Corner Solutions Research Articles

Demand for on-farm permanent hired labour on family holdings: a comment

This comment critically discusses the theoretical and empirical treatment of corner solutions in the analysis of labor decisions on farm households. As more and more labor decisions are analyzed jointly, the more ambitious becomes the theoretical justification of empirical applications. Cutting corners in theoretical models puts the validity of empirical conclusions in doubt. In such cases relying on intuitive theoretical justification of empirical modeling is preferred.

Automatic implementation of precise grid screens: the four-corners method

Crystallization trials can be designed as a systematic gradient of the concentration of key reagents and/or pH centered on the original conditions. While the concept of the grid screen is simple, its implementation is tedious and difficult by hand. A procedure has been developed for preparing crystallization grid screens that is both efficient and achieves high accuracy because it relies on a limited number of solutions that are carefully prepared by hand. The ;four-corners' approach to designing grid screens uses the minimum and maximum concentrations of the components being varied in the grid screen as the sole stock solutions. For an N-dimensional grid only 2(N) corner solutions require detailed preparation, making the screens efficient. Furthermore, by keeping the concentrations as tight as possible to the grid, the potential impact of pipette errors is minimized, creating a highly precise screen.

Executive Short-Term Incentive, Risk-Taking and Leverage-Neutral Incentive Scheme

In 23 out of 26 U.S. industries, the annual CEO bonus is larger than the annual salary, suggesting that the bonus strongly affects the CEO’s decisions. As the high leverage of financial institutions is often blamed for the 2008 financial crises, in this study we focus on leveragre as a factor determining risk, particularly in finnacial institutuions. The typical bonus scheme is not a leverage-neutral bonus scheme (LNBS), as the agent’s optimal policy is to employ a corner solution: either zero or exteremely high leverage. Thus, consistent with Ross (2004), the bonus scheme does not neccesarily induce the agent to take greater risks. However, although more leverage is not preffered by allpreferences, in most cases it is preffered. Thus, we suggest a combination of incentive parameters, which makes the agent indifferent to leverage, thereby preventing conflict beween the agent and the principal (stockholders).

Multiple Constraint Choice Models with Corner and Interior Solutions

A choice model based on direct utility maximization subject to an arbitrary number of constraints is developed and applied to conjoint data. The model can accommodate oth corner and interior solutions, and provides insights into the proportion of respondents bound by each constraint. Application to volumetric choice data reveals the majority of respondents make choices consistent with price and quantity restrictions. Estimates based on a single monetary-constraint choice model are shown to lead to biased estimates of the monetary value of attribute-levels.

Regional Integration and the Issue of Choosing an Appropriate Exchange-Rate Regime in Latin America

The optimality and feasibility of exchange-rate regimes in Latin America depends upon several parameters linked to microeconomics, open macroeconomics, and political economy aspects. More recently, the discussion has incorporated the regional dimension and the possibility of joining monetary unions to the set of feasible national strategies. According to the optimal currency area criteria, the region still does not fit all the traditional OCA conditions, but the empirical evidence presented in the document shows a more promising picture at subregional level. Non-cooperative corner solutions, either full dollarization or pure free floating implemented at purely national level, are seen as short-sighted. The paper presents a cooperative alternative to these corner solutions, arguing that joining an exchange rate coordination mechanism could improve the policymaking process and foster better macroeconomic governance at both national and regional levels.

THE GAINS FROM COOPERATIVE R&D WITH A CONCAVE TECHNOLOGY AND SPILLOVERS

We reassess the respective gains from R&D cooperation and competition in a Cournot duopoly where firms adopt a concave cost-reducing R&D technology. Cooperation, in the form of either a cartel or a joint venture, is always profitable for firms and, contrary to the previous literature on the same topic, (i) no corner solutions emerge and (ii) R&D cooperation is socially superior to independent ventures for any spillover level, provided the cost of R&D financing is sufficiently high.

An Empirical Analysis of the Time Allocation of Italian Couples

This paper analyzes the time allocation of Italian spouses to paid work, childcare and household work. The literature suggests that Italian husbands contribute the least to unpaid household work, relative to other European countries, while Italian women have the lowest market employment rates. We model the three different time uses simultaneously for the two spouses within each household, allowing for corner solutions and correlations in the unobservables across the system of six equations. To estimate the model we use data drawn from the 2002-03 Italian Time Use Survey, combined with earnings information taken from the 2002 Bank of Italy Survey. We conclude that Italian husbands' time allocation responds to their wife's attributes: in particular, husbands' housework time increases with the wage of their wife. On the contrary, the own wage effect is significantly negative for housework of women. Childcare time of fathers increases with own wage and with the presence of small children and this is true both for weekdays and weekends.

Specification tests for the sample selection and two-part models

We conduct Monte Carlo analysis to compare specification tests in choosing between the sample selection and two-part models for corner solutions when errors are correlated but there are no identifying instruments.

Estimating optimal conservation in the context of agri-environmental schemes

One of the key challenges in designing agri-environmental schemes targeted at conservation is the determination of the amount of financial resources that should be allocated towards a particular aim such as the conservation of an endangered species. Economists can contribute to an answer by estimating the ‘optimal level of species conservation’. This requires an assessment of the supply and the demand curve for conservation and a comparison of the two curves to identify the optimal conservation level. In a case study we estimated the optimal conservation level of Large Blue butterflies (protected by the EU Habitats Directive) in the region of Landau, Germany. The difference to other studies estimating optimal conservation is that a problem was addressed where costs and ecological effects of conservation measures are heterogeneous in space and over time. In our case study we found a corner solution where the highest proposed level of butterfly conservation is optimal. Although our results are specific to the area and species studied, the methodology is generally applicable to estimate the amount of financial resources that should be allocated to conserve an endangered species in the context of agri-environmental schemes.

The overlapping generations model with habit formation: A comment

Bunzel [2006. Habit persistence, money, and overlapping generations. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 30, 2425–2445] studies an overlapping generations model with habit formation. This comment argues that the interior paths analyzed in Propositions 4 and 5 from that paper are not global maxima. Specifically, if the coefficient of relative risk aversion is less than one, a corner solution is optimal. This correction, however, does not change Bunzel's conclusion, ruling out the possibility of higher order fluctuations.

INSIDE THE IMPOSSIBLE TRIANGLE: MONETARY POLICY AUTONOMY IN A CREDIBLE TARGET ZONE

This paper examines the trade‐off between exchange rate stability and monetary autonomy for a target zone. Using the guilder‐mark target zone in the pre‐Economic and Monetary Union period as a case study, we empirically estimate how much policy discretion the Dutch central bank still enjoyed and how much had been ceded to the German central bank. The sum of these two measures is an estimate of the policy autonomy under a free float. We find that the narrow guilder‐mark target zone still permitted a modest degree of policy independence. This result suggests that intermediate exchange rate regimes may offer an attractive trade‐off compared to the corner solutions (free float and monetary union), which is consistent with the “fear of floating” phenomenon. (JEL E52, F33, F41, F42)

The crowding-out effects of tobacco and alcohol where expenditure shares are low: Analyzing expenditure data for Taiwan

In this paper, we used data from the 2004 Survey of Family Income & Expenditure of Taiwan to show that the problem of the crowding-out effects of tobacco and alcohol in a country with low expenditure can still be serious. Most studies that have investigated this issue have focused on developing countries with a high expenditure share on tobacco or alcohol, and have often overlooked the effects in countries with a low expenditure on such goods. After controlling for the endogeneity of tobacco and alcohol expenditure, and the possibility that households with a zero expenditure on tobacco and alcohol may result from a corner solution rather than abstention, we found that the lowest income households are still most vulnerable to tobacco and alcohol expenditures despite an overall low expenditure in Taiwan. Even higher income households may suffer a lower standard of living due to such expenditure. In addition, some goods and services may be perceived differently by households with different levels of income and this may be caused by the difference in composition across broad expenditure categories. Our results suggest that the government ought to tackle the problem of smoking and drinking outside the realm of health, since these expenditures may harm the country's standard of living even when there is high income.

Capital flows, exchange rate management and monetary policy

Capital inflows have brought substantial macro and financial benefits; at the same time, the size and nature of capital inflows have complicated macroeconomic management in recipient countries. Multiple concerns have produced multiple responses by countries to capital inflows. Countries have pursued a combination of policies – let the exchange rate appreciate, accumulate foreign exchange reserves, with or without sterilization, liberalize outflows, tighten monetary and fiscal policies and in a few cases impose capital controls on inflows either directly or through prudential regulation. Experience shows that there are no corner solutions and countries have to resort to a judicious mix of these policies depending on the prevailing circumstances.

A NOTE ON MARKET COVERAGE IN VERTICAL DIFFERENTIATION MODELS WITH FIXED COSTS

ABSTRACTWith fixed costs of quality improvement, we find that a covered market outcome with an interior solution in the price stage is not a Nash equilibrium. When the degree of consumer heterogeneity is high (low) enough, an uncovered market outcome (a covered market outcome with a corner solution in the price stage) is the only Nash equilibrium. When the degree of consumer heterogeneity is moderate, both of the two market outcomes are Nash equilibria, but an uncovered market outcome yields higher social welfare than a covered market outcome with a corner solution in the price stage.

An Empirical Analysis of the Time Allocation of Italian Couples: Are Italian Men Irresponsive?

This paper analyzes the time allocation of Italian spouses to paid work, childcare and household work. The literature suggests that Italian husbands contribute the least to unpaid household work, relative to other European countries, while Italian women have the lowest market employment rates. We model the three different time uses simultaneously for the two spouses within each household, allowing for corner solutions and correlations in the unobservables across the system of six equations. To estimate the model we use data drawn from the 2002-03 Italian Time Use Survey, combined with earnings information taken from the 2002 Bank of Italy Survey. We conclude that Italian husbands’ time allocation responds to their wife’s attributes: in particular, husbands’ housework time increases with the wage of their wife. On the contrary, the own wage effect is significantly negative for housework of women. Childcare time of fathers increases with own wage and with the presence of small children and this is true both for weekdays and weekends.

The hurdle models choice between truncated normal and lognormal

The purpose of this article is to compare and evaluate statistical models for corner solution applications of censored regression. Generally, a double-hurdle model is better than one-part model. Cragg (1971) suggests a double-hurdle model, the truncated normal model, is widely used. However, the lognormal model is easy to have the economic interpretation than the Cragg's model. We use the simulation and empirical data to test both the models. The results show that the lognormal model is usually more robust than the truncated normal model. While the lognormal model has valuable application in censored data, its potential usefulness should not be overlooked.

The Tariff Equivalent and Forgone Trade Effects of Prohibitive Technical Barriers to Trade

We derive a method to econometrically estimate the tariff equivalent and foregone trade effects of a prohibitive technical barrier to trade (TBT) based on Wales and Woodland's Kuhn-Tucker approach to corner solutions in consumer choice. The method overcomes the lack of observed data on bilateral trade flows and accounts for differentiated goods by place of origin. We apply the derived random utility model to international trade in apples to identify the tariff equivalent of prohibitive phytosanitary barriers imposed by Australia on potential imports of New Zealand apples. We estimate the forgone apple trade between the two countries, the implied trade injury imposed by Australia on New Zealand, and the welfare loss to Australia. The removal of the Australian policy would induce net welfare gains around US$50 million annually for Australia.

Estimation of Fractional Dependent Variables in Dynamic Panel Data Models With an Application to Firm Dividend Policy

Fractional dependent variables and models with state dependence arise in many economic applications; however, estimating models with fractional dependent variables is complicated by the presence of two corner solution outcomes. When coupled with a dynamic panel data setting, estimating quantities of interest can be quite complex or computationally difficult. This article demonstrates a method for estimating fractional response variables, which is easy to implement, and presents an application of the technique to the determination of firm dividend policy. The estimation demonstrates that neglecting dynamics, unobserved heterogeneity, or the doubly censored nature of the dependent variable can generate misleading conclusions.

Economic growth and the environment: Theory and facts

Several recent papers propose competing theoretical explanations for the empirical observation of an inverted U-shape relationship between environmental degradation and per-capita income. We propose the following test of the theory: calibrate a theoretical model to an already developed economy using information unrelated to the pollution–income curve. Then simulate the model starting from a less developed initial condition and compare the predicted pollution–income relationship with that in the data. Our results are mixed. Some support exists for the theory that the inverted U-shape results from a corner solution in which less developed countries do not abate pollution. However, because we find abatement is relatively inexpensive, the model predicts pollution peaks at a level of per capita income much lower than that observed in our U.S. data. For some pollutants, we find evidence of a structural break in preferences in the early 1970s. When the structural break is added, the model performs better for two of three pollutants.

ALLIANCES AMONG ASYMMETRIC COUNTRIES

We examine alliances between asymmetric countries. We find that the results depend on the nature of the equilibrium. If the equilibrium is an interior one then, with an increase in asymmetry, the level of the alliance‐wide defense good decreases and the divergence between the first best and the equilibrium level of the defense good increases. In the case where the equilibrium involves a corner solution, these results are reversed. It may be argued, however, that the interior equilibrium case is the more relevant one.