Browsing by Subject "Consumption (Economics)"
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Item A shopping center for Hot Springs Village, Arkansas / by John A. Corley.(Texas Tech University, 1977-12) Corley, John A.Not availableItem Bargaining, searching and price dispersion in consumption good markets(2008-12) Du, Yingjuan; Stahl, Dale O.In consumption goods markets, we observe both bargaining and searching. However, in this literature, very little work has been done to incorporate both features into one model. This study addresses this problem. In my first chapter, I add a bargaining parameter to a traditional sequential search model and solve for the new equilibrium in this set-up. Then, I do some comparative statics, changing the distribution of the bargaining parameter to see what happens to the equilibrium. Finally, I use the model to explain two seemingly contradicting empirical works in the literature of discrimination in the auto market. Ayres and Siegelman (1995), using data they collected from a controlled experiment, found that the initial offers for the minorities are higher. Yet Goldberg (1996), using consumer expenditure survey data (CES), reported that there is no significant difference between the final prices for minorities and non-minorities. My model reconciles these two results and shows that if minorities have a more dispersed bargaining parameter distribution and if the final transaction prices are the same at the mean level, then the initial offer distribution for the minorities first-order stochastically dominates that for the non-minorities. In my second chapter, I investigate how the bargaining process affects firms’ offer distribution and thus the final price distribution. Based on Varian (1980), I add a bargaining parameter into the model, and solve for the new equilibrium in this set up. Then, I do some comparative statics, changing the distribution of the bargaining parameter to see what would happen to the equilibrium. This model yields the same results as the first chapter. In the third chapter, I applied my theoretical model to the automobile market, and empirically test the model. I used CES data, and my findings support the theoretical model. The minority dummies are not significant in determining the mean level of consumers’ bargaining ability distribution, but are significantly positive in determining the variance of the distribution.Item Expenditure patterns within an occupational group: teachers and non-teachers(Texas Tech University, 2004-05) Salim, Juma KNumerous studies of expenditure patterns have been conducted over aggregated occupational categories. However, there are few studies that specifically compare and contrast expenditure patterns among industry groups within an occupational field. This research examined the hypothesis that teachers' expenditure patterns were lower than administrators/managers and professionals who are grouped together in the manager/professional occupational field by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It was also hypothesized that there were statistically significant differences in expenditure patterns within each industry group while controlling for some socio-demographic factors and consumer life cycle variables. The sample size of 3,976 was drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) interview tapes for the years 1995 through 2001. It consisted of 611 teachers, 1,353 administrators/managers, and 2,012 professionals. Multivariate Tobit analysis was used to examine statistical relationships related to expenditures for each of the groups of interest. Fourteen consumption categories (food at home, food away from home, alcoholic beverages, housing, apparel and services, transportation, health care, entertainment, personal care, reading materials, education, miscellaneous expenditures, cash contributions, and personal insurance and pensions) were treated as dependent variables and regressed against total expenditure (as a proxy for income), life cycle variables, region of residence, race/ethnicity, occupation, gender, and education of the reference persons. The descriptive analysis of the expenditure patterns illustrated that differences existed among administrators/managers, teachers, and professionals with respect to their distributions of expenditures. Findings indicated not only how industry group membership influences spending over the life cycle, but also ways in which consumer units make substitutions in consumption to meet their needs. The average total expenditures by teachers were lower by 15.3% and 16.5% than those of professionals and administrators/managers respectively. The total expenditure (as a proxy for income) was a driving force in determining the level of expense for all expenditure categories investigated. Occupation was shown to have significant effects for most items also. Various life cycle stages and other socio-demographic factors such as region of residence, race of the reference person, educational attainment, occupational group, and sex of the reference person were all found to be significant determinants of the pattern of expenditures within each occupational group. Statistically significant differences in spending patterns among teacher, professional, and administrator/manager consumer units were found for nine out of fourteen expenditure categories after controlling for socio-demographic factors. The findings have important implications for various agencies of the government at the federal, state and local levels, and for the business sector as well. They can facilitate development of a useful public policy and programs by government or community agencies that may help in reducing the recruitment and retention problems facing the education sector in the U.S. Businesses can use the results of this study as a guide for market segmentation in the potential areas.Item Residential housing, household portfolio, and intertemporal elasticity of substitution(2005) Hasanov, Fuad; Dacy, Douglas C.Item The effect of taxes on debt-financed consumption(Texas Tech University, 2001-12) Noga, Tracy JeanAn extensive body of tax literature posits that taxpayers respond to changes in tax laws, especially marginal tax rates. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA 86) reduced marginal tax rates and phased out the tax deduction for personal interest, across time eliminating the tax subsidy on personal interest available to individual taxpayers. This was done in an attempt to encourage savings. Prior research regarding the effects of these changes on debt levels of individuals is limited. As a result, conclusive evidence does not exist regarding the results of the TRA 86 in the area of debt financed consumption. Additionally, up to this point virtually all research in the area has been at a macroeconomic level. This study, through the use of panel data, links the microeconomic behavior of individual taxpayers to previous macroeconomic findings by providing evidence that taxpayers are sensitive to the changes in after tax cost of debt and subsequently on debt financed consumption. The study also finds that lasticities may change over time as well as vary by income level. In a time of increasing consumer debt and decreasing household savings, these findings are likely to have important implications in future policy changes. Lastly, taxpayer elasticity estimates have historically been subject to the methodological choices of the researchers. This study compares several methods of analysis (random coefficient regression, fixed effects model, random intercept model, first difference regression, and difference in difference regression) and provides insight into the relatively better predictor for debt levels of individuals.