Variable Quality in Consumer Theory

Variable Quality in Consumer Theory
Author: W.M. Wadman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2016-07-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1315501449

Examines consumer decision-making on products and services of variable quality at the level of retail markets. Addresses for the first time consumer-producer interaction at the level of the individual consumer; issues of quality, consumption experience, and willingness-to-pay, as exhibited by individual consumers; and how these issues affect the decision-making process.

Fifty Years of Economic Measurement

Fifty Years of Economic Measurement
Author: Ernst R. Berndt
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2008-04-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0226044319

This volume contains papers presented at a conference in May 1988 in Washington, D.C., commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth (CRIW). The call for papers emphasized assessments of broad topics in economic measurement, both conceptual and pragmatic. The organizers desired (and succeeded in obtaining) a mix of papers that, first, illustrate the range of measurement issues that economics as a science must confront and, second, mark major milestones of CRIW accomplishment. The papers concern prices and output (Griliches, Pieper, Triplett) and also the major productive inputs, capital (Hulten) and labor (Hamermesh). Measures of saving, the source of capital accumulation, are covered in one paper (Boskin); measuring productivity, the source of much of the growth in per capita income, is reviewed in another (Jorgenson). The use of economic data in economic policy analysis and in regulation are illustrated in a review of measures of tax burden (Atrostic and Nunns) and in an analysis of the data needed for environmental regulation (Russell and Smith); the adequacy of data for policy analysis is evaluated in a roundtable discussion (chapter 12) involving four distinguished policy analysts with extensive government experience in Washington and Ottawa.

BLS Staff Paper

BLS Staff Paper
Author: United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Publisher:
Total Pages: 666
Release: 1968
Genre: Labor
ISBN:

At What Price?

At What Price?
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2002-03-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309074428

How well does the consumer price index (CPI) reflect the changes that people actually face in living costsâ€"from apples to computers to health care? Given how it is used, is it desirable to construct the CPI as a cost-of-living index (COLI)? With what level of accuracy is it possible to construct a single index that represents changes in the living costs of the nation's diverse population? At What Price? examines the foundations for consumer price indexes, comparing the conceptual and practical strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of traditional "fixed basket" and COLI approaches. The book delves into a range of complex issues, from how to deal with the changing quality of goods and services, including difficult-to-define medical services, to how to weight the expenditure patterns of different consumers. It sorts through the key attributes and underlying assumptions that define each index type in order to answer the question: Should a COLI framework be used in constructing the U.S. CPI? In answering this question, the book makes recommendations as to how the Bureau of Labor Statistics can continue to improve the accuracy and relevance of the CPI. With conclusions that could affect the amount of your next pay raise, At What Price? is important to everyone, and a must-read for policy makers, researchers, and employers.

Benefits of Environmental Policy

Benefits of Environmental Policy
Author: Klaus Dieter John
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2009-06-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134020694

Environmental policy may produce effects which go beyond the scope of the specific policy’s initial aim. Reforestation, for example, generates positive benefits not only in the shape of climate protection but also in the shape of the combat of biodiversity loss and it may also raise the attractiveness of a region for tourists. There are several examples of environmental policies, generating initially unintended co-effects. These co-effects are not always positive, of course. This book addresses the wide range of (co-)effects associated with environmental policies which may increase or decrease the attractiveness of these policies. Therefore, the book’s scope goes beyond the standard economic analyses, which regularly postulate a specific cause-and-effect chain. The complexity and wide range of benefits is investigated from different perspectives and by means of different methodologies. Among the environmental policies discussed are climate mitigation policies as well as adaptation policies. The inclusion of all relevant effects of environmental policy (and therefore not only of the primarily intended effects) tends to have a strong impact on the efficient policy design. The areas which are covered by the book will be of great interest mainly for economists (environmental economics, ecological economics), ecologists and political scientists as well as practitioners, scientists and policy makers.

Environmental Resources and Applied Welfare Economics

Environmental Resources and Applied Welfare Economics
Author: V. Kerry Smith
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2015-06-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317388186

This book, first published in 1988, provides an overview of the diverse work that was being done in applied and theoretical environmental and resource economics. Some essays reflect upon the background of the work of John Krutilla, one of the founders of Resources for the Future and a leading scholar of environmental economics, and the development of the field to date. Other essays examine and convey findings on particular resource problems and theoretical issues and resource policies and the practice of applied welfare economics. This title will be of interest to students of economics and environmental studies.

Congestion-Prone Services under Quality Competition

Congestion-Prone Services under Quality Competition
Author: Dong-Joo Moon
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2012-01-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3642201881

This study presents new microeconomic analyses of congestion-prone services that comprise most private and public services at the final consumption stage. It accounts for two distinctive features of congestion-prone services: the discrepancy between capacity and throughput, and service quality competition. To accommodate these features, a series of new decision-making theorems for consumers and suppliers is developed. The resulting demand and cost functions incorporate service time as the variable that reflects congestion and service quality. In market equilibrium, interactions between consumers and firms endogenously determine the industrial organization type of each firm and thus allow the coexistence of multiple industrial organization types in the same market. Efficiency of resource allocation is assessed by applying two different criteria: service quality diversity throughout the market and Pareto optimality in each submarket.

The Measurement of Labor Cost

The Measurement of Labor Cost
Author: Jack E. Triplett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 556
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0226812596

Measuring costs of labor as a portion of total production costs has never before been treated so thoroughly or so thoughtfully. Moreover, contrary to most recent labor research, this book focuses on the demand side—the employer's point of view—and the behavior studied is employer behavior. An introductory essay by the editor provides a useful guide to current thought in the analysis of labor cost. Other papers give new insights into problems encountered in accounting for the nonwage elements of labor compensation, the effect of pensions and other benefits, and the wage-measurement questions raised by incomes policies. In addition, there is a wealth of valuable new data on labor costs in the United States. Labor economists, statisticians, econometric modelers, and advisers to government and industry will welcome this up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of the costs of production.