Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Fuel – Prices – Government policy'
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1
Elmi, Osman Sed. "Agricultural prices and supply response in tropical Africa." Thesis, McGill University, 1994. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=55492.
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The objective of this thesis is to examine price performance, and estimate the aggregate export and food crop output response to output price and non-price variables in tropical Africa and its four main agro-climatic regions. The analysis of real producer prices indicates that there are more countries that exhibited a statistically significant decrease in real producer prices than a significant increase. Moreover, nominal protection coefficient analysis shows that African crop exporters, on average, received a small proportion (50 to 60 percent) of border prices. Using pooled cross-section and time series data, a partial adjustment model was then specified to estimate agricultural export and food output response. The results show that aggregate agricultural export and food supply responses to output prices in tropical Africa are both positive and significant but inelastic. The price elasticity for the export crop output in Tropical Africa is 0.02 in the short run and 0.04 in the long run, and for the food crop output 0.05 in the short-run and 0.07 in the long-run. The responsiveness of agriculture varies, however, across the main agro-climatic regions in tropical Africa. The estimated coefficient of the price variable and price elasticity estimates regions reveal that producers in the Eastern and Southern Africa, and Western Africa regions were responsive to price incentives, while producers in the semi-arid Sudano Sahel and Central Africa regions were not. The trend variable, as proxy of technology, is positive and significant in most regions, suggesting that the provision of non-price factors along with favourable price incentives, could be very effective in raising agricultural production in these regions.
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Wu, Jinglun. "The economics of government land policy in Hong Kong, 1947-82." Thesis, University of London, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.243981.
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Pearson, Susan. "A Need for Government Intervention? Prescription Drug Prices and Retail Mark-ups." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31268.
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The high cost of prescription drugs has been an issue that numerous federal agencies have examined for years. In 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, better known as Medicare Part D, in an effort to ease the burden of skyrocketing prescription prices for citizens 65 and older. While much of the discussion has focused on the impact on Medicare and Medicaid, the search for the source of high prescription drug prices has possible benefits for all patients. Unfortunately, the vast majority of research into this topic focuses only on the manufacturers of prescription drugs. This thesis examined the relationship between wholesale and retail prices of prescription drugs to discover whether this is another possible source of high prescription drug costs that policy makers need to consider. The findings suggest that more research is warranted. Many of the pharmacies surveyed reported unexpected negative mark-ups. Moreover, the Average Wholesale Rice evidently is not an accurate basis for comparison with actual retail prices. The findings suggest that more research is warranted, including studies by federal legislative and executive branch actors with investigatory authority.Master of Arts
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Cheng, Yuk-shing. "China's grain economy : problems and prospects under economic reform." HKBU Institutional Repository, 1992. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/9.
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趙汝謙 and Yu-him Chiu. "Price in the "birdcage": an analysis of the price reform in the People's Republic of China since 1978." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1992. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31210235.
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Chan, Siu-kuen, and 陳少娟. "Major factors contributing to rising residential property prices in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1996. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31967887.
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Vandegrift, Shia-Lu Chu. "Impact of government regulation on the dairy industry in the United States." Thesis, This resource online, 1990. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-03122009-040601/.
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Wong, Mimi, and 黃徾. "An analysis of the intervention of Hong Kong government in the housingmarket." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31251730.
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Dlamini, Thembumenzi Nokwanda. "Measuring the impact of Swaziland's import licensing and price-setting policy on price dynamics between South African and Swaziland maize markets." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/60801.
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In Swaziland, maize is important for food security, yet its production is low and the country has not achieved self-sufficiency. Swaziland has had a shortfall in domestic maize production since independence. About 80 percent of the rural population never has enough maize for consumption. The National Maize Corporation (NMC) was established as a self-sufficiency mechanism in 1985. The NMC is the only white maize importer and is also responsible for the stabilisation of domestic prices. The organisation has endeavoured to stabilise Swaziland's maize prices, though they are still high by regional comparisons.
This study seeks to investigate the relationship between Swaziland and South African white maize prices in the presence of maize marketing and pricing policy, as implemented by the NMC. The maize marketing policy controls flow of maize imports and exports in Swaziland, while the pricing policy controls the domestic white maize prices. The current pricing relationship between the two countries was compared with a scenario where marketing and pricing policies in Swaziland are absent. This was done in order to gauge the effect that these policies have on the integration of Swaziland into the regional maize market and ultimately how Swaziland maize prices are affected by price transmission process in the presence and absence of these policies. The study used secondary data from the NMC, the Ministry of Agriculture, and journals. Monthly data from 2000 to 2014 are used and econometric time series techniques are applied.
The study hypothesised that there is a long-run relationship between Swaziland and South African maize prices, given the current market structure. It also hypothesised the short-run dynamics correct deviations from the long run in a fast and efficient manner. Lastly, it is hypothesised that current policies are not hampering marketing integration or impeding regional price signals to flow through to Swaziland maize markets.
The results confirm the presence of a long-run price relationship between the above-mentioned markets. In the presence of the current maize marketing and pricing policy, the error correction term corrected or adjusted the disequilibrium, from long-run equilibrium levels, at a speed of 3.8 per cent per period, indicating relatively slow correction. This could serve as evidence of inefficient integration between the two markets and an indication of weak arbitrage process. Weak arbitrage, in turn, has definite welfare implications in that it leads to inefficient allocation of resources. In comparison to the other scenario, there is a slight difference: when analysing the relationship between import parity and Swaziland domestic prices without policy measures, short-run and long-run relationship between markets are also confirmed. Here the error correction term, however corrected the disequilibrium of the system at a speed of 4.7 percent per period. This shows a slight improvement of efficiency when policies are eliminated.
This study could be useful to policy makers in that it imparts knowledge on how world price signals are transmitted to their domestic markets. Understanding the price dynamics could, therefore, facilitate policy formulation related to price and marketing in the white maize industry. The findings of this study could ultimately also inform the self-sufficiency versus food affordability debate.Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2016.
Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development
MSc (Agric)
Unrestricted
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So, Chun-hin, and 蘇振顯. "An empirical study on the effects of land policy on industrial property prices and rental yields in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/194598.
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The rapid restructuring of Hong Kong's economy as a result of China's economic reform and open door policy since the late 70s, has led to major shifts in the demand and supply of industrial buildings. These shifts resulted in misallocation of land resources due to various institutional constraints. The land use policies in Hong Kong have been changing since the late 80s in response to such misallocation. This study investigates the impact of these policies on prices and rental yields of industrial properties in Hong Kong. In addition, the impact of economic restructuring on the determinants of industry propel1y prices is also examined.
The open door policy has attracted many industrialists to move their production base across the border to take advantage of the low land and labour costs leaving their industrial buildings in Hong Kong underutilized. Due to statutory zoning and restrictions in the land leases, redeveloping these industrial buildings for other uses is difficult and costly due to multiple ownership and high modification premium. However lease enforcement actions on industrial buildings are difficult and ineffective. The owners of industrial buildings will weigh the costs against the benefits of non-conforming use and decide whether they will leave their industry properties underutilized, use them for non-conforming uses, apply for change of use and pay associated fees / premiums or proceed with a combination of all these.
The empirical results in this study suggest that the benefits outweigh the costs of non-conforming uses of industrial buildings, in particular for office uses. This is evidenced by the fact that industrial property prices were affected not only by the demand for spaces for industrial production but also by other demand drivers not related to the industrial productions in Hong Kong. These demand drivers included volume of re-export and service sector employment. These are demand drivers given the term Non-Industrial-Production Demand Drivers (NIPDD) in this study. Service sector employment is an office demand driver and that office use in industrial buildings is usually the highest valued non-conforming use, therefore the correlation between service sector and industrial property prices is an indicator of the intensity of non-conforming uses.
Since the late 80’s, various changes in government policies toward industrial land use have been implemented with the aim to rectify land resource misallocation. These policy changes can be classified into (1) Planning Control Relaxation: changes that involve relaxation of planning control on redevelopment or conversion of existing industrial properties to other uses, which may involve rezoning of some industrial areas and (2) Use Restriction Change: changes that permit more types of uses in existing industrial properties with or without paying a premium or fee.
The empirical results in this study suggest that, other things being equal, Planning Control Relaxation has a positive impact on industrial property prices while Use Restriction Change have strengthened or weakened the impact of service sector employment on industrial property prices depending on the nature of the policy change. In addition, empirical analysis also showed that only the Planning Control Relaxation could reduce the rental yield of industrial property by reducing the risk premium. The effect of Use Restriction Change on risk premium and therefore rental yield was not significant.
Last year (2010), the government introduced the Revitalization of Industrial Buildings Policy, which further removed restrictions on the use of industrial buildings for production purposes. It will take time to accumulate sufficient data to show the impact of this major policy on industrial property prices and rental yields.published_or_final_version
Real Estate and Construction
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Ortiz, Jaime. "The effects of agricultural price policies on the funding of agricultural research : Chile 1960-1988 /." Diss., This resource online, 1993. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10192006-115603/.
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鄭士明 and Sze-ming Lawson Chang. "Examination of land use policies, household income and price of small residential units in Hong Kong (1985-1995)." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1996. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31980077.
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Ho, Kwai-fung Martha, and 何桂鳳. "A study on the efficiency and effectiveness of using alternative fuel vehicles to improve air quality in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2003. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31255498.
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Wong, Chi-yui William, and 黃智銳. "A study of operators' views on LPG minibuses." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2003. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B29537666.
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Tsang, Chui-mei, and 曾翠薇. "Study of the reasons for soaring housing prices in Hong Kong in recentten years." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1998. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31968478.
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Haycook, Margot. "Comparison of the price and volatility of current and alternative models for the acquisition of direct supply natural gas for the Department of Defense." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2005. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/05Jun%5FHaycook.pdf.
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Van, Rooyen Jonathan. "Land reform in South Africa: effects on land prices and productivity." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002721.
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South Africa’s land redistribution policy (1994-2008) has been widely publicised, and has come under scrutiny of late from the public, private and government spheres, highlighting a need for research in this area. The research examines progress in South Africa’s land redistribution programme in two of KwaZulu-Natal’s district municipalities, Uthungulu and iLembe. Specifically the research investigates whether the government has paid above market prices when purchasing sugarcane farmland for redistribution in these districts. Moreover, it is illustrated how productivity on redistributed farms has been affected with the changes in ownership. To investigate the research questions, reviews of theories pertaining to property rights, land reform and market structures were conducted. Moreover, two cases studies were conducted in the districts of Uthungulu and iLembe, with assistance from the Department of Land Affairs, Inkezo Land Company and the South African Cane Growers Association. The case study data indicate that above ordinary market prices have been paid (2004-2006) by the government for sugarcane farmland in the districts concerned, and further that productivity has been negatively impacted ‘during’ and ‘post‘ transfer, in the majority of cases.
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Wong, So-ling Sophia, and 黃素玲. "Analysis of the relationship among speculation, shortage of land and housing supply." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1998. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31259832.
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Lau, Kit-ying, and 劉潔瑩. "Speculation and land supply in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1995. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3125892X.
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Du, Plooy Johann Leroux. "A study of a feebate policy to reduce CO₂ emissions in the South African automotive industry." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/20348.
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Thesis (MAcc)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globally, climate change is probably the biggest environmental challenge facing the world this century. To accommodate change, the South African government introduced a vehicle emission tax on 1 September 2010. However, the design of the vehicle emission tax focuses on consumers and it might not be most effective in reducing CO2 emissions to the desired level. Therefore, alternative initiatives need to be identified and implemented to address increasing CO2 emissions. A “feebate” policy is considered as a possible alternative to reduce CO2 emissions. A literature review was performed on the topic of “feebate” policies and current tax legislation that could encourage vehicle manufacturers to invest in energy-efficient technology aimed at reducing CO2 emissions. Based on the literature review, a qualitative empirical study was conducted by means of a questionnaire, which was distributed to nine vehicle manufacturers in South Africa. The study specifically focused on vehicle manufacturers as they have the opportunity to design, develop and introduce energy-efficient technology, which could reduce CO2 emissions. Results suggest that a “feebate” policy that leads to costs savings should be considered by government to encourage vehicle manufacturers to invest in energy-efficient technology in order to lower CO2 emissions. It was also noted that, in general, the provisions of the current Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 provides little incentive to encourage vehicle manufacturers to invest in energy-efficient technologies to reduce CO₂ emissions.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wêreldwyd is klimaatverandering waarskynlik die grootste uitdaging wat die wêreld in die gesig staar die eeu. Die Suid-Afrikaanse regering het op 1 September 2010 ʼn voertuig uitlatingsbelasting ingestel om verandering te akkommodeer. Aangesien die ontwerp van voertuig uitlatingsbelasting egter fokus op die verbruiker, is dit moontlik nie die effektiefste manier om CO2-uitlatings te verminder en tot ʼn aanvaarbare vlak nie. Dus moet alternatiewe inisiatiewe geïdentifiseer en geïmplementeer word om toenemende CO2-uitlatings aan te spreek. ʼn “Feebate” beleid word oorweeg as ʼn moontlike alternatief om CO2-uitlatings te verminder. ʼn Literatuurstudie is uitgevoer rakende die onderwerp van “feebate” beleide en huidige belastingwetgewing wat voertuigvervaardigers kan motiveer om te investeer in energie effektiewe tegnologie wat gemik is daarop om CO2-uitlatings te beperk. Gebaseer op die literatuurstudie is ʼn kwalitatiewe empiriese studie uitgevoer deur middel van ʼn vraelys, wat aan al nege voertuigvervaardigers in Suid-Afrika gestuur is. Die studie het spesifiek op voertuigvervaardigers gefokus, omrede hulle die geleentheid het om energie effektiewe tegnologie te ontwerp, te ontwikkel en voor te stel wat CO2-uitlatings kan verminder. Resultate dui daarop dat die regering ʼn “feebate” beleid, wat sal lei tot kostebesparing, behoort te oorweeg om sodoende voertuigvervaardigers te motiveer om in energie effektiewe tegnologie te investeer om CO2-uitlatings te verlaag. Daar is ook bevind dat die huidige Inkomstebelastingwet No. 58 van 1962 oor die algemeen min insentief verskaf om voertuigvervaardigers te motiveer om in energie effektiewe tegnologie te investeer om CO2-uitlatings te verlaag.
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Fung, Kin-lin, and 馮建蓮. "A review of the effectiveness of the Government LPG Taxi Scheme as a fuel switch program for cleaner air: itsimplication for public acceptance and for future policies." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31254196.
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Sýkorová, Dana. "Posouzení možností bydlení v Praze a v Brně." Master's thesis, Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Fakulta stavební, 2018. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-372028.
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This thesis deals with possibilities of living in two biggest cities in the Czech republic, which are Prague and Brno. In the first part is stated definition of investment, structure of local self-government, regional policy and regional development. This serves as the background for better understanding of linkage between different regions, definition of territorial units, and means how regions are developed. In the next part of this thesis are mentioned basic indicators for the whole Czech republic, including trend in prices of properties, which is important for assessment of living possibilities. This is the background for evaluation of chosen locations against Czech Republic. In the next chapter is analysis focused on chosen locations, based on data of whole Czech Republic as well as data focused only on these two locations and its surroundings. The conclusion is that Prague has special position in Czech Republic. There are broad working opportunities, high incomes, but also high living expense. Brno is not as high as Prague in evaluated indicators, but in comparison of whole Czech Republic is still on the top. It is necessary to take into account higher living expenses in both Prague and Brno but on the other hand compared to other regions, offered possibilities and services are on high level.
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Cilliers, Bronwyn Lee. "An industry analysis of the South African biofuels industry." Thesis, North-West University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/9002.
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Biofuels have been used as an energy source for heating and cooking since the beginning of time. However, recent changes in the demand for energy, and in particular, renewable energy, have spurred the growth of liquid biofuel industries in developed countries. Many developing countries, including South Africa have the potential to produce biofuels with benefits extending into the economic and social spheres. Despite government commitments and targets, the South African biodiesel and bio-ethanol industries have stalled in the starting blocks. This research aims to assess the reasons why.
South Africa does not have the climate to compete with Brazil in bio-ethanol production and the scope for bioethanol is limited by environmental factors. However our neighbours show significantly more promise in this area. Biodiesel production is more likely to be commercially viable due to the country’s ability to grow oil crops and the need for the by-products.
Despite the availability of land for cultivation of energy crops, the required technology and suitable infrastructure, progress has been slow. Uncertainty, high risk and misdirected government interventions have hampered investment in the sector and those involved in biofuel projects are very negative about the government’s ability to stimulate the industry. Consequently, they are looking towards importing feedstock material and exporting the biofuel. This will create a limited number of jobs, but will be energy and carbon negative, and will not aid rural development.
Currently there is no medium or large scale virgin oil to biofuel producer operating in the country and the start-up dates for projects are beyond 2013. The WVO biodiesel industry has grown rapidly in the last five years but is limited to small scale operators with limited benefit potential.
With the exception of Brazil, other world leaders in biofuels are facing heavy criticism and the mechanisms used to initially boost the industry have very limited application in South Africa. The benefits of biofuel production in South Africa are plentiful and align well with social need and development goals.Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.
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Meyer, Ferdinand. "Model closure and price formation under switching grain market regimes in South Africa." Thesis, Pretoria : [s.n.], 2006. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12082006-105715.
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Thesis (D.Phil.(Agricultural Economics, Extension, and Rural Development))--University of Pretoria, 2006.Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.
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Erdogdu, Erkan. "Essays on electricity market reforms : a cross-country applied approach." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/244713.
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In the last two decades, more than half of the countries in the world have introduced a reform process in their power industries and billions of dollars have been spent on liberalizing electricity markets around the world. This thesis presents a doctoral research concerned with the cross-country empirical analysis of the electricity market reforms. The thesis is in three-paper format; that is, we present three independent but related stand-alone papers. The first paper focuses on the impact of power market reforms on electricity price-cost margins and industrial/residential price ratios. It investigates this issue by looking at the impact of the electricity industry reforms on residential and industrial electricity price-cost margins and their effect on industrial/residential price ratios. Using panel data from 63 developed and developing countries covering the period 1982–2009, empirical models are developed and analysed. The results suggest that each individual reform step has different impact on price-cost margins and industrial/residential price ratios for each consumer and country group. That is to say, our findings imply that similar reform steps may have different impacts in different countries, which supports the idea that reform prescription for a specific country cannot easily be transferred to another one with similar success. The second paper explores whether the question of why some countries are able to implement more extensive reforms is closely related to the question of why some countries have better institutions than others. It analyses this question by using an empirical econometric model based on Poisson regression with cross-section data covering 51 states in US, 13 provinces in Canada and 51 other countries. The study concludes that both the background of the chairperson and the minister/governor and institutional endowments of a country are important determinants of how far reforms have gone in a country. Considering the fact that ideological considerations, political composition of governments and educational/professional background of leaders have played and will play a crucial role throughout the reform process; the third paper attempts to discover the impact of political economic variables on the liberalization process in electricity markets. It develops and analyses empirical models using panel data from 55 developed and developing countries covering the period 1975–2010. The results suggest that a portion of the differences in the reform experiences of reforming countries in the past three decades can be explained by differences in the political structure, in the ideology of the government and in the professional and educational backgrounds of the political leaders.
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Holm, Cyril. "F. A. Hayek's Critique of Legislation." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Juridiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-236890.
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The dissertation concerns F. A. Hayek’s (1899–1992) critique of legislation. The purpose of the investigation is to clarify and assess that critique. I argue that there is in Hayek’s work a critique of legislation that is distinct from his well-known critique of social planning. Further that the main claim of this critique is what I refer to as Hayek’s legislation tenet, namely that legislation that aims to achieve specific aggregate results in complex orders of society will decrease the welfare level. The legislation tenet gains support; (i) from the welfare claim – according to which there is a positive correlation between the utilization of knowledge and the welfare level in society; (ii) from the dispersal of knowledge thesis – according to which the total knowledge of society is dispersed and not available to any one agency; and (iii) from the cultural evolution thesis – according to which evolutionary rules are more favorable to the utilization of knowledge in social cooperation than are legislative rules. More specifically, I argue that these form two lines of argument in support of the legislation tenet. One line of argument is based on the conjunction of the welfare claim and the dispersal of knowledge thesis. I argue that this line of argument is true. The other line of argument is based on the conjunction of the welfare claim and the cultural evolution thesis. I argue that this line of argument is false, mainly because the empirical work of political scientist Elinor Ostrom refutes it. Because the two lines of argument support the legislation tenet independently of each other, I argue that Hayek’s critique of legislation is true. In this dissertation, I further develop a legislative policy tool as based on the welfare claim and Hayek’s conception of coercion. I also consider Hayek’s idea that rules and law are instrumental in forging rational individual action and rational social orders, and turn to review this idea in light of the work of experimental economist Vernon Smith and economic historian Avner Greif. I find that Smith and Greif support this idea of Hayek’s, and I conjecture that it contributes to our understanding of Adam Smith’s notion of the invisible hand: It is rules – not an invisible hand – that prompt subjects to align individual and aggregate rationality in social interaction. Finally, I argue that Hayek’s critique is essentially utilitarian, as it is concerned with the negative welfare consequences of certain forms of legislation. And although it may appear that the dispersal of knowledge thesis will undermine the possibility of carrying out the utilitarian calculus, due to the lack of knowledge of the consequences of one’s actions – and therefore undermine the legislation tenet itself – I argue that the distinction between utilitarianism conceived as a method of deliberation and utilitarianism conceived as a criterion of correctness may be used to save Hayek’s critique from this objection.
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Wei, Chung, and 鍾瑋. "Government Policy on Stock Prices In Construction Industry." Thesis, 2017. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/95563s.
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Van, de Walle Dominique. "The welfare analysis of rice pricing policies using household data for Indonesia." Phd thesis, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/130833.
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A methodology with which to analyze the welfare distributional
effects of food pricing policy reforms is proposed, critically
investigated and refined using Indonesian household level data. The
problems of welfare measurement dealt with include the need for
behavioral consistency and the making of interpersonal comparisons of
welfare when household specific circumstances vary. Building on recent
advances in empirical tax reform analysis, an equivalent income function
is used as the welfare indicator. This is constructed from the explicit
indirect utility function underlying the functional form used in the
econometric modelling of consumer demands for rice and housing on 1981
SUSENAS data for Java. Normalizing for spatial price differentials and
for variations in demographic characteristics is found to result in a
reduction in measured welfare inequality. The methodology is used to
explore the welfare consequences of spatial domestic rice market
integration and of across the board price level changes, as would be
expected to result following an external trade liberalization of
Indonesia's rice markets. The reforms are simulated under various
assumptions concerning the producer and consumer income effects of the
price changes. The thesis also investigates alternative public
compensation schemes implemented through the input subsidies policy or by
means of lump-sum transfers targeted at producers and/or consumers. The
elimination of spatial rice price differentials is found to have modest potential social gains while exacerbating inequality. Rice price rises
are assessed to have beneficial welfare distributional effects if
accompanied by, for example, a scenario which implements cuts in input
subsidies and redistributes the resulting fiscal benefits as lump-sum
transfers to all households. Of fundamental concern throughout the
thesis are questions about how alternative assumptions adopted in
constructing the equivalent income function affect the ordinal ranking of
households in the pre-reform situation and the social welfare orderings
of the policy reforms. Sensitivity to the choice of functional form and
reference prices, to the number of included goods and to the treatment of
the regression errors are examined. The overall social welfare
evaluations of policy reforms are found to be generally robust to such
variations. Conversely, the welfare ranking of households appears to be
quite sensitive.
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Kwŏn, Yŏng-dae. "Political macroeconomy of agricultural policy : rice policy adjustments in Korea." Thesis, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/9215.
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Silva, Marcelo L. de Moura e. "An essay on the effects of government deficits on equilibrium real exchange rates and stock prices /." 2000. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:9990538.
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"Two essays on institutions, corporate government and firms' information environments: evidence from China." Thesis, 2011. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b6075102.
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Although idiosyncratic return volatility has been used in a number of studies to capture the informativeness of stock prices, the relation between the two is still under controversy. Researchers raise more questions about the existence of such a relation in emerging markets since the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) may not sustain in these markets. Therefore, use idiosyncratic return volatility estimated from the common asset pricing models as a measure of stock price informativeness becomes questionable. The first part of this thesis serves to validate the use of idiosyncratic return volatility as a stock price informativeness measure in the China settings. In particular, using a battery of information flow proxies, I empirically test the relation between stock price informativeness and idiosyncratic return volatility; the empirical evidence supports the existence of such a relation. However, there exists an inverse U-shape relation between firm-specific information and idiosyncratic return volatility. Therefore, in the second essay, when using idiosyncratic return volatility as a measure of informativeness of stock prices, I truncate the sample as Morek et al. (2000) do in their study.From an institutional perspective, my dissertation attempts to explain why firms operating in emerging markets such as China have inferior information environments. The main theme of this thesis is to provide firm-level evidence that the institutional settings in China change firms' incentives to provide firm-specific information to the stock market and thus impair the information environments and lower the idiosyncratic return volatilities of these firms.
Keywords: Institutions; information environments; performance hiding
The second part of this thesis addresses the research question on how firms' information environments are shaped by a country's institutions. Morek et al. (2000) document that more developed countries usually have better information environments, and vice versa. The authors offer an "institutional explanation" that attributes the poor information environments in emerging markets to the lack of property rights protections in these markets. However, previous literature provides only limited evidences on how institutions affect the supply of firm-specific information to the market. Hence, this paper uses China as case to investigate how extensive government interventions in China generate incentives for firms to hide their information. I find that, first, excessive local government in a region increases firms' incentives to hide their true performance, after controlling for firm characteristics. A further analysis shows that the directions of firms' hiding activities vary across firms and are contingent on the nature of the firms' ultimate owners, because of different political pressures exerted. In particular, I find that family firms are more likely to suppress good news to avoid governments' "grabbing hands", while State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) are more likely to hide their bad performances to protect local governments' image from being damaged. Second, firms' hiding activities do impair firms' information environment, resulting in lower idiosyncratic stock return volatilities. To strengthen this argument, I test the "information link" between firms' hiding activities and their information environments. I find that firms' incentives to hide their performances reduce market participants' motives to acquire private information, evident by fewer analyst following. Moreover, my results show that involvement of information intermediaries alleviates the negative effects of firms' hiding activities on the information environments.
pt. 1. Information environments in China: availability of firm-specific information to the capital market -- pt. 2. Government intervention, firms' hiding activities and information environments: evidence from China.
Lin, Jingrong.
Adviser: T. J. Wong.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-04, Section: A, page: .
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011.
Includes bibliographical references.
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstract also in Chinese.
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Yang, Yongzheng. "China's agricultural trade policy in the 1980s : the economic costs of food self-sufficiency." Master's thesis, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/130344.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines options for China's food trade policy In the
1980s. The emphasis Is on the economic costs of food self-sufficiency.
Despite the Increase In output in Chinese agriculture since the rural
economic reform, it will be difficult to achieve the goal of food
self-sufficiency in the medium term. China's smaller-than-average
endowments of arable land and water per capita suggests that, as food
demand grows, production costs will exceed those of better-endowed
countries. To achieve overall self-sufficiency by 1995 through further
protection would result in large income transfers from consumers to
producers and net economic losses of up to 12% of GNP. Food policies of
most East Asian economies protect farmers to ensure self-sufficiency in
staple foods for human consumption. Such a policy would prove to be at
least as costly as overall self-sufficiency, with similar levels of
income transfers. There is no way of avoiding these costs in the
framework of self-sufficiency through protection. Forcing higher rates
of saving and slower growth of disposable income would help reduce food
demand. However, in the longer run, it would be in China's economic
interest to make great efforts to develop an internationally
competitive agriculture reflecting its real comparative advantage,
rather than to protect agriculture increasingly in order to maintain
food self-sufficiency.
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Nguyen, Van Ngai. "The impact of trade and exchange rate policies on Vietnamese agriculture." Phd thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/148128.
Full text
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"The political economy of land supply: rationalizing the housing mania in Hong Kong." 2010. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5894376.
Full textAbstract:
Yao, Wang.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-39).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Abstract --- p.i
Acknowledgements --- p.ii
Contents --- p.iii
Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1
Chapter 2 --- A Case Study of the Land Market in Hong Kong --- p.7
Chapter 2.1 --- Background --- p.7
Chapter 2.2 --- Institutions related to the land market --- p.7
Chapter 2.2.1 --- Land Disposals --- p.8
Chapter 2.2.2 --- Public Housing --- p.9
Chapter 2.3 --- Recent Land and Housing Market History --- p.10
Chapter 2.3.1 --- Land Supply and Land Prices --- p.11
Chapter 3 --- A Theory of Political Economy of Land Supply --- p.16
Chapter 3.1 --- Model Setup --- p.16
Chapter 3.2 --- Definition of Equilibrium --- p.19
Chapter 3.3 --- Equilibrium Characterization --- p.20
Chapter 3.4 --- Comparative Statics --- p.28
Chapter 4 --- Conclusion --- p.31
Appendix --- p.33
Reference --- p.38
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Schlesinger, Gerald. "The multiple and conflicting roles of local government in negotiating parkland acquisition : can the negotiations satisfy the criteria of ethics and the dimensions of interests?" Thesis, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/12219.
Full textAbstract:
The practice of providing urban parks as an integral part of community development no
longer creates public debate about the function or legal authority of local governments to make
such purchases. However, the debate continues on the ethics of local government's parkland
acquisition practices. These practices have the capability and motivation to influence the land
value of sites they wish to acquire. Local governments are responsible for determining land
use, which in turn affects land value. The limited financial means of local government to
acquire parks makes influencing land value one way of stretching the scarce resources of the
community.
The ethics practiced in the negotiations to acquire urban parkland where the land has
development potential are unique because:
1. Parkland is a public good and not a market commodity;
2. The potential for other higher land uses exists; and
3. Local government plays a dual role: one of a regulator and approving authority for
determining land use and providing community stewardship, and the other as the
corporate cost controlling agency seeking to acquire land.
These qualities create the strong possibility for ethical conflict to occur in the negotiating
process.
Building upon the Interest-Based approach to negotiations, this paper uses a set of
Prescriptive, Intuitive and Evaluative (P.I.E.) criteria that define ethical conduct, and the
dimensions of Fact, Social Consensus and Experience that defines the dimensions of interests,
to develop a General Model for Ethical Negotiations (GMEN). Conceptually, the GMEN
model is a three-sided pyramid within a sphere of negotiations. Negotiations that adhere to the
principles defining the parameters of the pyramid would be considered ethical. Negotiations
outside the pyramid are considered unethical.
Six parkland acquisition cases are discussed using the GMEN model. In this study, the
parameters establishing the criteria for passing ethical judgment are the functions of the
political economy, the policy statements of the local government, and the legislation that
delegates power and authority to local government.
The study finds that ethical conflict is inherent in parkland negotiations where the land
has development potential because of the multiple roles and dual character of local government.
This conflict is not necessarily illegal since prescriptive criteria are only one means of judging
ethics. Nor is the outcome necessarily negative to the vendor, since the public may end up with
a less attractive park agreement. However, the parameters that would require parkland
acquisition negotiations to be ethical sometimes conflict with some of the multiple roles held by
local government. Several recommendations are made that would help to reduce ethical
conflict and the imbalance in parkland negotiations.
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Adams, Derek. "The estimation of the degree of pricing competition in the British Columbia wine industry (1957-1986)." Thesis, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1895.
Full textAbstract:
Until the introduction of the trade liberalization initiatives of 1989, the wine producers of British Columbia appeared to have operated in an environment that fostered less than competitive behaviour. Two factors in particular may have been responsible for creating such an environment: (1) the structure of the industry was inherently oligopolistic; and (2) protection from foreign competition was afforded by the British Columbia government in the form of a wine policy that effectively created non-tariff trade barriers against foreign wine producers. This study econometrically tests the hypothesis that British Columbia wine producers behaved non-competitively during the years 1957 to 1986.
A model of the British Columbia wine industry is developed and used to estimate the degree of non-competitive pricing behaviour in the industry, and tests are undertaken to determine whether the estimate of behaviour is consistent with competitive or with other well known behavioral specifications. the main structural components of the industry are described in a model of oligopolistic behaviour using a linear system of equations, in which both demand and pricing equations appear. The parameters which affect each of these equations are estimated using the appropriate estimation technique. The econometric results, and the subsequent statistical tests, support the hypothesis that the domestic wine industry in British Columbia operated in a non-competitive manner between 1957 and 1986. Specifically, the hypothesis of competitive behaviour is statistically rejected, whereas, the hypotheses of Cournot and collusive-type behaviour could not be rejected. These results suggest that British Columbia consumers may have been sacrificing to firms at least a portion of the surplus they would have obtained in a perfectly competitive industry. In addition, it appears that the wine policy of the provincial government helped create a non-competitive industry that will likely have difficulty competing in today's global market for wine.
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Van, der Walt Katharina. "Thorough-bread? A study of the system of provision of bread in South Africa." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/22221.
Full textAbstract:
Research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in Development Theory and Policy.Over one billion people in the world are under-nourished, and over two billion suffer from malnutrition of micro-nutrients – known as ‘hidden hunger’1. This is largely due to the fact that two thirds of the world’s population depend on cereal or tuber based diets (e.g., wheat, maize, potatoes) which tend to satisfy energy demands but not essential micro-nutrients2. The industrialisation of food production systems that occurs as part of the process of economic development has been linked to great improvements in access to food on the one hand, but this has also resulted in major transitions in population-level food consumption and lifestyle patterns. The changes affecting both dietary and physical activity have been termed the ‘nutrition transition’3, which signals the change from consuming large amounts of fibre and low amounts of fat, to a diet comprised of highly processed, high-energy foods. Developing countries now face a ‘triple burden’ in terms of overcoming under-nutrition of micro and macro nutrients, as well as addressing over-consumption related to the ‘nutrition transition’ that accompanies economic development4. Given this setting, this paper sets out to understand how the industrialisation of the wheat to bread chain in South Africa has influenced population consumption patterns and to what extent consumer interests have been marginalised in the pursuit of industrial efficiencies during the development of this chain. This will be done using a ‘Systems of Provision’ approach which enables a vertical analysis of the processes leading up to consumption, whilst allowing for the incorporation of historically defined, context-specific influences on chain development and consumption patterns, including political, socio-economic and cultural factors, which other vertical approaches, such as the Global Value Chain framework do not enable.
MT2017
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Lourens, Karin. "The impact of 100kWh free electricity on meeting the energy needs of poor urban households." Diss., 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/25112.
Full textAbstract:
Energy poverty is a major obstacle to human development. Energy services supply the benefits that “trigger” wider social and economic changes and create the conditions for improving social equality and economic growth. The South African government has scaled up electricity access to its poor population to such an extent that 85% of the country’s population had access to electricity in 2017. Nevertheless, access to electricity is not the same as the ability to use it, as the poor find the price of electricity unaffordable. The government therefore embarked on a programme to provide households’ that they consider
‘indigent’ or ‘poor’ 50kWh of free energy. This is criticized by many as not being enough to sufficiently satisfy household energy needs. Even the generous supply of 100kWh electricity provided by the City of Tshwane and the City of Johannesburg municipalities is considered
to be insufficient. This study investigates the impact of the 100kWh free basic electricity subsidy on the energy use of the urban poor in the township of Soshanguve in the City of Tshwane municipality. It focuses on whether the 100kWh is enough to meet these household’s’ energy needs. The finding of the study is that the 100kWh FBE is enough to meet these households’ needs for lighting, some cooking and appliance use, but not for space and water heating.Development Studies
M.A. (Development Studies)