Harry Kitchen

A Statistical Estimation of an Operating Cost Function for Municipal Refuse Collection

This study is both an attempt to isolate those factors which contribute to the variation in average unit costs of collecting refuse and an attempt to examine the extent to which economies of scale exist. The model employed states that the average per capita cost to a municipality is a function of five categories of factors. Within the categories, a number of variables were postulated to have some significant effect on the per unit cost. However, the unavailability of some data and lack of variation in other data reduced the actual model so that in the final analysis ten variables were found to significantly affect costs. The results from the sample indicated that average costs increased in municipalities with populations of up to 324,000 and only began to fall when cities exceeded this size. A number of other variables exerted in one direction or another a significant effect on costs. A further statistical analysis of this sort may prove to be rather fruitless. What is perhaps needed is a more in-depth descriptive analysis of the institutional implications of the factors affecting the whole operation of refuse collection.

Determinants of charitable donations in Canada: a comparison over time

Two issues are examined. The statistical significance of a number of socio-economic factors that affect the level of charitable giving are evaluated. Family wealth and age of the head of household tend to be significant determinants of charitable giving, regardless of whether it is to all charities or to religious charities only. Such is not the case for the price of giving; for instance, the price of giving is an important determinant of all charitable contributions, but almost non-existent as a determinant for religious donations. Results such as this suggest that changes in marginal tax rates prompted by a switch to a tax credit as a substitute for a deduction, and hence a change in the price of giving, may have virtually no impact on contributions to religious organizations but may affect conntributions to other charitable organizations. The extent to which some socio-economic factors changed in relative importance as determinants of charitable giving from 1982 to 1986 is also reviewed.

Lottery expenditures in Canada: a regional analysis of determinants and incidence

This article examines two issues; first, it evaluates the statistical significance of a number of socio-economic and demographic variables on the level of household lottery expenditures in the six regions of Canada. While some household characteristics vary in the extent to which they significantly affect the level of lottery expenditures across regions (wealth, age, occupation, mother tongue and urban location, for example), others are significant in every region. Regional consistency exists in the statistical significance of after tax household income, sex and education of the head of household – lottery expenditures increase as incomes increase; lottery expenditures are significantly lower for female heads of households than for their male counterparts; lottery expenditures decline as the education level of the head of household increases. Second, lottery expenditures are found to be regressive, although the degree of regressivity is less than for lotteries in the United States.

Urban Transit Provision in Ontario: a Public/Private Sector Cost Comparison

This article finds statistically significant higher per-unit costs of delivering urban transit services through the public sector when compared with the private sector. This differential, it is suggested, is partially explained by lower hourly wages for transit operators (drivers) and greater vehicle use in privately contracted systems.