Portuguese Economic Journal, 2006, Volume 5, Nº 3
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- Mathematical utility theory and the representability of demand by continuous homogeneous functionsPublication . Alcantud, José C.R.; Bosi, Gianni; Palmero, Carlos R.; Zuanon, Magalì E.The resort to utility-theoretical issues will permit us to propose a constructive procedure for deriving a homogeneous of degree one continuous function that gives raise to a primitive demand function under suitably mild conditions. This constitutes the first self-contained and elementary proof of a necessary and sufficient condition for an integrability problem to have a solution by continuous (subjective utility) functions.
- Beta trigonometric distributionsPublication . Nadarajah, Saralees; Kotz, SamuelBeta distributions are popular models for economic data. In this paper, six new distributions are introduced which generalize the standard beta distribution. These distributions involve the trigonometric functions, sine and cosine. Expressions are derived for their analytical shapes, nth moments, method of moments estimators, maximum likelihood estimators and the associated Fisher information matrices. These calculations involve several special functions. A numerical study is performed to show the flexility of these distributions as compared to the standard beta distribution. An application to consumer expenditure data is illustrated to show that the proposed distributions are better models to economic data than one based on the standard beta distribution. Possible ways of extending the models are also discussed.
- Understanding the microenterprise sector to design a tailor-made microfinance policy for Cape VerdePublication . Baptista, José A.G.; Ramalho, Joaquim J.S.; Silva, J. Vidigal daTwo of the central challenges faced by Cape Verde at the present are the high level of unemployment and the increasing proportion of the population living in (relative) poverty. Microenterprise development can be an effective means of addressing both problems in a developing country like Cape Verde, where microenterprises account for about 50% of employment. In this paper we provide a detailed profile of Cape Verdean microenterprises and microentrepreneurs and investigate the relationship between their characteristics and the resort to outside seed capital. We find a cluster of factors—the microentrepreneur’s age, gender, level of education and reason for being self-employed—which influence significantly the probability of being in need for external start-up capital. The policy implications of these findings for the design of a specific microfinance program for Cape Verde are discussed.