Race and prosecution expenditures

There has been a steady accumulation of literature on racial differentials in crime and the response of the criminal justice system. A neglected component of societal response to crime has been the volume of prosecution expenditures. This article seeks to repair this neglect by examining state level difference inper capita prosecution expenditures in 1980 using a multiple regression equation. The results show that, holding other factors constant, lower prosecution expenditures are associated with higher percentages of blacks in a state’s population. The relationship of this to discrimination is discussed in terms of England.     

FORECASTING STOCK INDEX VOLATILITY: COMPARING IMPLIED VOLATILITY AND THE INTRADAY HIGH–LOW PRICE RANGE

The intraday high–low price range offers volatility forecasts similarly efficient to high‐quality implied volatility indexes published by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) for four stock market indexes: S&P 500, S&P 100, NASDAQ 100, and Dow Jones Industrials. Examination of in‐sample and out‐of‐sample volatility forecasts reveals that neither implied volatility nor intraday high–low range volatility consistently outperforms the other.     

Continuous disclosure compliance: does corporate governance matter?

Our study investigates the quality of firms’ continuous disclosure compliance during mandatory continuous disclosure reform, and whether the compliance quality is impacted by corporate governance, using the New Zealand market as the setting. We use a novel coding of different categories of disclosures (non‐routine, non‐procedural and internal), which represents the extent of proprietary insider information inherent in disclosures, to evaluate firms’ compliance quality. Our findings provide evidence that firms’ compliance quality improved after the reform, and this improvement is inconsistently impacted by corporate governance. Our findings provide important implications for regulators in their quest for a superior disclosure regime.     

The Intersection of Law and Ethics – at 600 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA: Is it Ethical to Assert a Legal Technicality to Avoid Liability for a Debt Created by Fraud?

A considerable literature exists regard-ing the moral obligation to keep one's promises. Several authors have focused on the exceptional circumstances which may or should excuse this moral duty. Less frequently discussed is the question of how this general moral obligation and its possible exceptions play out in the context of negotiable written promises to pay money, i.e., so-called "commercial paper."This paper focuses on the application of the legal rules governing commercial paper, and on the ethical implications involved in the application of those rules. More specifically, it asks whether the assertion of the technical doctrine known as "holder in due course," and the denial of that status in some cases, promotes ethical behavior in the marketplace. By examining the circumstances of one case, involving a substantial investment and a large bank, I hope to shed some light on how the legal and ethical rules do in fact "intersect."     

The influence of consumer socialisation in the home on gender differences in financial literacy

The lower level of financial literacy amongst females relative to males has been well documented in the literature. There has however been a less than compelling argument constructed as to why this discrepancy occurs. This article introduces findings showing the influence the home, particularly financial discussions in the home, has on the financial literacy levels of children and young adults. A key finding is that males have their first financial discussion in the home at a younger age than females on average, with this differential statistically significant across students of differing socioeconomic status. For males, the age of the child when they have their first financial discussion in the home influences their financial literacy levels some years later at university, even accounting for other variables such as socioeconomic status. The findings of this article suggest that financial socialisation in the home may be subject to a gender bias, which over time contributes to differential financial literacy knowledge levels between the genders.     

Cannabis, Alcohol and Cigarettes: Substitutes or Complements?

This paper uses individual level data from the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys to estimate the price responsiveness of participation in cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use. In addition to own price effects, we estimate cross price effects and the impact of decriminalizing cannabis use. We find that participation is responsive to own prices. There is some evidence that cannabis is a substitute for alcohol and a complement to cigarettes, and that alcohol and cigarettes are complements. The liberalization of cannabis laws in South Australia may have led to a temporary increase in cannabis use among the over-30 age group.     

The Psychological Contract in Employment in Vietnam: Preliminary Empirical Evidence from an Economy in Transition

The psychological contract is defined as a set of mutual and promissory obligations perceived by employees and employers in their employment relationship. Although this concept had been extensively researched in the West, little empirical evidence in other contexts was available. This study operationalized the concept of psychological contract in Vietnam, an economy in transition. From a sample of 220 questionnaires of employees and their corresponding human resource managers, it found some distinct features of the psychological contract. Furthermore, this articles confirmed the congruence in the perceptions of employees and employers about contract obligations and fulfilments.