This report looks at the use of a new functional form - the Symmetric Generalized Mcfadden Cost Function (SGM) - to estimate substitutability among metals in five U.S. industries. The SGM specification has the advantage of imposing curvature conditions globally on the cost function, thus...

This paper reviews movements in raw materials consumption over the past 30 years. Included in this review are all base metals and steel, and important agricultural raw materials. These primary commodities share the common characteristic that they are used as inputs in manufacturing and...

The Amazon region has been responsible for a major share of Brazilian gold production in recent years. The region has witnessed a sizable gold rush comparable only to the California gold rush last century. The gold rush has spawned a powerful informal mining sector and has attracted many people...

Lack of international comparability in crude steel prices presents a problem in constructing an econometric model of the global steel market. The commonly used measures of crude steel prices are the weighted average of the prices of steel products and the index of the weighted average of prices...

The markets for base metals have changed remarkably in the last few years. A long period of extremely low prices was followed by a sustained price boom in 1987-89 - which continued into 1990 for copper, nickel, lead, and zinc. The author examines the causes of the price boom in terms of market...

s. Whether it should be part of a global climate mitigation strategy, however, remains controversial. One of the key issues is that, contrary to emission abatement, carbon sequestration might not be permanent. But some argue that even temporary sequestration is beneficial as it delays climate...

Through a survey the authors study willingness to pay for improvements in air quality in Sofia, Bulgaria. Using a stochastic payment car approach - asking respondents the likelihood that they would agree to pay a series of prices - they estimate the distribution of willingness to pay various...

Demand for energy (including electricity) has been increasing more rapidly in developing Asian economies than anywhere else in the world and is expected to continue growing. To meet rising demand, these countries must address such issues as how to meet the resulting enormous capital requirements...

Efficient reduction of carbon dioxide emissions requires coordination of international efforts. Approaches proposed include carbon taxes, emission quotas, and jointly implemented energy projects. To reduce emissions efficiently, requires equalizing the marginal costs of reduction between...

Actual, and potential competition is a powerful source of discipline on the pricing behavior of firms with market power. The authors develop a simple model that shows that the effects of new entry, and import competition on industry price-cost markups, depend on country size. The authors...