EQUILIBRIUM STRUCTURE IN AN ECONOMIC MODEL OF CONFLICT

Four different types of equilibrium are possible within a two-player model of society where only armed self-enforcement of property rights is possible. The main underlying parameters are the total resource endowment and the initial distribution of this endowment between the players. The parameter space is partitioned into regions in which the respective types of equilibrium occur The equilibrium types involve positive arms expenditure by, respectively, neither player the richer player, and both players; the latter case involves a sub-type in which the poorer player's entire endowment is expended on arms. (JEL D30, D72, D74)     

WORKER ATTITUDES AND THE COST OF PRODUCTION: HYPOTHESIS TESTS IN AN EQUILIBRIUM MODEL

This paper extends the application of neoclassical production theory to include the effects of worker attitudes on productivity and cost of production, using data for the U.S. automobile industry. Behavioral indicators of worker attitudes are imbedded in a standard four-input translog cost function. The coefficients of the imbedded function are determined in estimation of the cost function simultaneously with its share equations. Hypotheses concerning the effects of worker attitudes on the cost function are tested, and the properties of the index of worker attitude that emerge from the estimation are examined.     

NOT ALL RIVALS LOOK ALIKE: ESTIMATING AN EQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF THE RELEASE DATE TIMING GAME

I develop a new empirical model for discrete games and apply it to study the release date timing game played by distributors of movies. The results suggest that release dates of movies are too clustered around big holiday weekends and that box office revenues would increase if distributors shifted some holiday releases by one or two weeks. The proposed game structure could be applied more broadly to situations where competition is on dimensions other than price. It relies on sequential moves with asymmetric information, making the model particularly attractive for studying (common) situations where player asymmetries are important. (JEL C13, C51, L13, L15, L82)     

COSTLY EXTERNAL FINANCE AND INVESTMENT EFFICIENCY IN A MARKET EQUILIBRIUM MODEL

The corporate finance literature suggests that a financially constrained firm invests less than an identical unconstrained firm. This does not imply that financial frictions cause firms to invest less than in a frictionless economy. When firms compete for investment funds, an increase in financial frictions can lead individual firms to increase their investment levels. A greater than the frictionless level of investment is likely in low-productivity firms, in cash-rich firms, and in firms with cheap external capital. Government programs that make capital cheaper for small firms may lead to lower levels of investment for all firms and decrease efficiency (JEL O16, E22, E44, G20)     

AN INCOME-SATIATION MODEL OF EFFICIENCY WAGES

Efficiency wages are wages that exceed a worker's reservation wage. A standard explanation for such wages is "bonding": high wages increase the cost of being discharged for misbehavior and so help ensure worker honesty. A neglected alternative is "satiation": by decreasing the worker's marginal utility of income, the high wage decreases the benefit from misbehavior. Satiation, unlike bonding, applies even in a one-period model, but it relies on the misbehavior having a monetary benefit and on at least part of the punishment being nonmonetary.     

AN EVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF TASTE FOR RISK

Economists take tastes as given. However, tastes must be derived from biological models of evolutionary survival; we exhibit those tastes which served to make our ancestors survive. In particular, economists have no theory which explains observed behavior towards risk; rather, we take behavior as a datum. In this paper we present a model which explains risk seeking by adolescents and risk aversion by mature males as the result of an evolutionary mechanism.     

AN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRAGE PRICING MODEL WITH PPP DEVIATIONS

This paper derives an intertemporal, international arbitrage pricing model that relaxes more assumptions than previous asset pricing paradigms. The analysis shows how risk, risk premia, and the translation of these variables between all real and nominal numeraires depend upon a small number of stochastic state variables that define the economy's production and credit opportunities. When the model is applied to the forward exchange market, it highlights the potentially central role of real exchange rates in determining the evolution of forward exchange risk premia.     

AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF THE MEDIAN VOTER MODEL

This paper uses data at the school district level for 257 Michigan school districts to estimate the Bowen equilibrium level of expenditures in each district. The estimation uses a theoretical model of millage referenda that is developed in the paper. Then, the estimated Bowen equilibrium level of expenditures in each district is compared with the actual level. In the average district, the actual level of expenditures is less than 3 percent away from the estimated Bowen equilibrium. This evidence strongly suggests that, for educational expenditures at least, the theoretical median voter model provides a good explanation of empirical reality.     

IS PERFECT COMPETITION AN EMPIRICALLY INADEQUATE MODEL?

This paper examines the empirical content of the neoclassical theory of the firm. The main models (perfect competition, monopolistic competition, pure monopoly) are specified in terms of observable anomalies. These models are then tested against data and against each other. The findings pave the way for an appraisal of the empirical status of the perfectly competitive model, relative to the data and relative to the other neoclassical models.     

AN EMPIRICAL MODEL OF PRICE AND OUTPUT BEHAVIOR

This paper proposes a model of short-run price and output behavior and undertakes an initial empirical investigation of the model with data from the manufacturing sector of the U.S. Economy. The model provides a relatively precise specification of the various factors that influence prices and output, and joint maximum likelihood techniques are used to estimate the parameters of the model. The empirical results support the proposition that demand-oriented forces primarily influence output while cost-push forces primarily influence prices and indicate that real interest rates affect both prices and output.     

DYSFUNCTIONAL MARITAL CONFLICT: AN INTEGRATIVE INTERPERSONAL-INTRAPSYCHIC MODEL*

An integrative interpersonal-intrapsychic model of dysfunctional marital conflict is presented and research support for the model is reviewed. The therapeutic applications of the model are discussed and illustrated with a clinical example.     

AN EXPLORATORY MODEL OF THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME

Through a specific model, this paper explores a promising general framework for unified modelling of the size distribution of income and wealth. The specific model includes physical and human capital accumulation, factoral and size distribution effects, redistributive taxation, economic growth, and other distribution-related mechanisms. The main conclusion is that the general framework can accommodate a wide range of distributional phenomena and still remain analytically tractable. Specifically, the framework allows closed form analytic solution for the first two moments (mean vector and variance-covariance matrix) of the joint distribution over individuals of income, wealth, and other variables.     

AN INTERACTIVE MODEL OF INFORMAL ADULT CARE AND EMPLOYMENT

This study examines a multifactorial model of caregiving strain and accommodations, utilizing a sample of 1,146 employed caregivers. Based on a theoretically derived resource and demand model of caregiving outcomes, stepwise multiple regression equations were utilized to assess the contribution of selected caregiver background characteristics, family and work demands, and resources. Demanding aspects of caregiving and work responsibilities were found to contribute the most to caregiving strain and to work and family accommodations. Caregiver health status, job control and co-worker support also contributed significantly to the regression models. These findings underscore that demands at home and at work both contribute to work–family strain, suggesting that interventions are not apt to be effective in reducing the stress on employed caregivers unless they directly reduce the growing time pressures and energy demands experienced by today's workers and family members.

Cette étude analyse le degré de surmenage des auxiliaires de vie en utilisant un échantillon de 1.146 professionnels en activité. Basé sur un modèle conceptuel d'offre et de demande pour ce type de service, une série d’équations régressives par étape a été utilisée afin d’évaluer la prestation de l’échantillon analysé sur la base de ses caractéristiques sociaux démographiques, des charges familiales et professionnelles et des conditions de ressources. L’étude a prouvé que les caractéristiques contraignantes de ce type de profession ainsi que les responsabilités qui s'y rattachent contribuaient les plus au surmenage des auxiliaires de vie; cela ainsi que les aménagements nécessaires entre vie de famille et astreintes professionnelles. L’état de santé, le degré d'autonomie ainsi que le soutien potentiel des collègues de l'auxiliaire de vie ont également une incidence significative sur le modèle régressif. Ces conclusions soulignent que les contraintes domestiques associées à celles du travail contribuent conjointement au surmenage tant dans le cadre familial que professionnel, suggérant que des interventions ne sont pas en mesure de réduire ce surmenage chez les auxiliaire de vie en activité, excepté si elles agissent directement en diminuant le stress lié aux contraintes de temps croissantes et aux exigences en énergie rencontrés par les auxiliaires de vie et leurs familles de nos jours.     

AN ECONOMETRIC MODEL OF THE DEMAND FOR CHILD CARE

Child care denotes any arrangement used by a working parent for care of a child, including self-care. This paper is concerned with the factors that influence the demand for market modes of child care by two parent families with working mothers. An econometric model is specified that relates the demand for child care to price, income, and other economic variables. Because of the discrete nature of the child care decision, the multinomial logit probability model is used to analyze the data. The empirical results suggest that the demand for child care is sensitive to both prices and income.     

PROBLEM MAINTENANCE IN FAMILY SYSTEMS: AN INTEGRATIVE MODEL*

Cybernetic theory, social learning theory and psychodynamic theory often have been put forth as competing models of the maintenance of family problems. It is argued here that the relative absence in the field of attempts to integrate these perspectives has restricted severely the development of family assessment and therapy. After highlighting the essential features of these three models, an integrative model of family problem maintenance is proposed, and the model's applicability is demonstrated in an illustrative discussion of three major types of clinical problems: symptomatic spouse, symptomatic child, and conflictual couple. Implications of the model for clinical practice are also discussed.     

THE GRAVITY MODEL: AN ILLUSTRATION OF STRUCTURAL ESTIMATION AS CALIBRATION

Dawkins, Srinivasan, and Whalley (“Calibration,”Handbook of Econometrics, 2001) propose that estimation is calibration. We illustrate their point by examining a leading econometric application in the study of international and interregional trade by Anderson and van Wincoop (“Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle,”American Economic Review, 2003). We replicate the econometric process and show it to be a calibration of a general equilibrium model. Our approach offers unique insights into structural estimation, and we highlight the importance of traditional calibration considerations when one uses econometric techniques to calibrate a model for comparative policy analysis. (JEL F10, C13, C60)