Why I am a Psychology Major: An Empirical Analysis of Student Motivations

The underlying “architecture of the decision to pursue a degree in psychology was quantified using the Method of Sorting technique to identifying the critical issues necessary to make this choice. Multidimentsional scaling procedures were employed to construct a three-dimensional map representing the relationships between reasons for selecting psychology as a major. Freshman and senior psychology majors (N = 165) from a regional university and a large research-based institution rated the relative importance of items in their decision-making process. Hierarchical clustering procedures revealed seven different groups of students. Although significant differences associated with class standing were not found, institutional affiliation did influence cluster composition. Reflecting local emphases, students at the regional institution had a greater interest in Counseling Psychology, whereas those at the research-based school focused on Clinical Psychology. This semantic map and the associated item clusters arising from psychology student data provides an empirical basis for, amongst other things, course selection, faculty-initiated program design or revision, strategic niche marketing, and student retention.     

Stock market volatility,the news,and monetary policy

The dynamic relationship linking the volatility of equity prices with “the news” and the expected path for monetary policy is investigated. Previous results that link the impact of the news about real activity to changes in current and future interest rates are employed in developing a positive link between changes in volatility and the news. Empirically, our results uncover a positive and statistically significant response of the CBOE volatility index, VIX, to unanticipated changes in employment, but not to inflation. Hence, agents' expectations for the policy response to news have an important influence on the expected volatility of stock prices. (JEL E44, E52)     

The Challenge Facing SMEs in the Eu’s New Member States

The paper considers the main threats and opportunities for SMEs in new member states, arising out of EU membership, including the implications for SMEs at the micro level. Whilst accession-related changes have important potential implications for firms of all sizes, the distinctive size-related characteristics of SMEs affect their ability to identify, cope with and respond to new sources of threat and opportunity. These potential impacts face new member countries at a relatively early stage in the development of market-based systems, which still contain many deficiencies (particularly in institutional terms) and a SME sector with many characteristics that reflect its fledgling status.     

Memory recall errors in retrospective surveys: A reverse record check study

This paper reports on a study to compare self-reports during an interview with staff who attended a University health centre in Turkey, with the records of visits to the same health centre over the previous 12 months. Design of the study reflects the effects of importance of the event, duration since the event, frequency of the occurrence of the event, measurement scale of the event, and bounded and unbounded recalling. In order to assess the extent of recall error, responses to retrospective questions on health centre visits are compared with administrative records. Statistical models are proposed for short and long term human memory recall error effects on responses.     

The causal relation between government revenue and spending: Evidence from Egypt and Jordan

In investigating the causal relation between government revenue and spending, our empirical results support the tax-and-spend hypothesis for Egypt and the fiscal synchronization hypothesis for Jordan. Breaking away from these historical trends is essential for both countries to eliminate the budget deficit and therefore ensure the availability of domestic saving for private investment. To cope with unemployment and poverty, continuing privatization is recommended for both countries to improve productivity and efficiency in the domestic economy. Privatization should lead to higher domestic saving and investment and at the same time eliminate the budget deficit by enhancing revenue and curbing spending. (JEL H62, H63)     

Nash-equilibria in a heterogeneous oligopoly with fuzzy information

We consider a model of an oligopolistic market with heterogeneous firms and products where neither the cost nor the demand functions are common knowledge. Instead, each firm only has some vague ideas about the price strategies adopted by its competitors which is modelled by a fuzzy set. In analogy to the notion of an "equilibrium of actions and beliefs" we define and characterize a generalized Nash-equilibrium and show its existence under general conditions. Furthermore, the impact of the fuzzy information on the equilibrium outcome is analyzed by means of a comparative static analysis within a particular model framework.Received: 28 May 2002, Accepted: 25 December 2002, JEL Classification: D43, D80, L13We wish to thank Bernhard F. Arnold, the editor Murat Sertel , and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. Of course, we are responsible for all remaining errors.     

A note on the determination of A-optimal type block designs under fixed and mixed effects models

In this paper, we consider the problem of estimating a selected set of contrasts between v treatments using a block design consisting of b blocks of size k. Traditionally, the construction of A-optimal block designs for such situations has been carried out assuming a fixed effects model. In this paper, we show that A-optimal designs constructed under a fixed effects model are robust in the sense that these designs have maximal minimal efficiency when considered among all available designs and under all possible mixed effects models. AMS 1991 subject classifications: Primary 62K05; Secondary 62K10     

Duration dependence testing for speculative bubbles

Prior research has employed a number of methods to test for speculative bubbles in asset prices, including a method based on the concept of duration dependence. This study explores whether duration dependence tests for speculative bubbles are sensitive to specification decisions. Our results question the efficacy of using measures of duration dependence to test for speculative bubbles. In particular, we find that evidence of duration dependence is sensitive to the method of correcting for discrete observation of continuous duration, the use of value-weighted versus equally weighted portfolios, and the use of monthly versus weekly runs of abnormal returns. (JEL C41, G12)     

地域商会有助于缓解企业融资约束吗?——来自A股民营上市企业的证据

破解民营企业的融资困境是事关新时代我国民营经济高质量发展的重要课题。本文以2008-2017年民营上市企业为研究样本,基于民营企业加入地域商会的研究视角,深入考察这一由政府部门核准成立的社会组织能否以及如何帮助企业缓解融资约束。结果发现,加入地域商会后,民营企业的融资约束程度得到了有效缓解。机制检验显示,地域商会有助于扩展会员企业融资所需的社会网络以及提高企业融资时的议价能力;从具体的融资渠道来看,地域商会的作用主要体现为帮助会员企业获得更多的信贷支持和商业信用。进一步地,对于市场议价能力较弱的小规模企业,面临经营困境的企业,以及所在地区的信用环境遭受冲击的企业,或位于市场化程度较低地区的企业而言,加入地域商会的积极影响更为明显。     

我国农村集体土地所有权制度的困境与出路

农村集体土地所有权制度是我国土地权属制度的基本形式之一。长期以来围绕农村集体土地所有权问题实践中纠纷迭起,理论上争论纷纭。土地所有权的主体不明,土地所有权的权能弱化是当前我国农村集体土地所有权制度面临困境的主要原因。因此,在对当前各种改革思路具体分析和评价的基础上,提出摆脱目前我国农村集体土地所有权制度困境的根本出路:立法上明确规定以村为单位的农民集体为农村集体土地所有权的主体;设立村集体财产管理委员会代表村民集体行使村集体土地所有权和通过构建集体土地使用权制度来完善农村集体土地所有权。