Small and micro-enterprises play a significant part in most economies. However, in developing countries these enterprises have tended to be looked at from a development, or poverty alleviation perspective, rather than as potentially growing businesses. This paper explores the possibility of...

In this paper, distribution and welfare effects of changes in block price systems are evaluated. A method is discussed to determine, for a Marshallian demand function, equivalent variation in case of a block price system. The method is applied to analyze welfare and distribution effects of...

The use of renewable materials in energy production is gaining in importance all over the world. The production of bioethanol and biodiesel is an important element of the agricultural strategy of numerous countries, even though the economic and environmental impact of these projects is subject...

We develop a agricultural model assuming that conventional production is causing environmental externalities while more benign alternative production methods generate non-market amenity benefits and obtain a price premium in the marketplace. We analyze policies targeting external benefits and...

Analyzing consumer welfare from observable data, or empirical demand functions has been a very controversial issue in economics. One metric often used is deadweight loss from a tax or price increase. A classic debate in economic history regarding the appropriate methodology for measuring...

To say that the level of fatalities resulting from an earthquake is inversely related to a country's per capita level of income is hardly novel. What makes our approach novel is that we relate fatalities to both per capita income and the level of inequality that exists within a country through...

It is well known that income per capita and most widely reported non-economic well-being achievement measures are highly correlated among countries. Yet many countries exhibit higher achievement in the latter than predicted by the former. The reverse is true for many other countries. This paper...

Studies of the interrecipient allocation of aid may be categorized threefold. First, there are those that attempt to explain the observed allocation of aid. Second, there are those that seek to describe or evaluate the allocation of aid against normative criteria. Third, there are those that...