Daily Revenue Research Articles

Growth, Vitality, and Cash Flows: High-Frequency Evidence from 1 Million Small Businesses

This report introduces a newly augmented small business data asset to empirically address questions of small business growth, vitality, and economic contribution. We built a sample of 1.3 million de-identified small businesses with Chase Business Banking accounts active between October 2012 and February 2018. The over 3.1 billion transactions we analyze from these businesses provide a novel view of daily revenues, expenses, and financing cash flows for individual small businesses. We use this data asset to develop a revised segmentation of the small business sector and empirically characterize three distinct dimensions of cash flow regularity: the frequency of the cash flows, the consistency of the timing, and the volatility of cash flow amounts. Using clustering techniques, we identified seven types of cash flow management problems that small businesses face. We found that firms that grow organically with limited use of external financing generate the majority of small business revenue and payroll but also are the most likely to exit the market. Moreover, nonemployer small businesses are five times more likely to exit the market than to hire employees. Additionally, entrepreneurship and dynamic growth are not limited to specific pockets of the country. Across the 25 cities we tracked, all had a large share of small businesses that grew organically. We also found that new firms that grow organically are more likely to have irregular cash flows related to timing, while those growing with external financing often have sporadic revenues. These findings provide a nuanced lens into how different firm types contribute to the economy and the importance of cash flow management to small business success.

An analysis of storage revenues from the time-shifting of electrical energy in Germany and Great Britain from 2010 to 2016

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of revenues available to storage operators through the bulk time-shifting of electrical energy in Germany and Great Britain over the 7 years from 2010 to 2016, and to analyse the impact of volatility and underlying mean price on the potential revenues that a storage operator could theoretically capture. The analysis is carried out using an algorithm adapted from previous work, coupled with new empirical hourly price data from the German and Great British day-ahead electrical markets, and using characteristics typical of a pumped-storage hydropower scheme (1000 MWh, 125 MW charge and discharge, and 75% round-trip efficiency). Our results suggest that volatility rather than average price is the dominant factor affecting storage revenues, with a 1% increase in volatility implying an increase in mean daily storage revenues of €300 in Germany and £550 in Great Britain for the simulated storage plant. In comparison, an increase in underlying mean prices of €1 per MWh leads to an increase in mean daily revenue of €100 in Germany, with a £1 per MWh increase in underlying mean prices leading to an increase in mean daily revenue of £380 in Great Britain. We also find that during the period 2010–2016, the times when the highest revenue is derived have moved from late morning to early evening, which we attribute to the increase in low short-run marginal cost solar PV electricity in both markets suppressing the day-ahead wholesale electrical prices. In addition, we find a large increase in storage operator revenues in Britain in the last quarter of 2016, due to a number of events that impacted the price of electricity, however these would have been difficult to predict with any degree of certainty. This paper therefore highlights the perennial problem of forecasting the time-shifting revenue for electrical energy, with its high degree of variation from one year to the next that would undoubtedly impact the financing of these capital-intensive projects that seek to capture these variable revenues.

Views versus subscriptions: which one matters to a YouTuber's monetisation success?

The critical factors to a video monetisation success have gained tremendous interests from YouTubers. However, there has not been a rigorous study testing the effects of video view factors and channel subscription factors on a YouTuber's revenues. We introduce a new empirical model to address this knowledge gap. Validating our model by a panel dataset of 116 most viewed YouTuber channels, we find that the new daily views, the daily view growth rate and the existing total views of a YouTuber's videos are significantly positively associated with her daily revenue. The subscription variables do not directly contribute to a YouTuber's daily revenue. Our study is the first of its kind that establishes a clear definition on the term 'YouTubers'. The monetisation model introduced by this study can provide several practical implications to YouTubers and users of other web communities, when they attempt to derive business values from video sharing.

Views versus Subscriptions: Which One Matters to a YouTuber’s Monetization Success?

The critical factors to a video monetisation success have gained tremendous interests from YouTubers. However, there has not been a rigorous study testing the effects of video view factors and channel subscription factors on a YouTuber's revenues. We introduce a new empirical model to address this knowledge gap. Validating our model by a panel dataset of 116 most viewed YouTuber channels, we find that the new daily views, the daily view growth rate and the existing total views of a YouTuber's videos are significantly positively associated with her daily revenue. The subscription variables do not directly contribute to a YouTuber's daily revenue. Our study is the first of its kind that establishes a clear definition on the term 'YouTubers'. The monetisation model introduced by this study can provide several practical implications to YouTubers and users of other web communities, when they attempt to derive business values from video sharing.

Techno-economic analysis of sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming in a fixed bed reactor network integrated with fuel cell

Sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming (SE-SMR) is a promising alternative for H2 production with inherent CO2 capture. This study evaluates the techno-economic performance of SE-SMR in a network of fixed beds and its integration with a solid oxide fuel cell (SE-SMR-SOFC) for power generation. The analysis revealed that both proposed systems are characterised by better economic performance than the reference systems. In particular, for SE-SMR the levelised cost of hydrogen is 1.6 €⋅kg−1 and the cost of CO2 avoided is 29.9 €⋅tCO2−1 (2.4 €⋅kg−1 and 50 €⋅tCO2−1, respectively, for SMR with CO2 capture) while for SE-SMR-SOFC the levelised cost of electricity is 0.078 €⋅kWh−1 and the cost of CO2 avoided is 36.9 €⋅tCO2−1 (0.080 €⋅kWh−1 and 80 €⋅tCO2−1, respectively, for natural gas-fired power plant with carbon capture). The sensitivity analysis showed that the specific cost of fuel and the capital cost of fuel cell mainly affect the economic performance of SE-SMR and SE-SMR-SOFC, respectively. The daily revenue of the SE-SMR-SOFC system is higher than that of the natural gas-fired power plant if the difference between the carbon tax and the CO2 transport and storage cost is > 6 €⋅tCO2−1.

Hot Tub Cabin Rentals and Forest Tourism in Hocking County, Ohio

Nous étudions d’intéressantes variations dans les taux de location touristique du comté de Hocking (Ohio, États-Unis). L’industrie des chalets avec jacuzzi est née dans les années 1970 et s’est rapidement développée depuis 1990. Nous mettons en œuvre une régression hédonique sur une base de données de 503 chalets, appartenant à 143 entreprises, pour expliquer la variation dans les taux de location et dans les revenus générés. Cette analyse est complétée par une analyse exploratoire spatiale. Nous estimons l’impact relatif lié à la proximité d’aménités environnementales, d’infrastructures et de commerces. Les taux de locations sont corrélés aux différentes caractéristiques individuelles des chalets privés. Le revenu moyen est plus élevé lorsqu’il offre un meilleur accès. En revanche, la proximité des mines représente une désaménité significative qui est cependant compensée par une plus grande couverture forestière.

Professional Sporting Events and Firm-Level Economic Activity

This paper investigates the impact of professional sporting events on the daily revenue of a particular restaurant in Charlotte, NC. The daily data allow us to test for the impact of professional basketball and professional football games on daily revenues. For this particular firm, professional football games are associated with a net increase in daily revenues, regardless of game outcome; professional basketball games are not associated with increases in daily revenues. Using betting markets as a proxy for market expectations of game outcomes, the data suggest that NFL fans in Charlotte spend more after NFL home games regardless of outcome and regardless of expectations but that they spend less after unexpected losses on the road. This suggests that NFL fans reflect celebratory effects of home games and sore-loser effects of unexpected losses. In contrast, NBA fans reflect only sore-loser effects after unexpected losses at home. The mixed impacts of game outcomes on firm-level revenue suggest that mixed results using aggregate data might be partly caused by the outcomes of events.

Agent Behavior in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from Airbnb

One of the major differences between markets that follow a “sharing economy” paradigm and traditional two-sided markets is that the supply side in the sharing economy often includes individual nonprofessional decision makers, in addition to firms and professional agents. Using a data set of prices and availability of listings on Airbnb, we find that there exist substantial differences in the operational and financial performance of professional and nonprofessional hosts. In particular, properties managed by professional hosts earn 16.9% more in daily revenue, have 15.5% higher occupancy rates, and are 13.6% less likely to exit the market compared with properties owned by nonprofessional hosts, while controlling for property and market characteristics. We demonstrate that these performance differences between professionals and nonprofessionals can be partly explained by pricing inefficiencies. Specifically, we provide empirical evidence that nonprofessional hosts are less likely to offer different rates across stay dates based on the underlying demand patterns, such as those created by major holidays and conventions. We develop a parsimonious model to analyze the implications of having two such different host groups for a profit-maximizing platform operator and for a social planner. While a profit-maximizing platform operator should charge lower prices to nonprofessional hosts, a social planner would charge the same prices to professionals and nonprofessionals.

Optimal management of a solar power plant equipped with a thermal energy storage system by using dynamic programming method

This study employs the dynamic programming (DP) optimization approach to maximize the daily revenue of a concentrating solar power plant (CSP) equipped with a thermal energy storage system (TES). DP guarantees the optimal solution and is easy from the computer coding point of view; therefore, it can be of great importance. Two real-life case studies are considered. The first case has a simple thermal model and is mainly chosen in order to verify the present optimization program. In this case, the present work achieves 1.3% (or US$480 /day) higher daily revenue in comparison with the literature. However, the simple thermal model of the first case study cannot appropriately simulate the actual operation of a CSP. Therefore, the optimization was applied to another case with a more detailed thermal model. The findings indicate that in order to maximize revenue, the charging and discharging of the TES should be managed such that the power block works under base load conditions (whenever it is active) and during periods of high electricity prices, regardless of the level of the daily solar radiation pattern. Furthermore, quantitative investigations show the substantial influence of the TES system on the daily revenue, especially for the case of low solar radiation pattern.

Using traffic light labels to improve food selection in recreation and sport facility eating environments

Many recreation and sports facilities have unhealthy food environments, however managers are reluctant to offer healthier foods because they perceive patrons will not purchase them. Preliminary evidence indicates that traffic light labeling (TLL) can increase purchase of healthy foods in away-from-home food retail settings. We examined the effectiveness of TLL of menus in promoting healthier food purchases by patrons of a recreation and sport facility concession, and among various sub-groups. TLL of all menu items was implemented for a 1-week period and sales were assessed for 1-week pre- and 1-week post-implementation of TLL (n = 2101 transactions). A subset of consumers completed a survey during the baseline (n = 322) and intervention (n = 313) periods. We assessed change in the proportion of patrons' purchases that were labeled with green, yellow and red lights from baseline to the TLL intervention, and association with demographic characteristics and other survey responses. Change in overall revenues was also assessed. There was an overall increase in sales of green (52.2% to 55.5%; p < 0.05) and a reduction in sales of red (30.4% to 27.2%; p < 0.05) light items from baseline to the TLL period. The effectiveness of TLL did not differ according to any of the demographic or other factors examined in the survey. Average daily revenues did not differ between the baseline and TLL periods. TLL of menus increased purchase of healthy, and reduced purchase of unhealthy foods in a publicly funded recreation and sport facility, with no loss of revenue. Policymakers should consider extending menu labeling laws to public buildings such as recreation and sports facilities to promote selection of healthier items.

한국과 미국에 있어 영화 수익관련 통계량과 확산 현상의 비교분석

Motion picture industry in Korea has been growing constantly and aroused various kinds of research attention. Particularly, the introduction of official box-office database service brought quantitative studies. However, approaches based on diffusion models have been rarely found with domestic film markets. In addition to the fundamental statistical review on Korea and US film markets, we applied a diffusion model to daily box-office revenue. Unlike conventional preference of Gamma distribution on the film markets, estimation results proved that BMIC can also explain the trend of daily revenue successfully. The comparison with BMIC showed that there is a distinctive difference in diffusion patterns of Korea and US film markets. Generally, word-of-mouth effect appeared more significant in Korea.

Effect of delayed breeding during the summer on profitability of dairy cows

The objective of this retrospective observational cohort study, combined with simulation, was to evaluate the effect of extending the voluntary waiting period (VWP) during the summer on profitability on a Florida dairy farm. Data from Holstein cows (n=1,416) that calved between June and September of 2007 and 2008 were used. Cows that calved between June 1 and July 21 (regular group; REG; n=719) were artificially inseminated (AI) for the first time upon estrus detection (ED) after the second PGF2α of the Presynch protocol administered between 57 and 63d in milk (DIM), or underwent timed AI using the Ovsynch protocol (TAI) if not detected in estrus. Cows that calved between July 22 and September 18 (extended group; EXT; n=697) underwent AI for the first time after the first or second PGF2α starting November 14 or November 21 or underwent TAI if not detected in estrus. For second and subsequent AI, all cows underwent AI upon ED or enrolled on TAI after nonpregnancy diagnosis. Following these schemes, average VWP in the REG group and EXT group were 60 and 83d, respectively. Overall profitability for both experimental and subsequent parities were calculated by subtracting the costs existing of feeding costs ($0.30/kg lactating cow diet; $0.25/kg dry cow diet), breeding costs ($2.65/dose PGF2α; $2.40/dose GnRH; $0.25/injection administration; $10/semen straw; $5/AI; $3/pregnancy diagnosis), and other costs ($3/d) from the daily revenues with milk sales ($0.44/kg of milk), cow sales ($1.76/kg of live weight), and calf sales ($140/calf). A herd budget simulation was used to predict future cash flow after culling or end of subsequent parity until 6yr after the start of the study to account for all cash flow consequences of extended VWP. Cows in the EXT group had greater first-service pregnancy per AI (PAI1) but still had greater days open and calving interval. Delaying breeding did not affect total cash flow because the EXT group had greater combined profitability for the experimental parity and subsequent parity but lesser future cash flow. Delayed breeding during the summer increased PAI1 but did not improve overall reproductive efficiency and did not affect overall profitability.

Ринок готельної нерухомості міста Києва: формування та розвиток

The dynamics of hotel real estate market of Kyiv are analyzed. The different views about the concept of “real estate market” are explored. The definition of “real estate market” as a socio-geographic category is allocated. The connection between tourists visit of Ukraine and hotel real estate market are disclosed. The basic characteristics of the hotel real estate market of Kyiv, such as supply on the market, average daily room rate, occupancy and revenue per available room are displayed.

Contribution of pumped hydro storage to integration of wind power in Kenya: An optimal control approach

This paper investigates the benefit of optimally integrating wind power in Kenya with pumped hydro storage. The approach includes development of an optimal control strategy to deploy paired wind and pumped hydro storage resources, for the Lake Turkana Wind Power project. The stochastic model, which maximizes expected revenue over the planning horizon, is developed taking into the consideration the structure and running of the Kenya electricity market. The 300 MW Lake Turkana Wind Power wind farm is simulated using wind speed data from Marsabit, which is in close proximity to the Lake Turkana region. From the simulation of the wind farm, we find that the daily pattern exhibited by the wind speeds, does not match the average daily load pattern. Pumped hydro storage reduces the systems total power output shortage by 46%. This approach to operation could alleviate the significant economic burden of the take-or-pay purchase agreement that led to the removal of financial backing of the project by the World Bank. The use of pumped hydro storage in conjunction with the wind farm is also found to increase the expected daily revenue of the wind farm by over ten thousand dollars.

Airport business interruptions: Developing and applying a scheme for the estimation of resulting cost impacts

Even short interruptions of airport operations can have severe financial impacts on the air transport industry, its users and other economic sectors. Some interruptions are limited to single airports (eg infrastructure failure, fires or severe weather events) while those forcing the closure of airspace (eg air-traffic control strikes or volcanic ash) can result in the simultaneous closure of several airports. A systematic assessment of the potential types and economic impacts of interruptions is a fundamental step for risk management towards setting up and implementing business continuity strategies and plans; however, interruptions at airports have not yet been systematically dealt with in the scientific literature. This paper aims to be a starting point towards filling this gap. First, the different types of airport closures are classified by various characteristics, such as type of damage, responsible entity and liability. Secondly, a straightforward scheme is developed for estimating the potential losses due to airport closures from both the airline and airport perspectives. Using a sample interruption scenario, this paper finds that for the airport operator, one day without any services means a loss of 88 per cent of daily revenues, which is not compensated by any noteworthy cost reductions. These results and forthcoming work in this field not only might help airports and airlines to define their needs for business interruption insurances, but also could form the basis for the assessment of the macroeconomic effects of interruptions and a quick estimation or verification of industry-specific losses from a bird's eye perspective.

활동기준원가를 이용한 충수절제술과 폐렴의 경제적 재원일과 재원일 단축에 따른 기회이익

Background: This study aimed to measure the opportunity income by identifying the economic length of stay (ELOS) which is the intersection point of daily revenue and cost on appendectomy and pneumonia cases.Methods: The research subjects were 460 patients of appendectomy and 606 patients of pneumonia, discharged from a general hospital between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. ELOS calculated with both of total revenue on diagnosis-related group (DRG) and fee-for service (FFS). The cost is calculated by activity-based costing system of the hospital.Results: Average length of stay (ALOS) of appendectomy was 4.48 days and its average revenue per case were 1,710,215 (1,989,105) won by DRG (FFS). The variable cost was 491,262 won which was 28.7% (24.7%) of DRG (FFS) total revenue. And 97.2% of the total variable cost was incurred within 2 days from admission. The ELOS was 4 (5) days in DRG (FFS). Shortening three days (two days) would increase opportunity income 52.0% (82.2%) in DRG (FFS). ALOS of pneumonia case was 4.86 days and its average revenue per case were 489,448 (761,426) won by DRG (FFS). The variable cost was 27,230 won which was 5.6% (3.6%) of DRG (FFS) total revenue. Thirty-eight point nine percent of the daily variable cost was incurred in discharge date. The ELOS was 2 (4) days in DRS (FFS). Shortening three days (one day) would increase opportunity in-come 27.6% (37.2%) in DRG (FFS). Conclusion: The ELOS would be used by strategic index for achieving minimum profit and developing the ways to get there. But we also should not pass over that the opportunity income obtained by the reducing ALOS may cause some problem of quality.Keywords: Length of stay; Cost analysis; Appendectomy; Pneumonia

Revenue targeting in fisheries

AbstractWe apply the target revenue model, a version of prospect theory, to investigate how fishermen adjust their trip length to changes in daily revenue. The key finding is that certain groups of fishermen seem more likely to behave according to the target revenue model rather than to the standard model of labor supply. We also find that vessel capacity has little effect on whether the captains seek target revenue. The study strongly supports the integration of prospect theory into the framework of labor supply analysis.

Does ‘race to fish’ behaviour emerge in an individual transferable quota fishery when the total allowable catch becomes non‐binding?

AbstractSuccessful individual transferable quota (ITQ) management requires a binding (constraining) total allowable catch (TAC). A non‐binding TAC may result in a shift back towards open access conditions, where fishers increasingly compete (‘race’) to catch their share of the total harvest. This process was examined by comparing fishing fleet behaviour and profitability in the Tasmanian southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) fishery (TSRLF), Australia. Between 2008 and 2010, the TSRLF had a non‐binding TAC and effectively reverted to a regulated, limited‐entry fishery. Fishers' uncertainty about future profitability and their ability to take their allocated catch weakened the security characteristic of the ITQ allocation. The low quota lease price contributed to an increase in fleet capacity, while the more limited reduction in quota asset value proved an investment barrier, hindering the autonomous adjustment of quota towards the most efficient fishers. In the TSRLF, catch rates vary more than beach price and are therefore more important for determining daily revenue (i.e., price x catch rate) than market price. Consequently, fishers concentrated effort during times of higher catch rates rather than high market demand. This increased rent dissipation as fishers engaged in competitive race to fish to be the first to exploit the stock and obtain higher catch rates. The history of this fishery emphasizes the need for a constraining TAC in all ITQ fisheries, not only for stock management, but also to manage the security of the ITQ allocation and prevent unanticipated and undesirable changes in fisher behaviour and fishery profitability.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Competition between Independent and Affiliate Movie Theaters

This study presents a semi-parametric spatio-temporal regression model to understand how theater level differentiation affects the performance of independent and affiliate movie theaters. Independent movie theaters are privately owned and managed retail establishments, while affiliate theaters are managed by national-level chains such as AMC and Regal. Theater-level performance is measured using two standard industry metrics – theater-level daily revenue and theater-level daily revenue per screen. In our proposed model, we analyze how theater-level differences such as ticket price, movie assortment, geographic location, and theater format (independent vs. affiliate) affect a theater’s competitiveness. Our semi-parametric specification allows us to flexibly estimate how both time- and location-varying competitive effects (due to theater-level differentiation) influence the performance of independent and affiliate movie theaters. Our empirical analysis yields several interesting and novel findings for movie theaters. Some own differentiation strategies affect independent and affiliate theaters differently. For example, contrary to industry belief, none of the independent theaters benefit from the strategy of decreasing ticket price or increasing assortment breadth. However, the majority of affiliate theaters gain from decreasing ticket price and increasing assortment breadth. There also exist some own differentiation strategies that affect independent and affiliate theaters similarly. For example, most independent and affiliate theaters are better off increasing their number of screens. These findings also suggest that the performance impact of theater-level differentiation varies even within theaters of the same format. Furthermore, the effect of competitors' differentiation strategies on theaters’ performance varies by theater format. For example, when a competing affiliate theater increases its assortment breadth, independent theaters face losses whereas other affiliates stand to gain. Another interesting result suggests that the relationship between the individual dimensions of differentiation and the intensity of competition varies substantially across differentiation dimensions. For instance, while competitive intensity decreases almost linearly with assortment breadth, contrary to previous research it changes in a nonlinear and non-monotonic fashion with geographic distance. Armed with our proposed model, independent and affiliate movie theater managers can better understand the impact of theater-level differentiation on their own and competitors’ revenues, and they can use this to make more informed marketing investments.

Routing Strategies for BMTC Buses Decision Evaluation Using Simulation

The Banaglaore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) operates public bus services in the Bangalore metropolitan region. BMTC owns over 3500 buses and operates through six depots spread across the city. On an average 30 lakh passengers are carried and BMTC runs over 10 lakh bus kilometers per day. This generates a daily revenue of Rs. 1.5 crores. Over the last 10 years the city has seen tremendous growth. BMTC has responded to the public demand for bus services for the newer areas by starting point-to-point routes. Despite this the organization is unable to meet the growth in demand. The increase in the services has been reactionary rather than in a planned manner and it is desirable to look into the possibility of rationalizing the routes and schedules with the objective of improving service efficiencies. BMTC currently provides point-to-point services throughout the city. This routing practice usually results in low frequency of service and low service levels characterized by large waiting time, number waiting and total travel time. It is felt that routing based on a hub and spoke orientation may result in better service levels. The Jayanagar sector in the city is studied for evaluating potential benefits of such an orientation. The Jayanagar bus stand is taken to be the regional hub in the Jayanagar sector and it serves seven demand centres in the region. This hub is connected to three hubs across the city, namely, KR Market, Shivaji Nagar and Kempegowda Bus Station. Simulation models are developed to simulate the current and proposed routing systems and field data is used to compare the two. Analysis is carried out for various scenarios to compare the waiting times, number waiting, travel time and number of buses required. The results suggest that the hub and spoke routing strategy provides better service levels to the commuters for the various scenarios generated. Moreover, this can be done using fewer buses. The proposed routing system will entail change of buses at the hubs. A sample field survey of 165 commuters was undertaken in the Jayanagar sector to understand willingness to change buses for different levels of savings in total travel time. The survey results indicate that the percentage of commuters willing to change buses is substantial. The results from the simulation models can be used to assist BMTC officials in making a decision on adopting a hub and spoke system of routing as well as for evaluating various decisions with respect to frequencies on the routes.