We use a time-series approach and industry data to estimate the effect on consumption of a relatively large excise tax on soft drinks imposed recently in Mexico. The tax caused a price increase of 12.8 per cent and reduced per-capita consumption about 3.8 per cent. This effect is small in comparison with the effects that are suggested by most studies that estimate price elasticities using an almost ideal demand system and household survey data. Moreover, we find that the effects of the tax on consumption vary throughout the year. The effect of the tax tends to be higher in the winter but vanishes during the summer. We also find that the effect of the tax does not vary from one year to another.

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In this study, we use hedonic and conjoint analyses to estimate the effects of a series of service attributes such as VIP (top luxury), IMAX, X4D (a 3D movie projection with synchronized physical effects), JUNIOR (an auditorium with a playground for kids), and 3D on admission prices at movie theaters. As far as we know, this is the first effort to measure consumers' willingness to pay for a set of quality service attributes in this industry using these methods. Our estimates can serve as a guide for pricing decisions at movie theaters. Moreover, they can be used to assess investments. Some of the quality attributes that we study have large implicit prices. Nevertheless, they can be very costly or may substantially reduce the seating capacity of theaters. Therefore, we provide an example illustrating how managers and investors can use our willingness to pay estimates to evaluate investing in each of these features.

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Resumen: Hay sectores o industrias que son claves en la economía de un país; como ejemplos están las telecomunicaciones, el transporte, la banca comercial, la construcción, el energético, entre otros. En nuestro país, estos mercados tienen características de oligopolios por lo que, al haber pocas empresas, existe la posibilidad de que éstas se coludan y eviten la competencia, cargando precios relativamente altos. Este trabajo analiza la competencia en la industria cementera en México utilizando el enfoque paramétrico de la llamada Nueva Organización Industrial Empírica. Aunque los resultados no son robustos, no se puede descartar que la competencia sea de tipo Stackelberg; tampoco se puede descartar que las empresas cementeras en México se comporten como en el modelo de Cournot.