que las tasas de inflación se incrementarán a medio plazo en el futuro. As a consequence of the crisis of 2007/2008, which started in the United States of America within the financial sector and which then spread to the real sector, the governments of several countries had to bail out financial institutions and companies. Central banks, especially in the U.S. and Europe injected liquidity in large volumes into the markets in order to stabilize the financial sector, a process which might produce higher inflation. This article discusses how inflation is measured and found that the measurement does not include adequately the development of prices of financial assets. Furthermore, it discussed that money supply should include loans, as credit serves as money and has an impact on inflation. One of the main conclusions is that there is a real possibility that inflation rates will increase in the medium term future.

[EN] From a historical perspective, this paper discusses models for determining the prices of agro-food goods at Venezuela and their consequences. If the formation of real prices of agricultural raw materials and food away from forecasts of perfect markets due to the nature of agro-food markets and agricultural policies, as in other countries of the world, the Venezuelan case there be added the effects of the oil boom and political reforms that have been made since the arrival of President Hugo Chavez to power in February 1999. For the purposes of this article the analysis considers two stages: fi rst of all, the previous to the new National Constitution of 1999 and, in particularly, to the 2002 “Coup d´État”; and, secondly, for the events since then to the present day, period in which the Government has been introducing gradual but clear change towards a model of Socialist orientation of the functioning of the economy, including agro-food markets. As a result, it has been a move away from free markets and a remarkable increasing of the degree of intervention of the Government in the food chain, notably in retail prices and food distribution. Main results of this process allow advance that Venezuela has moved away from the food production and food security objectives as a priority from the Government itself, [ES] Desde una perspectiva histórica, este artículo analiza los modelos de determinación de los precios de los bienes agroalimentarios en Venezuela y sus consecuencias. Si, como ocurre en otros países del mundo, la formación real de los precios de las materias primas agrícolas y los alimentos se aparta de las previsiones de los mercados perfectos por la naturaleza misma de los mercados agroalimentarios y las políticas agrarias, en el caso venezolano hay que añadir los efectos derivados del boom petrolero y las reformas políticas que se han realizado desde la llegada del presidente Hugo Chávez al poder en febrero de 1999. A los efectos del análisis considera dos etapas: en primer lugar, la anterior a la nueva Constitución Nacional de 1999 y, en particular, al Golpe de Estado de 2002; y, en segundo lugar, la correspondiente a los hechos acaecidos desde entonces hasta 2012, período en el que el gobierno ha ido introduciendo cambios graduales pero inequívocos hacia un modelo de orientación socialista del funcionamiento de la economía -incluidos los mercados agroalimentarios-. El resultado de este proceso ha sido un alejamiento de los mercados libres y un notable incremento del grado de intervención del gobierno en la cadena alimentaria, en especial en los precios de venta al público y en la distribución de alimentos. Los resultados de este proceso permiten adelantar que Venezuela se ha alejado de los objetivos de producción de alimentos y de soberanía alimentaria fi jados como prioritarios desde el propio gobierno

This paper analyses the determinants of broadband Internet access prices in a group of 15 EU countries between 2008 and 2011. Using a rich panel dataset of broadband plans, we show the positive effect of downstream speed on prices, and report that cable and fibre-to-the-home technologies are available at lower prices per Mbps than x DSL technology. Operators’marketing strategies are also analysed as we show how much prices rise when the broadband service is offered in a bundle with voice telephony and/or television, and how much they fall when download volume caps are included. The most insightful results of this study are provided by a group of metrics that represent the situation of competition and entry patterns in the broadband market. We show that consumer segmentation positively affects prices. On the other hand, broadband prices are higher in countries where entrants make greater use of bitstream access and lower when they use more intensively direct access -local loop unbundling-. However, we do not find a significant effect of inter-platform competition on prices.

Development of transmission and distribution (TD) infrastructure is crucial for the power systems. Regardless of the market models and the ownership structure, they have to be adequate for the continuity of the energy flow, the reliability of the power system and the quality of the energy supply. They have to be developed in parallel with the generation expansion in order to cope with the energy demand and to provide a sustainable service to the users and consumers. In this study, PSP practices of Turkey in TD have been investigated. In this respect; a general overview and historical background has been given in section two. The structural and regulatory aspects of PSP models in TD in the past and also after the reform have been explained in section three. It should be noted that, the PSP models used before the electricity market reform are also introduced in order to give information about different models. However, emphasis is given to the implementation of the recent PSP models. Results of implementation and problems are explained in sections four, five and six. Finally, conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations are discussed in section seven.

In 1955, when Rome was awarded the XVII Olympiad, the entire city's infrastructure was significantly upgraded, and a number of new sports venues were constructed or modified. None of the new stadiums were as interesting as the ancient sites in which some events were held. The mixture of modern and ancient sites in which to hold the contests gave the Rome Olympics unprecedented cultural scope that had never been seen in earlier Games. The cultural breadth of the Rome Games was further enhanced by a series of historic sporting events, theatrical performances, and exhibitions staged during the Games. The opportunities provided for those who were not overly interested in sports to enjoy a host of recreational and leisure activities extended the range of potential visitors to the Eternal City. This meant that organizers had to adopt the widest possible perspective when dealing with the tourist question, given that the forecast massive influx of tourists and athletes would be concentrated in a limited time fram...

The aim of the thesis is an analysis of price control in the Czech Republic from 1989 until present and identification of positive and negative effects of the control on market environment in the examined period. One fifth of the consumer basket which is used to measure inflation by Czech Statistical Office is subject to the price control of usual prices. Therefore, the price control influences wide variety of services and goods and thus, the analysis of this control is still very interesting and up to date. The theoretical part characterizes terms and definitions such as a theory of price control, kinds of control and a theory of price from the theoretical point of view. It also describes fields that are included in a state price control. Another important part describes views of different economical schools on the issue of the state price control and theory of ownership. The practical part deals with the analysis of price control in the Czech Republic in a time span from 1989 until present. The first part analyzes price liberalization which is one of the pillars of transformation of the Czech Republic after 1989. Other part characterizes the remaining period, in which, the most important part is the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU.

Price controls are measures that can significantly affect the sectors subject to such policies. Using a dynamic general stochastic equilibrium model with two types of agents: farmers and city dwellers, calibrated to Bolivia, it is shown that with falling productivity in the agricultural sector, agricultural rural employment and agricultural production were impaired when there are price controls. Likewise, productivity improvements in the rural non-farm sector, represents lower incomes with fixed prices in relation to a mechanism that allows prices to adjust. In a simulation of the policies carried out in 2009 in Bolivia, we can see that they create imbalances in the markets causing shortages of agricultural products in substantial quantities.

The Malaysian economy decelerated as solid domestic demand was not sufficient to offset a weakening external environment. Private consumption growth continued at a healthy pace. Favorable rubber and palm oil prices drove up incomes of smallholders while continued employment and wage growth supported urban incomes. In contrast, fixed investment was more volatile, with private investment showing signs of picking up while public investments lagged. Malaysia's overall balance of payments recorded a larger surplus in the first half of the year reflecting a widening current account surplus and substantial net financial inflows. Malaysia's open economy is expected to slow further in the remainder of 2011 and into early 2012 mainly due to the deterioration in the outlook for external demand. Cities are central to Malaysia's aspiration to become a high-income economy. Smart cities are skilled and innovative. They play a crucial role in catalyzing economic growth by generating productivity gains through agglomeration economies. Smart cities are green and sustainable. They ensure a high quality of life to all citizens and the sustainability of economic gains. Finally, smart cities are resilient.