Exposing agricultural cooperatives to competition.

We examine the optimal regulation of agricultural markets when farmers have organized their activity in a cooperative which is the monopoly supplier of an upstream product and which competes with a single rival firm in selling a homogenous downstream product. The rival's marginal cost is private information and therefore the rival expects to earn an information rent. We show that the optimal access price discriminates against the private rival because rent is more valuable in the cooperative than in the private firm, and the regulator therefore sacrifices some cost efficiency in order to shift rents. Thus, while competition will benefit farmers, consumers and tax payers, the extent of competition should optimally be somewhat limited.Agricultural markets; cooperatives; regulation; access pricing.

Why is on-net traffic cheaper than off-net traffic? Access markup as a collusive device and a barrier to entry

Received literature have shown that if competing networks are restricted to linear and uniform pricing, high access charges can facilitate collusion; a result that breaks down if we allow for non-linear and discriminatory pricing, however. In this paper we add unbalanced calling pattern to the model and show that this may restore the use of high access charges. High access charges may make the firms collude on high prices. Moreover, when allowing for entry, we show that incumbents can profitably charge high access prices as a device to deter or soften entrants.Two-way access; non-linear pricing; competition; entry.

Consumer Heterogeneity and Pricing in a Duopoly with Switching Costs

It is well-known that switching costs may facilitate monopoly pricing in a market with price competition between two suppliers of a homogenous good, provided the switching cost is above some critical level. We show that introducing consumer heterogeneity tends to increase the critical switching cost and thereby reduce the stability of the collusive outcome. A testable implication is that widespread price discrimination should go hand in hand with efforts to create switching costs.

Gas Storage Valuation: Price Modelling v. Optimization Methods

The existence of a financial gas market motivates the analysis of gas storage as a separate asset, using the market value context for utilization and valuation. In the recent literature, gas storage is typically analysed within a framework with a simple one-factor price dynamics that is solved to optimality. We follow a different approach, where the market is represented by a forward curve with daily granularity, the price uncertainty is represented by six factors, and where we impose a simple and intuitive storage strategy that follows from repeated maximization of the intrinsic value. Based on UK natural gas market price data, we obtain the gas storage value using our approach, and compare with results from one-factor models as well as with perfect foresight. We find that our approach captures much more of the true flexibility value than the one-factor models. Our results indicate that the appropriate framework for analyzing complex assets like gas storage is a rich representation of the price dynamics combined with a simple and intuitive decision rule.Energy; uncertainty; flexibility; exercise strategy

Synergies and non-discriminatory access pricing

According to the new European telecom regulation, incumbent operators are required to provide access to such bottlenecks on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. We explore different interpretations of this general rule in a model in which the bottleneck can be used by external (to the bottleneck firm) as well as internal service providers, and also derive some properties of the solution to the bottleneck owner’s maximization problem as well as that of a welfare-maximizing regulator. In particular, we derive an ECPR rule that also corrects for synergies. Next, by imposing certain symmetry requirements we establish a benchmark in which the external service provider is a competitive fringe and internal and external end-users face identical prices and buy identical quantities of the two services. This, we argue, can be dubbed a non-discrimination benchmark. We then show that introducing certain synergies makes the bottleneck want to favour external supply, while making the fringe less competitive has the opposite implication.access regulation; discrimination; ECPR; synergies

Education and completed fertility in Norway

Using Norwegian data we find that married women’s education is positively associated with completed fertility, but this relationship becomes insignificant after controlling for husbands’ characteristics. Husbands’ education has a positive effect on women’s fertility. These findings suggest that the effect of education on married women’s fertility goes through assortative mating. For unmarried women, in contrast, we find that the relationship between education and fertility is negative. This latter result is consistent with a hypothesis suggesting that unmarried women suffer a more detrimental impact of motherhood on their careers than do married women..Fertility; Education; Spouse Characteristics

Konsulentkjøp og -bruk i statlige virksomheter

I denne forprosjektrapporten analyserer vi på faglig grunnlag statens kjøp og bruk av konsulenttjenester. Formålet er a) å trekke ut implikasjoner og råd om konsulentbruk, og b) legge et grunnlag for en empirisk undersøkelse av konsulenttjenester i statlig virksomhet. I kapittel 2 avgrenses konsulenttjenester i forhold til andre eksterne ytelser, og underkategorier klargjøres. I kapittel 3 etableres det et rammeverk for forståelse av effektivitet ved kjøp og bruk av konsulenter i statlig virksomhet. Et bidrag fra kapittel 3 er at effektivitet må forstås i lys av virksomhetens kontekst og tre analytiske spørsmål om konsulentkjøp og -bruk. I kapittel 4 skisseres det en empirisk undersøkelse av konsulenttjenester i staten

Meat and bone meal as nitrogen fertilizer to cereals in Norway

Meat and bone meal (MBM) contains appreciable amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus and calcium making it interesting as fertilizer to various crops. The effect of Norwegian MBM as N fertilizer has been evaluated in pot and field experiments. The soils used in the pot experiment were peat and a sand/peat mixture, both low in content of plant nutrients. The field experiment was carried out on a silt loam. In the pot experiment increasing amounts of MBM gave significantly increased yields, although there was a partly N immobilisation shortly after seeding the soil based on peat organic matter. In the field experiment there was no period of N immobilisation and good N effect was found also for small amounts of MBM (Total N 50 kg ha-1). At total N 100 kg ha-1 there were no significant differences in grain yield of spring wheat between the treatments with MBM, mineral N fertilizer, and combination of MBM and mineral N fertilizer (N 50 kg ha-1 from each). The results indicate that the relative N efficiency of MBM compared to mineral fertilizer is 80% or higher, if MBM is applied to cereals in spring.

Mommy tracks and public policy: on self-fulfilling prophecies and gender gaps in promotion

Consider a model with two types of jobs. The profitability of promoting a worker to a fast-track job depends not only on his or her observable talent, but also on incontractible effort. We investigate whether self-fulfilling expectations may lead to higher promotion standards for women. If employers expect women to do more household work than men, thereby exerting less effort in their paid job, then women must be more talented to make promotion profitable. Moreover, specialization in the family will then result in women doing most of the household work. Such self-fulfilling prophecies can be defeated: both affirmative action and family policy can make women spend more effort in the market, which can lead the economy to a non-discriminatory equilibrium. However, we find that it is unlikely that temporary policy can move the economy to a symmetric equilibrium: policy must be made permanent. Anti-discrimination policy need not enhance efficiency, and from a distribution viewpoint this is a policy with both winners and losers.COMPETE; QREN; FEDER; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Physical activity as a potential coping mechanism for patients suffering from depression: how can the registrered nurse contribute?

Bacheloroppgave 2019Hensikten med oppgaven er å undersøke om fysisk aktivitet kan ha effekt som et tiltak i behandlingen hos pasienter med depresjon. Depresjon er en verdensomfattende sykdom som rammer millioner av mennesker, og fra et helsefremmende perspektiv vil det være gunstig å sette fokus på tiltak som kan både forebygge og avhjelpe utviklingen av dette. Et videre mål vil være å undersøke om pasienten kan oppleve økt mestring av sin depresjon ved hjelp av fysisk aktivitet. I dette arbeidet vil sykepleier ha en helsefremmende og støttende rolle, og det vil bli lagt fokus på en god relasjon. Metoden som er brukt for å besvare oppgaven er en litteraturstudie, der både kvalitativt og kvantitativt materiale er inkludert. Resultatene indikerer at fysisk aktivitet har effekt på depresjonen og at det kan øke pasientens følelse av mestring, men at det kreves ytterligere forskning på temaet