Once again on Interregional, International and Cross-age Comparison of Unemployment

Any discussion on unemployment is never restricted with the data on unemployment only. Unemployment is linked to several key indicators such as number of employed, active population and participation rate. As we often see, increase in unemployment occurs simultaneously with increase in the number of jobs, if participation rate increases at the same time. This makes doubtful any simplistic interregional, international, inter-temporal or cross-age comparison of unemployment data taken in isolation from corresponding participation rates. Interregional and international differences in unemployment depend not only on general economic situation in compared regions or countries, but also on historic and cultural differences. For example, it is inaccurate to compare unemployment situation in two countries with different participation rate of females (such as Japan and Australia). Neither regional employment situations are comparable if their economic, social, ethnic bases considerably differ from each other. Inter-temporal or time series analysis of unemployment makes sense only if participation rate is stable. By no means this is applicable to such country as Australia, where the participation rate fluctuates, depending upon a phase in the business cycle. Methodological inaccuracy of cross-age analysis is especially clear with regard to the youth unemployment measurement which excludes from consideration potentially most employable young people continuing their full-time education or professional training. An approach is suggested, which allows making the above-mentioned comparisons more accurate. An artificially constructed unemployment rate indicator is based on the actual unemployment data, actual number of full time jobs, and a participation rate assumed to be equal across compared populations. This way constructed indicator shows unemployment disparities if there were no interregional international, inter-temporal of cross-age disparities in participation rate. Proposed indicators are compared with conventional ones for several developed market economies with different cultures (Australia, USA and Japan). An analogous time series analysis is conducted on unemployment in the states and territories of Australia. In conclusion, the issue of youth unemployment in Australia is considered from the perspective of the suggested comparative measurement.

Yegor Gaidar: Pragmatic Economist or (and) Romantic Revolutionary

The article reflects upon the legacy of Yegor Gaidar (19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009), Russian economist – academic and political leader, the key figure of the initial stage of postcommunist transformation in Russia in early 1990s.

Housing affordability: Proper Measurement for Informed Policy Making

The broadly accepted housing affordability indicator is calculated as the housing cost-to income ratio. But this only takes into consideration two averaged variables: household housing costs and household income, both of which are ambiguous and misleading as an across-the- board average. An alternative system of housing affordability measurement is suggested in this paper based on disposable income left after accounting for housing expenses. In contrary to the broadly used conventional indicator, the proposed measurement takes into account different income groups, ages and types of households as well as the level of housing consumption. This indicator, combined with the "after housing poverty line" allows for the singling out of groups of households most in need of housing help, and therefore develop more informed housing polices. Based on the proposed system of measurement, an extensive empirical work is presented using the series of the ABS Income and Housing Surveys. The results demonstrate, from a new angle, the dynamics of housing affordability in Australia during the recent decade which leads to policy implications different to polices currently in use.Housing affordability measurement, income after housing costs.

Industry restructuring and a small open regional economy

The paper examines the regional implications of the microeconomic reform of the electricity generation industry in the state of Victoria. 93 per cent of the electricity generation is located in a small open region of La Trobe Valley, in which this sector is a major industry base. The ultimate goal of the reform has been to transform the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, the natural monopoly responsible for coal mining, electricity generation, transmission and distribution, into a privatised competitive industry. As a result, even though the state as a whole is enjoying some benefits of this measure, the main power supplying area of the State - the La Trobe Valley Region appears to be negatively affected. A few thousand people have been retrenched and considerable migration of population has taken place from the region to other areas of Victoria and interstate. General equilibrium approach to regional economics and the MONASH Model instrumentality are used to evaluate the overall impact of the microeconomic reform on the regional economy in terms of the reduction of local employment and purchasing power. A combination of primary and secondary information is used to implement the model. The multi-regional version of the Monash model and its data are used as an environment for a regional model. The model of the region is based on a comprehensive survey of the La Trobe Valley's economy. Three kinds of primary information were explored. The State Electricity Commission and its successors financial statements and personnel data were used to identify how the industry injected money into the regional economy both prior to and during the reform, and how the reform affected employment in the region. An income and expenditure survey of the current employees was undertaken as well as of a sample of voluntary departure package recipients still residing in the region. The results of the survey were used to determine the changes the reform generated in expenditure patterns. Interviews were conducted with senior managers from both the newly established commercial ESI companies and businesses who assumed facilities outsourced by the State Electricity Commission. The purpose of the interviews was to obtain expert estimates of the components of the industry's expenditure into the region not otherwise available. In addition, a sample survey of local business was used to adjust the state of Victoria's input-output tables from the MONASH model to the regional Economy of La Trobe Valley.

Competition in the mature markets of professional versus final consumer information products

Factors are explored of decision making in regard to buying and/or upgrading information products. Mature information product markets are considered. Comparing two cases - professional and final consumer information products - the decision making process is considered on the choice of product variant. We distinguish three groups of users according to their ultimate decisions to either not to upgrade the existing system, or to upgrade it with the existing provider, or to switch to another provider. Consumer decision is based on multiple characteristics of information product quality, network effects, price and switching costs, whereas producers have to compete not only with their competitors, but also with the previous versions of the own products. Based on the considered cases, differences in consumer priorities are discussed in the markets of professional versus final consumer information products.<br /

Regions in Changing Economic Environment

The purpose of this Web Book is to consider economic change from a regional perspective. We focus on two groups of changes: microeconomic restructuring and fiscal reforms. A two region – two product model is used to illustrate the theoretical concepts discussed. The objective is to determine the impact of a particular reform upon regional expenditure patterns and, therefore upon the socio-economic situation in the region.https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/rri-web-book/1026/thumbnail.jp

Competition in mature software markets

A theoretical framework is built for capturing properties of competition in mature monopolistic digital product markets. Based on an empirical study of the market of accounting software for small and medium enterprises, a consumer choice model is suggested, where a rational consumer is already using a particular version of a software package and is considering to chose from the following three options: either to continue using it, or to upgrade to a newer version of the product, or to switch to a competitive product. Consumer decision is justified by software quality, and network effects, under the price and switching costs constrains. A modified consumer demand function is used for the model, and theoretical conditions are analysed for choosing from one of the three above-mentioned options. The results are applicable to a wide range of digital products.<br /

Web publishing revisited-a case study of literary websites in Russia

The concept of web publishing has been widely discussed in IS research literature since the WWW emerged. The discussion in various publications often revolves around the issues of business success and profitability, web design, and effective content presentation. This paper is a study of one of the &ldquo;unknown&rdquo; segments of the Internet - a family of websites publishing literary works in the Russian language. We demonstrate that the innovative model adopted by site owners in building the relationships with the site customers, and the information technology selected for the sites can play a crucial role in the success of a web-based venture. Our analysis is based on the concepts of virtual community and socio-technical interaction. We discuss the&nbsp; contribution of this case not only to the innovative use of the Web-based business models, but also to the new forms of literary life and national&nbsp; culture. Some of the concepts, principles and practices, adopted on those sites may be of interest to the Internet developers and communities worldwide.<br /

Consumer loyalty versus propensity to switch between providers in mature IT markets (the case of mobile phone market)

The example of the youth mobile phone market is used for pilot empirical testing of a model of consumers&rsquo; decision making, based on common features of consumer behaviour in mature markets of information and high technology products. Firstly, we discuss the key properties of mature high technology markets which affect market behaviour and strategies. These properties include: established customer and provider bases; the elements of both oligopolistic and monopolistic competition; very short product life cycle; considerable product differentiation; and using product quality, versioning and price discrimination as planning and marketing tools. Secondly, a model of consumers&rsquo; decision making in such markets is suggested on the assumption that a choice is to be made between the following options: to continue using the existing version of the product, to upgrade it with the current provider or to switch to another provider. Product price, quality characteristics, switching costs and network effects are demonstrated to be the variables affecting consumers&rsquo; decisions and therefore, these variables should be considered by competing providers when they choose production and marketing strategies. In conclusion, the results of the empirical study are discussed in the context of their possible application to other information and high technology markets.<br /