inter vivos transfers and exchange most parents divide their bequests equally among their children whereas inter vivos transfers are usually unequal we propose that exchange is better for inducing inter vivos transfers than bequests inter vivos transfers can be adjusted quickly to the amount of care are less costly than writing a will and can be kept secret from other family members and the public the results from national longitudinal data show that as expected if a parent gives any inter vivos transfers she is more likely to give to children who provide informal care informal care has no effect on the equality of intended bequests

the connection between public transfers and private interfamily transfers abstract this paper investigates the anti poverty effectiveness of public transfers taking private transfer responses into account widespread altruistically motivated private transfers would neutralize the distributional impact of public transfers but exchange motivated transfers can reinforce the effects of public transfers on the distribution of economic well being the common technique for gauging anti poverty effectiveness subtracting public transfers from other income and measuring the poverty rate counterfactual yields results that are close to a more complex procedure that takes private transfer responses into account and some of the empirical findings suggest an exchange rather than altruistic motive for private transfers indicating that the effects of public transfers can be magnified by private behavior this is an exact reversal of the prediction that public transfers merely supplant private ones

an empirical examination of the relation between debt contracts and management incentives abstract prior research on the factors influencing the use of debt covenants restricting dividends and additional borrowing is extended by considering management incentives when alternative incentive variables are considered separately we find covenants have a significant negative relation to ceo cash compensation an insignificant relation to the value of ceo equity held and significant positive relations to both the ratio of the value of ceo equity holdings to cash compensation and the fraction of equity held by the ceo in two stage simultaneous equations models only the latter is significant when jointly considered with each of the other incentive variables

a note on sequential auctions this note provides an explanation for the declining price anomaly in sequential second price auctions we illustrate how the average winning bids of risk neutral agents bidding for objects with valuations drawn from independent identical distributions are lower in later auctions than in earlier auctions when the objects are not identical we determine the optimal order in which they should be auctioned

two stage residual inclusion estimation addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling the paper focuses on two estimation methods that have been widely used to address endogeneity in empirical research in health economics and health services research two stage predictor substitution 2sps and two stage residual inclusion 2sri 2sps is the rote extension to nonlinear models of the popular linear two stage least squares estimator the 2sri estimator is similar except that in the second stage regression the endogenous variables are not replaced by first stage predictors instead first stage residuals are included as additional regressors in a generic parametric framework we show that 2sri is consistent and 2sps is not results from a simulation study and an illustrative example also recommend against 2sps and favor 2sri our findings are important given that there are many prominent examples of the application of inconsistent 2sps in the recent literature this study can be used as a guide by future researchers in health economics who are confronted with endogeneity in their empirical work

how much is a dollar worth tipping versus equilibrium coexistence on competing online auction sites theory models of platform competition predict that prices and buyer seller ratios should be approximately equal on coexisting auction sites using field experiments on ebay and yahoo auctions we find evidence that is inconsistent with equilibrium hypotheses and suggest that the market is tipping prices on ebay are consistently 20 70 percent higher than those on yahoo and ebay attracts two additional buyers per seller on yahoo prices and bidders counts are unaffected by the auction ending rule various differences between the sites cannot account for the magnitude of these disparities however a model of imitation dynamics can rationalize our findings

ethnic enclaves and immigrant labor market outcomes quasi experimental evidence i examine the effects of the ethnic enclave size on labor market outcomes of immigrants i account for ability sorting into enclaves by exploiting a danish spatial dispersal policy under which refugees were randomly dispersed across locations first i find strong evidence that refugees with unfavorable unobserved characteristics self select into ethnic enclaves second a relative standard deviation increase in the ethnic enclave size increases annual earnings by 18 on average irrespective of skill level third further findings are consistent with the explanation that ethnic networks disseminate job information which increases the job worker match quality and thereby the hourly wage rate

comparing features of convenient estimators for binary choice models with endogenous regressors abstract we discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of four types of convenient estimators of binary choice models when regressors may be endogenous or mismeasured or when errors are likely to be heteroscedastic for example such models arise when treatment is not randomly assigned and outcomes are binary the estimators we compare are the two stage least squares linear probability model maximum likelihood estimation control function estimators and special regressor methods we specifically focus on models and associated estimators that are easy to implement also for calculating choice probabilities and regressor marginal effects we propose the average index function aif which unlike the average structural function asf is always easy to estimate

impact of conservation agriculture technology on household welfare in zambia this article examines the determinants and impact of conservation agriculture ca technology adoption on farm household welfare in zambia to account for selection bias from both observable and unobservable factors an endogenous switching regression model is employed to estimate the impact of the technology on continuous outcomes like farm output throughput accounting ratio tar poverty gap and severity of poverty a recursive bivariate probit model is however used for the estimation of impact of adoption on a binary outcome like poverty headcount the empirical findings demonstrate that the adoption of ca technology increases maize output and farm tar and reduces household poverty moreover the results reveal that farmers years of schooling social networks access to credit extension services and machinery as well as soil quality positively influence adoption of ca technology

optimal equity auctions with heterogeneous bidders abstract i analyze the effects of heterogeneity in terms of bidders valuation distributions and standalone values in equity auctions auctions in which bidders offer equities rather than cash heterogeneity misaligns equity bids face values monetary values and bidder types making the seller s revenues sensitive to the auction design given heterogeneity i identify the mechanism that maximizes the expected revenue among all incentive compatible mechanisms of equity auctions i show how different sources of heterogeneity alter the optimal design revenues and allocational efficiency unlike optimal cash auctions myerson 1981 where bidders standalone values are irrelevant the allocation of optimal equity auctions favors bidders with lower standalone values because the seller can extract a larger proportion of their rents by contrast when bidders differ only in valuation distributions optimal equity auctions feature more efficient allocations than optimal cash auctions

illegal drug use and employment this article investigates the relationship between employment and the use of marijuana and cocaine for males in national longitudinal survey of youth data from 1984 and 1988 previous studies yielding mixed evidence may have inadequately accounted for the simultaneity between drug consumption and employment i implement an instrumental variable procedure that identifies drug use with variables that are empirically unrelated to employment including the regional cocaine price and a state marijuana decriminalization indicator results indicate that the use of each drug substantially reduces the likelihood of employment exogeneity tests reveal that standard probit estimates are severely biased toward zero

firms adoption of international standards evidence from the ethiopian floriculture sector global trade in agriculture and food products is increasingly governed by an array of standards a survey conducted in 2010 covering all operational firms in the nascent floriculture industry in ethiopia revealed that only 36 per cent have managed to acquire certification for international private standards this study uses a census based panel dataset from ethiopian floriculture to empirically examine the determinants of firms adoption of international private standards it also analyses overall industry level efforts and public private partnership to launch and implement a national scheme for good agricultural practice and build firms capacity to comply with the standards key words standards certification floriculture exports estate farms ethiopia africa

time related characteristics of tenancy contracts and investment in soil conservation practices we present a dynamic model that shows how different types of land tenancy contracts and their time related characteristics influence farmers decisions to invest in soil improvement and productive inputs using recent household and plot level data from the brong ahafo region in ghana we analyze the impact of land tenancy arrangements contract duration as well as the number of times the contract has been renewed in the past on the intensity of investment in soil conservation measures such as ditches and farmyard manure and productive inputs like chemical fertilizer the empirical findings generally confirm the predictions of the theoretical model and reveal that the intensity of investments on different plots cultivated by a given farmer varies significantly with the type of tenancy arrangement on the plot as well as the time related characteristics of the contract

semi parametric estimation of simultaneous equations with limited dependent variables a case study of female labour supply we propose a general strategy to estimate semi parametrically simultaneous equations with limited dependent variables first each reduced form rf is estimated with various semi parametric methods second the specification of each rf is tested to select an appropriate method third the structural form sf equations are estimated using minimum distance methods and the restrictions among the sf and rf parameters a case study of female labour supply is presented

pairwise difference estimation with nonparametric control variables this paper extends the pairwise difference estimators for various semilinear limited dependent variable models proposed by honore and powell 2005 to permit the regressor appearing in the nonparametric component to itself depend upon a conditional expectation that is nonparametrically estimated this permits the estimation approach to be applied to nonlinear models with sample selectivity and or endogeneity in which a control variable for selectivity or endogeneity is nonparametrically estimated we develop the relevant asymptotic theory for the proposed estimators and we illustrate the theory to derive the asymptotic distribution of the estimator for the partially linear logit model

selection criteria for a microeconometric model of labour supply the wide variety of observed behaviour that is displayed in survey data suggests that microeconometric models should allow a reasonable degree of flexibility in specification however since these models are generally used for policy analysis they are required to satisfy some degree of theoretical consistency this requirement has generally led to the adoption of rather simple inflexible models based on additive preferences or linear labour supply responses we estimate and test a sequence of models for the labour supply of married working women emphasizing the importance of testing both the thecretical and statistical assumptions underlying the models

estimation of limited dependent variable models with dummy endogenous regressors applied economists have long struggled with the question of how to accommodate binary endogenous regressors in models with binary and nonnegative outcomes i argue here that much of the difculty with limited dependent variables comes from a focus on structural parameters such as index coefcients instead of causal effects once the object of estimation is taken to be the causal effect of treatment several simple strategies are available these include conventional two stage least squares multiplicative models for conditional means linear approximation of nonlinear causal models models for distribution effects and quantile regression with an endogenous binary regressor the estimation strategies discussed in the article are illustrated by using multiple births to estimate the effect of childbearing on employment status and hours of work

is there a dead spot new evidence on fomc decisions before elections using new data that chronicle the fed s internal forecast of the output gap from 1973 to 1998 this paper tests for an electoral cycle in the decisions of the federal open market committee fomc the paper provides evidence of a dead spot in the committee s decisions before presidential elections for given values of these internal forecasts the fomc is less likely to decide to tighten monetary policy in the year preceding a presidential election than at other times

land tenure differences and investment in land improvement measures theoretical and empirical analyses this article develops a theoretical framework to examine the relationship between land tenure arrangements and households investment in soil improving and conservation measures it then analyzes this relationship with a multivariate probit model based on detailed plot level data from villages in the brong ahafo region of ghana a major hypothesis tested is that investment in productivity enhancing and conservation techniques are influenced by land tenure arrangements the theoretical analysis and empirical results generally reveal that land tenure differences significantly influence farmers decisions to invest in land improving and conservation measures the findings also show that tenure security does affect farm productivity

estimation in a class of simultaneous equation limited dependent variable models estimation in a class of simultaneous equation limited dependent variable models is considered the minimum chi squared method is used to compare the asymptotic relative efficiency of marginal and new conditional maximum likelihood estimators for this class of models efficient minimum chi squared estimation procedures are described a two step algorithm based on a conditional maximum likelihood estimator provides a natural framework for both computing a linearized and locating the joint maximum likelihood estimator the unimodality of the simultaneous equation tobit likelihood function is proved and this model is used to illustrate the empirical application of some of the estimators considered in the paper the relative efficiency of these estimators in the simultaneous equation tobit model is examined in a set of monte carlo experiments many applications of microeconomic theory to individual data face the joint problems of censoring and simultaneity in particular the dependent variable under investigation may not be continuously observed and some of the conditioning variables representing the outcome of other decisions by the individual may be simultaneously determined smith and blundell 1986 developed an asymptotically efficient test for exogeneity or simultaneity in the simultaneous equation tobit model as a byproduct a conditional maximum likelihood estimator was obtained which is consistent under the alternative hypothesis of simultaneity nelson and olsen 1978 amemiya 1978 1979 and heckman 1978 consider a number of consistent marginal maximum likelihood estimators based on marginal maximum likelihood estimators of the reduced form parameters for the probit and tobit models in contrast the estimator derived from smith and blundell 1986 is based on the corresponding conditional maximum likelihood estimators this paper is concerned with estimation in a class of simultaneous limited dependent variable regression models which includes the simultaneous probit and tobit models as special cases analogous marginal and conditional maximum likelihood estimators to those of nelson and olsen 1978 amemiya 1978 1979 heckman 1978 and smith and blundell 1986 are derived and other new estimators are suggested the minimum chi squared approach discussed by ferguson 1958 malinvaud 1970 and rothenberg 1973 is used to compare the asymptotic relative efficiency of various estimators considered a simple two step algorithm based on the conditional maximum likelihood

endogeneity in semiparametric binary response models this paper develops and implements semiparametric methods for estimating binary response binary choice models with continuous endogenous regressors it extends existing results on semiparametric estimation in single index binary response models to the case of endogenous regressors it develops a control function approach to account for endogeneity in triangular and fully simulataneous binary response models the proposed estimation method is applied to estimate the income effect in a labor market participation problem using a large micro data set from the british fes the semiparametric estimator is found to perform well detecting a significant attenuation bias the proposed estimator is contrasted to the corresponding probit and linear probability specifications jel c14 c25 c35 j22

improving the efficiency of probit estimators the efficiency with which coefficients in probit mod els are estimated is improved by exploiting data on continuous ancillary variates in this paper the resulting gains in efficiency are examined and illustrative calculations are provided extra precision is achieved at the cost of making an extra assumption but this assumption can be tested it is shown that fully efficient maximum likelihood estimation of the probit model with a continuous ancillary variate can be achieved by a simple two step procedure involving an ordinary least squares and a probit estimation

the determinants of price in 3g spectrum auctions this article examined the empirical relationship between prices paid for national 3g wireless licenses when spectrums were sold by auction the reduced form modelling approach was based on the prem

temporary migration human capital and language fluency of migrants this paper investigates human capital investment of immigrants whose duration in the host country is limited either by contract or by their own choice the first part of the paper develops a model which distinguishes between temporary migrations where the return time is exogenous or optimally chosen the analysis has a number of interesting implications for empirical work some of which are explored in the second part of the paper the analysis focuses on language capital and tests the hypothesis that country specific human capital investments are sensitive to the duration in the host country s labour market the results show that the acquisition of language capital is sensitive to the intended duration in the host country

the effect of development aid unpredictability and migrants remittances on fiscal consolidation in developing countries summary we use panel data on 74 developing countries for the period 1980 2007 to examine the effects of aid unpredictability and migrants remittances on fiscal consolidation in these countries using two definitions of fiscal adjustment and a conditional logit model to perform our analysis evidence is shown that except for the case of low income countries especially gradual fiscal retrenchment remittances increase the likelihood of fiscal consolidation be the latter gradual or rapid surprisingly we observe that aid unpredictability does not affect the adoption of fiscal consolidation measures in all the groups considered

the location of markets perceived entrepreneurial risk and start up capital of micro rural firms it is argued that when founders of smes perceive the probability of a successful and lucrative venture to be greater they are more likely to provide a greater proportion of the start up capital this paper provides an empirical examination of two concurrent hypotheses firstly that the size of the debt or equity is affected by factors influencing perceived entrepreneurial risk secondly that the location of the market for the firm s output is a major factor reducing perceived entrepreneurial risk and increasing equity of the start up capital a statistical analysis based on the simultaneous tobit model is used results show that significant factors influencing risk perception include the size of the new business and the sector of economic activity as well as entrepreneurial experience and the location of the markets for the firm s output the results highlight implications for the design and implementation of rural development policies and especially for the instruments supporting rural business creation

an exogeneity test for a simultaneous equation tobit model with an application to labor supply a test of weak exogeneity in the simultaneous equation tobit model is proposed and illustrated using a female labour supply model estimated using cross section data the test statistic can be simply output from any standard tobit maximum likelihood package and is asymptotically efficient the procedure provides consistent estimators for the simultaneous tobit model whose asymptotic covariance matrix is a simple extension of the usual tobit formula we also provide the lagrange multiplier test of weak exogeneity this abstract was borrowed from another version of this item