Demand-side Characteristics Research Articles

Who are the Self-employed? A New Approach

Modelling the incidence of self-employment has traditionally proved problematic. Whilst the individual supply side characteristics of the self-employed are well documented, the literature has largely neglected (or misspecified) demand side aspects. In this paper we present results from an econometric framework that allows us to separately, and simultaneously, model the supply and demand side characteristics that determine employment outcomes. We show that whilst individual characteristics are important determinants of the type of employment contract that individuals hold, there are also important contract specific factors that influence the nature of the contract an individual is employed under. Our results suggest that workers may be “captive” to a particular type of employment because of the sector in which they work, the number of hours they prefer to work and their ethnicity. The results are based on a new estimator, the parameterised DOGEV model, which allows for ordering and correlation in the observed alternatives, and for captivity within an observed alternative.

Research on Operation Strategy for Bundled Wind-thermal Generation Power Systems Based on Two-Stage Optimization Model

Wind power has the advantages of being clean and non-polluting and the development of bundled wind-thermal generation power systems (BWTGSs) is one of the important means to improve wind power accommodation rate and implement “clean alternative” on generation side. A two-stage optimization strategy for BWTGSs considering wind speed forecasting results and load characteristics is proposed. By taking short-term wind speed forecasting results of generation side and load characteristics of demand side into account, a two-stage optimization model for BWTGSs is formulated. By using the environmental benefit index of BWTGSs as the objective function, supply-demand balance and generator operation as the constraints, the first-stage optimization model is developed with the chance-constrained programming theory. By using the operation cost for BWTGSs as the objective function, the second-stage optimization model is developed with the greedy algorithm. The improved PSO algorithm is employed to solve the model and numerical test verifies the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

Women’s Wage Theft

In this study, the authors identify and analyze a distinct and understudied source of gender inequality: gender differences in violations of wage-related workplace laws. The authors find that women have significantly higher rates of minimum wage and overtime violations than men and also lose more of their earnings to wage theft than men. In the case of minimum wage violations, the authors also find that nativity and immigration status strongly mediate this gender difference. Multivariate analysis suggests that demand-side characteristics—occupation and measures of nonstandard work and informality—account for more of the gender difference in minimum wage violations than do worker characteristics.

Path Renewal in Old Industrial Regions: Possibilities and Limitations for Regional Innovation Policy

Coenen L., Moodysson J. and Martin H. Path renewal in old industrial regions: possibilities and limitations for regional innovation policy, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the potential, barriers and limitations for regional innovation policy to facilitate industrial renewal in old industrial regions. It draws on a case analysis of the policy programme ‘Biorefinery of the Future’ geared to promote renewal of the forest industry in Northern Sweden. It is shown that infusion of radical emergent technology is necessary for new regional path development, but not sufficient. To avoid a singular focus on technology-push, policy should pay more attention to complementary experimentation processes in relation to demand-side characteristics, firm strategies and business models as well as regulatory aspects. Moreover, coordination between regional innovation policy and adjacent domains and levels of policy-making is needed as some of the most pressing obstacles for renewal are not specific to the region but instead to the industry at large.

Assessment of primary energy savings by means of CHP systems in domestic energy supply

In this paper the assessment of primary energy savings of combined heat and power (CHP) systems is described by a primary energetic comparison of a coupled supply system (CHP plant, boiler and power plant) with a separated supply system (boiler and power plant). The plant-side power to heat ratio and the demand-side power to heat ratio are discussed as important system parameters for primary energy savings. The method suggests a theoretical potential of primary energy savings, which depends on plant-side characteristics only. The technical potential of primary energy savings is the consequence of plant-side and demand-side characteristics. In this paper an example application is presented for dynamic simulation of two different insulation standards in Germany, using the reference load profiles of the German technical guideline VDI 4655.

A Contingency‐Based Approach to the Use of Product Platforms and Modules in New Product Development

To face the challenges of increasing demand for variety, more specific customer demands and shortening product life cycles, firms increasingly adopt mass customization techniques. Two important such techniques are product modularization and product platform development, which allow firms to reach high levels of product variety, and at the same time, keep complexity and its related costs at a limited level. Often modularization and product platform development are treated as variants of the same basic idea. However, even if the concepts are closely related, they also have some fundamental differences, which influence their usefulness and applicability in different settings. One potential shortcoming of existing literature on modularization and product platforms is the present lack of research on their limitations and potential negative effects. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify and explore contingencies influencing the applicability of modularization and product platforms, respectively, taking their different economic effects as a starting point. Moreover, the paper addresses how different organizing solutions are interrelated with the use of modularization and product platform approaches. The empirical observations originate from studies of three Swedish manufacturing firms. The study reveals that important contingencies affecting the applicability of modularization and product platforms are demand side characteristics and the speed of environmental change. Furthermore, it is seen that firms need to organize themselves differently with respect to how they combine modularization and platforms, for example, in terms of degree of centralization, formalization, and allocation of decision‐making authority, and that this poses challenges to the combined use of the two approaches.

A method to determine primary energy savings of CHP plants considering plant-side and demand-side characteristics

Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is considered as an important key technology towards efficient energy supply. While CHP is used in industrial systems for a long time, in domestic energy supply CHP technologies are penetrating recently. Domestic energy supply systems with CHP plants differ in plant-side and demand-side characteristics. The effects of feed-in of CHP generated electricity is analyzed in detail. In this paper we develop an assessment method for primary energy savings by means of a primary energetic comparison of a coupled supply system with a separated supply system. The plant-side power to heat ratio and the demand-side power to heat ratio are discussed as important parameters for primary energy savings. The method leads to a theoretical potential of primary energy savings, which only depends on plant-side characteristics. The technical potential of primary energy savings is the consequence of both, plant-side and demand-side, characteristics.

Variations in preventive care utilisation in Europe.

Prevention has been identified as an effective strategy to lead healthy, active and independent lives in old age. Developing effective prevention programs requires understanding the influence of both individual and health system level factors on utilisation of specific services. This study examines the variations in utilisation of preventive services by the population aged 50 and over in 14 European countries, pooling data from the two waves of Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe and the British Household Panel Survey. The models used allow for the impact of individual level demand-side characteristics and supply-side health systems features to be separately identified. The analysis shows significant variations in preventive care utilisation both within and across European countries. In all countries, controlling for individual health status and country-level systemic differences, higher educated and higher income groups use more preventive services. At the health system level, high public health expenditures and high GP density is associated with a high level of preventive care use, but specialist density does not appear to have any effect. Moreover, payment schemes for GPs and specialists appear to significantly affect the incentives to provide preventive health care. In systems where doctors are paid by fee-for-service the utilisation of all health services, including cancer screening, are higher.

Integrated design and evaluation of biomass energy system taking into consideration demand side characteristics

In this paper, a linear programming model has been developed for the design and evaluation of biomass energy system, while taking into consideration demand side characteristics. The objective function to be minimized is the total annual cost of the energy system for a given customer equipped with a biomass combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) plant, as well as a backup boiler fueled by city gas. The results obtained from the implementation of the model demonstrate the optimal system capacities that customers could employ given their electrical and thermal demands. As an illustrative example, an investigation addresses the optimal biomass CCHP system for a residential area located in Kitakyushu Science and Research Park, Japan. In addition, sensitivity analyses have been elaborated in order to show how the optimal solutions would vary due to changes of some key parameters including electricity and city gas tariffs, biogas price, electricity buy-back price, as well as carbon tax rate.

Advertising and Firm Value

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of advertising on the firm's market value and level of risk. Previous research has documented a positive link between advertising expenditures and future stock returns, i.e. firms with higher advertising to sales ratio seem to have, on average, higher future average returns. Typically, this result has been interpreted in a causal way, with advertising leading to higher returns. According to finance theory, however, higher average returns should reflect in equilibrium a compensation for a higher level of risk. Thus, in our research, we document and examine the impact of advertising on the level of risk of the firm and thus on its market value. We plan to carefully explore and identify the main channels that explain this impact. For example, we will examine how demand side characteristics (e.g. customer loyalty) of highly advertised products affect the firm's cash flows and hence their level of risk. In addition, we study the supply side effects of advertising on firm's cash flows through their impact on firms' cost.

On Public versus Private Provision of Corporate Law

Law in modern market societies serves both democratic and economic functions. In its economic function, law is a service, a means of enhancing the value of transactions and organizations. Yet modern market economies continue to rely on the state, rather than the market, to provide this service. This paper investigates whether private provision of law may be superior to public provision. We look in particular at corporate law, where there is a substantial literature exploring the efficiency implications of regula- tory and compare this competition with market competition between private providers. Drawing from the well-known framework of spa- tial models of imperfect competition, we argue that while neither public nor private competition may lead to the optimal corporate law regimes, there are at least some reasons to believe that private provision may be prefer- able. Specifically, we present a model that demonstrates in which regulatory competition is likely to produce widespread emulation, and little innovation. Private competition, in contrast, is more likely to lead to greater product differentiation, which benefits heterogeneous consumers of corporate law ser- vices in the short term. Moreover, such differentiation also has long-term benefits, as providers are able learn more about business organizations' demand-side characteristics, and thus tailor their services to business needs more effectively.

Demand and supply of emergency help: An economic analysis of Red Cross services

This paper analyzes supply and demand side characteristics of (voluntary) Red Cross services in Austria. The demand side analysis is based on a contingent valuation study on people's willingness to pay for emergency treatment, transportation services and disaster relief activities. The supply side is identified by a high percentage of volunteers in the Red Cross organization which makes the provision of emergency help at low cost possible. We find that aggregate benefits of Red Cross services exceed their cost of production. Policy conclusions are drawn with respect to future recruitment and funding: whereas intrinsic motivation is important for the decision to volunteer, and financial incentives play a minor role in general the young Red Cross activists work voluntarily for self-realization reasons and to continue their education. Age-specific recruitment strategies accompanied by word-of-mouth advertising are recommended to address potential volunteers. As long as the volunteering character of Red Cross services will be maintained and cost of production will not go up an increase of funds does not seem necessary in the future. Moreover, a radical change in the structure of funding may crowd out both donations and voluntary labor supply.

On Public versus Private Provision of Corporate Law

Law in modern market societies serves both democratic and economic functions. In its economic function, law is a service, a means of enhancing the value of transactions and organizations. Yet modern market economies continue to rely on the state, rather than the market, to provide this service. This paper investigates whether private provision of law may be superior to public provision. We look in particular at corporate law, where there is a substantial literature exploring the efficiency implications of and compare this competition with market competition between private providers. Drawing from the well-known framework of spatial models of imperfect competition, we argue that while neither public nor private competition may lead to the optimal corporate law regimes, there are at least some reasons to believe that private provision may be preferable. Specifically, we present a model that demonstrates in which regulatory competition is likely to produce widespread emulation, and little innovation. Private competition, in contrast, is more likely to lead to greater product differentiation, which benefits heterogeneous consumers of corporate law services in the short term. Moreover, such differentiation also has long-term benefits, as providers are able to learn more about business organizations' demand-side characteristics, and thus tailor their services to business needs more effectively.

The Characteristics of the Low Paid: a Cross-national Comparison

This paper examines whether the supply side characteristics of the low paid are associated with the labour market wage setting institutions of five countries; Britain, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain and the USA, using the harmonised PAnel COmparability (PACO) data based on household panel studies and the Spanish European Household Panel survey. The age, education, marital status, children, lone parent status, household type, employment status of spouse, and housing tenure of the low paid are examined. The links between these characteristics, the low paid and labour market institutions are examined through multivariate analyses. Labour market wage setting institutions clearly influence the characteristics of the low paid and explain the variations in supply side, as well as demand side characteristics across countries.

Product Mix, Bank Powers, and Complementarities at U. S. Commercial Banks

Previous studies of complementarities between types of bank output have found little evidence of advantages to broadening product mix, providing limited support for the expansion of bank powers. In this study, a relatively broad measure of bank output has been used which includes off-balance-sheet activities and other financial services in addition to loans and deposits. Under this framework, complementarities were estimated using cost, revenue, and profit frontiers. The results suggest that joint production of traditional and nontraditional products enhances marginal profits, although the source of these gains varies by product pair. Profit gains associated with the joint production of loans with deposits and nontraditional products appear to be driven by cost reductions and increased output, not price increases. These findings suggest net benefits from expanding bank powers into products which have supply-side and demand-side characteristics similar to those of existing bank products.