when do firms generate evidence on in house electricity supply in africa this paper attempts to identify the underlying causes and costs of own generation of electric power in africa rigorous empirical analysis of 8483 currently operating firms in 25 african countries shows that the prevalence of own generation would remain high at around 20 even if power supplies were perfectly reliable suggesting that other factors such as firms size emergency back up and export regulations play a critical role in the decision to own a generator the costs of own generation are about three times as high as the price of purchasing subsidized electricity from the public grid however because these generators only operate a small fraction of the time they do not greatly affect the overall average cost of power to industry the benefits of generator ownership are also substantial firms with their own generators report a value of lost load of less than us 50 per hour compared with more than us 150 per hour for those without nevertheless when costs and benefits are considered side by side the balance is not found to be significantly positive

selecting successful students undergraduate grades as an admission criterion abstractin europe s reformed education system universities may be forced by law to consider undergraduate grade point average ugpa as the primary admission criterion in the selection of graduate students in this article we investigate whether ugpa predicts graduate student performance in order to discuss its usefulness as an admission criterion in our theoretical framework we show that undergraduate students may choose slower study progress in favour of receiving higher grades and conclude that ugpa is a relatively good weak predictor for graduate grade point average study progress having data from a cohort of students whose selection was in clear conflict with the legal requirement we empirically confirm our theoretical predictions by exploiting a unique opportunity for assessing educational policies discussion of our findings leads to some important conclusions concerning the bologna reforms and the lawmakers idea of giving some independence to universities but not too much of it

the labor market for new ph d economists presents results from a survey of 450 new 1996 97 ph d economists providing information about employment underemployment employers work activities salaries and job satisfaction comparisons are made across ranks of the graduates ph d programs sectors of employment and subfields of economics as well as over time labor market outcomes for economists also are compared with those of seven other disciplines results indicate that a growing proportion of new economics ph d s start their careers in business or industry that an international market for new economics ph d s is evolving and that job outcomes for economists compare favorably with new ph d s in many other disciplines

game theory in economics and beyond within economics game theory occupied a rather isolated niche in the 1960s and 1970s it was pursued by people who were known specifically as game theorists and who did almost nothing but game theory while other economists had little idea what game theory was game theory is now a standard tool in economics contributions to game theory are made by economists across the spectrum of fields and interests and economists regularly combine work in game theory with work in other areas students learn the basic techniques of game theory in the first year graduate theory core excitement over game theory in economics has given way to an easy familiarity this essay first examines this transition arguing that the initial excitement surrounding game theory has dissipated not because game theory has retreated from its initial bridgehead but because it has extended its reach throughout economics next it discusses some key challenges for game theory including the continuing problem of dealing with multiple equilibria the need to make game theory useful in applications and the need to better integrate noncooperative and cooperative game theory finally it considers the current status and future prospects of game theory

fossil fuel subsidy reforms and their impacts on firms abstract while the potential adverse effects of fossil fuel subsidy reform are well documented for households the literature has largely ignored the effect of subsidy reform on firms competitiveness this paper discusses how firms are affected by and respond to energy price increases caused by subsidy reforms it highlights that cost increases both direct and indirect do not necessarily reflect competitiveness losses since firms have various ways to mitigate and pass on price shocks this paper presents and discusses direct and indirect transmission channels for price shocks and firms response measures absorbing cost shocks into profits inter fuel substitution increasing energy and material efficiency and passing on price increases it argues that further micro econometric studies using enterprise surveys are essential for quantifying the role of these mechanisms and for designing policy measures that ensure that competitiveness losses due to subsidy reforms are minimised

fossil fuel subsidy removal and inadequate public power supply implications for businesses abstract we briefly consider the impact of fossil fuel subsidy removal policies in the context of inadequate power supply with a focus on the implications for businesses in doing so we utilize the case of the early 2012 fuel subsidy removal in nigeria the rationale for such subsidy removal policies is typically informed by analysis showing that they lead to an economically inefficient allocation of resources and market distortions while often failing to meet intended objectives however often the realities of infrastructural and institutional deficiencies are not appropriately factored into the decision making process businesses in many developing countries already impaired by the high cost of power supply deficiencies become even less competitive on an unsubsidized basis we find that justifications for removal often do not adequately reflect the specific environments of developing country economies resulting in poor recommendations or ineffective policy

completion rates and time to degree in economics phd programs with comments by david colander n gregory mankiw melissa p mcinerney james m poterba abstract this paper describes the progress eight years after matriculating of 586 individuals who entered one of 27 economics ph d programs in fall 2002 by october 2010 59 percent of the fall 2002 entering cohort had earned a ph d in economics at the university where they initially matriculated 37 percent had dropped out and 4 percent were still writing their dissertations we examine student outcomes by ph d program tier and investigate factors associated with completion and time to degree we document and describe the rise in median time to degree from 5 0 to 5 6 years during the period 1996 2010

the cost of doing business in africa evidence from enterprise survey data summary data from the world bank enterprise surveys show that indirect costs related to infrastructure and services account for a relatively high share of firms costs in poor african countries and pose a competitive burden on african firms we estimate firm level revenue and value added functions for six industries in 17 developing countries demonstrating that firm performance is sensitive to the cost of indirect inputs as indirect inputs are not usually included in estimations of value added we argue that existing estimates understate the relative performance of african manufacturing firms

the allocation of talent over the business cycle and its long term effect on sectoral productivity it is well documented that graduates enter different occupations in recessions than in booms in our paper we examine the impact of the resulting change in the allocation of talent for long term productivity and output in a sector in a setting where output can be quantitatively and qualitatively measured we find evidence that talent flows to stable sectors in recessions and to cyclical sectors in booms economists starting or graduating from their phd in a recession are significantly more productive in academia over the long term than economists starting or graduating in a boom

the market for new ph d economists in 2002 a period of malaise in the mid 1990 s led to a contraction in enrollment at many economics ph d programs the resulting reduction in the supply of new ph d economists combined with a smaller contraction in demand for new ph d economists generated as the wall street journal reported a hot pursuit for some economics ph d s with even low level candidates being treated like big shots jon e hilsenrath 2001 p b1 as might be expected the scarcity of new economics ph d s that materialized at the end of the decade appears to have induced more enrollments in economics ph d programs with annual matriculations rising by about 25 percent between fall 1998 and fall 2002 charles e scott and siegfried 1999 2003 predictions for the current job market are mixed on the one hand demand may expand as some academic departments whose hiring had been constrained by financial exigency return to active recruiting jennifer jacobson 2003 on the other hand the aftermath of the recession continues to limit some public university budgets at the same time that the supply of new economics ph d s may start to expand resulting in a job market for american ph d s that the economist 2003 p 60 describes as bleak five years ago we reported the results of a comprehensive survey of the labor market for economics ph d s graduating in 1996 1997 siegfried and stock 1999 in contrast to other social science and science disciplines most economists who graduated with a doctorate in 1996 1997 found full time careertracking jobs that paid well those in permanent full time jobs in the united states earned an average starting salary of 61 000 many of those employed in business and industry however were not satisfied with their jobs despite receiving a significant salary premium relative to academics here we report results from a new survey of the class of economics ph d s graduating in 2001 2002 this information should be of interest to current and prospective ph d students of use to advisors of undergraduates considering graduate study in economics and of assistance to faculty concerned with the employment prospects of applicants they admit to their doctoral programs for methodological details consult our earlier report siegfried and stock 1999

reducing subsidies on household fuels in india how will it affect the poor kerosene and lpg are widely used in households in india for lighting and cooking these fuels have historically been subsidized as part of the restructuring of the energy sector the government is committed to limiting these subsidies this paper examines the impact of reducing energy subsidies on the welfare of the poor the paper uses data from nationally representative surveys of over 100 000 households the paper concludes that the case for reducing lpg subsidies is strong although the kerosene subsidy is an inefficient means of subsidizing fuel use by the poor reduction in it will need to be supported by other policies that would limit the adverse impacts

matriculation in u s economics ph d programs how many accepted americans do not enroll using a sample of 26 u s economics ph d programs in fall 2003 we estimate that only about 12 percent of the u s and canadian students accepted for doctoral study did not enroll in any u s economics ph d program in fall 2003 or fall 2004 it is not possible to increase the supply of new ph d economists substantially by closing the sale on accepted applicants additional qualified applicants are needed nonmatriculants are remarkably similar to enrollees in demographics prior education test scores and fields of special interest but express less interest in economic research and are less likely to have been offered financial aid an expected financial aid deficiency was also the most cited reason for deciding not to matriculate followed by how long it takes to earn an economics ph d and the expectation of higher lifetime earnings in a career other than economics most who decided against an economics ph d enrolled in an alternative graduate program this abstract was borrowed from another version of this item

incidence and impact the regional variation of poverty effects due to fossil fuel subsidy reform since fossil fuel subsidy reforms can induce significant distributional shifts and price shocks effective compensation and social protection programs are crucial based on the statistical simulation model by araar and verme 2012 this study estimates the regional variability of direct welfare effects of removing fuel subsidies in nigeria uncompensated subsidy removal is estimated to increase the national poverty rate by 3 4 on average however uniform cash compensation that appears effective at the national average is found to fail to mitigate price shocks in 16 of 37 states thus putting livelihoods and public support for reforms at risk states that are estimated to incur the largest welfare shocks coincide with hotspots of civil unrest following nigeria s 2012 subsidy reform attempt the study illustrates how regionally disaggregated compensation can be revenue neutral and maintain or reduce pre reform poverty rates in all states overall it highlights the importance of understanding differences in vulnerability and designing tailored social protection schemes which ensure public support for subsidy reforms

impacts of removing fuel import subsidies in nigeria on poverty abstract the petroleum sector contributes substantially to the nigerian economy however the potential benefits are diminished due to the existence of significant subsidies on imports of petroleum products subsidies on imported petroleum products are considered to be an important instrument for keeping fuel prices and hence the cost of living low the costs of these subsidies however has risen dramatically in recent years due to increased volatility in world petroleum and petroleum product prices and increased illegal exportation of subsidized petroleum products into neighboring countries removing the subsidy on fuel is one of the most contentious socio economic policy issues in nigeria today in this paper an economy wide framework is used to identify the impact of removing the fuel subsidy on the nigerian economy and investigates how alternative policies might be used to meet socio economic objectives related to fuel subsidies the results show that while a reduction in the subsidy generally results in an increase in nigerian gdp it can have a detrimental impact on household income and in particular on poor households accompanying the subsidy reduction with income transfers aimed at poor households or domestic production of petroleum products can alleviate the negative impacts on household income

one essay on dissertation formats in economics dissertations in economics have changed dramatically over the past forty years from primarily treatise length books to sets of essays on related topics we document trends in essay style dissertations across several metrics using data on dissertation format phd program characteristics demographics job market outcomes and early career research productivity for two large samples of us phds graduating in 1996 1997 or 2001 2002 students at higher ranked phd programs citizens outside the united states and microeconomics students have been at the forefront of this trend economics phd graduates who take jobs as academics are more likely to have written essay style dissertations while those who take government jobs are more likely to have written a treatise finally most of the evidence suggests that essay style dissertations enhance economists early career research productivity

opec how to transition from black to green gold global discussions on the reduction of co2 emissions and the increasing interest in alternative energy sources and production technologies have started to concern oil exporting nations international discussions on projects such as desert tec might also have sparked their interest to explore a possible diversification of their energy resource production portfolio however extremely low in country retail prices of fossil fuels to date present a significant economic hurdle to such developments this paper uses a formal model setup accompanied by intuitive graphical illustrations as well as a numerical example to analyze fossil fuel abundant nations potential to transition to a supplier of renewable energy as well as possible pitfalls resulting from their status quo situation

the economic impact of subsidy phase out in oil exporting developing countries a case study of algeria iran and nigeria abstract one of the crucial issues of energy markets in oil exporting developing countries is the high level of subsidies on petroleum products and the low efficiency in energy use the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of a subsidy phase out policy on the energy sector and oil revenues in three countries algeria iran and nigeria by using a standard econometric approach we find that the effects of different deregulation policies are substantial we also analyse the impact of a policy based on autonomous energy efficiency improvement finally a combination of both policies is elaborated and quantified our results show that a policy geared at more rational use of energy would permit these countries to save enough oil to meet future increases in demand while maintaining stable production capacity furthermore such an energy policy could result in additional oil revenues which would enhance their economic development

completing an economics phd in five years although the median time to degree for economics phds was near 5 5 years in 2002 and appears to be rising stock and siegfried 2006 some students can and do earn the degree in under five years of 586 individuals who began phd study in economics in 2002 27 percent had a diploma they could display on their office wall by fall 2007 many economics phd programs advertise that it normally takes five years to earn the degree some programs encourage completion by limiting financial aid to five years students who take more than five years incur high opportunity costs of remaining in school as their completing an economics phd in five years let the data literally speak for themselves

impact of energy subsidies on energy consumption and supply in zimbabwe do the urban poor really benefit abstract twenty percent of zimbabwe s urban poor households are still to be connected to the grid the majority of these households are poor there are several reasons why the zimbabwe urban poor are still not connected to the grid the most important one being the household incomes and the cost of different sources of energy in order to facilitate wider usage of electricity by the poor the policy makers have introduced a subsidy policy the objective of this paper is to ascertain the extent to which the poor urban households could afford the cost of electricity with or without subsidies this gives an indication on whether contrary to the current thinking subsidies are decisive for the affordability of electricity by the urban households the paper also examines the distribution of the subsidies amongst the different urban household income categories and other economic sectors furthermore the impact of such subsidies on the utility s finances is assessed

estimating petroleum products demand elasticities in nigeria a multivariate cointegration approach this paper formulates and estimates petroleum products demand functions in nigeria at both aggregative and product level for the period 1977 to 2006 using multivariate cointegration approach the estimated short and long run price and income elasticities confirm conventional wisdom that energy consumption responds positively to changes in gdp and negatively to changes in energy price however the price and income elasticities of demand varied according to product type kerosene and gasoline have relatively high short run income and price elasticities compared to diesel overall the results show petroleum products to be price and income inelastic

financial subsidies to the australian fossil fuel industry abstract a common claim during international greenhouse gas reduction negotiations has been that domestic emissions cuts will harm national economies this argument fails to consider the distorting effect of existing financial subsidies and associated incentives to fossil fuel production and consumption provided by governments in most developed countries these subsidies support a fossil fuel energy sector that is the major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and conflict with attempts to expand the role of sustainable energy technologies reform of these types of subsidies has the potential to provide substantial gains in economic efficiency as well as reductions in carbon dioxide emissions a no regrets outcome for the economy and the environment this paper examines financial subsidies to fossil fuel production and consumption in australia and estimates the magnitude of the subsidies subsidies and associated incentives to fossil fuel production and consumption in australia are similar to those in the united states and the other countries that have pushed for increased flexibility during international negotiations

time to degree for the economics ph d class of 2001 2002 based on the median salary for full time jobs held by new ph d economists in the united states a rough estimate of the opportunity cost of taking an additional year to earn an economics ph d was 74 000 in 2002 the median time required to earn a ph d for the class of 2002 was 5 5 years up from 5 25 years for the class of 1997 if the three month difference is interpreted as 200 students i e roughly onequarter of the class of 2002 taking a year longer to complete their degrees and get a job than did their counterparts from the class of 1997 it implies an increase from 1997 to 2002 in the annual opportunity cost of producing ph d economists exceeding 14 5 million a growing elapsed time required to earn a ph d also may affect application and matriculation decisions of students who are weighing alternative careers t aldrich finegan et al 2006 we examine the time required to earn a ph d in economics for those graduating between july 1 2001 and june 30 2002 using survey responses from 398 graduates and 121 thesis advisors of nonrespondents among the cohort the 519 graduates for whom we have information comprise 61 percent of the 850 individuals estimated to have earned a ph d in the united states in 2002 siegfried and stock 2004 based on survey responses from the graduates we examine whether demographic attributes type of undergraduate training and type of financial aid are systematically related to either the time required to write a dissertation or to earn a ph d using a similar earlier survey siegfried and stock 2001 we also compare time to degree across cohorts

productivity growth and energy consumption in the nigerian manufacturing sector a panel data analysis this paper examines the impact of efficiency in energy consumption on the growth in productivity in the nigerian manufacturing sector the study utilizes a panel data technique covering a period of substantial energy price reviews in nigeria the study shows that for most industries productivity growth has been energy using whereas in a few attempts have been made to switch productivity growth towards energy saving however it will take some time for the effect of current energy pricing policy to permeate the whole manufacturing sector due to the high cost required to invest in energy saving equipment especially in the face of a rapid decline in real income coupled with high product prices