Michael Nieswiadomy

Estimating urban residential water demand: Effects of price structure, conservation, and education

Water demand equations are estimated using the most current American Water Works Association (1984) survey of 430 (of 600 largest) U.S. utilities. The data set was augmented by monthly rainfall and temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations climatological data. Demographic data were obtained from the U.S. Department of Commerce (1988). Besides the usual endogeneity problems involving block price structures this paper also examines the possible endogeneity of conservation and education programs. Three types of models were used: a marginal price model, an average price model, and Shins (1985) price perception model. The results generally show that price elasticity is higher in the South and the West. Conservation does not appear to reduce water use, but public education appears to have reduced water usage in the West. The Shin (1985) tests in this study indicate that consumers react more to average than marginal prices in all regions.

A dynamic model of adaptation to resource depletion: theory and an application to groundwater mining

Abstract This research develops an optimal control model that incorporates the opportunity for adaptation to resource depletion. In the context of groundwater mining for agricultural production, two traits supplement a conventional intertemporal depletion path: the relative allocation of groundwater among irrigated crops and endogenous switch times describing an intertemporal cropping pattern. Both planning and common property equilibria are derived. Results from an application to the Texas High Plains include: transition away from irrigation of sorghum occurs twice as fast when done optimally, and benefit to groundwater management ranges between

The Demand for Irrigation Water in the High Plains of Texas, 1957–80

0.36 to

Estimating worklife expectancy: an econometric approach

4.16 million as the interest rate varies from five to two percent.

Detailed Estimation of Worklife Expectancy for the Measurement of Human Capital: Accounting for Marriage and Children

A new method of calculating groundwater pumpage is used to estimate water demand. These results are used, via the Gisser-Sanchez model, to show that pumpage regulation is unlikely to be beneficial in the Texas High Plains. A sensitivity analysis is performed on present value profits under optimal control and competitive schemes, using different (water demand) slope and intercept values. The results indicate that the Gisser-Sanchez rule is useful in determining the divergence in pumpage time paths and percentage difference in profits, under the two schemes, but it is not insightful in determining the nominal difference in profits.

LSAT Scores of Economics Majors.

This paper presents new estimates of worklife expectancy and introduces a new methodology for estimating the transition probabilities necessary to derive the worklife estimates. Our procedures incorporate significantly more information into the labor supply decision and result in more precise estimates of worklife expectancy.

Economic inequality and the environment

Measuring an individuals human capital at a point in time as the present actuarial value of expected net lifetime earnings has a lengthy history. Calculating such measures requires accurate estimates of worklife expectancy. Here, worklife estimates for men and women in the USA categorized by educational attainment, race, marital status, parental status and current labour force status are presented. Race has a much larger impact on the worklife expectancy of men than women. Education is associated with larger worklife differentials for women. The association between marriage and worklife expectancy is significant, but of opposite sign, for men and women: married women (men) have a lower (higher) worklife expectancy than single women (men). Parenthood is associated with a reduction in the worklife expectancy of women; the association is smaller and varies from positive for some education/marital status groups to negative for others for men.

Are net discount ratios stationary?: the implications for present value calculations

Students often ask economics department advisers about the advantages of majoring in economics. The usual reply is that an economics major provides several benefits, such as the ability to earn higher salaries, to analyze interesting problems, and to be flexible enough to adapt to the dynamic economy in which we live. Economics also provides a good foundation for several graduate degrees. Because many economics majors go on to law school each year, it would be useful to know if they are well prepared. However, no published reports of Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores exist by major. I collected data for 1991-1992 and 1994-1995 on the LSAT scores of various majors to address this question. I found that economics majors performed at or near the top of all majors taking the test.

On the empirical relationship between several well-known inequality measures

Abstract This paper analyzes the relationship between the level of income inequality and the quality of the environment (as measured by sulfur dioxide air pollution levels) in the US for the years 1947–1996, using a vector error correction model. We find that air pollution levels do appear to be negatively significantly correlated with the level of income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient), that is, income inequality decreases as pollution increases. Furthermore, the quality of the environment appears to affect different portions of the observed income graduation differently. For the lowest two quintiles, higher pollution is associated with an increase in their share of total US income, while for the highest quintile, higher pollution is associated with a decrease in their share of total US income.

African Elephants: The Effect of Property Rights and Political Stability

Article discussing research analyzing the relationship between real interest rates and real growth rates in wages.