Longford, Nicholas T.Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament d'Economia i Empresa2017-07-262017-07-262014-06-01http://hdl.handle.net/10230/22599A method of small-area estimation with a utility function is developed. The utility characterises a policy planned to be implemented in each area, based on the area's estimate of a key quantity. It is shown by simulations that the commonly applied composite and empirical Bayes estimators are inefficient for a wide range of asymmetric utility functions. Adaptations for limited budget to implement the policy are explored. An argument is presented for a closer integration of estimation and (regional) policy making because no single small- area estimator is suitable for a wide range of purposes.application/pdfengL'accés als continguts d'aquest document queda condicionat a l'acceptació de les condicions d'ús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commonsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/workingPapercomposition; empirical bayes; expected loss; borrowing strength; exploiting similarity; small-area estimation; utility function.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess