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Het vertrek van Ford Genk heeft nogmaals aangetoond hoe broos onze economische welvaart is. Door de fabriekssluiting worden niet alleen de Ford-werknemers zwaar getroffen; ook de werknemers bij de talrijke toeleveranciers delen in de... more
Het vertrek van Ford Genk heeft nogmaals aangetoond hoe broos onze economische welvaart is. Door de fabriekssluiting worden niet alleen de Ford-werknemers zwaar getroffen; ook de werknemers bij de talrijke toeleveranciers delen in de klappen. In deze studie proberen we een zicht te krijgen op de economische impact van de sluiting van Ford Genk op Limburg én Vlaanderen. Met andere woorden: hoe diep is de economische put die wordt gegraven door de fabriekssluiting? We maken een vertaling van de sluiting van Ford Genk in termen van verlies aan omzet, banen (arbeidsplaatsen), welvaart (bruto toegevoegde waarde) en koopkracht (consumptieve bestedingen). Daarnaast zoeken we naar factoren die een belangrijke bijdrage hebben geleverd aan de economische groei (of groei van de arbeidsproductiviteit) in Limburg, en becijferen we in welke mate deze groei bedreigd wordt door de fabriekssluiting. Het is niet de bedoeling van deze studie om beleidsvoorstellen aan te reiken. Er worden dus geen antw...
... GILBERT SWINNEN ... Die enquêtering stelt innovatie te abstract en is gefocust op for-mele kenmerken zoals O&O-activiteit en octrooigebruik die ... Blijkbaar is het moeilijk om andere innovatiekenmerken voldoende expliet te maken,... more
... GILBERT SWINNEN ... Die enquêtering stelt innovatie te abstract en is gefocust op for-mele kenmerken zoals O&O-activiteit en octrooigebruik die ... Blijkbaar is het moeilijk om andere innovatiekenmerken voldoende expliet te maken, bv bij het gebruik van ideeën van de werkvloer ...
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This paper reviews the 'state of the art' in the field of modelling feed demand in the EC. After presenting a general conceptual framework, several methods for empirically estimating feed demand responses to prices changes are... more
This paper reviews the 'state of the art' in the field of modelling feed demand in the EC. After presenting a general conceptual framework, several methods for empirically estimating feed demand responses to prices changes are classified. Also, a method is proposed for econometrically estimating (1) the allocation of feed ingredients among different livestock categories, (2) the composition of the various livestock rations, and (3) feed input demand elasticities differentiated according to type of livestock, by using aggregate market data. The potentials of this method for covering all marketable feed ingredients will be explored. In conclusion, some pending research issues will be discussed
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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has an ongoing research program to provide information on the effect of potential agricultural policy and technology scenarios on the environment and the economic conditions, behavior and... more
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has an ongoing research program to provide information on the effect of potential agricultural policy and technology scenarios on the environment and the economic conditions, behavior and performance in the agriculture sector. Included in this work program is a project to improve our farm level data on cost of production and farm management practices for economic and environmental analysis. As part of this effort to improve our data, this report evaluates an analytical method, called Maximum Entropy (ME), for its effectiveness in extracting detailed, enterprise level, cost of production information from whole-farm data. The ME method has been shown to be a promising and cost-effective option for obtaining these enterprise-level estimates from whole-farm data sets already available.
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This study contributes to the debate on accessibility of higher education in Chile, with a special focus on the geospatial dimension of access to university studies. This paper addresses the central question of whether geography (physical... more
This study contributes to the debate on accessibility of higher education in Chile, with a special focus on the geospatial dimension of access to university studies. This paper addresses the central question of whether geography (physical distance and neighborhood effects) plays a significant role in determining the accessibility of higher education to students in Chile. We use Heckman probit-type (Heckit) models to adjust for selection during application for higher education—that is, pre-selection among applications to study at university and, ultimately, admission (or denial) to a higher educational institution. Of all high school graduates who took the university selection test (PSU), only 37.9% were able to attend higher education. The results show that the geospatial elements—neighborhood characteristics and distance from the city of Santiago—have a significant local effect on the student’s application and access to Chilean universities. Specifically, the most significant local...
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An aggregator model of feed input demand in the Benelux compound feed sectors: a preliminary analysis
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In this paper, I present an empirical study of aggregate inter-state migration in Mexico in the period 1995-2000. The study contributes to the empirical literature on migration in a number of ways. Firstly, I show that the gravity model... more
In this paper, I present an empirical study of aggregate inter-state migration in Mexico in the period 1995-2000. The study contributes to the empirical literature on migration in a number of ways. Firstly, I show that the gravity model in levels (Poisson model) provides a more realistic description of the migration process than a model in logs (log-linear model). Secondly, I develop a more flexible model by relaxing the standard assumption of spatial invariance (constancy) of the distance-decay parameter. This added flexibility should allow one to account for the effects of ‘idiosyncratic’ ties between origin and destination states (imperfect information). Thirdly, the model attempts to bring together elements from both the neo-classical (economic opportunities) and the cumulative-causation (migrant networks) perspectives on migration. Finally, the model is estimated by using the ‘non-classical’ generalized maximum-entropy method to cope with overparameterization in a cross-section...
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This study contributes to the debate on accessibility of higher education in Chile, focusing on both socioeconomic and geospatial dimensions of access to university study. The central question we address in this paper is the following:... more
This study contributes to the debate on accessibility of higher education in Chile, focusing on both socioeconomic and geospatial dimensions of access to university study. The central question we address in this paper is the following: Does geography (physical distance and neighborhood effects) play a significant role in determining accessibility of higher education in Chile? We use Heckman probit-type (Heckit) models to adjust for selection in the process of completing the trajectory towards higher education – that is, pre-selection, application to study at university, and ultimately admission (or denial) to a higher education institution. The results shows that the geospatial elements have a significant local effect on the student’s application and access to Chilean universities.
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Cette communication a pour objet de discuter l'application de l'approche "fonction de cout" a la mesure des innovations induites par les prix dans les processus de production (i.e. affectant les proportions... more
Cette communication a pour objet de discuter l'application de l'approche "fonction de cout" a la mesure des innovations induites par les prix dans les processus de production (i.e. affectant les proportions d'intrants). Vu comme etant le resultat d'une decision intertemporelle d'investissement fondee sur les prix, le progres technique est modelise de maniere dynamique (en utilisant des prix decales). Les modeles empiriques presentes dans cette communication permettent de distinguer les effets "purs" de substitution pour un etat de la technologie donne et ceux resultant d'un changement du progres technique induits par les prix. De plus, les variantes en "variation" et en "niveau" propres a l'hypothese d'innovation induite, observees par Olmstead et Rhode (1993) sont identifiees. Des specifications dynamiques alternatives reposant sur l'utilisation des formes fonctionnelles flexibles sont estimees. Bien que l&...
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This paper proposes a multiple-output Symmetric Generalised McFadden (SGM) cost function, incorporating both exogenous and endogenous technological change. Whilst exogenous technological change is captured by the usual time trend,... more
This paper proposes a multiple-output Symmetric Generalised McFadden (SGM) cost function, incorporating both exogenous and endogenous technological change. Whilst exogenous technological change is captured by the usual time trend, endogenous or price-induced technological change is cast within a partial-adjustment framework involving lagged input prices. The study points to various dimensions or components of technological change, and allows to disentangle pure factor substitution, given the state of the technology, from factor substitution due to price-induced changes in technology. Under the conditions of non-jointness in input quantities, the model further allows to identify technological change biases for each output separately. An empirical application is presented in which the proposed model is applied to time-series data on the feed manufacturing industry in Belgium. To improve on the econometrics, the SGM cost function also incorporates linear splines.
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This paper investigates inter-municipal migration flows in Belgium using a Poisson gravity model. Besides distance, the model also includes municipal-specific factors as explanatory variables. The model is tested using aggregate,... more
This paper investigates inter-municipal migration flows in Belgium using a Poisson gravity model. Besides distance, the model also includes municipal-specific factors as explanatory variables. The model is tested using aggregate, cross-sectional, data on migrations between the municipalities of the Belgian province of Limburg, over the period 1998-2003. The model assumes heterogeneity of the distance-deterrence effect. The model also accounts for unobserved origin/destination characteristics. To overcome the problem of under-determinacy, we use the method of Generalized Cross-Entropy estimation. A number of major findings stand out. Firstly, we find evidence of a "U-shaped" relationship between the distance-deterrence elasticity and distance, where the distance elasticity is smaller for short-distance moves. Secondly, distance between origin and destination reinforces (attenuates) the pull effect of local employment opportunities (amenities). This finding may indicating a ...
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ABSTRACT In this study a hedonic model is applied to the farmland market in the Campine region, an area in Belgium which is historically contaminated with particularly cadmium (Cd). Therefore, predicted soil Cd concentrations are related... more
ABSTRACT In this study a hedonic model is applied to the farmland market in the Campine region, an area in Belgium which is historically contaminated with particularly cadmium (Cd). Therefore, predicted soil Cd concentrations are related to farmland values in order to verify the impact on farmland pricing. In a complementary analysis of Flemish environmental policies the objective was to reveal in which way potential land buyers are informed about the presence of anomalous elements. Linear and quantile regressions indicated no significant effect from Cd concentrations on farmland prices. However, the policy analysis indicated that the policy instrument for informing land buyers on soil quality is not required to contain information about anomalous elements in case of historic soil pollution. Consequently, a lack of awareness with respect to soil contaminants among farmland buyers might be an explanatory factor for the results of the hedonic model.
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This paper presents a multicommodity price-endogenous spatial equilibrium model of the (European Community) EC feed grain sector. The model incorporates nonintegrable feed grain demand functions which were estimated using a pseudodata... more
This paper presents a multicommodity price-endogenous spatial equilibrium model of the (European Community) EC feed grain sector. The model incorporates nonintegrable feed grain demand functions which were estimated using a pseudodata approach based on a set of representative least-cost LP models of compound feed production in the EC. The price and quantity impacts of three "rebalancing" EC policies are investigated within a comparative statics framework: the abolition of the green rates or Monetary Compensatory Amounts (MCA) system, a 10% cut in support prices for EC grains, and a 10% tax on the use of imported cereal substitutes. Both "short-run" (constant livestock output) and "long-run" (variable livestock output) results are reported at the EC level.
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ABSTRACT The estimation of gravity models of internal (aggregate) place‐to‐place migration is plagued with endogeneity (omitted‐variable) biases if the unobserved effects of spatial structure are not accounted for. To address this... more
ABSTRACT The estimation of gravity models of internal (aggregate) place‐to‐place migration is plagued with endogeneity (omitted‐variable) biases if the unobserved effects of spatial structure are not accounted for. To address this econometric problem, this paper presents a more general specification of the gravity model, which allows for (bilateral) parameter heterogeneity across individual migration paths — along with (unilateral) origin‐ and destination‐specific effects. The resultant “three‐way fixed‐effects” (3FE) model is applied for an analysis of interstate migration in Mexico based on cross‐sectional data. To overcome parameter‐dimensionality problems (due to limited or incomplete information), the 3FE model is estimated using the Generalized Maximum Entropy (GME) estimator. The empirical implications of this new modeling strategy are illustrated by contrasting the 3FE‐GME estimates with those for the traditional and two‐way fixed‐effects (2FE) models. The former are far more plausible and intuitively interpretable than their traditional and 2FE counterparts, with parameter estimates changing in expected directions. The (average) effect of the migrant stock is markedly smaller than usually estimated, providing a more realistic measure of network‐induced migration. Migration outflows from centrally located origins have significantly steeper distance decay. Path‐specific distance effects exhibit directional asymmetries and spatial similarities.
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ABSTRACT In this paper, a multicommodity price-endogenous spatial equilibrium model of the EC-9 feed-grain sector is presented. Nonintegrable (asymmetric) feed-grain demand functions are estimated for each EC member country using a pseudo... more
ABSTRACT In this paper, a multicommodity price-endogenous spatial equilibrium model of the EC-9 feed-grain sector is presented. Nonintegrable (asymmetric) feed-grain demand functions are estimated for each EC member country using a pseudo data approach based on a set of representative least-cost feedmix models. The price and quantity impacts of three "harmonizing" EC policies are investigated within a comparative statics framework: the abolition of monetary compensatory amounts, a 10 percent cut in EC grain support prices, and a 10 percent tax on the use of major imported "cereal substitutes." Copyright 1990 by Oxford University Press.
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ABSTRACT We estimate firm-specific cash-flow sensitivities of investment for a panel of manufacturing SMEs, using the generalized maximum entropy-estimator(GME). Since this estimator easily allows for slope heterogeneity, we no longer... more
ABSTRACT We estimate firm-specific cash-flow sensitivities of investment for a panel of manufacturing SMEs, using the generalized maximum entropy-estimator(GME). Since this estimator easily allows for slope heterogeneity, we no longer have to rely on ex-ante sample splitting, which has been common practice in this literature. The results show a wide variation in individual sensitivities in every year, demonstrating the relevance of estimating firm-specific coefficients rather than an aggregate coefficient for assumed sub-samples. On the basis of the distribution of estimated sensitivities, differences in financial profile and financing behaviour between high sensitivity firms and the remainder of the sample were analysed. The results provide evidence for the existence of financial constraints for the high sensitivity sub-sample based on financial profile, but not on the actual use of various funding sources.