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The document discusses the advice provided by the Belgian Competition Authority on legal price fixing measures in favor of the agricultural sector in Belgium. It highlights the complex relationship between agricultural policy and EU competition rules, emphasizing the need for a balance between the interests of the agricultural sector and competition principles. The document explores legislative proposals aimed at strengthening the economic position of the agricultural sector and the implications of price control, supply chain control, and fair income proposals on competition, consumer prices, and market dynamics. The advice underscores the challenges of intervening in agreements and profit margins, while acknowledging the need for market interventions in exceptional circumstances. [Extracted from the article]

Lockdown restrictions reduce the spread of COVID‐19 but disrupt livelihoods and lifestyles that can induce harmful behavior changes, including problematic lockdown drinking fueled by cheap alcohol. Exploiting differences amongst the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, we use triple difference analysis on alcohol retail sales to examine the efficacy of minimum unit pricing as a price control device to help curb excessive consumption in a pandemic setting. We find the policy is remarkably effective and well‐targeted in reducing demand for cheap alcohol, with minimal spillover effects, and consumers overall buying and spending less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests whether cash shortages observed during the hyperinflation in Venezuela reduced consumption. Volumetric consumption indices are constructed for two types of goods: basic and non-basic goods, using data from Nielsen Venezuela at the national level. We find that cash shortages did reduce basic goods consumption but did not affect non-basic goods. The greatest consumption losses occurred between the forced demonetization of December 2016 and the peak of hyperinflation (September 2018). Those losses range between 3 and 10% points (p.p.) of the monthly consumption that would have been observed without the monetary restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the political economy of fiscal dominance during the Chilean government (1970–73) of Salvador Allende. Fiscal dominance appears when the monetary authority complies with the fiscal authority's demand to buy treasury bonds and monetise the deficit. It is argued that persistent fiscal dominance is inflationary, especially without robust fiscal and monetary rules. The Allende government financed the deficit with present taxes, debt (future taxes) and monetary issuance (inflation tax), causing the crowding‐out effect and, together with other policies such as expropriation and price controls, collapsed the demand for money, triggering hyperinflation. The lessons of Chile clarify the fiscal trigger of the inflation, stagnation, and widespread poverty that has affected Latin American countries in recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a historical and analytical reconstruction of a debate that never happened between John Kenneth Galbraith and Abba Lerner over the issue of price controls. While they adopted a similar analysis of underemployment inflation, shared by many post Keynesians, Lerner and Galbraith remained fundamentally opposed as to the effectiveness of price controls. Indeed, while both agreed on the relevance of price controls in the specific context of World War II, they disagreed over including price controls within the conventional framework of economic policies, as illustrated by their respective stances in the debate surrounding the stagflation of the 1970s. Throughout the paper, we provide the rationales behind their divergence on price controls by investigating its theoretical, epistemological, and normative roots. Finally, we put into perspective the contemporary debates about price control in the context of resurgent inflationary pressures with some salient points drawn from our reconstruction of the debate that opposed these two pioneering post Keynesians economists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective/Context: This article reconstructs the struggle that consumers and the state waged to contain inflation and consumer scarcity in mid-twentieth-century Chile. Methodology: Drawing on records from Chile's Ministry of Economy and print media, it first assesses how in the 1930s, mobilized consumers and Chile's national price control office worked together to create an expectation that a strong interventionist state could prevent inflation and shortages by monitoring and regulating the speculative behavior of private merchants. Then, by examining the writings of leading economic thinkers of the postwar era, it details how the state's understanding of rising prices and scarcity increasingly turned to structural matters of economic production and distribution, particularly in Chile's rural economy. Originality: While most scholarship on inflation and scarcity in twentieth-century Latin America tends to either focus on the intellectual debate surrounding shortages and price volatility or on the grassroots political experience with these problems, I show how interactions between consumers and the state created a paradox. On the one hand, consumers came to expect that the state had an immediate duty and capacity to minimize short-term economic hardship. But on the other hand, by continuing to identify inflation and scarcity as problems driven by individual acts, many consumers, including some of the political left, lost faith in the state's long-term planning capacity. Conclusions: The article concludes by showing how in the early 1970s, during a period of heightened class conflict, the state's embrace of a longer-term, structural approach to inflation and scarcity drove a wedge between Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular (up) government and its political base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In India, due to a lack of population-level financial risk protection mechanisms, the expenditure on healthcare is primarily out-of-pocket in nature. Through Drug Price Control Orders (DPCOs), the Indian Government attempts to keep medicine prices under check. The aim of this study was to measure the potential impact of DPCO 2013 on the utilization of antibiotics under price regulation in India using large nationally representative pharmaceutical sales data. Methods We used interrupted time series analysis, a quasi-experimental research design to estimate the impact of DPCO 2013 on the utilization of antibiotics in the private sector in India. Indian pharmaceutical sales data set, PharmaTrac from a market research company—All Indian Origin Chemists and Distributors Limited—was used for the study. The data are collected from a panel of around 18,000 stockists across 23 different regions of the country. The primary outcome measure is the percentage change (increase or decrease) in the sales volume of the antibiotics under DPCO 2013, measured in standard units (SUs). Results Our estimates suggest that post-intervention (after notification of DPCO 2013) there was an immediate reduction (level change) in the sales of antibiotics under DPCO 2013 by 3.7% (P > 0.05), followed by a sustained decline (trend change) of 0.3% (P > 0.05) as compared to the pre-intervention trend at the molecule level, but both changes were statistically insignificant. However, in terms of ‘average monthly market share,’ the DPCO 2013 notification resulted in a sharp reduction of 579% (P 0.05) (trend change) in the ‘market share of antibiotics under DPCO’ as compared to pre-intervention trend. Conclusions The impact of DPCO 2013 in terms of the overall increase in the utilization of antibiotics under price regulation was limited but there was a switch from non-price controlled antibiotics to price regulated antibiotics (notified under DPCO 2013). We argue that policies on price control need to be complemented with continuous monitoring of market behavior to have a measurable and long-term impact.

Background: In India, due to a lack of population-level financial risk protection mechanisms, the expenditure on healthcare is primarily out-of-pocket in nature. Through Drug Price Control Orders (DPCOs), the Indian Government attempts to keep medicine prices under check. The aim of this study was to measure the potential impact of DPCO 2013 on the utilization of antibiotics under price regulation in India using large nationally representative pharmaceutical sales data. Methods: We used interrupted time series analysis, a quasi-experimental research design to estimate the impact of DPCO 2013 on the utilization of antibiotics in the private sector in India. Indian pharmaceutical sales data set, PharmaTrac from a market research company—All Indian Origin Chemists and Distributors Limited—was used for the study. The data are collected from a panel of around 18,000 stockists across 23 different regions of the country. The primary outcome measure is the percentage change (increase or decrease) in the sales volume of the antibiotics under DPCO 2013, measured in standard units (SUs). Results: Our estimates suggest that post-intervention (after notification of DPCO 2013) there was an immediate reduction (level change) in the sales of antibiotics under DPCO 2013 by 3.7% (P > 0.05), followed by a sustained decline (trend change) of 0.3% (P > 0.05) as compared to the pre-intervention trend at the molecule level, but both changes were statistically insignificant. However, in terms of 'average monthly market share,' the DPCO 2013 notification resulted in a sharp reduction of 579% (P < 0.05) (level change) followed by a sustained increase of 9.5% (P > 0.05) (trend change) in the 'market share of antibiotics under DPCO' as compared to pre-intervention trend. Conclusions: The impact of DPCO 2013 in terms of the overall increase in the utilization of antibiotics under price regulation was limited but there was a switch from non-price controlled antibiotics to price regulated antibiotics (notified under DPCO 2013). We argue that policies on price control need to be complemented with continuous monitoring of market behavior to have a measurable and long-term impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Themis: Revista de Derecho is the property of Themis Asociacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we consider a new class of random differential variational inequalities (RDVIs) with nonlocal boundary conditions in Hilbert spaces. We apply the projection operator, Gronwall's lemma and a result on the existence of a random differential inclusion to establish uniqueness and Hyers–Ulam stability results of the abstract inequality. As an illustrative application, the linear random differential complementarity systems and a price control model are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments across the world constantly use a variety of measures to contain drug costs in order to increase patient access to critical medications. External Reference Pricing (ERP), or international price comparison, is a commonly employed policy to control prices of pharmaceuticals. External Reference Pricing uses the price(s) of a medicinal product in one or several countries in order to derive a benchmark or reference price for the purposes of setting the price of the product in a given country. Despite potential drawbacks, empirical studies show ERP has been successful in reducing drug prices. Another strategy that can reduce drug prices is legalizing parallel imports of drugs from low‐price countries. Motivated by the differences between government policies and the absence of national price management policies in the Unites States, in this study we compare the effects of implementing ERP or authorizing parallel imports on firm profit and different social welfare measures. We find that authorizing parallel imports can result in higher firm profit and/or social welfare than using ERP. We also examine, in a decentralized supply chain, two variations of ERP that are used in practice, the ex‐factory‐based ERP and the pharmacy purchase price (PPP)‐based ERP. We show that despite the ex‐factory‐based ERP being more common, PPP‐based ERP can increase both firm profits and social welfare. Therefore, governments should consider using PPP‐based ERP policies. Our findings help generate insights for ongoing policy discussions around measures for controlling drug prices in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Themis: Revista de Derecho is the property of Themis Asociacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines price regulation with its various objectives, forms and contexts. Navigating through the economic literature (that shows price regulation as a futile exercise for controlling inflation and solving commodity scarcity), the article analyses the constitutional foundations and the legislative enactments that authorize price regulation in Ethiopia. While there is a strong legal authority under the Constitution to regulate prices, there is lack of detailed standards to distinguish between the proper and improper exercise of price regulation power. Distinction is made between price regulation in normal times vis-à-vis price regulation during emergencies, and I argue that price regulation during emergencies should be evaluated against separate standards. With regard to price regulation in normal times, the recently enacted administrative procedure proclamation may help in solving the lack of standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The median Internet user is concerned about digital advertisers collecting personal information. To address these fears, the European Union passed the Privacy Directive to regulate the common business practice of information collection. This paper investigates the potential effects of this regulation, finding that the law is likely to generate several unintended consequences. Economists and legal scholars acknowledge that personal data serves as the “price” for accessing many digital platforms. I extend this logic to argue that if a regulation enables consumers to stop supplying this information, while continuing to consume the site’s content, it is equivalent to a price control. Next, I discuss unintended consequences that this price control may generate: tie-in sales, investment flight, and altered exchange characteristics. Lastly, I conclude that, just as with traditional price controls, the privacy price control may be a way for government officials to enhance their popularity with the citizenry. In short, my analysis suggests that one of the most well-researched policy interests of economics—the theory of price controls—can shed light on one of economists’ newest interests: digital privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philippine agrarian reform involves compulsory purchase of private farmlands. Several landowners were suspected of either using land use conversions (LUCs) to pre-empt expropriation, or choosing market-led agrarian reform (MLAR) options to retain effective control of their farmland. However, there has been no statistically-tested empirical evidence to support anecdotal claims that these were adopted by landowners to protect private property rights. Before testing whether LUCs have been used solely to avoid land redistribution, this article provides a theoretical framework that treats the reform as a price intervention policy since compensation is usually below market value. This article's novelty lies in its application of Cheung's theory of price control to explain how land redistribution could change the use of productive asset through LUC, or the contractual arrangement of involved parties through MLAR. Afterwards, this study employs feasible generalized least squares regression, where the effect of compulsory land redistribution on MLAR and LUC are tested to investigate the hypothesis that LUC was largely induced by agrarian reform. The results show that some LUC and MLAR were induced by the risk of expropriation, although in the case of former only when the risk of expropriation is high. Based on Cheung's theory of price control, the response choice should depend on the transaction costs associated with each of the alternatives. The theoretical framework suggests that some landowners may have preferred MLAR first before considering LUC, which is posited as one reason why the proportion of expropriation-induced LUC may not have been as high as some might like to claim. • Theory of price control applied to response of landowner to a risk of expropriation. • Empirical study on how agrarian reform may affect land use change in Philippines. • Land use conversion was partly induced by high risk of compulsory acquisition. • But evidence that it was a reasonable market response was also found. • Preference for market-led redistribution may have tempered reform-induced LUC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to examine the trends in wholesale prices of onion and potato in the major markets (Lahore, Hyderabad, Peshawar and Quetta) of Pakistan. Time series data about annual average wholesale prices of onion and potato were collected from 1981-82 to 2011-2012. Major findings of the study revealed that wholesale prices of onion and potato were increased with time. Results revealed that wholesale prices of onion in major markets namely Lahore, Hyderabad, Peshawar and Quetta were increased @ 8.97%, 8.82%, 8.53% and 8.88% per annum, respectively. Similarly, those of potato were increased @ 8.42%, in Lahore; 7.73%, Hyderabad; 8.21%, Peshawar and 7.58%, Quetta market. The increasing prices of these two essential household items will be difficult to manage by the consumers. Hence, the government has to make some measures, rules and regulations regarding control of prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing studies on parallel trade conclude that it reduces pharmaceutical firms' profits. One special feature of the pharmaceutical industry is the presence of price regulation in most countries. Taking into account the impact of parallel trade on the regulated pharmaceutical prices [Pecorino, P.: J. Health Econ. 21, 699-708 (2002)] shows that a pharmaceutical firm's profit is greater in the presence of parallel trade. The present paper relaxes the assumption on identical demands among countries, and takes into account transaction costs. The results of our model show that a firm's profits may increase or decrease in the presence of parallel trade, depending on its bargaining power in the price negotiation and market size of the drug. Changes in social welfare due to the transition to parallel trade regime are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to examine the impacts of sectoral price control policies on oil price pass-through into China''s aggregate price level. To that end, we develop a partial transmission input–output model that captures the uniqueness of the Chinese market. We hypothesize and simulate price control, market factors and technology substitution – the three main factors that restrict the functioning of a price pass-through mechanism during oil-price shocks. Using the models of both China and the US, we separate the impact of price control from that of other factors leading to China''s price stickiness under oil-price shocks. The results show a sharp contrast between China and the US, with price control in China significantly preventing oil-price shocks from spreading into its domestic inflation, especially in the short term. However, in order to strengthen the economy''s resilience to oil-price shocks, the paper suggests a gradual relaxing of price control in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To reduce air emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which impose health threats and risk of cancer to humans, it is necessary to control the behavior of production and emission of enterprise, and by source apportionment, it is possible to make sure the PAHs emissions type of discharge contamination enterprises. By applying bilevel decision - making theories and methods of a hierarchy system, this paper presents bilevel decision models to collect charges due to emission of PAHs for different decision - makers of upper- level government and lower- level enterprises. This model has in some degree solved the inconsistent information happened in previous studies between government and enterprises, and can be used to better control the PAH emissions from enterprises and improve the air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The phenomenon of protectionism in land policy has survived in the globalised age for various reasons. This case study on the destruction of racially discriminatory zoning in laissez-faire Colonial Hong Kong shows what could happen when protectionist measures are removed by the government. Approaching the reality of discrimination from economic theory of price controls, this paper argues, on the basis of the records of official speeches and writings and a small sample of post-war assignments for housing lots, that the pre-World War II segregation law was motivated more by economic protectionism in favour of Europeans rather than by any social stigma against non-Europeans or genuine environmental externalities generated by Chinese housing. The paper approaches the same phenomenon from a new perspective and with a better method. It was revealed that natural or contractual, as opposed to legal, agglomeration could happen even under written discriminatory laws that allowed a degree of inclusion for the ethnic group that suffered discrimination. This revelation was based on an examination of the ethnicity of the original owners and subsequent purchasers of all identifiable 627 housing lots on the Peak in Hong Kong for 115 years from 1876 to 1990, as found in the 421 relevant Crown Leases and 1255 assignments. These housing lots fell into 23 street neighbourhoods and could be classified by altitude. The key findings lend support to the arguments that even if the post-war colonial literature evaded or even distorted the subject, there was no true racial animosity between European and Chinese citizens because the exclusionary laws were driven by economic protectionist motives and the repeal of the laws was socially and economically beneficial for both Chinese and Europeans. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: No pricing formula has been implemented from November 2002 to date in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we initiated a study in 2003 to determine the prices, availability and affordability of medicines in the private sector of Sri Lanka in the absence of a price control. Materials and Methods: The World Health Organization/Health Action International methodology was used. The study was conducted in retail pharmacies (Rajya Osu Sala) of State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (semigovernment) and privately owned retail pharmacies (n = 15) in 2003, 2006 and 2009 in a geographical area. Essential medicines (n = 28) were studied and, for each medicine, innovator, most sold generic and cheapest generic were monitored. The medicine's median price was compared with the international reference prices (IRP) to obtain the median price ratio. The daily wage of the lowest-paid government worker was used to calculate affordability. Results: Innovators were five to six-times the IRP at privately owned pharmacies and four to seven-times at the Rajya Osu Sala. The prices of generics were =1 the IRP during 6 years in privately owned and Rajya Osu Sala pharmacies. Cheapest generics were high in availability (>80%) throughout the study period. Innovators cost more than a day's wage of the lowest-paid government worker; in contrast, generics were always less than one day's wage. There seems to be no difference in affordability between privately owned or semigovernment pharmacies. Conclusion: In Sri Lanka, generic medicines have effective pricing and are available and affordable. No drastic changes in prices of medicine in the private sector were observed over the 6 years despite removal of price control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under price ceilings and quality floors for agricultural inputs in cash crop sectors in developing countries where credit markets are weak, imperfect information on the ability of farmers to pay for their inputs at the end of the cropping season may lead the decentralized production of those inputs by risk averse private input providers to be inefficient. A coordinating agency and/or subsidies for new farmers could help to produce and distribute more agricultural inputs, thereby increasing the profits for input providers while also enabling more farmers to produce the crops that are key to their livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the increasing salience of drug “innovation” in the debate for reform of Australia's pharmaceutical policy, particularly change to Australia's price control mechanisms. The pharmaceutical industry has consistently criticised the central role of price control in Australia's pharmaceutical regulatory regime as an impediment to drug innovation and industry growth. Despite ambivalent or contrary evidence on the impact of price control on drug innovation, this criticism, and the appeals for reform it supports, appear to be increasingly influential in directing pharmaceutical policy. This is particularly evident in the implementation of the Australia/United States Free Trade Agreement, which has led to a weakening of the historical process of evidence-based reference pricing in Australia. Should drug innovation come to dominate Australian pharmaceutical policy, there is the potential to precipitate a devaluing of the current public orientation of regulation and diminish equitable access to affordable pharmaceuticals. The manner in which trade policy has effectively undermined a publicly funded pharmaceutical benefits scheme has clear implications for many countries that maintain such programmes.Journal of Public Health Policy (2008) 29, 106–120. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3200170 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the effects of various policies to reduce rent seeking in the controlled market in which buyers have heterogeneous valuation regarding the coveted good. The good is allocated according to the buyer-specific signal ('test score'), which is determined by the quantity of wasteful 'rent seeking' exerted by the buyer. We consider three common forms of market control: minimum qualification score, quota, and price ceiling. The potential buyers with higher valuations are more likely to receive the good in equilibrium, while they exert more rent-seeking efforts. Marginally relaxing market control does not necessarily decrease the aggregated amount of rent-seeking activities, and the effectiveness of policy measures usually depends on the current degree of competitiveness in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Privatization of public utilities in the United Kingdom has been the key vehicle for attaining further improvement in living standards since the mid-1980s. The United Kingdom was the first of the developed nations to privatize public utilities in 1984 when it sold British Telecom (BT). In subsequent years, almost all developed and developing nations followed suit. Simultaneously, the UK's privatization initiatives established independent regulatory agencies to oversee the performance of the newly privatized natural monopolies to protect all the parties (consumers, operators and government) from any adverse consequences of privatization. Most importantly, the regulators oversee and manage the affects of privatization on price increases. This paper investigates the price control regulation of privatized utilities in the UK with a view to gaining further lessons from these experiences for the developing Asian nations where privatization of utilities is currently being seriously considered for adoption. The lessons are investigated from the economic viewpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the welfare effects of price restrictions on private contracting in a world where agents have a limited cognitive ability. We deal with that by assuming that people compute the costs and benefits of entering a transaction with an error. We first discuss an example of an auction that will attract the least efficient buyers, because these are those who have made the largest mistake. We then study the case for government intervention when the government knows the distribution of true costs and benefits as well as that of errors. By imposing constraints on transaction prices, the government eliminates some that are on average inefficient - because the price signals that one of the parties has typically grossly overestimated its benefit from participation. This policy may increase aggregate welfare even though some of the transactions being blocked are actually efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the association between abnormal returns and earnings management in the context of price control regulations to test the construct validity of the earnings management model. Abnormal returns are used as a market-based measure, and discretionary accruals are employed to measure earnings management. Our results support the hypotheses that (1) price control regulations affect firms' security prices negatively, (2) firms make income-decreasing discretionary accruals to increase the likelihood of price increase approval, and (3) firms that are affected most negatively by the regulations manage earnings more aggressively. We conclude that the earnings management model we use in this study is capable of predicting opportunistic discretionary accruals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]