UK Macroeconomic Volatility and the Term Structure of Interest Rates*

This study uses a macro‐finance model to examine the ability of the gilt market to predict fluctuations in macroeconomic volatility. The econometric model is a development of the standard ‘square root’ volatility model, but unlike the conventional term structure specification it allows for separate volatility and inflation trends. It finds that although volatility and inflation trends move independently in the short run, they are cointegrated. Bond yields provide useful information about macroeconomic volatility, but a better indicator can be developed by combining this with macroeconomic information.     

Facilitating public participation in tourism planning on American Indian reservations: A case study involving the Nominal Group Technique

Tourism is frequently cited as a tool by which American Indians can strengthen the economies of their reservations. However, successful tourism development on such reservations requires effective tourism planning, and effective tourism planning requires public participation in the planning process. The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) has proved to be a useful group process in the tourism field but its application to tourism planning on American Indian reservations has been unexplored. This article helps to fill this knowledge gap by reporting on an NGT workshop conducted on the Lake Traverse Reservation of the Sisseton–Wahpeton Oyate (people, nation) in North and South Dakota, USA. Rich information on tourism development possibilities for three lakefront properties was obtained. Possible success factors are discussed and suggestions for conducting similar future workshops on American Indian reservations are advanced.     

Potential savings from the adoption of nurse practitioner technology in the Canadian health care system.

An investigation is reported of the potential for reducing aggregate medical costs by the introduction of nurse practitioners into the Canadian health care system to an extent consistent with demonstrated safety and effectiveness. A cost model is developed for this purpose and estimates of its parameters are provided. The cost model is coupled with a demographic projection model and potential cost reductions are simulated over the period 1980-2050, under alternative assumptions. Results suggest that savings could have been in the range 10-15% in 1980 for medical services as a whole, and 16-24% for ambulatory services. The estimated savings percentages are quite insensitive to projected changes in the age structure of the Canadian population.     

Measuring Perceived Performance of the Food System and Consumer Food‐Related Welfare

The paper explores the use of multi‐item summated scales for the measurement of the perceived performance of the food system and of an index to measure consumer food‐related welfare. Scales are developed that encompass a range of factors that influence the welfare consumers derive from food, including food safety, convenience, ethical issues, health and nutrition, taste and cost. These scales are applied to a national sample of food consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom. On the basis of the survey results, there is evidence that the scales are both reliable and valid measures of the perceived performance of the food system in both countries. An index of consumer food‐related welfare is developed that weights the various performance measures according to respondents' measure of importance. Survey respondents judge that the food system is not performing particularly well in either country. Although more work is required on the use of summated multi‐item scales for this purpose, the results suggest that this is a potentially useful approach that provides relevant information on the impact of different elements of the food system on consumer welfare.     

Measuring the relative importances of social responsibility components: A decision modeling approach

In this study, a decision modeling approach is used to measure the relative importances of four social responsibility components. When given information concerning the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic activities of 16 hypothetical organizations, 159 junior and senior management students judged the social responsibility of these firms. The study used two types of analysis: first, a within-subject regression, then a between-subject ANOVA. Results showed ethical behavior to be most important in judging social responsibility; legal behavior was second, discretionary behavior third, and economic behavior was least important. In addition, all but one rater consistently applied the social responsibility components. The implications of these results and suggestions for future research are discussed. Barbara A. Spencer is Assistant Professor of Management at Clemson University. Her current research interests include strategic management, social issues, and business ethics. She has published several articles on corporate social responsibility. John K. Butler is Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Clemson University. He has published articles on job satisfaction, trust, group processes, political representation, and research methods in academic journals and proceedings.     

Wage protection systems, segregation and gender pay inequalities: West Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain

This paper provides an empirical test of Rubery and Fagan's(1995) hypothesis that gender inequalities are influenced primarilyby the comprehensiveness of the overall wage protection systemin a country and by the extent of gender segregation. Genderdiscrimination in earnings is compared in West Germany, theNetherlands and Great Britain using 1989 ISSP data. Human capitalearnings functions for married males and married females areestimated. Discrimination is measured using standard decompositiontechniques. Earnings discrimination against females in the morecomprehensive systems was 37% in West Germany and 39% in theNetherlands, much less than the 61% found for the less comprehensivelyregulated Great Britain, the latter figure being higher thanprevious estimates using earlier data. Gender segregation isdemonstrated to have contributed to the relative magnitude ofdiscrimination in Great Britain.     

Momentum Investing and Business Cycle Risk: Evidence from Pole to Pole

We examine whether macroeconomic risk can explain momentum profits internationally. Neither an unconditional model based on the Chen, Roll, and Ross (1986) factors nor a conditional forecasting model based on lagged instruments provides any evidence that macroeconomic risk variables can explain momentum. In addition, momentum profits around the world are economically large and statistically reliable in both good and bad economic states. Further, these momentum profits reverse over 1‐ to 5‐year horizons, an action inconsistent with existing risk‐based explanations of momentum.