No description available.

This paper studies five mergers in the European wireless telecommunication industry and analyzes their impact on prices and capital expenditures of both merging carriers and their rivals. We find substantial heterogeneity in the relationship between increases in concentration and carriers' prices. The specifics of each merger case clearly matter. Moreover, we find a positive correlation between the price and the investment effect; when the prices after a merger increase (decrease), the investments increase (decrease) too. Thus, we document a trade-off between static and dynamic efficiency of mergers.

<p>Chapter 1: Although there are widely accepted theoretical explanations for overexploitation of common-pool resources, empirically we have limited information about the micro-level mechanisms that cause individually efficient exploitation to result in macro inefficiency. This paper conducts the first empirical investigation of common-pool resource users' dynamic and strategic behavior at the micro level. With an application to the North Carolina shrimp fishery, we examine fishermen's strategies in a fully dynamic game that accounts for latent resource dynamics and other players' actions. Combining a simulation-based Conditional Choice Probability estimator and a Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimator, we recover the profit structure of the fishery from fishermen's repeated choices. Using the estimated structural parameters, we compare the fishermen's actual exploitation path to the socially optimal one under a time-specific limited entry system with transferrable permits, and then quantify the dynamic efficiency costs of common-pool resource use. We find that individual fishermen respond to other users by exerting a higher level of exploitation effort than what is socially optimal. Based on our counterfactual experiments, we estimate the efficiency costs of this behavior to be 17.39\% of the annual revenues from the fishery, which translates into 31.4\% of the rent without deducting the cost of capital. </p><p>Chapter 2: Although hypoxia is a threat to coastal ecosystems, policy makers have limited information about the potential economic impacts on fisheries. Studies using spatially and temporally aggregated data generally fail to detect statistically significant fishery effects of hypoxia. Limited recent work using disaggregated fishing data (microdata) reports modest effects of hypoxia on catches of recreationally harvested species. These prior studies have not accounted for important spatial and temporal aspects of the system, however. For example, the effects of hypoxia on catches may not materialize instantaneously but instead may involve a lagged process with catches reflecting cumulative past exposure to environmental conditions. This paper develops a differenced bioeconomic model to account for the lagged effects of hypoxia on the North Carolina brown shrimp fishery. It integrates high-resolution oxygen monitoring data with fishery-dependent microdata from North Carolina's trip ticket program to investigate the detailed spatial and temporal relationships of hypoxia to commercial fishery harvest. The main finding is that hypoxia potentially resulted in a 12.9\% annual decrease in brown shrimp harvest from 1999-2005. The paper also develops two alternative models---a non-differenced model and a polynomial distributed lag model---and results are consistent with the main model.</p><p>Chapter 3: The emergence of ecosystem-based management suggests that traditional fisheries</p><p>management and protection of environmental quality are increasingly interrelated. Fishery managers, however, have limited control over most sources of marine and estuarine pollution and at best can only adapt to environmental conditions. We develop a bioeconomic model of optimal harvest of an annual species that is subject to an environmental disturbance. We parameterize the model to analyze the effect of hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen) on the optimal harvest path of brown shrimp, a commercially important species that is fished in hypoxic waters in the Gulf of Mexico and in estuaries in the southeastern United States. We find that hypoxia alters the qualitative pattern of optimal harvest and shifts the season opening earlier in the year; more severe hypoxia leads to even earlier season openings. However, the quantitative effects of adapting fishery management to hypoxia in terms of fishery rents are small. This suggests that it is critical for other regulatory agencies to control estuarine pollution, and fishery managers need to generate value from the fishery resources through other means such as rationalization.</p> / Dissertation

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Highly deteriorated U.S. road infrastructure, major budgetary restrictions and the significant growth in traffic have led to an emerging need for improving efficiency and effectiveness of highway maintenance practices that preserve the road infrastructure so as to better support society's needs. Effectiveness and efficiency are relative terms in which the performance of a production unit or decision making unit (DMU) is compared with a benchmark (best practice). Constructing the benchmark requires making a choice between an "estimation approach" based on observed best practices (i.e., using data from input and output variables corresponding to observed production units (DMUs) to estimate the benchmark with no elaboration on the details of the production process inside the black box) or an "engineering approach" to find the superior blueprint (i.e., focusing on the transformation process inside the black box for a better understanding of the sources of inefficiencies). This research discusses: (i) the application of the estimation approach (non-parametric approach) for evaluating and comparing the performance of different highway maintenance contracting strategies (performance-based contracting versus traditional contracting) and proposes a five-stage meta-frontier and bootstrapping analytical approach to account for the heterogeneity in the DMUs, the resulting bias in the estimated efficiency scores, and the effect of uncontrollable variables; (ii) the application of the engineering approach by developing a dynamic micro-level simulation model for the highway deterioration and renewal processes and its coupling with calibration and optimization to find optimum maintenance policies that can be used as a benchmark for evaluating performance of road authorities. This research also recognizes and discusses the fact that utilization of the maintenance budget and treatments that are performed in a road section in a specific year directly affect the road condition and required maintenance operations in consecutive years. Given this dynamic nature of highway maintenance operations, any "static" efficiency measurement framework that ignores the inter-temporal effects of inputs and managerial decisions in future streams of outputs (i.e., future road conditions) is likely to be inaccurate. This research discusses the importance of developing a dynamic performance measurement framework that takes into account the time interdependence between the input utilization and output realization of a road authority in consecutive periods. Finally, this research provides an overview of the most relevant studies in the literature with respect to evaluating dynamic performance and proposes a classification taxonomy for dynamic performance measurement frameworks according to five issues. These issues account for major sources of the inter-temporal dependence between input and output levels over different time periods and include the following: (i) material and information delays; (ii) inventories; (iii) capital or generally quasi-fixed factors and the related topic of embodied technological change; (iv) adjustment costs; and (v) incremental improvement and learning models (disembodied technological change). In the long-term, this line of research could contribute to a more efficient use of societal resources, greater level of maintenance services, and a highway and roadway system that is not only safe and reliable, but also efficient. / Ph. D.

Seit 2003 hat die Effizienzmessung im dynamischen Kontext erheblich an Aufmerksamkeit gewonnen. Die dynamische Effizienzanalyse berücksichtigt sowohl die zeitliche Interdependenz der Produktionsentscheidungen als auch Anpassungskosten. Zudem wird zwischen variablen und quasi-fixen Produktionsfaktoren unterschieden. Allerdings haben strukturelle dynamische Effizienzmodelle bisher Unsicherheit vernachlässigt, was zu irreführenden Effizienzwerten führen kann. Unsicherheit beeinflusst die optimale Anpassung von Produktionsentscheidungen; dies ist besonders relevant für die optimale Anpassung der quasi-fixen Faktoren im Zeitablauf. Deshalb ist es das Ziel dieser Doktorarbeit, diese Lücke zu schließen und ein theoretisches Modell für die dynamische Effizienzmessung unter Unsicherheit basierend auf einer Kostenminimierung zu entwickeln. Um ein solches Modell herzuleiten, verwendet die Autorin zwei Komponenten: den statischen Schattenkostenansatz und ein stochastisches duales Investitionsmodel unter Unsicherheit. Während der Schattenkostenansatz die ökonomische Effizienz in eine technische und eine allokative Komponente zerlegt, erlaubt das stochastische intertemporale Dualitätsmodell, Unsicherheit und Anpassungskosten zu berücksichtigen. Die resultierenden empirischen stochastischen Nachfragegleichungen dienen als Grundlage für die ökonometrische Schätzung der technischen und allokativen Effizienz. Die theoretischen Erkenntnisse des hergeleiteten Modells wurden anschließend mit Hilfe einer Simulation überprüft, mit dem Ziel, einerseits die Höhe der Verzerrung der geschätzten Koeffizienten durch ausgelassene Variablen zu ermitteln, wenn Unsicherheit bei der optimalen Faktoranpassung vernachlässigt wird, und andererseits den Einfluss der Unsicherheit auf die Faktornachfragegleichungen zu analysieren. Die Simulationsergebnisse zeigen, dass eine Vernachlässigung der Unsicherheit zur Verzerrung der geschätzten Modellparameter führt. / Since 2003, measuring efficiency in dynamic contexts has received considerable attention. Dynamic efficiency analysis accounts for both the interdependency of production decisions over time, as well as adjustment costs, and also distinguishes between variable and quasi-fixed inputs in the production process. However, structural models of dynamic efficiency have thus far ignored uncertainty; this may lead to misleading measures of efficiency. Uncertainty affects the optimal allocation of input decisions and it is particularly true for the optimal adjustment of quasi-fixed factors over time. Hence, to fill this gap, this thesis aims to develop a theoretical model of dynamic efficiency under uncertainty based on the cost-minimization problem. To derive such a model, the author uses two components, namely the static shadow cost approach and a stochastic dual model of investments under uncertainty. The shadow cost approach allows one to disentangle economic inefficiency into technical and allocative inefficiency, while the stochastic intertemporal duality model enables one to consider uncertainty and adjustment costs. Formulating an empirical model requires one to specify the functional form of the respective value function. Here, the specified value function properties facilitate output and price uncertainty to influence optimal factor demand equations. The resulting empirical stochastic factor demand equations then serve as a starting point for the econometric estimation of technical and allocative inefficiency measures. Theoretical findings from the derived model were subsequently tested using a simulation, to determine how large the omitted variable bias is on the estimates of the coefficients if uncertainty is ignored in optimal factor allocations, and to analyze the influence of uncertainty on factor demand equations. The simulation results reveal that disregarding uncertainty in optimal factor allocations leads to biased estimates of model parameters.

This paper is the first to explicitly test for the presence of a trade-off between static and dynamic efficiency in a regulated industry, the electricity industry. We show for 16 European countries over the period 1998-2007 that higher electricity end-user prices in a country subsequently lead to higher investments in the capital stock, i.e. in generation, distribution and transmission assets. Moreover, there is a trade-off between vertical economies and competition. Ownership unbundling and forced access to the incumbent transmission grid increase competition but come at the cost of lost vertical economies. Generally, we find that regulation that affect only the market like the establishment of a wholesale market or free choice of suppliers increase investment activity via spurring competition. Regulation, however, that adversely affects the incumbent directly, like ownership unbundling, decreases aggregate investment spending. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers / Research Institute for Regulatory Economics

Cette thèse évalue l'efficacité de différentes formes de taxes, subventions et réglementations mises en place pour corriger les défaillances de marché qui s'opposent aux économies d'énergie. Elle mobilise plusieurs approches, selon un degré de complexité croissant. Dans un premier temps, un modèle microéconomique standard est développé pour comparer les performances statiques des différents instruments. Dans un deuxième temps, la représentation des comportements des consommateurs est approfondie dans un modèle de prospective de la consommation d'énergie pour le chauffage des ménages français, qui permet d'identifier les mécanismes dynamiques par lesquels les instruments peuvent corriger les principales défaillances de marché. Dans un troisième temps, une évaluation empirique des dispositifs de « certificats blancs » – obligations échangeables d'économies d'énergie imposées aux opérateurs énergétiques – est menée à partir d'une comparaison des expériences britannique, italienne et française, en intégrant les institutions dans l'analyse. Le croisement de ces différentes approches montre que : (i) les taxes sur l'énergie, qui encouragent à la fois l'investissement dans l'efficacité énergétique et la sobriété des comportements, sont particulièrement efficaces ; (ii) les réglementations sur l'efficacité énergétique ont un impact significatif sur la diffusion des technologies efficaces ; (iii) les subventions à l'efficacité énergétique génèrent un effet rebond important ; (iv) en fonction de l'environnement institutionnel dans lequel ils s'insèrent, les « certificats blancs » combinent les propriétés de ces instruments. Appliquée en France au secteur du bâtiment résidentiel, la combinaison la plus efficace de ces instruments ne permet pas d'atteindre les objectifs d'économies d'énergie définis dans le cadre du Grenelle de l'environnement / This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of various forms of taxes, subsidies and regulations implemented to correct for market failures that may prevent energy savings. It builds on various approaches, with gradual complexity. First, a standard microeconomic model is developed to compare the static performances of these instruments. Second, the representation of consumer behaviour is strengthened in a model of the residential energy demand for space heating in France, which allows to identify the dynamic mechanisms by which instruments can correct for the main market failures. Third, an empirical evaluation of « white certificate » schemes – tradable energy saving obligations imposed on energy operators – is made from the comparison between the British, Italian and French experiences, taking into account national institutions. The following conclusions can be drawn from these various approaches : (i) energy taxes, by encouraging both energy efficiency investment and sufficiency behaviour, are particularly effective ; (ii) energy efficiency regulations have a significant impact on the diffusion of efficient technologies ; (iii) subsidies to energy efficiency induce a large rebound effect ; (iv) depending on the institutional environment in which they operate, white certificate schemes combine different properties of these instruments. Applied to the French residential building sector, the most effective combination of these instruments does not allow to reach the energy saving target set by the Government

Este trabalho tem por objetivo propor um método eficiente para avaliar gestão de estoque, aplicando conjuntamente a Teoria de Controle Ótimo (OCT), para obter funções de estocagem dinamicamente ótimas, e Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA), para calcular as eficiências relativas. Tendo em vista esse objetivo foi desenvolvido um modelo integrado DEA-OCT para calcular a eficiência de custo otimizada ao longo do tempo, quando o sistema possui variáveis relacionadas entre si, como no caso de sistemas de controle de estoque, e para analisar produção e demanda (assim como a variável estoque, oriunda dessa relação), estendendo o modelo variacional. Este trabalho aplica o modelo proposto a 647 empresas das Américas do Sul e do Norte, depois faz uma comparação entre Brasil e Chile (países emergentes economicamente), posteriormente focando no setor de comércio, considerando seus sistemas produção-estoque com dados de variáveis contábeis. Os modelos minimizam os custos de produção e de estoque para calcular a eficiência de custo ao longo do tempo. O output (produto, ou variável de saída) é a demanda; o input (insumo, ou variável de entrada) é a produção, e o intermediate (variável intermediária) é o estoque. Seus custos são considerados na função objetivo. É acrescentada uma restrição variacional da OCT para descrever a relação entre demanda, produção e estoque. Em resumo, o modelo é relevante por calcular eficiência prevenindo a possibilidade de obter uma projeção que ignora a relação entre as variáveis, uma vez que essa relação sempre ocorre, na prática, em sistemas de controle de estoque. As principais contribuições são: possibilitar o uso de OCT como a ferramenta de benchmarking DEA no contexto de eficiência dinâmica, estender o modelo DEA variacional de Sengupta (1995), incluindo restrições de modelos mais recentes e possibilitar o cálculo de eficiência quando há relação entre as variáveis. / This work aims to propose an efficient method to evaluate inventory management, jointly applying optimal control theory (OCT), obtaining dynamically optimal production and inventory functions, and data envelopment analysis (DEA), calculating the relative efficiencies. With this objective in mind, it was developed a DEA-OCT integrated model to calculate allocative efficiency optimized over time, when systems have variable with relationship among themselves, like in the case of inventory control systems, and for analyzing production and demand (as the inventory variable obtained from this relationship), extending the variational model. This paper applies the proposed model to 647 companies from South and North America, after that it was made a comparison between Brazil and Chile (economically emerging countries), then focusing on the commercial sector, considering its production-inventory systems and data from accounting variables. The model minimizes the inventory and production costs to calculate the allocative efficiency over time. The output is demand; the input is production, and the intermediate variable is inventory. Their costs are considered in the objective function. A variational constraint OCT is added to describe the relationship among demand, production, and inventory. In summary, the model is relevant to calculate efficiency by preventing the possibility of finding a projection that ignores the relationship among variables, since this relationship always occur in practice in inventory control systems. The main contributions are: using OCT as the benchmarking tool DEA in the context of dynamic efficiency, extending the Sengupta (1995) variational DEA model, including constraints from recent model and making it possible to calculate efficiency when there is a relationship among variables.

La thèse s’intéresse à l’impact des subventions publiques sur les décisions de production des agriculteurs. Elle analyse d’abord le lien entre subventions et efficacité technique des exploitations, puis examine les effets des subventions découplées sur la fourniture de services écosystémiques par les agriculteurs. L'influence des subventions sur le comportement des agriculteurs est une question importante dans le contexte de réformes successives des politiques agricoles. Il existe une vaste littérature sur cette question, mais celle-là présente trois limites majeures. D’une part, la littérature sur le sujet spécifique du lien entre subventions et efficacité technique repose sur une pléthore de modèles empiriques qui traitent les subventions de façon ad hoc. De plus, cette littérature est presqu’exclusivement basée sur des modèles statiques, alors que les décisions de production sont essentiellement dynamiques.D’autre part, peu de travaux analysent le rôle des subventions découplées en considérant la nature multitâche de l’agriculture. C’est pourquoi la thèse réalise tout d’abord une méta-analyse des résultats empiriques existants sur le lien entre subventions et efficacité technique, afin de contrôler les effets qui seraient dus aux méthodes utilisées. Les résultats indiquent que la modélisation des subventions comme outputs, ou l’utilisation du ratio subventions/revenu comme proxy, pourraient générer des résultats trompeurs. Ensuite, la thèse développe et estime un modèle de frontière dynamique ainsi qu’un modèle similaire mais statique. Les résultats montrent que le cadre statique surestime l'effet (négatif) des subventions sur l'efficacité technique. Enfin la thèse développe et teste un modèle d'agence multitâche indiquant que les aides découplées peuvent inciter les agriculteurs à fournir des services écosystémiques / The thesis focuses on the impact of public subsidies on farmers’ production decisions. It first concentrates on the link between public subsidies and farm technical efficiency, and then investigates the potential effects of decoupled subsidies on farmers’ provision of ecosystem services. The influence of public subsidies on farmers’ behaviour is an important policy question in the context of the successive reforms of agricultural policies. There exists an extensive literature on this question, but this literature has three main shortcomings. First, the literature on the specific topic of the subsidy-efficiency nexus relies on a plethora of empirical models in which subsidies are often treated in an ad hoc way. Second, this literature is almost exclusively based on static modelling, while most agricultural production decisions are dynamic in nature. Finally, in the literature on the incentive effects of decoupled subsidies, the multitasking nature of farming activities has receivedlittle attention. The thesis addresses these issues, first, by undertaking a meta-analysis of the existing empirical findings on the subsidy-efficiency nexus, in order to control for effects arising from the various methodologies used. The results show that modelling subsidies as outputs, or using the ratio of subsidies to farm revenue as a subsidy proxy, could lead to misleading results. Then, the thesis develops and estimates a dynamic frontier model; for comparison purposes, the static counterpart of this model is also estimated. The results indicate that the static framework overestimates the (detrimental) effect of subsidies on farm technical efficiency. Finally, the thesis develops and tests a multitasking agency model, indicating that decoupled subsidies could raise farmer's incentives to provide environmental services and ecologically sound production