Research | Queen's Economics Department

New Faculty Members

Mons Chan	Karen Ye	Nahim Zahur

Working Papers

JDI

Workshops

QRDC

Research Areas

Conferences

Public Lectures

Prizes and Distinctions

Recent QED Working Papers

Previous Pause Next

#1441.

Christopher Cotton, Bahman Kashi, Huw Lloyd-Ellis, Frederic Tremblay

Quantifying the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 Policy Responses on Canada's Provinces in (Almost) Real Time

We develop a methodology to track and quantify the economic impacts of lock-down and re-opening policies by Canadian provinces in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, using data that is available with a relatively short time-lag. To do so, we adapt, calibrate and implement a dynamic, seasonally-adjusted, input-output model with supply constraints. Our framework allows us to quantify potential scenarios for the impacts of lock-down and reopening which allow for dynamic complementarities between industries, seasonal fluctuations, and changes in the composition of demand. Taking account of the…

#1440.

Pejman Bahramian, Glenn Jenkins, Frank Milne

The Displacement Impacts of Wind Power Electricity Generation: Costly Lessons from Ontario

The displacement impacts of wind power generation on other generation technologies are estimated for Ontario. In addition, their annual financial benefits, costs, and international
stakeholder impacts are measured. For every 100 MWh generated, almost 53 MWh of gas output and 23 MWh of hydro output is displaced, and 19 MWh of power is exported. Ontario loses 826.42 million USD annually from having wind power generation in the system, while the US gains 7.50 million USD through electricity exported from Ontario. Wind power generation has produced an estimated 108.98 million USD in…

#1439.

N'Golo Kone

A Multi-Period Portfolio Selection in a Large Financial Market

#1438.

Stephanie Assad, Robert Clark, daniel.ershov, lei.xu2

Algorithmic Pricing and Competition: Empirical Evidence from the German Retail Gasoline Market

Economic theory provides ambiguous and conflicting predictions about the association between algorithmic pricing and competition. In this paper we provide the first empirical analysis of this relationship. We study Germany's retail gasoline market where algorithmic-pricing software became widely available by mid-2017, and for which we have access to comprehensive, high-frequency price data. Because adoption dates are unknown, we identify gas stations that adopt algorithmic-pricing software by testing for structural breaks in markers associated with algorithmic pricing. We nd a large number…

#1437.

Frank Milne, David Longworth

Preparing for Future Pandemics: Stress Tests and Wargames

There is an important interdependence between economic, financial and health policy actions. The recent Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated that, apart from the direct economic consequences from illness and death from the virus, the main economic and financial costs have been due to the varying degrees of preventative measures taken by the public, firms, and governments that directly impacted economic and financial activity. This paper proposes the use of regular, combined medical, economic and financial stress tests and wargames in preparing for future pandemics and other major environmental…

#1436.

Frank Milne, David Longworth

Covid-19 and the Lack of Public Health and Government Preparation

Much has been revealed recently regarding the relative unpreparedness of Public Health Authorities and their governments in many countries. We show that a lack of preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic resulted from four major types of shortcomings. First, even when there were problems noted in previous epidemics, clear plans were not put in place to deal with similar situations. Second, there was a lack of transparency through the years about whether plans had been implemented after they were written. Third, it wasn’t clear that authorities had considered ex ante the effects of pandemic…

#1435.

John Hartwick

The Decomposition of a GDP Increase

We account for the price and quantity components of a decomposition of the expression for a GDP increase accross periods. Our linear measure is compared with Irving Fishers multiplicative measure. Where technical progress enters is noted.

#1434.

John Hartwick

The Translog Utility Function and the Tornqvist Quantity Index

We re-visit the proposition: utility-change for the translog utility function equals the corresponding Tornqvist quantity index. We observe that the "linear" terms in the translog function must be zero for the result to obtain. We also report on the role of the assumption of homogeneity for the utility function in allowing the result to obtain.

#1433.

Christopher Cotton, Brent R. Hickman, Joseph P. Price

Affirmative Action, Shifting Competition, and Human Capital Accumulation: A Comparative Static Analysis of Investment Contests

We develop a model in which many heterogeneous agents invest in human capital as they compete for better college admission slots or employment opportunities. The model provides theoretical predictions about how affirmative action or preferential treatment policies change the distribution of effort, human capital accumulation, and job/college slot allocations across different population groups. Our findings deliver two key insights. First, incentives to invest in human capital depends substantially on the strength of one's competition. Second, we find evidence of a counter-intuitive role…

Events

There are currently no upcoming research events.