Publications - 2010
An equilibrium theory of learning, search, and wagesGonzalez, Francisco M. and Shi, Shouyong | |
A Primal Divisia Technical Change Index Based on the Output Distance FunctionFeng, Guohua and Serletis, Apostolos | |
Comparing Public and Private Hospitals in China: Evidence from GuangdongEggleston, Karen, Lu, Mingshan, Wang, Jian and Zhang, Jing | |
Contract Stability and Private Infrastructure InvestmentWen, Jean-Francois and Yilmaz, Fatih | |
Escaping the Climate Change Quagmire: First Do No Harm. International Energy Workshop; Stockholm, Sweeden; JuneGaisford, James, Sagidova, J. and Still, D. | |
Estimating the impact of refinery outages on petroleum product pricesKendix, M. and Walls, W. D. | |
Existence AdvertisingEaton, B. Curtis, Ian MacDonald and Laura Meriluoto | |
From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Meeting the Climate Change ChallengeGaisford, James | |
General stable models of the rate of return to Hollywood filmsWalls, W. D. | |
General stable models of the rate of return to Hollywood filmsWalls, W. D.We use the non-symmetric stable distribution to quantify the returns to investments in motion pictures to properly account for asymmetry and infinite variance. We first quantify the unconditional distribution of returns using the normal distribution, the symmetric stable distribution, and the non-symmetric stable distribution and find that the normal and symmetric stable models can be rejected in favor of the non-symmetric stable model. We then model the parameters of the non-symmetric stable distribution---location, dispersion, skewness, and tail exponent---as functions of explanatory variables including a film's budget, presence of marquee (star) talent, and the number of screens on which a film is shown. The location of the returns distribution is increasing in budgets, marquee talent reduces dispersion, and the tail exponent is increasing in a film's budget. Even though the variance of film returns is infinite---so that point predictions have no precision---it is possible to model accurately the conditional probability distribution of film returns. Practical implications and applications of the results are discussed. | |
Government Oversight of Public Universities: Are Centralized Performance Schemes Related to Increased Quantity or Quality?Roberts, Joanne and Payne, A. Abigail | |
Image BuildingEaton, B. Curtis and White, D. William in Eaton, B. Curtis, Dow, K. Gregory, Eckert, Andrew and West, Douglas Industrial organization, trade, and social interaction : essays in honour of B. Curtis Eaton | |
Learning by Doing, Knowledge Spillovers, and Technological and Organizational Change in High-Altitude MountaineeringBoyce, John and Diane P. Bischak | |
Macroeconomics: A Modern Approach.Barro, Robert J. and Serletis, Apostolos | |
Market-Based Policy Instruments, Irrigation Water Demand, and Crop Diversification in the Bow River Basin of Southern AlbertaHe, Lixia and Horbulyk, Ted | |
Oil industry consolidation and refined product prices: Evidence from US wholesale gasoline terminalsKendix, M. and Walls, W. D. | |
Oil Price UncertaintyElder, John and Serletis, Apostolos | |
Optimal Privatization of Vertical Public UtilitiesWen, Jean-Francois and Yuan, Lasheng | |
Petroleum refining industry in ChinaWalls, W. D. | |
Putting Foxes in Charge of the Hen-House: The Political Economy of Harvest Quota AllocationsBoyce, John | |
Short and medium term effects of parental leave on child outcomesZarrabi, Mahmood | |
Superstars and heavy tails in recorded entertainment: Empirical analysis of the market for DVDsWalls, W. D.This research presents a systematic empirical analysis of the market for digital versatile discs (DVDs). We examine a sample of 953 DVD titles that appeared on the weekly top-30 sales charts in North America over a 30-month interval. We find that the size distribution of weekly DVD sales revenue does not indicate the presence of increasing returns to information. The empirical results for DVD sales contrast starkly with previous results obtained for motion-picture box-office revenue, where a number of researchers have found evidence of positive feedback in demand. While the distribution of cumulative revenues across DVDs is highly unequal, the DVD market appears not to be characterized by the extreme heavy upper tail that so well describes the winner-take-all nature of the distribution of box-office success across motion pictures. | |
Superstars and heavy tails in recorded entertainment: Empirical analysis of the market for DVDsWalls, W. D. | |
Taxation and R&D: An Investigation of Push and Pull EffectsMcKenzie, Kenneth James and Sershun, Natalia | |
The Efficiency of Direct Public Involvement in Environmental Policy Making: An Experimental TestBruce, Christopher and Clarik, Jeremy | |
“The Fertility Decisions of Canadian ImmigrantsFerrer, Ana and Adsera, Alicia in Canadian Research on Immigration | |
The Green Solow ModelTaylor, M. Scott | |
The Impact of Disability on Earnings and Labour Force Participation in Canada: Evidence from the 2001 PALS and from Canadian Case LawCara L. Brown and Emery, Herbert | |
The Impact of Goods and Services Tax on the Pattern of Canadian Consumer Spending and SavingLian, Zeng (Alan) and Emanuel Carvalho | |
The Value of Information in RegulationMagesan, Arvind and Turner, Matthew | |
Treatment Progress and Patient Compliance in Alcohol TherapyLien, Hsienming, Lu, Mingshan, Ma, Ching-to Albert and McGuire, G. Thomas | |
"Un-American" or Unnecessary? America's Rejection of compulsory government health insurance in the Progressive EraEmery, Herbert | |
UNDP Regional Human Development Report for Perm Krai 2010Isakin, Maksim, Natalia Zubarevich, Sergey Bobylev, Valeriy Sukhikh and et al. |