Search

This paper examines supplier encroachment in a scenario where the supplier procures an input in spot and processes it into a final product, while the retailer chooses between contingent and committed pricing schemes for the contract price. We find that when the correlation between the input spot price and final product demand is relatively small, it is optimal for the retailer to adopt the contingent pricing scheme regardless of the supplier's encroachment decision. This is because this scheme enables the supplier to share the input price risk, resulting in a lower contract price. Furthermore, the likelihood of the retailer adopting the contingent pricing scheme increases as demand variability decreases or spot price volatility increases. However, supplier encroachment reduces the retailer's inclination to use the contingent pricing scheme. We further demonstrate that the supplier should encroach when the correlation is sufficiently small, because encroachment alleviates double marginalisation in the retail channel and brings the additional responsiveness in the direct channel. By contrast, a large correlation compels the supplier to encroach even with a sufficiently small market size. In this case, encroachment improves the responsiveness of both retail and direct selling quantities and enables the quantities to match the demand better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation in the mining sector is crucial for industrial, economic, and sustainable development, particularly for developing economies. It is important to understand the factors that stimulate innovation in this sector to upgrade productivity and growth. In the mining sector, innovation is driven by profit structure, which in turn depends strongly on commodity prices. We hypothesize two innovation responses to prices, which we test against existing evidence found in recent literature and available industry data. We find two different innovation responses to prices: exploration and in-house research and development (R&D) investments by mining companies increase as commodity prices rise, while the use of suppliers' innovation intensifies when prices decrease. Policies to strengthen the sector should provide long-term support for the Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) sector so that they can continuously invest in R&D to provide innovative solutions for mining firms, possibly extending to lateral linkages, applying digital and low-carbon solutions developed for the mining sector and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed rail (Launch) and the Wenzhou bullet-train collision (Crash) in China provided a unique occasion to study the effect of competition on price dispersion. Results show that price dispersion increased by about 48% after the Launch, as airlines offered greater discounts to price-elastic consumers than to price-inelastic consumers. By contrast, price dispersion decreased by about 55% after the Crash, as airlines raised prices more for price-elastic consumers than for price-inelastic consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soda taxes are an increasingly popular policy tool that discourages purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages. This study analyzes how emphasis on marketing conduct elements and their effectiveness might change after soda tax introductions. Prior studies on the effect of soda taxes focus on price increases but neglect other relevant marketing conduct tools (i.e., promotional frequency, promotional discount depth, and feature promotion frequency). This study documents the changes to marketing conduct elements and their effectiveness due to the introduction of soda tax across more than 200 retail stores in five markets. Findings related to price changes are consistent with prior literature; in addition, the study reveals a substantial, hitherto overlooked decrease in promotional frequency (−2%), promotional depth (−12%), and feature promotion frequency (−14%) compared with matched control markets, exacerbating the tax's negative sales effect. Introducing a soda tax also considerably influences the marketing conduct's effectiveness, such that consumers become less sensitive to changes in regular price, feature promotions, and the depth of the promotional discount but respond more to the presence of promotions. Importantly, marketing conduct and effectiveness changes do not align (e.g., while consumers become more sensitive to promotion frequency, managers often reduce them), a relevant insight for policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although price increases are common in business-to-consumer and business-to-business (B2B) markets, research examining the consequences of price increases on financial performance outcomes in B2B contexts is scarce. This study takes a relationship perspective on price increases and examines how a portfolio price increase affects the financial performance of the customer relationship and whether and how this effect varies between international business customers from different cultures. Based on objective data from 966 international B2B customers of a chemical goods company, this study examines a large-scale field intervention. Results show that higher portfolio price increases, although rooted in an increase of upstream costs, bring more severe harm to B2B customers' sales revenue than lower portfolio price increases. These consequences vary with customers' cultures as B2B customers with culture-specific communal norms are more susceptible to the magnitude of portfolio price increases than customers without such norms. International B2B companies, therefore, need to refrain from implementing uniform price increases and should consider their business customers' cultural origin when designing and implementing price increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In 2017, New York City (NYC) passed a minimum floor price law (MFPL) to raise the minimum price of a pack of cigarettes to $13.00. Evaluation of the MFPL in NYC is limited and has yet to examine its potential as a proequity policy. Aims and Methods Data (n  = 20 241; prepolicy n  = 15 037, postpolicy n  = 5204) were obtained from the New York State Adult Tobacco Survey, a quarterly repeated cross-sectional survey. Using the Difference-in-Differences approach, we compared changes in reported cigarette prices, cigarette consumption, and smoking status among NYC residents before and after policy implementation to changes in the same outcomes among residents in the rest of the state (ROS) over the same period. Results For some smokers, cigarette price increased in NYC for the postpolicy period; moreover, prices increased more in NYC than in ROS. NYC smokers who reported higher income, more education, or White or "Other" race, reported a bigger price increase than their ROS counterparts. Cigarette consumption decreased more in the postpolicy period for people in the ROS, in general and among certain groups. Everyday smoking status decreased similarly in both NYC and ROS, whereas someday smoking status decreased primarily in the ROS during the analysis period. Conclusions Cigarette prices in NYC increased after the 2017 MFPL; these increases were greater than those occurring elsewhere in the state, suggesting the policy might be a factor in the change. However, the increases were concentrated among relatively higher-priced purchases, and groups with lower smoking prevalence. Changes in smoking status and cigarette consumption did not correspond to study hypotheses. Implications This study provides an empirical analysis of a real-world policy in tobacco control. It examines the potential of the MFPL in NYC as a proequity policy. Findings extend the current MFPL literature and suggest that they may be able to raise cigarette prices for some purchases, but also may have a limited impact on smoking behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs an institutional investor network based on the heavy holdings of the same stock in China and conducts a social network analysis to investigate the influence of this network on stock price volatility from the perspectives of network structure (density) and location (centrality). The study demonstrates that institutional investor network density is negatively related to stock price volatility, while network centrality is positively related to it. Mechanism analyses further reveal that network density reduces stock price volatility by mitigating private information arbitrage behavior among institutional investors, whereas network centrality increases stock price volatility by creating private information arbitrage opportunities within the network. Additionally, the paper finds that information asymmetry enhances the positive effect of network centrality on stock price volatility. These findings are generally consistent across subsample analyses for different market states, reactions to good and bad news, and types of equity ownership, as well as in other robustness tests. The practical implications of these findings are significant for market stability regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops a theoretical model examining the relation between housing market strength and brokerage choice. Our model shows that although internal transactions (where both buyer and seller agents are either the same or work for the same firm) have the potential side benefits of higher commission rates and lower search costs, in a strong housing market, brokerage firms are more likely to engage external transactions because of the greater demand for housing. However, when the market weakens, external demand for housing decreases, and brokerage firms become more willing to conduct internal transactions. Furthermore, while an internal transaction tends to occur at the expense of lowering the selling price, we show that it could also be chosen by brokerage firms with higher in-house searching-matching efficiency. This higher in-house efficiency generates a (second-order) counterforce of increasing the price. Hence, our model demonstrates that the housing market has a (partial) self-correction mechanism for the principal-agent incentive misalignment problem, especially when the market strengthens. Conversely, when the market weakens, internal transactions increase and prices decline, which can further weaken the market. Therefore, the equilibrium brokerage choice creates a self-reinforcing mechanism for generating more extreme market conditions. Using the Doubly Robust (DR) estimation method, we present empirical evidence consistent with the model with multiple listing service data from Hampton Roads, Virginia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With unique datasets, this paper studies the effects of dockless bike sharing on house prices. We find that in neighborhoods relatively far from subway stations, house prices increase with the usage intensity of shared bikes. This indicates a positive value of bike sharing as a complement to the subway network. Meanwhile, shared bike usage intensity also has a negative impact on house prices. The negative effect is mitigated for luxury neighborhoods and neighborhoods near City Management Teams, suggesting that the negative effect is related to bike misplacement. Since the breakout of COVID-19, both the positive and negative price impacts have become more evident. This is consistent with the fact that the user base of shared bikes, which allow for social distancing in an open space, has increased during the pandemic. This may enhance people's confidence in the long survival of the bike sharing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model, we demonstrate that the response of consumer prices in oil-producing Canadian provinces to oil market shocks is similar to that of consumer prices in non-oil-producing provinces, though the magnitudes and durations vary. In particular, the effects of oil supply and oil-specific demand shocks lead to significant consumer price increases while unanticipated expansions in global demand only lead to modest increases in consumer prices across both sets of provinces. Our results suggest that oil market shocks are transmitted from consumer prices in oil-producing provinces to non-oil-producing ones largely through changes in the labor market. Further, we find that roughly 41% of the long-run variation in consumer price inflation in oil-producing provinces is attributable to oil market shocks while it is about 46% in non-oil-producing provinces on average. Finally, we show that historically, oil market shocks have contributed to fluctuations in consumer price inflation in each province with different signs at different points in time. Consequently, our results suggest that policymakers should pay close attention to the effects of oil market shocks on subnational consumer prices in order to curb the impacts of adverse supply shocks and to mediate demand-side forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Study Design Data Source and Analytic Sample Principal Findings Conclusions What is known on this topic What this study adds To examine the effects of New York's surprise billing regulations on price changes by emergency ground ambulance service providers.We exploited a natural experiment using a difference‐in‐differences design with randomization inference (RI) to examine the effects of New York state regulations on the prices of emergency ground ambulances, analyzing 2012–2019 commercial claims data. In March 2015, New York implemented a law protecting patients from surprise out‐of‐network (OON) balance bills, including ground ambulance services. New York's policy tied OON ground ambulance reimbursements to usual, customary, and reasonable rates that typically reflect charges. The control group consisted of similar states that never enacted surprise billing laws. Although self‐funded plans are exempted from state laws, we also examined for spillover effects on self‐funded plans.Multi‐payer national commercial plan claims data were used. The study sample was selected by isolating claims involving an emergency ground ambulance activation code.The event study findings indicated that New York's law led to a continuous increase in prices, relative to controls. The law's implementation was associated with an overall emergency ground ambulance price increase of 13 percentage points (RI p‐value: 0.07). We observed a 21‐percentage‐point increase in in‐network prices (RI p‐value: 0.07) and a 19‐percentage‐point increase in OON prices (RI p‐value: 0.07), relative to controls, for fully insured health plans. Similar changes in overall prices and in in‐network prices were observed in self‐insured plans. Last, our study did not find statistically significant evidence of changes in out‐of‐pocket cost‐sharing amounts under New York's regulation.Balance billing laws based on charges can lead to price increases for emergency ground ambulance services. Legislation intended to inoculate patients from these surprise billings for ground ambulance transportation may have unintended consequences for costs of care. Emergency ground ambulances are a major source of surprise billing. The federal No Surprises Act of 2020 excluded emergency ground ambulance services. Some states have regulations that prohibit out‐of‐network balance bills for ground ambulance services. The study provides the first empirical evidence on the potential impacts of regulations on price changes among emergency ground ambulance providers. The study offers evidence of state policies' effects on fully insured plans and potential spillover effects on self‐funded plans. Experiences from New York's state ambulance out‐of‐network billing regulation indicate that tying reimbursement policies to charges may have the unintended consequences of increasing health care costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Discussion and Conclusions A minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol of £0.50 per unit (1 UK unit = 10 mL/8 g alcohol) was introduced in Scotland in May 2018. Few previous studies have examined the impact of alcohol pricing policies on people who are alcohol dependent. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of MUP on people who are alcohol dependent including changes in alcohol consumption and health status, as well as potential unintended consequences.Three waves of cross‐sectional data were collected in Scotland (intervention) and Northern England (control) at 0–6 months pre‐implementation then 3–9 months and 18–22 months post‐implementation. The sample was N = 706 people receiving treatment related to their alcohol use. We collected structured interview data including recent drinking information via a 7‐day timeline‐follow‐back drinking diary. Difference‐in‐difference analyses estimated change in indicators in Scotland compared to England at both post‐implementation timepoints.The proportion of participants consuming alcohol costing on average <£0.50 per unit in Scotland decreased from 60.6% at 0–6 months prior to MUP implementation to 6.3% at 3–9 months post‐implementation (p < 0.0004). There was no significant change in the indicators for alcohol consumption, severity of dependence, health status, other substance use, deprivation level or parenting.The introduction of MUP in Scotland was associated with increases in the prices paid for alcohol by people with dependence and presenting to treatment services. There was no evidence of changes in their alcohol consumption or health status. There was also no evidence of harmful unintended consequences for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current economic downturn, consumers are showing increased price sensitivity. With mobile technology enabling anytime connection, understanding daily price sensitivity fluctuations is crucial. This study analyzes transaction data from two companies, covering both offline and online scenarios. Additionally, an online experiment was conducted to further reveal the causal relationship between time-of-day and consumers' price sensitivity. The studies indicate that price sensitivity is highest in the morning, decreasing by approximately 0.5% per hour. These findings are interpreted using the circadian rhythms theory. This research deepens our understanding of how price sensitivity changes over time, offering invaluable insights for businesses to tailor their pricing and promotional strategies throughout the day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with the design of modern environmentally friendly and non-toxic flame retardants based on expandable graphite 25 K + 180 (EG) modified by cellulose ethers (Lovose TS 20, Tylose MH 300, Klucel H) and nanocellulose (CNC) that are biocompatible with wood and, therefore, are a prerequisite for an effective surfactant for connecting EG to wood. The effectiveness of the formulations and surfactants was verified using a radiant heat source test. The cohesion of the coating to the wood surface and the cohesion of the expanded graphite layer were also assessed. The fire efficiency of the surfactants varied greatly. Still, in combination with EG, they were all able to provide sufficient protection—the total relative mass loss was, in all cases, in the range of 7.38–7.83% (for untreated wood it was 88.67 ± 1.33%), and the maximum relative burning rate decreased tenfold compared to untreated wood, i.e., to 0.04–0.05%·s−1. Good results were achieved using Klucel H + EG and CNC + EG formulations. Compared to Klucel H, CNC provides significantly better cohesion of the expanded layer, but its high price increases the cost of the fireproof coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The genetic test for Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) is one of the newest technologies to reduce uncertainty in calf production. It provides information about the genetic composition of a bull, which relates to its propensity to produce offspring with specific growth and quality characteristics. Objective: To evaluate the influence of EPDs reports on the variation of Nellore bull semen prices for artificial insemination in the Brazilian beef cattle industry. Methods: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions were estimated. The study utilized genetic data provided by GENEPLUS as well as market prices of semen and physical measurements of the bulls collected from the Alta Genetics Insemination Agency. Results: Genetic results, except for age at first calving, weaning weight, and weight at 120 days EPDs, have little influence on semen prices. For each additional day expected for the first calving of the progeny average price of semen decreases by 0.66%. For each additional kg expected in weaning weight, the semen price was 1.73% higher. Furthermore, for each additional kg expected in the progeny at 120 days, semen price increased by 2.46%. Conclusion: Joint analyses of genetic reports and physical characteristics of bulls may provide a better explanatory power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African Competition Act was crafted on the basis that it could be used to address distortions and inequalities in the market through enforcing competition. A question which has arisen is whether competition enforcement has been effective given that many economic sectors are still largely dominated by monopolies, duopolies or oligopolies. In this study, I assess whether competition enforcement has reduced inequality in South Africa by studying the link between market power and inequality, following a competition intervention in selected product markets. Using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model, I assess whether competition enforcement in the market for bread, maize meal, and sunflower oil, has been effective in increasing consumer welfare, by lowering income inequality through lower prices. The findings of this study suggest that firms in these markets abuse their market power even post-intervention, such that they can raise prices and reduce consumer welfare, increasing inequality indirectly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper offers a post-Keynesian explanation of the soaring inflation experienced during the post-COVID recovery, coherent both at the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. The microeconomic argument is rooted on the premise that price-making firms consider both their costs and their desired share of profits when setting prices. To defend profit margins in the aftermath of the pandemic, the initial cost-push shock was passed to consumers through higher prices; in a second phase, some firms, particularly in more highly concentrated and systemically significant sectors, benefited from the post-pandemic permissive pricing environment to increase their price mark-ups, leading to temporary profit-fueled inflation following the cost-push shock. This microeconomic explanation is compatible with the macroeconomic notion of a stable inflation barrier. For a given quantity of real output, it is shown that if profit earners defend their share of income following a cost-push, this will produce a one-time price increase, with inflation becoming more persistent if the target adapts endogenously — i.e., if the aggregate mark-up changes. The paper contrasts the notion of a wage-price spiral with that of a profit-price sink, arguing that sellers' inflation is a real — albeit temporary phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stock price crash risk represents a considerable concern due to its potential for extreme volatility and crisis contagion within the stock market, attracting substantial interest from both academia and the industry. This study focuses on A-shares listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from January 2012 to April 2021. We construct qualitative news indicators through text analysis techniques using Python programming to extract news texts from the China Stock Exchange Network. Our objective is to examine the influence of qualitative news on stock price crash risk. The findings reveal a significant correlation between qualitative news and increased stock price crash risk. Further, applying the Sobel test for intermediary effects confirms that differences in opinion act as a conduit for qualitative news to impact stock price crash risk. This research offers a novel perspective on analyzing stock price crash risk, aiding investors in understanding the effects and pathways through which various types of news influence the securities market. It provides valuable insights for mitigating the risk of stock price crashes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do capacity constraints affect the slope of the Phillips curve? In particular, do changes in output affect prices by more when firms face more strongly diminishing returns? Intuitively, one may conjecture that the answer is yes. With more strongly diminishing returns, marginal costs increase more when production increases, also raising prices by more. But this intuition is incomplete in models with sticky prices à la Calvo. In the standard New Keynesian model with Calvo pricing frictions, more strongly diminishing returns actually flatten the Phillips curve. The reason is the reluctance of firms who alter their prices to let their prices get too far out of line with the prices set by firms that do not adjust. We explain how the Phillips curve might be amended to avoid this implausible feature, for example, by using Rotemberg pricing or introducing wage stickiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many high‐tech and Internet‐related products, consumers' utility depends partly on the scale of user groups, which is called network externality. This phenomenon plays a crucial role in shaping firms' innovation strategies, especially in markets with price regulation. This paper aims to investigate a monopolist's dynamic product innovation problem in a price‐regulated market exhibiting network externality. We identify the sufficient conditions guaranteeing the existence of optimal steady‐state equilibrium. Our analysis mainly shows the following: (i) the product quality and network size move in opposite directions along the path to the steady‐state equilibrium; (ii) the equilibrium result of product innovation increases with the regulated price but decreases with the intensity of network externality; (iii) the social‐welfare maximizing path of product innovation can be replicated by a dynamic price regulation regime, involving a premium on quality and a premium or a penalty on network size. Numerical experiments are performed to characterize the dynamic patterns of product innovation. We find that firms with high brand power prefer adopting mild product innovation strategy while for firms with low brand power, almost constant high‐quality strategy is better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reference prices (RPs) are consumers' subjective perceptions of prices that have important influences on purchase decisions. The standard RP formulation, which defines RP as an exponentially weighted average of past prices, ignores a certain asymmetry in weights between the regime of a price decrease and that of a price increase, which can be observed by the demand trend during the few days after a price decrease or increase. Such oversight usually leads to overestimation in demand as we illustrate by empirical evidence. We introduce the novel concept of RP with exposure effect (RPEE) that captures such asymmetry in RP formulation by imposing a weight proportional to how much the price is exposed to consumers. The exposure effect can be measured by clickstream data that are available for most e‐retailing platforms. We develop a customer behavioral model that can explain the formation of standard RP, and extend it in a natural way to provide foundation to the use of RPEE, especially for products with few repeat purchases. We then establish empirically the extensive benefit of forecasting from RPEE for e‐retailers that sell thousands of products. We demonstrate that RPEE exhibits significant and consistent improvement over standard RP for products, with around 20%$$ 20\% $$ reduced weighted mean absolute percentage error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act placed a $10,000 limit on the deductibility of state and local taxes (SALT) for federal tax purposes. This policy change likely increased the cost of home ownership for some households in high‐tax areas. We examine whether these costs were capitalized into the local housing market through slower growth in housing prices. Motivated by the argument that the SALT cap caused some taxpayers to relocate, we also examine whether the cap influenced interstate migration patterns. The cap led to a sizable reduction in home price growth but had no discernable impact on state‐to‐state migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of house prices rising on urban labor costs has typical heterogeneity and lag effects, but there is little literature on it. Based on the panel data of 283 prefecture level cities from 2001 to 2017, we constructed panel model considering lag effect and threshold effect. The results show that lag one period of housing price has significant positive impact on urban labor costs, with the increase of housing prices, the effect of pushing up the current labor costs is gradually increasing. So, this impact has obvious lag effect and threshold effect. Through grouped regression to test heterogeneity effect, at the regional level, the heterogeneity of the impact is more significant. The more developed the economy is, the greater the pushing effect of house prices on labor costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between monetary and macroprudential policy are crucial in safeguarding price and financial stability. This study investigates the macroeconomic and financial impacts of monetary and macroprudential policy interactions in South Africa, a leading African economy in developing macroprudential frameworks. The existing literature largely focuses on the effectiveness of these policies independently, leaving a gap in understanding how their interaction affects their overall efficacy. Employing a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model and utilizing data from 1980 to 2023, this study uniquely incorporates the financial cycle to represent financial developments. The results reveal significant effects of both policies on key variables such as output, the financial cycle, and the price level. Specifically, policy contractions reduce output and the financial cycle but increase the price level, illustrating the 'price puzzle'. This study further identifies an endogenous response between the two policies: monetary policy reacts by rising to reduce price levels following a macroprudential shock, while macroprudential policy rises to stimulate financial activity after a monetary shock. These findings underscore the importance of using both policies in conjunction but in opposite directions to balance their effects and achieve price and financial stability. This study suggests that an optimal combination of monetary and macroprudential policies is critical for maintaining macroeconomic equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the world's largest importer of logs, possessing the scale to exert significant influence in the international market. This paper uses a fixed-effect variable coefficient Pricing-to-Market panel model to measure China's market power in log import trade. It also utilizes the Almost Ideal Demand System model from an elasticity perspective to explore the market behavior characteristics of various source countries in China's log import trade, thereby validating the mechanism of market power. The results indicate that: ① China's main trading partners can be categorized into four groups according to their market power in the log import trade. Specifically, China holds superlative market power in log imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Myanmar; holds strong market power in log imports from Russia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique; holds weak market power in log imports from Papua New Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand; and holds no market power in Japan, Cameroon, and the United States. ② As China's expenditure on log imports increases, there is a tendency to purchase high-quality precious wood and a greater concern for the legality of market transactions. Consequently, China is anticipated to augment its imports from source countries with no or weak market power. ③ The simple price elasticity of log imports from each source country is negative. Source countries with stronger market power tend to increase prices to achieve higher total revenue, while those with weaker market power are more inclined to lower prices to achieve the same. ④ Log products from various source countries are complementary in the Chinese market, indicating that China's substantial demand for logs relies on the simultaneous supply from multiple countries and diverse wood types. Based on the existence or absence of market power in China's log import trade, this paper provides targeted insights into enhancing international market power and reducing trade losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic created an unprecedented demand and supply shock to the world economies. To understand its impact on corporate prices, we define a partial equilibrium model where non‐financial corporations operating in three sectors (suppliers, end‐producers and service providers) optimize their production under monopolistic competition and are subject to demand and supply shocks of different intensities. Our model confirms that when the demand shock dominates, prices tend to decrease. We then introduce data from the COVID‐19 pandemic in the European Union into our model and find that prices are expected to fall in the most acute phase of the pandemic, when lockdowns and similar health measures decrease demand, and to increase later as a result of tensions in the supply of intermediate goods and of the persistence of the supply shock. Inventories could play a decisive role in avoiding price increases in the moderate phase of the pandemic. In the post‐pandemic period, higher prices may continue for a time until the shock to suppliers vanishes. These are relevant insights on the macroeconomic impact of worldwide pandemics, also considering the current macroeconomic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fertility has declined in many rich societies after 2010. However, the factors that explain this fertility decline remain poorly understood. In particular, little is known about how changes on the housing market contributed to the fertility decline. This study examines the links between house prices and fertility in the Netherlands, a country where house prices have risen dramatically in the past decade. Regional (NUTS 3) data for the period 1995–2022 are analysed using within‐between models. The results for the within‐effect of house prices show that after 2010, fertility decreased (more) in regions where house prices increased (more), suggesting that the housing crisis in the Netherlands can explain a substantial part of the post‐2010 fertility decline. Before 2010, however, increases in regional house prices were associated with small increases in fertility, showing that the direction of the within‐effect of house prices depends on the time period that is studied. Finally, differences in house prices between regions are not consistently associated with fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gazi Journal of Economics & Business is the property of Gazi Journal of Economics & Business and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper argues that in housing transaction with asymmetric information, sellers may signal their private information with special design of listing prices. We build a cheap-talk signalling model in which sellers strategically choose round number listing prices to signal their weakness, i.e. they are willing to accept lower prices in order to sell their houses more quickly. Using housing market transaction data in Beijing, we find that round number listings sell 0.13% lower and 0.086 months sooner than precise ones. We also show that these results are unlikely to be driven by housing unobserved attributes or round number self-attractiveness. In addition, we find that as the roundness of listing price increases, the signalling effects become more pronounced. Our results present empirical evidence that signalling helps improve negotiation efficiency under asymmetric information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2022 was marked by a significant increase in electricity prices in Germany, with prices reaching extreme levels due to various geopolitical and climatic factors. This research analyzes the evolution of electricity prices in Germany from 2015 to 2024 and applies Benford's Law to examine the distribution of the first digits of these prices. Historical electricity price data from Germany, obtained from publicly available sources, were used for the analysis. We applied Benford's Law to determine the frequency of occurrence of the first digits of electricity prices and compared the results with the expected distribution according to Benford's Law. We also considered the impact of negative electricity prices. The results suggest that external factors, such as geopolitical events and climatic conditions, have a significant impact on the volatility of electricity prices. Benford's Law can be a useful tool for analyzing electricity prices, although its application to this market shows certain deviations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aimed to identify actions to improve energy efficiency in households. A household's energy efficiency is aimed at obtaining the same or more services with lower energy input. The article presents energy consumption in households in Poland according to Statistics Poland and then discusses the results of the survey, where respondents were asked how they improve their energy efficiency. Improving households' energy efficiency has gained importance due to increased energy prices in recent years. The most common methods of improving energy efficiency in a household include energy-saving devices and LED lighting, thermal modernization of the building, replacement of the heating system, and changing habits. The results were presented using the documentation and comparative methods. The article uses data from Statistics Poland and surveys conducted among 1112 representatives of households in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTARCTFiscal policy allocation is not purely determined by the labour-capital conflict, but increasingly around cross-class housing coalitions. Although rising house prices are conventionally understood as drivers of fiscal austerity, this view has been challenged. Alternatively, governments may use fiscal policies to support house price growth to meet the primary economic interests of homeowners and compensate non-homeowners through the welfare system. Using an econometric analysis of 19 advanced economies between 1980 and 2018, we show house prices have positive effects on taxation revenue as well as fiscal spending on public investment, welfare and education. A second multi-level analysis provides a political explanation of this observed outcome by demonstrating parties respond to rising house prices by proposing more welfare and public investment spending in their manifestos. Conterminously rising house prices and rents also lead to greater welfare spending, suggesting governments use fiscal policy to protect those excluded from homeownership from labour market risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planned hospital reform in Germany is an urgent reform project due to price increases and staff shortages. The reform leads to a disempowerment of the G-BA (Federal Joint Committee) and a fundamental realignment of quality assurance in hospitals. Minimum staffing levels (MVHZ) are being introduced to ensure high-quality care. There are discussions about the competition between hospitals and general practitioners as well as the financing of the reform. The reform offers the opportunity to improve the provision of innovative medicine, but it requires honesty towards the insured. [Extracted from the article]

The list of standard abbreviations for JDS is available at adsa.org/jds-abbreviations-24. Nonstandard abbreviations are available in the Notes. The welfare of cull cows during transport to slaughter is a current concern in the Canadian dairy industry. Cull cows sold through auction often have a high prevalence of lameness, low BCS, hock lesions, and udder engorgement. To evaluate whether drying off and feeding cull dairy cows before transport can mitigate these challenges, 45 cows designated for culling were randomly assigned to either be fed for 60 d after being dried off (fed group; n = 24) or to serve as controls by being sent directly to slaughter (direct group; n = 21). Two fed group cows were removed for health reasons before completing the feeding period. Both fed group and direct group cows were assessed for locomotion (5-point scale), BCS (5-point scale), hock lesions (3-point scale), udder engorgement (3-point scale), and BW at the time of enrollment. Fed group cows, locomotion, BCS, hock, and udder engorgement scores were assessed weekly until slaughter. Weights of the fed group cows were measured again the day before slaughter. Mixed linear regression models were used to assess continuous outcomes BCS and weight. Mixed logistic regression models were used to assess dichotomous outcomes presence of hock lesions and lameness. Fed group cows gained an average of 116.9 kg over the feeding period (SE ± 8.20). Fed group cows had an average weight at slaughter of 834.2 kg, whereas direct group cows' average weight was 767.3 kg (SE ± 26.8). The fed group cows' average BCS at the start of the trial was 2.4, and at slaughter was 3.6, with an average gain of 1.2 BCS points. At slaughter, the proportion of udders involuted in the fed group was 45.1% (10/22) and in the direct group cows, was 0% (0/21). No differences were found in locomotion or hock lesions between the fed group and direct groups. It is important to weigh potential benefits for the fed group cows with the fact that direct group cows did not endure a drying off procedure, nor were they placed at risk of potential adverse health events. However, despite these potential limitations, due to the improved BCS and udder engorgement scores, cows fed for 60 d may be better prepared for the transportation to slaughter, as well as sell for a higher price due to increased BW and body condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic generated heterogeneous demand shocks in the food away from home industry's consumption channels: on-site and deliveries/takeaways. Hence, price adjustments by consumption channel could have also been different. This study examines dishes' prices intended to be consumed as deliveries, which come from an online food ordering and delivery platform in Mexico City (CDMX); as well as those aimed at on-site consumption, which are considered in CDMX's CPI. I document that, in the early stages of the pandemic, delivery prices grew at a faster rate than those for on-site consumption. This is consistent with the idea of positive demand shocks for delivery prices and negative for on-site prices. By March 2022, following some reversal in consumers' preferences, the cumulative price growth across both consumption channels was similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective in this paper is to examine the growth of the price of farm milk quotas in Canada, to shed light on their patterns of growth within the last 15 years. Our quota price model is based on the Gordon growth model, supplemented by some important characteristics of the milk quota market. Our explanatory variables include the quota rental price, interest rate, and expectations of both price and quantity growth, all for the province of Alberta over the 2009–2023 time period. Our economic model of quota prices performs well by giving results with the predicted signs for all variables in our model and high levels of statistical significance except for expectations of quantity allocations when entered separately. The model has two variants, one with the expectation of growth in quota rents and the other with the expectation of growth in the quota asset price. Econometric issues related to time series problems are dealt with. The model allows calculation of policy risk, which shows an interesting pattern over this time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in disruptions to the Canadian meat and livestock markets. While prices initially decreased, the shutdowns of beef packing plants led to a large reduction in the supply of beef and a corresponding increase in the wholesale price with ramifications along the entire supply chain. This study examines the effect of COVID‐19 on price transmission and price volatility in the Canadian beef supply chain using monthly farmgate, wholesale, and retail price data covering the period from July 2005 to February 2022. We find evidence indicating that COVID‐19 affected long‐run price transmission from farmgate and wholesale markets to the retail market. Specifically, we find that the pandemic resulted in a 94.42 and 81.48% decrease in price transmission from the farmgate and wholesale market, respectively, to the retail market, indicating that higher prices at the wholesale level were not being passed on to consumers to the same extent. In the short run, we find asymmetric price adjustments and both direct and indirect volatility spillovers among the three levels of markets, implying strong market interactions across the beef supply chain. Overall, our results suggest the resiliency of the Canadian beef sector to COVID‐19 shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The primary focus of this study is to examine the distributional consequences of the widespread increase in prices. The fundamental question the study aims to address is whether the dynamics of income distribution due to higher inflation differ in the short term compared to the long run. Design/methodology/approach: The authors estimated a panel-data model (fixed effects) using inequality and inflation data available at a high frequency, i.e. on a quarterly basis for over 30 years, and found evidence that inflation causes rapid swings in income distribution. Findings: The authors' contribution to the literature lies in providing evidence that inflation rapidly causes swings in income distribution, even after controlling for the state of the economy. The authors also demonstrate that the magnitude and direction of the effect of inflation on income inequality depend on whether the initial inflation rate is below or above the Federal Reserve's target of 2%. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, the authors are the first to emphasize that the targets set by central banks can drive the strength and direction of the relationship between inflation and income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: Biennial data from 2017 to 2023 show that water and sewer prices increased substantially, from an average combined monthly price of $79.39 in 2017 to $95.02 in 2023 at 6,200 gallons per month for single‐family residential customers. Water rate structures became more regressive during that time, with utilities collecting an increasing share of revenue through fixed charges and less revenue through volumetric charges. Average low‐income affordability in the United States has worsened over the past six years, mainly driven by extreme unaffordability in a small minority of utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current global pandemic scenario has health implications, but also economic and social. Impacts on energy markets are examples of these consequences. Thus, the main objective of this research is to assess the impacts of the Covid-19 context on energy prices. Furthermore, it was intended to analyse the interrelationships of these frameworks with unemployment rates and excess mortality. For this purpose, several data and other pertinent information from international databases were considered and analysed. For the empirical analysis, econometric approaches were taken into account, as well as other methodologies associated with statistical analyses. The main findings of this research highlight that the impacts of the pandemic context on energy markets were several phases and the last one are the implications for price increases. The rise in energy prices is not only a consequence of the pandemic scenario, but also an implication of energy policies adopted worldwide, namely in the European Union (EU) member-states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profit contributed by take-away service has become an increasingly essential element of the restaurant operating revenue. Since take-away service usually relies on the third-party platform and there are many differences between the cost of take-away service and that of sit-down service. We focus on the restaurant which provides both sit-down service and take-away service, the service system is modeled as a two-stage tandem queueing system. We study the restaurant's optimal capacity level for each stage. Besides, as there exist price/waiting time difference between the two services, inequity aversion is also investigated in our model. We study symmetrical and asymmetrical inequity aversion. We find that the optimal service capacity consists of two parts, base capacity and safety capacity. And the loss resulted from waiting time lag is equal to the waste of resources caused by fluctuations in arrival rate. Further, when customers really long for the restaurant, even if high price will lead to severe inequity aversion, restaurant can always earn more by raising the price in service channel with high revenue. While when customers are indifferent of the restaurant and the others, the price gap is meant to result in revenue decrease. In addition, reduction in customers' susceptibility can help to enhance operation profit in general. Market environment plays a decisive role in choosing the optimal service level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on outcomes derived from a mesoeconomic model, this study examines the impact of European Union (EU) anti-dumping (AD) measures on listed Chinese exporters using the Propensity Score Matching with Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) method. Using yearly transaction data covering all Chinese listed exporters over 2000–2015, our findings indicate that EU AD measures result in a reduction in export volume and an increase in export prices for Chinese listed exporters at the product level. This trade-dampening effect is attributed to a significant decrease in export volume per exporter rather than the exit of listed exporters from the EU market. Additionally, we find that the effects of AD measures on the export volume and price of Chinese-listed exporters do not persist beyond the first year of the imposition of AD duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilateral ratings on online marketplaces may soften price competition and sellers of higher quality may charge lower prices. Abstract. Peer-to-peer (P2P) markets have become a critical aspect of the modern economy. We consider a P2P market in which a time-sensitive service is provided through a platform that matches providers of varying qualities to customers of varying costs. The P2P platform features bilateral ratings, which distinguish it from a traditional market: ratings of a provider reveal the provider's service quality and ratings of a customer reveal the customer's service cost. The existence of a cost measure in the P2P market leads to novel pricing considerations: a provider can attract low-cost customers by charging a low price, leading to an endogenous composition effect. As a result, equilibrium prices may decrease as customers become more costly to serve or as the platform's commission rate gets higher. Under certain conditions, high-quality providers may even charge a lower equilibrium price than low-quality providers in order to cherry-pick low-cost customers. Exploratory analysis reveals that, compared with unilateral ratings, bilateral ratings may soften provider competition and raise equilibrium prices as the providers target customers in different cost segments. History: Anthony Dukes served as the senior editor. Funding: This work was supported by the NET Institute (summer research fund). Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2022.0158. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the implications of common ownership on pricing and quality decisions in supply chains. Our results indicate that the presence of common ownership enhances the quality investment but increases the wholesale price. However, the presence of common ownership induces the retailers to charge lower sales price. Because of higher wholesale price and lower sales price, the manufacturer always benefits from the common ownership but the common ownership always hurts the retailers. The presence of common ownership always benefits consumer surplus and social welfare. The benefits of common ownership are more significant as the common ownership level becomes strong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study constructs a pricing strategy model that considers consumer busyness and low price duration to examine the effectiveness of limited‐time pricing in influencing consumer behavior. The results show that local store can develop a limited‐time promotion strategy to improve profit, and there is an optimal low price duration. As consumer busyness increases, online retailer's profit may decrease, as local store is better able to leverage consumer busyness to enhance competitiveness. Interestingly, when local store lower price, online retailer may actually need to increase price to obtain greater profit from consumers who missed out on store discounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We utilize a unique setting associated with the mandatory closure of the government‐to‐business revolving door to examine whether and how an exogenous rise in firm‐level political uncertainty affects the mispricing of earnings. The tension that underlies our study stems from two opposing effects. To the extent that such uncertainty can trigger opinion divergence (rational attention) among investors, it is expected to delay (accelerate) price discovery and increase (decrease) security mispricing. Our identification strategy draws on the difference‐in‐differences analysis associated with the Chinese regulation in 2013 that mandated the resignation of corporate independent directors with a government background. Consistent with the dominance of the opinion divergence effect, we observe that these involuntary resignations unintentionally increase delays in share price responses following earnings announcements. These findings are more evident among firms that enjoy more benefits from independent directors with a government background. Further analyses confirm that these involuntary resignations trigger more opinion divergence rather than rational attention among investors by showing significant increases in analyst forecast diversity but no changes in analyst coverage following such resignations. We provide novel evidence that market information efficiency could deteriorate as an unintended consequence of the escalation of firm‐level political uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletín Económico de ICE is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

I characterize China's one-child policy as an individually tailored pricing system allowing women to have second and third children. The average policy price for having a second or third child is 13,900 dollars (2020, purchasing-power parity). It varies by age and other individual characteristics. I estimate policy elasticities exploiting within-individual price variation in a sample of women that annually replicates the national total fertility rate between 1979 and 2000. A 1 percent increase in the policy price decreases the probability of having a child by 0.7 percent (SE 0.1 percent). Without the policy, the total fertility rate would have been 2.7 children. The policy lowered this rate by 0.3 (SE 0.4) by curbing the number of girls born. This gendered policy impact further distorted the sex ratio at birth. Without the policy, the excess of boys per 100 girls born would have been 4.3. The policy increased the excess by 1.1 (SE 0.4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of heterogeneous expectations between buyers and sellers on housing market cycles. We propose an agent-based model that integrates houses into a Sugarscape model for analyzing housing market dynamics. Our model incorporates spatial factors into pricing by requiring agents to evaluate a property's value based on its location. Agents have limited information because they base their decision-making on spatial information. We investigate the impact of agents' visual range and the heterogeneity of their expectations regarding housing prices. Our simulations with different vision levels show that as agents expand their field of vision, the housing market experiences heightened buying competition, thereby increasing both average housing prices and market volatility. Simulation results with different heterogeneity levels show that when people have more homogeneous expectations, the housing market becomes more volatile. As heterogeneity decreases, the volatility of house prices increases more rapidly, implying that agents' homogeneous expectations reinforce feedback in the system, leading to higher volatility and more complex dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]