This paper investigates whether the efficiency effect of product market dispersion is a function of the infrastructural and policy environment. We hypothesize that more developed transportation and communication infrastructure and lower government regulation may reduce transaction costs, intensifying the competition associated with a given market structure, and we use data from the recently lib...

Imagine a world where government regulation of gasoline, justified by scarcity of supply, allowed 20% of the gasoline in the U.S. to be used for farming; 20% for manufacturing; 20% for home use; 20% for government; and another 20% held in reserve for future potential government uses. In this world, prices would regulate the use of gasoline within each sector, but consumers would pay vastly diff...

Propelled by a national concern with social justice and health disparities, the notion of cultural competency is being incorporated into both government regulation and professional standards. Although most of the standards that are being developed nationally apply at the institutional level, it is in the clinical setting where the expectation of cultural competency is the most demanding. The re...

This feature explores the operation of individual markets. Patterns of behavior in markets for specific goods and services offer lessons about the determinants and effects of supply and demand, market structure, strategic behavior, and government regulation. Suggestions for future columns and comments on past ones should be sent to James R. Hines Jr., c/o Journal of Economic Perspectives, Depar...

The Rising Cost of Child Care in the United States: A Reassessment of the Evidence Anecdotal evidence suggests that the cost of child care in the U.S. has increased substantially over the past few decades. This paper marshals data from a variety of sources to rigorously assess the issue. It begins by using nationally representative survey data to trace the evolution in families’ child care expe...

This work is concerned with the application of game-theoretic principles to model competition between demand response aggregators for selling excess energy stored in electrochemical storage devices directly to other aggregators in a power market. This market framework is presented as an alternative to the traditional vertically-integrated market structure, which may be better suited for develop...

In a market system, regulations are designed to prevent or rectify market failures that inhibit fair exchange, such as monopoly or transactions with hidden costs. Because regulations reduce profits to those possessing unfair advantage, corporations (whether individuals, companies, or other collective organizations) are motivated to influence regulators. Regulatory bodies created to protect the ...

Functional foods and ingredients that are safe and efficacious have the potential for a positive impact on health. Current regulations in the United States governing claims about foods and dietary supplements, including functional foods and ingredients, are briefly reviewed. Research and communications challenges necessary to bring such products to the market are discussed.

the market for carbon dioxide rights emerged as one of the tools applicable to the implementation of the measures adopted by the kyoto protocol to combat climate change. in this paper we analyze the case of spain, because their peculiar administrative division into seventeen autonomous communities, it is relevant to a detailed study of emissions and allowances of the industries that make up ...

Becoming a democracy and having a market driven economy seem to be the goals of virtually every country in the world nowadays. The market system has led to a higher standard of living for more people than any other economic system yet invented. Similarly, democracy has brought the freedom to enjoy that standard of living to billions of people. The recent years have witnessed the transition from...