Has the Market's Estimate of Crop Price Variability Increased since the 1996 Farm Bill?

Following enactment of the 1996 Farm Bill, corn and soybean implied volatilities covering the preharvest and storage seasons increased 16–23% between 1987–1995 and 1997–2001. The increase was statistically significant at the 90% confidence level. Standard deviation of corn and soybean prices derived from the implied volatilities increased 7–25%, but only the increase for preharvest corn was statistically significant. Further muddling the picture is the decline in variability of annual U.S. average corn and soybean cash price. These mixed findings point to continuing disagreement about government's role in managing farm risk in the post-1996 Farm Bill world.     

A multi-criteria approach to local tax planning

A city tax model based on the analytic hierarchy process is developed. This model allows city officials to explicitly take into account the existence of multiple decision criteria in selecting new tax options. Opinions from tax experts are used to relate tax plans to decision criteria. The paper explores the feasibility of applying commonly available decision tools to facilitate and improve decision making in local government.     

Tailored financial literacy education: An indigenous perspective

Governments around the world agree that financial literacy education (FLE) is of the utmost importance, with the current economic times having led to a ‘teachable moment’ for financial education. However, caution should be taken when viewing education as the sole solution to the world’s economic problems as there is little evidence to support a causal link between FLE and financial behaviour/decision making. Furthermore, others conclude that FLE is not a single, value-neutral curriculum, and thus current approaches must recognise gender and cultural differences. This article examines the usefulness of mainstream FLE programmes adapted to suit Indigenous communities in terms of the delivery model, the content and the logistics of the programmes. This is achieved by examining the outcomes of four FLE programmes run in Indigenous communities and explores the need for diverse approaches to be applied to FLE in this context. We find that contextualised FLE based on an experiential group-learning model provides self-reported benefits to the participants. We also report on a range of practical issues that arise in Indigenous FLE. Finally, we recommend the exploration of sustainable FLE based on these principles.     

Student perceptions about computerized testing in introductory managerial accounting

This study reports on the implementation of computerized testing in an introductory managerial accounting course. Students were surveyed about their perceptions of computerized testing after taking two major computerized exams. Results show that students perceived both negative and positive aspects about computerized testing, and overall perceptions tended to be more negative than positive. Clear differences in student perceptions existed when analyzing results by instructor, indicating that individual instructors can manage student perceptions about computerized testing. Suggestions for addressing negative student perceptions are provided for accounting educators who are considering the use of computerized testing in introductory courses.