The stock market and investment

Changes in stock prices have substantial explanatory power forU.S. investment, especially for long-term samples, and evenin the presence of cash flow variables. The stock market dramaticallyout-performs a standard q-variable because the market-equitycomponent of this variable is only a rough proxy for stock marketvalue. Although the stock market did not predict accuratelyafter the crash of October 1987, the errors were not statisticallysignificant. Parallel relationship for Canada raise the puzzlethat Canadian investment appears to react more to the U.S. stockmarket than to the Canadian market.     

Evaluating the Validity of the Dichotomous Choice Question Format in Contingent Valuation

Hypothetical and actual cash willingness to pay (WTP) for an art print were elicited with dichotomous choice and open-ended question formats. Comparing hypothetical and actual dichotomous choice responses using both a likelihood ratio test and the method of convolutions suggests we reject equality at the 0.05 but not the 0.01 level. Hypothetical WTP was roughly two times actual WTP with the dichotomous choice format. There were no significant differences between the open-ended and dichotomous choice question formats when both were used to estimate hypothetical WTP or both used to estimate actual WTP.     

THE IMPACT OF PRICES AND CONTROL POLICIES ON CIGARETTE SMOKING AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Smoking among youths and young adults rose throughout the 1990s. Numerous policies were enacted to try to reverse this trend. However, little is known about the impact these policies have on the smoking behavior of young adults. This article uses a dichotomous indicator of daily smoking participation in the past 30 days, an ordered measure representing the frequency of cigarette consumption, and a quasi-continuous measure of the number of cigarettes smoked per day on average to examine the impact of cigarette prices, clean indoor air laws, and campus-level smoking policies on the smoking behaviors of a 1997 cross section of college students. The results of the analysis indicate that higher cigarette prices are associated with lower smoking participation and lower levels of use among college student smokers. Local- and state-level clean indoor air restrictions have a cumulative impact on the level of smoking by current smokers. Complete smoking bans on college campuses are associated with lower levels of smoking among current smokers but have no significant impact on smoking participation. Bans on cigarette advertising on campus as well as bans on the sale of cigarettes on campus have no significant effect on the smoking behavior of college students.     

The second fundamental theorem of asset pricing: a new approach

This article presents a new definition of market completenessthat is independent of the notions of no arbitrage and equivalentmartingale measures. Our definition has many advantages, allshown herein. First, it preserves the Second Fundamental Theoremof Asset Pricing, even in complex economies. Second, under ourdefinition, the market can be complete yet arbitrage opportunitiesexist. This is important in practice, and stands in contrastto the traditional definitions. Third, under the assumptionsof no arbitrage and when used in the standard models, our definitionis equivalent to the traditional one.     

Quote disclosure and price discovery in multiple-dealer financial markets

We examine the effects of price disclosure on market performancein a continuous experimental multiple-dealer market in whichseven professional market makers trade a single security. Thedealers trade with one another and with computerized informedand liquidity traders. Our key comparison is between fully publicprice queues (pretrade transparent market) and bilateral quoting(pretrade opaque). We find that opening spreads are wider andtrading volume is lower in the opaque markets due to highersearch costs there. More importantly, however, higher searchcosts also induce more aggressive pricing strategies, so thatprice discovery is much faster in the opaque markets.     

The significance of the market portfolio

Arguments for creating a market to allow trading the portfolioof all endowments in the entire world, the 'market portfolio',are considered. This world share market would represent a radicalinnovation, since at the present time only a small fractionof world endowments are traded. Using a stochastic endowmenteconomy where preference are mean variance, it is shown thatcreating such a market may be justified in terms of its contributionto social welfare. It is also argued that creating a marketfor world shares is attractive for certain reasons of robustnessand simplicity.     

Cultural tourism, the state, and Day of the Dead

Using Day of the Dead in the rural Mexican community of Huaquechula as an example, this paper analyzes how various levels of the state, in its roles as planner, marketer of cultural meanings, and arbiter of such practices, mediate between cultural tourism and local identity in a global context. It shows that the results have been met with opposition from some community groups. Although such opposition has caused the state to rethink its strategy, it remains intent on using its new program of cultural tourism as an alternative form of development in rural Mexico.     

Information technology, nurse staffing, and patient needs

As health care organizations increasingly adopt health information technology, time-sensitive data that track patients' requirements for nursing care and nurses' responsiveness to these needs might be available to support evidence-based nurse staffing decisions. care information technologies available in hospitals and on nursing units may provide valuable sources of information that can be translated into usable data. In this study, the usefulness of electronic data obtained from a nurse tracking call light system as a source of information for quality measurement was explored. The findings point to what might be under-utilization of existing health information technology to track patients' needs and nurses' responsiveness, patient census, and patient movements. The authors recommend health information technology be used less as support for other organizational systems and more as an administrative resource that can allow nurse executives to be more actively engaged within and across nursing environments.     

Employee benefits: A growing source of psychological contract violations

Since the 1940s, the number of employee benefits provided by employers and costs related to these benefits have increased dramatically. However, in the face of intensified product market competition, more and more organizations are decreasing their benefits packages as part of broader efforts to decrease labor costs. At the same time, many employees have become dependent on employer-provided benefits to help satisfy basic security needs. This article examines the evolution of this predicament and the associated consequences that are likely to arise as a result of this conflict between worker expectations and employer practices. Ideas for resolution of this employee–employer conflict are also discussed.     

The dividend-price ratio and expectations of future dividends and discount factors

A dividend-ratio model is introduced here that makes the logof the dividend-price ratio on a stock linear in optimally forecastfuture one-period real discount rates and future one-periodgrowth rates of real dividends. If ex post discount rates areobservable, this model can be tested by using vector autoregressivemethods. Four versions of the linearized model, differing inthe measure of discount rates, are tested for U.S. time series1871-1986 and 1926-1986: a version that imposes constant realdiscount rates, and versions that measure discount rates fromreal interest rate data, aggregate real consumption data, andreturn variance data. The results yield a metric to judge therelative importance of real dividend growth, measured real discountrates, and unexplained factors in determining the dividend-priceratio.