As public intervention is a pervasive influence on food prices, this paper asks whether and how the inefficiency of state institutions matters to food prices. In the context of the wheat subsidy scheme in India, the paper models the implications of quality differences between public and private grain supply. As both are procured at similar prices, the lower quality of public grain marks the ine...

Can self-selection of subsidized commodities be used as a mechanism to transfer income to the poor? Evidence from two self-targeting programs, one in South Africa and one in Tunisia, shows that although self-targeting can clearly improve the distribution of food subsidies to the poorest members of society, its power to alleviate poverty and reduce income disparities is limited by preference pat...

The Employment Effects of Low-Wage Subsidies Low-wage subsidies are often proposed as a solution to the unemployment problem among the low skilled. Yet the empirical evidence on the effects of low-wage subsidies is surprisingly scarce. This paper examines the employment effects of a Finnish payroll tax subsidy scheme, which is targeted at the employers of older, full-time, low-wage workers. The...

In this note we study the distortions in an endogenous growth model developed by Grimaud and Tournemaine (2007), where new pieces of knowledge are produced in a R&D sector and used to reduce pollution emissions. Using this model along with a realistic calibration, we conclude that the economy strongly underinvests in R&D, such that the policy maker would need to implement a strong tax-subsidy s...

In this paper, we study the effect of insulating and non-insulating cost allocations on internal trade in a model of incomplete information. From the perspective of firm-wide profit, the allocation scheme that results in the least amount of rationing (forgone profitable trade) is the optimal one. If one thinks of internal trade as a form of cooperation, one might expect non-insulating allocatio...

This article introduces a social planner version of a model central to the New Economic Geography for explicitly answering whether the symmetric equilibrium outcome of the decentralized market economy is socially desirable. We find that savings incentives are too weak, resulting in an inefficiently low capital stock and therefore an inadequate number of product varieties. The optimal subsidy an...

Using data from a two-year randomized pricing experiment in China, we study the impact and design of subsidy policies for weather insurance. Results show that subsidies are effective in boosting demand in the short-run but not in the longer term. Exploring the channels, we show that while subsidies increase the direct and social effects of payout experiences by enlarging coverage, they also dam...

The Effect of Extra Funding for Disadvantaged Pupils on Achievement This paper evaluates the effects of two subsidies targeted at disadvantaged pupils in the Netherlands. The first scheme gives primary schools with at least 70 percent minority pupils extra funding for personnel. The second scheme gives primary schools with at least 70 percent pupils from different disadvantaged groups extra fun...

This work deals with subsidy transfer from a manufacturer to a retailer through the distributor in cooperative advertising. While the retailer engages in local advertising, the manufacturer indirectly participates in retail advertising using advertising subsidy which is given to the distributor, who in turn transfers it to the retailer. The manufacturer is the Stackelberg game leader; the distr...

Remanufacturing is one of the most effective forms recycling economy, and “Trade-in for Remanufacturing” (TIFR) program in China plays an important role development remanufacturing. To understand this new business model remanufacturing, price demand relationship NP RP are examined two periods, considering TIFR subsidy which practice China. Comparing integrated optimization scheme tiered scheme,...