Exact relations between Luenberger productivity indicators and Malmquist productivity indexes

In this note we derive an exact relation between Luenberger productivity indicators and Malmquist productivity indexes. The authors are grateful for referee comments which substantially improved the paper.     

The Decentralization of Information Processing in the Presence of Interactions

We propose a model of organizational decision making, in which information processing is decentralized. Our model incorporates two features of many actual organizations: aggregation entails a loss of useful information, and the decision problems of different agents interact. We assume that an organization forms a portfolio of risky assets, following a hierarchical procedure. Agents' decision rules and the organization's hierarchical structure are derived endogenously. Typically, in the optimal hierarchical structure, all agents have one subordinate, and returns to ability are at least as high at the bottom as at the top. However, these results can be reversed in the presence of returns to specialization.     

Detecting break in oil price series using the Box-Tiao method

This paper presents an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average procedure which allows one to test a time series for a structural break at an unknown point in time. It is a variation of the Box-Tiao method designed to test for a structural break due to an intervention at a known time. Applying the procedure to the crude oil market, we were able to statistically show the existence of a structural break in the oil price series and to pinpoint the month during which it took place, January 1986. The results also underscore the need for testing the stability of models estimated using oil price data covering both sides of the structural break and may assist those who study the political events of the period.     

Strategic Trading in a Dynamic Noisy Market

This paper studies a dynamic model of a financial market with a strategic trader. In each period the strategic trader receives a privately observed endowment in the stock. He trades with competitive market makers to share risk. Noise traders are present in the market. After receiving a stock endowment, the strategic trader is shown to reduce his risk exposure either by selling at a decreasing rate over time or by selling and then buying back some of the shares sold. When the time between trades is small, the strategic trader reveals the information regarding his endowment very quickly.     

Taxes, Transfers, and Voter Behavior in U.S. Midterm Elections

The effects of changes in per capita real GDP, real taxes and real government transfer payments on midterm congressional election outcomes during the 1946–2002 period are examined. Voters are found to take all of these, except taxes and transfers at the state and local government levels, into account in casting their ballots. However, the weights they place on each are found not to be the same. Consequently, the common practice of summarizing the economic conditions faced by voters through disposable income seems to be inappropriate. Also, omission of tax and transfer variables from the vote equation, and using vote swing rather than vote share as the dependent variable is found to result in underestimation of the coefficient of per capita GDP growth.