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Eric Ghysels and Denise R. Osborn provide a thorough and timely review of the recent developments in the econometric analysis of seasonal economic time series, summarizing a decade of theoretical advances in the area. The authors discuss the asymptotic distribution theory for linear nonstationary seasonal stochastic processes. They also cover the latest contributions to the theory and practice of seasonal adjustment, together with its implications for estimation and hypothesis testing. Moreover, a comprehensive analysis of periodic models is provided, including stationary and nonstationary cases. The book concludes with a discussion of some nonlinear seasonal and periodic models. The treatment is designed for an audience of researchers and advanced graduate students

This paper utilizes panel data from rural India on a daily rated labour market to examine how workers deal with the uncertainty which arises from the existence of involuntary unemployment. In particular, it measures the relative explanatory power of the three models which the literature suggests should better fit the conditions prevailing in this market: the Expected Utility Model (EUM) with linear objective probabilities, the EUM with linear subjective probabilities and the EUM with non-linear subjective probabilities. The econometric analysis indicates that the EUM with linear has to be preferred to that with non-linear probabilities. Moreover, it supports the hypothesis that the decision making model is under uncertainty and that people work out their subjective probabilities through their past experiences. Finally, agents in the sample turn out to be risk-averse and not to have a positive reservation wage.

Scarce radio spectrum is assigned to mobile network operators (MNOs) by national regulatory authorities (NRAs). Spectrum is usually assigned by beauty contest or an auction. The process requires that winners make a payment to the government. MNOs seek scarce spectrum to enable the provision of wireless services for profit. While MNOs are imperfectly aware of their costs, NRAs rely solely on MNOs for this information. As such, NRAs set spectrum assignment conditions (including minimum bid price) largely ignorant of MNO operating conditions. This study examines the performance of 3G auction outcomes in terms of the prices paid by winners via an econometric analysis of a unique sample of national 3G spectrum auctions. These winning bids depend on national and mobile market conditions, spectrum package attributes, license process, and post-award operator requirements. Finally, model estimation accounts for the censored nature of these data.

Producción Científica ; The aim of this chapter is to explore the determinants of the quality of life of people aged 60 and over in 26 European countries from a double perspective: individual and spatial. We draw on the latest data available from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (7th wave). To achieve our purpose, a synthetic indicator of quality of life is first obtained, as an alternative to the CASP12 scale that provides said survey. Several econometric models are then estimated to analyse the most decisive factors in explaining the quality of life in older European adults. In 17 of the 26 countries, ceteris paribus, older citizens have a quality of life that is clearly worse than that of the nine countries that make up the Nordic and continental groups. The results of the econometric models bear out the deep-rooted differences between countries vis-à-vis the quality of life of our elderly people ; Departamento de Fundamentos de Análisis Económico ; Junta de Castilla y León (project VA112G19)

Interest for this research was initiated by the threefold increase witnessed in rural land values since the early 1950's. Society in general and farmers, mortgage lenders, tax assessors and public policy makers in particular are concerned with these price increases because of their economic, social and political implications. The major objective of this study was to identify the more important factors influencing farmland prices, develop a methodology to measure their individual effect on market value and, if possible, project future land prices for alternative values of these determining variables. Before hypotheses concerning sources of price variation were generated or functional relationships specified, familiarization with the nature and structural characteristics of the farmland market itself was accomplished by personal observation of the market in operation, discussions with participants (buyers and sellers) and a fairly exhaustive review of major studies on land values in both the United States and Canada. Two econometric models of the farmland market were subsequently formulated -- a cross sectional or static model- and a time series or dynamic model. Four basic hypotheses were tested -- the market value of farmland is positively related, to (a) soil productivity, (b) expected net farm income from land, (c) long term farm credit availability and (d) technological advance in the agricultural industry. Land value data for the empirical analysis were obtained from two independent sources -- (a) Manitoba Crop District 3 and 10 sales data (1958 - 1970) and (b) D.B.S. estimates of the average annual "value per acre of occupied land" for each of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. (1928 - 1969) Both models were fitted. to the economic data by ordinary least-squares linear regression.

Background: Increasing access to health care has been a policy concern for many governments, Kenya included. The Kenyan government introduced and implemented a number of initiatives in a bid to address the healthcare utilization challenge. These initiatives include 10/20 policy, exemptions for user fees for some specific health services (treatment of children less than five years, maternity services in dispensaries and health centers, Tuberculosis treatment in public health facilities), and increase in the number of health facilities and health workforce. These initiatives notwithstanding, healthcare utilization in Kenya remains a challenge. The Kenya Household Health Expenditure and Utilization Survey of 2007 found that 17 percent of those who needed health care services could not access the services from both government and private health facilities largely due to financial constraints. This paper employed econometric analysis to examine what could be constraining health care utilization in Kenya despite all the efforts employed. Methods: Using the 2007 Kenya Household Health Expenditures and Utilization Survey (KHHEUS) data (n = 8414), this paper investigates the factors that affect health care utilization in Kenya by estimating a count data negative binomial model. The model was also applied to public and private health facilities to better understand the specificities of poverty in these two facility types. Common estimation problems of endogeneity, heterogeneity, multicollinearity and heteroskedasticity are addressed. Findings: The econometric analysis reveals that out-of-pocket expenditures, waiting time, distance, household size, income, chronic illness area of residence and working status of the household head are significant factors affecting health care utilization in Kenya. While income and distance are significant factors affecting public health care utilization they are not significant in explaining healthcare utilization in private facilities. In addition, working status of the household head, insurance cover and education are significant in explaining private and not public health care utilization. A striking finding is the positive relationship between distance and health care utilization implying that people will travel long distances to obtain treatment. This is perhaps associated with expectations of higher quality of care at far away higher level facilities, especially in rural areas. Conclusion: The paper confirms the existing evidence of the negative effects of Out-of-Pocket (OOP) expenditures and other determinants of health care utilization. With a better understanding of why people use or do not use health services, health care organizations can seek to improve the quality of human life. The bypassing of health facilities for higher level far away facilities implies that it is not so much about availing health facilities, but the quality of the services offered in those facilities. The government should therefore assure quality to increase utilization of the lower level facilities, especially in the rural areas.

This paper analyses the input linkages of manufacturing projects in Ireland which have been grant-aided under the New Industries programme. The Hirschman concept of linkages is adopted and the propensity of individual enterprises to purchase inputs is analysed at two spatial scales: (a) the national economy; and (b) the local area within a twenty-mile radius of the plant. Econometric methods are used to test a series of hypotheses at plant level, and implications for industrial and regional policies are discussed.

In the recent past, Zambia has increased its external borrowings significantly after reaching the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point. The Zambian government has been on an ambitious borrowing spree with the intent that most of these funds would be channelled towards building and maintenance of key national infrastructure including roads and construction of new airports. This study undertook to answer the question, does increasing external debt affect growth of a nation's economy? The thesis commenced an econometric study between the years 1980 to 2015 using publicly available data premised on the neoclassical economic growth model. The findings from this investigation show that shocks to external debt negatively impact the economic output of Zambia which is proxied by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Conversely, it was found that external debt stock could not reliably forecast future economic growth for the nation, a finding which in itself provides an area of further investigations. These research findings and recommendations make it clear that Zambia requires a comprehensive debt contraction and management framework to avoid the vagaries of short-term decisions which may not always be premised on sound economic thinking.

Funding for the protection of the environment has traditionally come from general tax revenues. Fish and wildlife habitat enhancement and endangered species protection are prominent examples of this phenomenon. In the past few years, however, several aspects of this situation have changed. First, as provincial governments have trimmed budgets, fewer funds are available for environmental conservation programs. Second, many jurisdictions have adopted a model by which private interests and/or users of the resource base help to fund these projects. Examples include the North American Waterfowl Management Program, land purchases by the Nature Conservancy, the Buck-for Wildlife project (in Alberta), and various other public-private joint ventures (Porter and van Kooten 1993). In many of these programs the private funding component is based on memberships or donations to private organizations (e.g. Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited). Thus, funding for conservation is relying more heavily on donations to environmental causes either through direct giving of funds or through memberships in organizations. For wildlife habitat management, a major environmental initiative, a third element of change is that traditional supporters - recreational hunters and anglers - are decreasing in number, particularly in Canada (e.g. Boxall et al. 1991). Traditionally, these supporters were responsible for much of the funding of wildlife conservation programs either through license sales, special 'check-offs' that accompany license sales, or through membership fees and donations to fishing and hunting related organizations. For example, Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited began as hunting and angling organizations respectively and much of their funding has been based on contributions from hunters and anglers. With the numbers of hunters declining 17% over the last 10 years (Filion et al, 1993), and anglers also declining over the same period (e.g. 26% in Alberta), will this traditional funding base remain? This paper explores some determinants of private contributions to environmental conservation activities through an econometric analysis of donations and memberships relating to wildlife habitat protection and enhancement. We are interested in the factors affecting donations in part because we wish to determine if continuing declines in the numbers of hunters and anglers will affect the level of donations to conservation activities. We are also interested in understanding the relationships between income, marginal tax rates (the price of donations) and other variables on the propensity to donate. Given the increasing importance of private funding of wildlife programs, knowledge of these relationships will be important for public and private agencies involved in wildlife conservation.

Funding for the protection of the environment has traditionally come from general tax revenues. Fish and wildlife habitat enhancement and endangered species protection are prominent examples of this phenomenon. In the past few years, however, several aspects of this situation have changed. First, as provincial governments have trimmed budgets, fewer funds are available for environmental conservation programs. Second, many jurisdictions have adopted a model by which private interests and/or users of the resource base help to fund these projects. Examples include the North American Waterfowl Management Program, land purchases by the Nature Conservancy, the Buck-for Wildlife project (in Alberta), and various other public-private joint ventures (Porter and van Kooten 1993). In many of these programs the private funding component is based on memberships or donations to private organizations (e.g. Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited). Thus, funding for conservation is relying more heavily on donations to environmental causes either through direct giving of funds or through memberships in organizations. For wildlife habitat management, a major environmental initiative, a third element of change is that traditional supporters - recreational hunters and anglers - are decreasing in number, particularly in Canada (e.g. Boxall et al. 1991). Traditionally, these supporters were responsible for much of the funding of wildlife conservation programs either through license sales, special 'check-offs' that accompany license sales, or through membership fees and donations to fishing and hunting related organizations. For example, Ducks Unlimited and Trout Unlimited began as hunting and angling organizations respectively and much of their funding has been based on contributions from hunters and anglers. With the numbers of hunters declining 17% over the last 10 years (Filion et al, 1993), and anglers also declining over the same period (e.g. 26% in Alberta), will this traditional funding base remain? This paper explores some determinants of private contributions to environmental conservation activities through an econometric analysis of donations and memberships relating to wildlife habitat protection and enhancement. We are interested in the factors affecting donations in part because we wish to determine if continuing declines in the numbers of hunters and anglers will affect the level of donations to conservation activities. We are also interested in understanding the relationships between income, marginal tax rates (the price of donations) and other variables on the propensity to donate. Given the increasing importance of private funding of wildlife programs, knowledge of these relationships will be important for public and private agencies involved in wildlife conservation.