Knowledge that Transforms

The powers of Wu-Hausman endogeneity tests are related to the normalization d ecision in estimating demand equations. Power is not invariant to the choice bet ween quantity and price as the dependent variable. A theoretical result due to N akamura and Nakamura_(1984) is used to explore the dependence of power on parame ters of the supply and demand system. The theoretical result is corroborated wit h a Monte Carlo experiment. The power results are used to analyze the U.S. deman d for poultry meat wherein price, but not quantity, is found to be predetermined

L. F. Dunn, Stuart A. Youngblood, Absenteeism as a Mechanism for Approaching an Optimal Labor Market Equilibrium: An Empirical Study, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 68, No. 4 (Nov., 1986), pp. 668-674

Sequential estimation of a nested logit model is in general not an empirically desirable procedure, either as an alternative to full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation or as a source of param eter starting values for FIML estimation. Empirical studies which use varying ch oice sets across the sampled population create ambiguity in the link between seq uential and simultaneously estimated nested logit models. FIML estimation is now a computationally feasible strategy as illustrated herein.

This paper develops and estimates a demand model to describe a household's demand for distance from a landfill with hazardous wastes. This model provides one basis for gauging the intensity of a household's desire to avoid living near this type of facility. Using the conceptual framework of a hedonic property value model to provide the basis for demand for distance questions, a survey in suburban Boston elicited this information from 609 households. The demand estimates imply that the average household would realize a consumer surplus between $330 to $495 annually for each mile between its residence and a landfill containing hazardous waste.

The impact of uncertainty in future income on the demand for education from both theoretical and empirical points of view is analyzed. Theoretical results deviate substantially from their counterparts in models of human capital formation with certain future income. The theory is tested with a sample of high school graduates that contains data on subjective expectations. Empirical evidence from binomial logit analysis does not entirely support the behavioral implications of the theoretical model.

This paper contains an analysis of the effect of inflation on aggregate tax evasion in the United States over the period 1947-81. It is found that tax evasion in both absolute and relative terms is positively related to the inflation rate. Further, the results indicate that aggregate evasion has risen in both absolute and relative terms with increases in the marginal tax rate, but has fallen with increases in the detection probability, the penalty rate, and the wage share of income. Finally, evasion has risen in absolute terms but has fallen in relative terms when real true income has risen.

Much recent work emphasizes the joint nature of the consumption decision and the portfolio allocation decision. In this paper, we compare two formulations of the Capital Asset Pricing Model. The traditional CAPM suggests that the appropriate measure of an asset's risk is the covariance of the asset's return with the market return. The consumption CAPM, on the other hand, implies that a better measure of risk is the covariance with aggregate consumption growth. We examine a cross-section of 464 stocks and find that the beta measured with respect to a stock market index outperforms the beta measured with respect to consumption growth.