6,039 research outputs found

    Competition Among Spatially Differentiated Firms: An Empirical Model with an Application to Cement

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    The theoretical literature of industrial organization shows that the distances between consumers and firms have first-order implications for competitive outcomes whenever transportation costs are large. To assess these effects empirically, we develop a structural model of competition among spatially differentiated firms and introduce a GMM estimator that recovers the structural parameters with only regional-level data. We apply the model and estimator to the portland cement industry. The estimation fits, both in-sample and out-of-sample, demonstrate that the framework explains well the salient features of competition. We estimate transportation costs to be $0.30 per tonne-mile, given diesel prices at the 2000 level, and show that these costs constrain shipping distances and provide firms with localized market power. To demonstrate policy-relevance, we conduct counter-factual simulations that quantify competitive harm from a hypothetical merger. We are able to map the distribution of harm over geographic space and identify the divestiture that best mitigates harm.

    Impact of the Agricultural Sector on the Arkansas Economy in 2003

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    Agriculture and associated agricultural activities are major contributors to the Arkansas economy. Agriculture is defined as the sum of agricultural production and processing activities, unless otherwise specified, and includes crop and animal production and processing, agricultural support industries, forestry and forest products, and textile goods. Agriculture contributes to the economy through direct agricultural production and value-added processing, and also leads to economic activity in other parts of the economy

    Automobile Prices, Gasoline Prices, and Consumer Demand for Fuel Economy

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    The relationship between gasoline prices and the demand for vehicle fuel efficiency is important for environmental policy but poorly understood in the academic literature. We provide empirical evidence that automobile manufacturers price as if consumers respond to gasoline prices. We derive a reduced-form regression equation from theoretical micro-foundations and estimate the equation with nearly 300,000 vehicle-week-region observations over the period 2003-2006. We find that vehicle prices generally decline in the gasoline price. The decline is larger for inefficient vehicles, and the prices of particularly efficient vehicles actually rise. Structural estimation that ignores these effects underestimates consumer preferences for fuel efficiency.Automobiles, Gasoline, Consumer Preference, Demand, Fuel Efficiency

    The Entry Incentives of Complementary Producers: A Simple Model with Implications for Antitrust Policy

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    We model competition between two firms in a vertical upstream-downstream relationship. Each firm can pay a sunk cost to enter the other’s market. For equilibria in which both firms enter, the downstream price can be lower than the joint profit maximizing level, and coordination (e.g., through merger) is anticompetitive.

    Personal Fall Protection: A Look at the Differences Among Industries

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    Fall prevention and protection is a mandatory part of nearly every type of construction. This project took a closer look at the fall protection equipment used in the construction industry relative to the equipment used in other industries. These industries include high rise window washing, rock climbing, utility lineman, and tree trimming. All of these industries rely on some form of fall protection and the equipment used varies per each unique application. In the construction industry, falls are the highest ranked cause of injury and account for roughly one third of all construction fatalities annually. A closer look at the differences in equipment may provide a more suitable solution to the problems that occur in a post-fall situation. Even with the most modern harnesses in use, there is still a risk for a fatal type of post-fall suspension trauma called orthostatic incompetence. This occurrence is not uniquely dangerous to the construction industry; any fall victim that is suspended for a prolonged period of time can be affected by it. There are products on the market to counter the effects of this phenomenon, but they are not yet used in common practice

    Measurement, Uncertainty, and the Dataspace

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    New digital technologies are dramatically transforming our environments and behaviors. Today’s vast communication networks, comprised of over 140 quadrillion transistors, filter volumes of information at rates unimaginable just two decades ago

    Doctor of Philosophy

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    dissertationTurbulent transport of momentum, scalars, and heavy particles within plant canopies is strongly impacted by the canopy’s effect on the flow field in the canopy sub-layer (CSL). Although considerable research has been conducted on momentum and particle transport in and above dense homogeneous plant canopies, relatively little has been performed in perennial trellised canopies which have repetitive inhomogeneities at the scale of the canopy height. Particle transport in such canopies is of great interest due to the increasing use of training systems of this type by growers and due to the multitude of particle types regularly dispersed in these canopies, e.g., fungal spores and droplets sprayed by growers. The focus of this work is on the transport of momentum and fungal-spore-sized particles in a trellised vineyard canopy. Due to the discrete two-dimensional nature of the vineyard canopy, CSL flow characteristics differ from those seen in homogeneous canopies and change as a function of the above-canopy wind direction. To determine the specifics of how the trellised canopy geometry and local meteorological conditions combine to determine the characteristics of momentum and particle transport under all possible wind directions, multiple field campaigns were conducted in a vineyard in Oregon. During each of these campaigns, extensive meteorological data were collected while particles were released into the canopy and particle concentrations were sampled at downwind locations. The meteorological and plume data showed that the canopy exerted inhomogeneous nonisotropic drag, caused channeling of the flow along the aisles, and led to persistent coherent flow effects. The combination of these effects led to momentum statistics varying with wind direction, particle transport being biased to along the rows, and plume shapes being more complicated than those seen in homogeneous canopies or freestream flows
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