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Atlantic Economic Journal | 4949
West Pine Blvd. Second Floor St. Louis, MO 63108-1431 USA Phone: (314) 454-0100 Fax: (314) 454-9109 |
| VOLUME 29 |
DECEMBER 2001 |
NUMBER 4 |
E-Mail: iaes@iaes.org |
| Table of Contents | Submission | Manuscript Instructions | Anthology Instructions | Membership | Web Founders | Endowment Fund | IAES Officers | Front Page | |||
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This paper explores the relationship between mergers, welfare, and concentration,
using a two-stage oligopoly model that generalizes the Cournot and Stackelberg
models. This model has been used to show that some profitable mergers raise welfare
and that some welfare-lowering mergers are unprofitable. Based on this, one might
conclude that policy designed to restrict mergers is unnecessary or even counterproductive.
This present paper examines in greater detail the implications of this model and
finds that a merger's effects depend not only on the reduction in the number of
firms, but also on premerger and postmerger firm behavior. In fact, most mergers
lower welfare, and many of these are profitable. Usually, but not always, changes
in concentration and welfare are negatively related. (JEL D43, L12, L13) Atlantic
Econ. J., 29(4): pp. 378-392, Dec. 01. ©All Rights Reserved |
| This paper
demonstrates for the long run that producer surplus exactly equals the sum of
rents paid to competitively purchased inputs and fails to account for rents paid
to monopsonized inputs. Therefore, in the long run, whenever one or more inputs
are subject to monopsony buying power, producer surplus underestimates rents.
Because the concept of producer surplus is often used to help compare the welfare
effects of alternative economic policies, the result is significant. (JEL D0,
D6) Atlantic Econ. J., 29(4): pp. 393-405, Dec. 01. ©All Rights Reserved |
| Cities and suburbs share a special interrelationship—they
are both dependent on one another yet, simultaneously, in competition with one
another. Because of their impact on the regional land and labor markets, fiscal
policies undertaken in the central city can have effects that extend beyond its
political jurisdiction. An understanding of these potential spillovers is critical
in the design of regional economic policy. With no such understanding, one municipality's
policies could lead to undesirable consequences for the metropolitan area as a
whole, such as increasing suburban sprawl. This paper develops a general equilibrium
model of an inter- and intrametropolitan location that allows the examination
of such effects. The model can be used to determine what types of policies best
serve the metropolitan area. (JEL H70, R30) Atlantic Econ. J., 29(4): pp. 406-419,
Dec. 01. ©All Rights Reserved |
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Within a gravity model framework, this paper will establish that trade and foreign
direct investment (FDI) are complementary, using trade and FDI stock data on a
bilateral basis between the U.S. and 51 other countries over the period 1982 to
1994. U.S. outward FDI is found to have a larger predicted impact on U.S. exports
than does inward FDI. On the other hand, inward FDI is found to have a larger
predicted impact on U.S. imports than does U.S. outward FDI. These results are
directly linked to patterns of intrafirm trade within the multinational enterprise
(MNE), a result consistent with the transactions cost theory of MNEs. In addition,
a sectoral analysis indicates that U.S. outward FDI in manufacturing has a large
predicted impact on both exports and imports, whereas U.S. outward FDI in services
has a large predicted impact on U.S. exports but little or no predicted impact
on imports. (JEL F2, F4) Atlantic Econ. J., 29(4): pp. 420-437, Dec. 01. ©All
Rights Reserved |
| Subsidy Policies in a Fertility Choice Model MANUEL A. GÓMEZ |
| This paper compares
the effects that a subsidy to health expenditure or a subsidy to child-rearing
costs has in a fertility choice model in which mortality is also endogenously
determined. Whichever subsidy is instituted, the population growth rate rises.
While a subsidy to health expenditure reduces welfare, a subsidy to child-rearing
costs might increase welfare. The welfare analysis also suggests that a subsidy
to health expenditure should be financed by a capital income tax, while a subsidy
to child-rearing costs should be financed by a consumption tax. (JEL J13, I12,
H51) Atlantic Econ. J., 29(4): pp. 438-449, Dec. 01. ©All Rights Reserved |
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| Financial Penalties as an Alternative Criminal Sanction: Evidence from Panel Data TODD L. CHERRY |
| This paper explores whether financial penalties can be a viable alternative to traditional sanction methods. Given that the annual cost of operating jails and prisons is approximately $40 billion in the U.S., any increase in the efficiency of the criminal justice system will lead to substantial savings. Using a panel model to control for jurisdictional heterogeneity, results indicate that financial penalties provide a significant deterrent effect similar to those provided by other sanctions. As such, policy makers should reconsider alternative sanctions as part of a larger sentencing policy. While financial penalties are not options in all cases, the large number of nonviolent offenders currently incarcerated suggests that opportunities exist for financial punishment to reduce criminal justice expenditures. (JEL K42, D12) Atlantic Econ. J., 29(4): pp. 450-458, Dec. 01. ©All Rights Reserved |
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| Core Authors and Rankings in Economics GAINES H. LINER |
| This study ranks contributors to the economics profession using the textbook citation method. A survey of professors in 35 top-tier departments of economics produced a list of the most often used graduate-level microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics texts. The textbooks identified from the survey are evaluated in this study for citations to journal articles. Authors of journal articles cited in textbooks are ranked according to the number of times their works are cited in textbooks. The results are compared to the findings of recent studies using different methods. Different methodologies are found to produce significantly different results. (JEL A00) Atlantic Econ. J., 29(4): pp. 459-469, Dec. 01. ©All Rights Reserved |
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