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

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.

Productivity, Capital-Intensity and Labour Quality at Sector Level in New Zealand and the UK

Understanding productivity performance is important to informing policy advice on how to improve productivity and therefore New Zealand's overall economic performance. Given data limitations inherent in international productivity comparisons, this paper is not intended to inform policy in isolation but forms an important element of a wide and expanding body of evidence on the performance of the New Zealand economy. Previous international productivity comparisons involving New Zealand have been confined to the aggregate economy or to broadly-defined sectors such as manufacturing. This paper reports on a New Zealand-UK comparison which distinguishes 21 different ‘market sectors’ (ie, excluding public administration, education, health, property services and some personal, social and community services). It confirms the prevailing consensus that, in aggregate, New Zealand market sectors compare unfavourably with the UK on average labour productivity (ALP) - and by implication compare even more unfavourably with other countries such as the US. However, beneath this overall story there is considerable sectoral variation. While some NZ sectors out-perform the UK on ALP and/or multi-factor productivity (MFP), there is a large group of sectors which fall short of the UK on both productivity measures. Most of these low-productivity sectors are relatively low in physical capital-intensity compared to the UK. Overall, roughly a quarter of the New Zealand-UK gap in ALP for aggregate market sectors in 2002 was attributable to differences in employment structure such as the relatively high shares of New Zealand employment in comparatively low value added sectors such as agriculture. The remaining three quarters of the ALP gap were accounted for by within-sector productivity differences.productivity, capital-deepening, human capital

Cost benefit analysis vs. referenda

We consider a planner who chooses between two possible public policies and ask whether a referendum or a cost benefit analysis leads to higher welfare. We find that a referendum leads to higher welfare than a cost benefit analyses in "common value" environments. Cost benefit analysis is better in "private value" environments.Cost benefit analysis, elections, referenda, project evaluation

Quantitative estimates of fish abundance from boat electrofishing

Multiple removals by boat electro-fishing were used to estimate fish populations in non-wadeable habitats in New Zealand lakes and rivers. Mean capture probability was 0.47±h0.10 (± 95% CI) from 35 population estimates made with 2-7 successive removals. The relationship between the population estimate from the Zippin method (Y)and the number of fish caught in the first removal (X) was significant (adjusted r2=0.84, P<0.001; Figure 2). The least-squares regression was Y = 1.55X 1.23. Mean density ± 95% confidence interval for 13 fishing occasions was 30±27 fish 100 m- 2. Mean biomass of fish for sites was 78±39 g m-2 (range 29 to 245 g m-2). Koi carp comprised the largest proportion of the fish biomass wherever they were present. The high biomasses of koi carp estimated in these results (mean 56±33 g m-2) suggest that they can reach problematic abundances in New Zealand. Bioniass of spawning koi carp can exceed 400 g m-2

Uptake of Gold Nanoparticles in an Algae - Daphnid Food Chain

Nanoparticle entry into the environment can result in deleterious effects to exposed organisms, disruption of ecological processes, and accumulation within the wood web. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which are classified as zero-valent metals, are of significant interest due to their use in a variety of applications including electrical, biomedical, catalytic, magnetic, and optical technology. The wide range of uses for AuNPs can be attributed to a combination of the unique physical properties of the element gold (i.e. density, conductivity, stability, etc.) and the diversity of sizes, shapes, and surface compositions that can be achieved through manipulation of AuNP synthesis. While previous studies have suggested that AuNPs can be bioconcentrated and bioaccumulated, these studies do not indicate the effects of AuNPs characteristics on trophic transfer. The objectives of this study were to 1) quantify the uptake and depuration of 4nm and 18nm gold spheres by D. magna; 2) quantify the uptake of 4nm and 18nm AuNPs by the algae, Selenastrum capricornutum; 3) quantify the bioaccumulation of 4nm and 18nm AuNPs previously incorporated in algae; and 4) determine the bioconcentration factors (BCF) for 4nm and 18nm AuNps in Selenastrum capricornutum and D. magna and the bioaccumulation factors (BAF) for 4nm and 18nm AuNPs in D. magna. Bioconcentration factors for D. magna exposed to 4nm and 18nm AuNPs for 96hr were 6641 and 10207, respectively. Depuration followed first order kinetics for the D. magna exposed to 18 nm AuNPs with a rate of -0.67 ug Au/hr, however the slope for 4nm depuration was not found to be significantly different from 0. Bioconcentration factors for S. capricornutum exposed to 4nm and 18nm AuNPs for 96hr were 79.8 and 146.3, respectively. Bioaccumulation factors for D. magna exposed to 4nm and 18nm AuNPs for 96hr were 3.9 and 7.5, respectively. In conclusion these data indicate that uptake and depuration of AuNPs by D. magna is dependent on particle size with larger AuNPs exhibiting increased depuration and that AuNP depuration is incomplete over the duration of these experiments

Essays on bank capital and balance sheet adjustment in the UK and US, and implications for regulatory policy

The financial crisis prompted widespread interest in developing a better understanding of how market and regulatory driven capital targets affect bank behaviour. Such considerations are important to assessing the effects of shocks to banks' capital ratios on their supply of financial intermediation services to the real economy, whether those shocks originate in higher regulatory capital requirements, unexpected losses, or demands from investors or counterparties. In particular, my research is relevant to the effects of changes in capital requirements or the imposition of explicitly counter-cyclical capital requirements, as proposed by the Basel III agreement. In this thesis, I describe three related research chapters focusing on how banks' actual capital ratios and long-run capital ratio targets affect bank behaviour. The first chapter uses a unique, comprehensive database of regulatory capital requirements on all UK banks to examine their effects on capital, lending and balance sheet management behaviour in the pre-crisis period 1996-2007. We find that capital requirements that include firm-specific, time-varying add-ons set by supervisors affect banks‘ desired capital ratios and that resulting adjustments to capital and lending depend on the gap between actual and target ratios. We use these results to measure the effects of a capital regime that includes features similar to those embedded in the UK framework. Our results suggest that countercyclical capital requirements may be less effective in slowing credit activity when banks can readily satisfy them with lower-quality (lower-costing) capital elements versus higher-quality common equity. Finally, we apply a simple version of our model to a small sample of large banks in the crisis period 2007-2011 and find that balance sheet adjustments to achieve target tier 1 capital ratios focused on risk-weighted assets, and changes in tier 1 and total capital played a reduced role compared to the pre-crisis period. Given the size of the UK banking sector and the global nature of many of the largest institutions in the UK banking sector, the results have implications for the ongoing debate surrounding the design and calibration of international capital standards. The second chapter assesses the relation between bank capital ratios and lending rates for the 8 largest UK banks over the period 1998-2011. The methods differ from previous literature in that they employ a dynamic error correction specification and a unique regulatory database to disentangle long- and short-run effects. There is no long-run link in pre-crisis boom times, but a strongly negative association is revealed during the stressed conditions of 2007-11 when well-capitalised banks may have benefited from lower funding costs. Higher capital ratios also have positive short-run effects on lending rates which are sizeable during crisis times. These results imply that countercyclical variations in bank capital requirements, as envisaged by Basel III, need to be very substantial to offset the procyclical reduction in the supply of bank lending during a crisis. In the third chapter the focus moves to the United States to examine the effect of capital ratios on profitability spanning several economic cycles going back to the late 1970s. Theory suggests that this relationship is likely to be time-varying and heterogeneous across banks, depending on banks‘ actual capital ratios and how these relate to their optimal (i.e., profit-maximising) capital ratios. We employ a flexible empirical framework that allows substantial heterogeneity across banks and over time. We find that the relationship is negative for most banks in most years, but turns less negative or positive under distressed market conditions. Banks with surplus capital relative to their long-run targets have strong incentives to reduce capital ratios in all periods. Similar to the second research chapter, these results have the policy implication that counter-cyclical reductions in capital requirements during busts may not be effective since, in such conditions, banks have incentives to raise capital ratios

Age composition, growth, and reproduction of koi carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in the lower Waikato, New Zealand

A total of 566 koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) from the lower Waikato region were aged from scales and opercular bones, and growth was modelled with the von Bertalanffy growth function. There was no difference in growth rate between male and female carp. Growth of koi carp between zero and 3 years of age was lower than that of common carp in Europe and Australia. However, after 5 years of age the growth of koi carp was higher than that of common carp in Europe, but still below that of carp in Australia. Males rarely lived in excess of 8 years, whereas females lived to 12 years. Mean total fecundity calculated from 44 running-ripe females was 299 000 oocytes (±195 600 SD) (range 29 800–771 000). Relative fecundity ranged from 19 300 to 216 000 oocytes kg–1 total body weight, with a mean of 97 200 (±35 000 SD) oocytes kg–1. Feral koi carp in the Waikato are capable of multiple spawnings within their lifetimes. Within a spawning season, Waikato populations of feral koi carp contained females that spawned once, and females that had the potential to have spawned repeatedly. Female gonadosomatic index (GSI) varied with season and was negatively related to water temperature