An implicit rationale for a bank reserve requirement is that a central monetary authority is in a unique position (as "social planner) to impose a "socially superior" outcome to that yielded by a free banking system. We illustrate how this can be true in the context of a simple economy modeled...

Prior to 1996, roughly 70% of electricity service in California was provided by investor owned utilities (IOUs). The IOUs operated as monopolies in their respective service territories, performing all of the functions necessary to generate and deliver electricity to the consumer. In exchange for...

This study uses a random coefficient estimation procedure to analyze the U.S. gasoline market from 1960-1995 with three main objectives: (1) provide an empirical methodology that can estimate a gasoline demand function capable of performing well in prediction; (2) evaluate the elasticities of...

Firms seeking sites for new or expansion plants rely on their ability to assess thebenefits and costs generated by locating operations in a given state. Stategovernments strive to understand the issues important to firms who are seekinga site for new operations or branch plants. They do so...

This study compares different methods of forecasting price volatility in the crude oil futures market using daily data for the period November 1986 through March 1997. It compares the forward-looking implied volatility measure with two backward-looking time-series measures based on past returns...

This study uses a random coefficient estimation procedure to test the hypothesis that much of the volatility in the U.S./Canada real exchange rate over the time period 1971 through 1999 is due to the relative price of non-traded goods to traded goods. The model specification used in this study...

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the price of advertising space affects the demand for help-wanted advertising. To do so, this thesis develops and estimates an econometric model to explain and predict the demand for help-wanted advertising placed in a newspaper. For the most...

This paper deals with the pricing differences between a mutual co-operative underwriting system and a fixed-premium underwriting system in providing coverage for marine liability. There has been much debate in recent years within the marine liability underwriting industry over which method...

The use of contingent valuation (CV) methods to estimate benefits has become increasingly common in project analysis. Ever since the NOAA Blue Ribbon Panel Report in 1993 (NOAA, 1993) recommended theuse of the referendum form of CV, it seems to have become the method of choice in practical...