This paper develops a two-sector growth model in which institutional investors play a significant role. A necessary and suffi cient condition is established under which these investors own the entire capital stock in the long run. The dependence of the long-run growth rate on the behaviour of such investors, and the effects of a productivity increase are analysed. JEL classification. O41, O43 A...

Background: Rapidly increasing residential electricity demand has made raising energy efficiency an important policy issue in controlling electricity demand. Methods: This study uses a stochastic frontier model to estimate the residential electricity demand function and analyse electricity energy efficiency levels and their determinants using regional data on Japan. Results: The results confirm...

To investigate the energy performance of solar shading devices, this paper carried out a survey on the current status of solar shading utilization in buildings in Ningbo and performed building simulations to evaluate the energy savings potential by adopting different solar shading devices. Results show that solar shading utilization in this area is not popular and effective, and should be consi...

“Optimal Nonlinear Taxation of Income and Savings in a Two Class Economy”

This article discusses the possibility of an economic foundation for a work and savings ethic. In particular, James M. Buchanan has, in his late works, endorsed traditional ‘Puritan’ demands for working and saving more, while arguing that this is beneficial for all members of a society. I will question Buchanan’s analysis of the ‘Puritan’ ethic both in normative and methodological respects befo...

Since the early 1980s China has witnessed a rapid increase in its national savings rate to one of the highest rates in the world. Unlike the socialist period when consumption was repressed in order to redirect resources to investment, most of these savings are voluntary. This paper addresses why China’s savings rates are so high and the implications for China’s economy.

Values of travel time savings are often used in cost-benefit analysis of transport projects and policies, and also to compute generalised travel costs. There has been considerable debate as to whether different research methods (e.g. stated versus revealed preference) will lead to different values of travel time savings, and which segmentations (e.g. by income or mode) are most important to cap...

The precautionary savings model predicts that households accumulate wealth to self-insure against unexpected declines in future income and unforeseen expenditures. The goals of this study are twofold. First, we investigate whether the near-elderly who face higher health risks save more. Second, we examine the factors that contribute to health risks that the near-elderly face. We use data from t...

This study investigates the effect of horizontal acquisitions on target firms in China’s context. We examine how competitive and organizational similarity jointly affect cost savings, revenue growth and profitability improvement at the target in horizontal acquisitions. Using a dataset containing information on acquired firms in China’s beer industry, we find that the way in which competitive s...