This Paper generalizes the standard habit formation model to an environment in which agents form habits over individual varieties of goods as opposed to over a composite consumption good. We refer to this preference specification as ‘deep habit formation’. Under deep habits, the demand...

This paper uses duration models and self-reported cannabis histories from young Australians to study the dynamics of cannabis use. We find that low cannabis prices are associated with early initiation into cannabis use. While the decision to quit does not appear to be directly influenced by...

Mediante la aplicación del análisis discriminante se analizan los hábitos de uso y consumo de las más representativas tecnologías de información de los universitarios de Tijuana. Se encuentra que la penetración y el gasto en tecnologías de información y comunicación (TIC) dependen del...

Using household surveys from Yemen and Djibouti, the paper analyzes determinants of qat consumptions in two countries. The results confirm huge importance of qat in daily life: with between one-half (in Djibouti) and 70 percent (in Yemen) of all households reporting at least one user. But in...

It is a truism that households in developing countries that face idiosyncratic income/expenditure shocks may face difficulties in smoothing consumption through formal credit institutions, and hence rely, at least partially, on informal ties. While this issue has been explored extensively in the...

In many countries the state heavily intervenes in the agricultural sector. For instance, domestic prices of agricultural products are regulated by import quotas, export subsidies and intervention prices. Furthermore, coupled or decoupled payments as well as several other subsidies (e.g. for...

In this paper, we analyze a complete demand system to estimate the price elasticity for cigarette demand in Vietnam. Following Deaton (1990), we build a spatial panel using cross sectional household survey data. We consider a model of simultaneous choice of quantity and quality. This allows us...

Governments justify support of Internet diffusion on two grounds: (1) to overcome a persistent digital divide in broadband availability and (2) to facilitate online activities that are socially or economically desirable. This paper assesses both these claims. Using individual-level data from...

This article tests the thesis of supply-induced demand in the German hospital sector. The empirical investigation described makes use of comprehensive data and represents the first time this has been done for Germany. A cross-section analysis is performed at the level of geographical planning...

The strict separation between the ambulatory and hospital sectors of the German health system has been the subject of massive criticism on the grounds that it is (one of the factors) responsible for inefficiencies. This article describes an empirical study of the relationship between service...