Efficiencies of Scale in Local Public Good Provision: Estimation via Coalition Panel Data
2012/05/29
研討會日期 : 2012-05-29
時間 : 14:30
主講人 : Professor Eric Weese
地點 : Conference Room B110
演講者簡介 : Eric Weese received his Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009. He is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Economics at Yale University. His research field is in political economy, economic development and economic growth.
演講摘要 : Preferences of players in a coalition formation game can be estimated using a constrained maximum likelihood approach if there if there is data available for two periods, where coalition were formed in only one of these periods due to an exogenous change, such as a new policy instituted by a higher level of government. Using this technique, revealed preference data from two sets of Japanese municipal mergers is compared with official Japanese ministry estimates of efficiencies of scale in the production of local public goods. The official estimates state that public goods which cost $10,000 per capita to provide in a municipality with a population of 1,000 can be provided for $1,200 per capita in a municipality with a population of 100,000. Actual returns to scale appear to be over 70% of these official estimates. The null hypothesis of zero returns to scale is rejected.
