Computing Confidence Intervals for the Postal Service’s Cost-Elasticity Estimates

Abstract

This paper provides methods for assessing the precision of cost elasticity estimates when the underlying regression function is assumed to be polynomial. Specifically, the paper adapts two well-known methods for computing confidential intervals for ratios: the delta-method and the Fieller method. We show that performing the estimation with mean-centered explanatory variables provides a straightforward way to estimate the elasticity and compute a confidence interval for it. A theoretical discussion of the proposed methods is provided, as well as an empirical example based on publicly available postal data. Possible areas of application include postal service providers worldwide, transportation and electricity.