This paper accounts for quality improvements and adjustment costs in all inputs to U.S. manufacturing production. Adjustment processes for non-capital inputs are slower than previously recognized. Annual adjustment percentages are: labor 77, capital 30, energy 20, and materials 21. Factor prices...

This paper develops a model incorporating costly disinvestment and estimates the associated commitment premium required to invest in telecommunications. Results indicate that the irreversibility premium raises the opportunity cost of capital by 70 percent. This implies an average annual hurdle...

This is the first paper to directly measure and decompose total factor productivity growth (TFPG) for the Canadian life insurance industry. TFPG averaged 1.0 percent per year over the period from 1979 to 1989, thereby outperforming many manufacturing industries. The rate of TFPG was 0.2 percent...

The purpose of this paper is to estimate a model incorporating noncompetitive behaviour in product and factor markets, In addition, capital accumulation is subject to adjustment costs so that firms are not constrained to be in long-run equilibrium. The model is applied to two major Canadian...

This paper develops a model of the production of life insurance services. The focus is on price setting ability and the cost advantages from size and diversity. The model characterizes insurers decisions on the face value and number of policies and the number of insurance lines. The model is...

This paper estimates and evaluates the contributions of R&D tax incentives and publicly financed R&D investment policies in promoting growth of output and privately funded R&D investment in US manufacturing industries. Publicly financed R&D induces cost savings but crowds out privately-financed...

In this paper we examine the effects of publicly financed infrastructure and R&D capital on the cost structure and productivity performance of twelve two-digit U.S. manufacturing industries. A general framework is developed to measure contribution of demand, relative input prices, technical...

In this paper the authors examine the effects of publicly financed infrastructure and R&D capitals on the cost structure and productivity performance of twelve two-digit U.S. manufacturing industries. The results suggest that there are significant productive effects from these two types of...

Despite the popularity of price cap regulation in practice, the economic literature provides relatively little guidance on how to determine the X factor, which is the rate at which inflation -adjusted output prices must fall under price cap plans. We review the standard principles that inform...