We study when two-member household choice behavior is compatible with Pareto optimality. We ask when an external observer of household choices, who does not know the individuals’ preferences, can rationalize the choices as being Pareto-optimal. Our main contribution is to reduce the problem of rationalization to a graph-coloring problem. As a result, we obtain simple tests for Pareto optimal ch...

Migration, Transfers and Child Labor We examine agricultural child labor in the context of emigration, transfers, and the ability to hire outside labor. We start by developing a theoretical background based on Basu and Van, (1998), Basu, (1999) and Epstein and Kahana (2008) and show how hiring labor from outside the household and transfers to the household might induce a reduction in children’s...

This paper provides a brief overview of the theoretical literature on how organisations provide employees with incentives to act in its interest and on the suitability of incentive schemes in different environments. Attention is drawn to areas that are appropriate to public sector organisations. A selection of relevant empirical literature is reviewed and related to the theory. JEL Classificati...

This paper analyzes price elasticities in the Austrian market for mobile telecommunications services using data on firm specific tariffs. Both static and a dynamic panel data approaches lead to consistent results which provide evidence for a relatively elastic demand. Furthermore, some basic facts on the Austrian mobile telephone sector are presented. JEL-Classification: C23, L13, L96.

This study overviews sustainable development goals (SDGs) and energy transition (SET) then examines − sub-Sahara Africa’s (SSA) participation in SET; challenges of power inadequacy, exploitation, deployment zero-carbon based energy; steps to fast track renewable (RE) utilisation. The identifies factors responsible for inadequacy the region include poor equipment manufacturing infrastructure, pi...

This paper shows that state control of some industries may have contributed to the increase in European unemployment from the 1970s to the early 1990s. We develop a simple model with both publicly-run and privately-run enterprises and show that when economic turbulence increases, higher unemployment rates may result in economies that have a larger public sector. JEL Classification: E240, J450, ...

Interference across competing firms in RCTs can be informative about market structure. An experiment that subsidizes a random subset of traders who buy cocoa from farmers Sierra Leone illustrates this idea. Interpreting treatment-control differences prices and quantities purchased through model Cournot competition reveals differentiation between is low. Combining result with quasi-experimental ...

This paper examines how subsistence farmers respond to extreme heat. Using microdata from Peruvian households, we find that high temperatures reduce agricultural productivity, increase area planted, and change crop mix. These findings are consistent with using input adjustments as a short-term mechanism attenuate the effect of heat on output. response seems complement other coping strategies, s...

The integration of markets may improve efficiency by lowering costs or reducing local market power. India, seeking to reduce electricity shortages, recently set up a market for power trade, in which transmission constraints bind nearly half the time, limiting competition between regions and raising prices by forty percent. I use confidential data on bidding to estimate the costs of electricity ...

The literature argues that income growth leads to increased demand for environmental quality and thus reduction in pollution. Using a utility theoretic model, we hypothesize that the income±pollution relationship should depend on the level of disamenity of the pollutant. We proxy for disamenity using the toxicity of releases. For counties in the United States, the functional relationship betwee...