Essays in Personal Transportation Demand and Consumer Finance

This dissertation is composed of three essays covering two areas of interest. The first topic is personal transportation demand with a focus on price and fuel efficiency elasticities of mileage demand, challenging assumptions common in the rebound effect literature. The second topic is consumer finance with a focus on small loans. The first chapter creates separate variables for fuel prices during periods of increasing and decreasing prices as well as an observed fuel economy measure to empirically test the equivalence of these elasticities. Using a panel from Germany from 1997 to 2009 I find a fuel economy elasticity of mileage of 53.3%, which is significantly different from the gas price elasticity of mileage during periods of decreasing gas prices, 4.8%. I reject the null hypothesis or price symmetry, with the elasticity of mileage during period of increasing gas prices ranging from 26.2% and 28.9%. The second chapter explores the potential for the rebound effect to vary with income. Panel data from U.S. households from 1997 to 2003 is used to estimate the rebound effect in a median regression. The estimated rebound effect independent of income ranges from 17.8% to 23.6%. An interaction of income and fuel economy is negative and significant, indicating that the rebound effect may be much higher for low income individuals and decreases with income; the rebound effect for low income households ranged from 80.3% to 105.0%, indicating that such households may increase gasoline consumption given an improvement in fuel economy. The final chapter documents the costs of credit instruments found in major mail order catalogs throughout the 20th century. This study constructs a new dataset and finds that the cost of credit increased and became stickier as mail order retailers switched from an installment-style closed-end loan to a revolving-style credit card. This study argues that revolving credit's ability to decrease salience of credit costs in the price of goods is the best explanation for rate stickiness in the mail order industry as well as for the preference of revolving credit among retailers.

What Transaction Costs are Acceptable in Life Insurance Products from the Policyholders' Viewpoint?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze what transaction costs are acceptable for customers in different investments. In this study, two life insurance contracts, a mutual fund and a risk-free investment, as alternative investment forms are considered. The first two products under scrutiny are a life insurance investment with a point-to-point capital guarantee and a participating contract with an annual interest rate guarantee and participation in the insurer's surplus. The policyholder assesses the various investment opportunities using different utility measures. For selected types of risk profiles, the utility position and the investor's preference for the various investments are assessed. Based on this analysis, the authors study which cost levels can make all of the products equally rewarding for the investor. Design/methodology/approach - The paper notes the risk-neutral valuation calibration using empirical data utility and performance measurement dynamics underlying: geometric Brownian motion numerical examples via Monte Carlo simulation. Findings - In the first step, the financial performance of the various saving opportunities under different assumptions of the investor's utility measurement is studied. In the second step, the authors calculate the level of transaction costs that are allowed in the various products to make all of the investment opportunities equally rewarding from the investor's point of view. A comparison of these results with transaction costs that are common in the market shows that insurance companies must be careful with respect to the level of transaction costs that they pass on to their customers to provide attractive payoff distributions. Originality/value - To the best of the authors' knowledge, their research question - i.e. which transaction costs for life insurance products would be acceptable from the customer's point of view - has not been studied in the above described context so far.

Is the supply of long-term debt independent of the term premia? Evidence from Portugal

An important assumption in the statistical analysis of the financial market effects of the central bank’s large scale asset purchase program is that the "long-term debt stock variables were exogenous to term premia". We test this assumption for a small open economy in a currency union over the period 2000M3 to 2015M10, via the determinants of short- term financing relative to long-term financing. Empirical estimations indicate that the maturity composition of debt does not respond to the level of interest rate or to the term structure. These findings suggest a lower adherence to the cost minimization mandate of debt management. However, we find that volatility and relative market size respectively decrease and increase short-term financing relative to long-term financing, while it decreases with an increase in government indebtedness.

Huambo Microbiology Laboratory : economical and financial viability

Mestrado em Finanças

Avaliação de produtos naturais no controle de biofilmes formados em sistema dinâmico

The biofilms microbial forms of association are responsible for generating, accelerating and / or induce the process of corrosion. The damage generated in the petroleum industry for this type of corrosion is significatives, representing major investment for your control. The aim of this study was to evaluate such tests antibiograms the effects of extracts of Jatropha curcas and essential oil of Lippia gracilis Schauer on microrganisms isolated from water samples and, thereafter, select the most effective natural product for further evaluation of biofilms formed in dynamic system. Extracts of J. curcas were not efficient on the complete inhibition of microbial growth in tests type antibiogram, and essential oil of L. gracilis Schauer most effective and determined for the other tests. A standard concentration of essential oil of 20 μL was chosen and established for the evaluation of the biofilms and the rate of corrosion. The biocide effect was determined by microbial counts of five types of microorganisms: aerobic bacteria, precipitating iron, total anaerobic, sulphate reducers (BRS) and fungi. The rate of corrosion was measured by loss of mass. Molecular identification and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed. The data showed reduction to zero of the most probable number (MPN) of bacteria precipitating iron and BRS from 115 and 113 minutes of contact, respectively. There was also inhibited in fungi, reducing to zero the rate of colony-forming units (CFU) from 74 minutes of exposure. However, for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria there was no significant difference in the time of exposure to the essential oil, remaining constant. The rate of corrosion was also influenced by the presence of oil. The essential oil of L. gracilis was shown to be potentially effective

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.

The economic situation

This is a quarterly newsletter on the economy written by Senior Fellow Bruce Yandle, Clemson Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and Interim Dean of Clemson's College of Business & Behavioral Science. The newsletter provides an analysis of national, regional, and state economic trends and activity. Each issue gives an update on GDP growth, interest rate trends, and comments on major events that affect the economic outlook.