We address the optimal timing of investment in gas pipelines when the demand for gas is stochastic. We will show that this is a problem that can be solved in theory, but the practical solution depends on functions and parameters that are either subjective or cannot be estimated. We will then...

This paper addresses the timing of optimal investment in LPG pipelines when the goal is to maximize consumer surplus less private cost and social of transporting LPG. The loss of consumer surplus is small. The important elements are the private cost of transporting LPG and the congestion created...

This paper presents a case study of regulation of natural gas pricing in Mexico as a case of “successful” policy research. Studies done under an academic agreement between the Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE) and the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City...

Regulation is a way of intervention of the public sector, which uses its legitimate and coercive power to establish restrictions to agent’s activities who participate in the market and guarantee the efficient allocation of goods and services and social welfare. In Colombia, as an interesting...

We estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of individuals to have increased spatial access to hospitals using a spatial hedonic price model. Employing a dataset of over 90,000 detailed housing observations, we find that WTP of individuals to live one mile closer to a hospital is positive if the...

In this first-time-ever such study of the adult female population in the state of Florida, the percentage of the women 18 to 44 years of age within each county in the state of Florida in 2007 who had received a Pap smear during the past year was a decreasing function of the percentage of women...

This study addresses a question that has not been researched much previously, namely, does the unavailability of health insurance act as an incentive for persons to enlist in the military in the U.S.? This relationship is proffered as the “Military Health Care Magnet Hypothesis.” The present...

Patient service satisfaction has become a critical concept, utilized both in the assessment of quality of care and to predict a range of health-related behaviors and outcomes. What can be said about patient satisfaction with faith-inspired institutions (FIIs) in the African context in comparison...

This paper relies on household survey data as well as qualitative fieldwork to answer two questions about the services provided by faith-inspired health care providers in Ghana: how satisfied are patients with the services received?; and why are patients choosing faith-inspired providers for...

Direct out-of-pocket payments for healthcare continue to be a major source of health financing in low-income and middle-income countries. Some of these direct payments take the form of informal charges paid by patients to access the needed healthcare services. Remarkably, however, little is...