Endogenous City Formation with Production Externalities: Existence of Equilibrium

I show that equilibria exist in closed city‐system models with production externalities if firms' production possibilities vary continuously with the source of the externality, are constant returns to scale in own inputs, include inaction, and satisfy free disposal; if firms have to employ their own inputs to produce output; if there is a finite number of firm types; and if some standard conditions on preferences and endowments are satisfied. This is the first model to include production externalities in the fully general equilibrium framework required for endogenous city formation. Thus, this result provides formal support for the conjecture that production externalities lead to urban agglomeration.     

Insights into University Freshman Weight Issues and How They Make Decisions About Eating

The transition from high school to college represents a life turning point during which health behavior paths may be influenced. This study addresses the internal and external factors that guide students' eating decisions as they are understood and relayed by students through qualitative methods. A sample of 102 second semester college freshmen participated in a two‐week data collection period. Results show that many students are caught in a negative cycle of food choices with notable social and environmental determinants impacting both their physical and emotional health.     

The Effects of Employment Protection for Obese People

This paper uses a 1993 court case, Cook v. Rhode Island, in conjunction with the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to estimate the impact of employment protection on the labor market outcomes of obese people. In Cook, a federal appeals court ruled for the first time that obesity can be covered under the ADA. Using data from 1988 to 1999, I estimate that Cook increased employment for obese women and men relative to those whose weight was in the recommended range on the order of four and two percentage points, respectively. The results provide new evidence that obesity has important labor market implications.     

PERCEIVED MANAGERIAL DISCRETION: A STUDY OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

The notion that managers encounter differing levels of discretion across industries and organizations is becoming central to discussions of strategy formulation and implementation. However, discretion can be exercised or created only to the extent it is perceived, and theories of cognition and decision making suggest that managers’ perceptions of discretion may vary significantly. Despite the importance of perceptions to Hambrick and Finkelstein’s (1987) theoretical model of managerial discretion, no empirical tests examining perceived discretion have been published to date. Drawing on theories of issue interpretation and impression management, we find that managers differ systematically in the amount of discretion they perceive. Specifically, we find support for the predicted relationship between locus of control, a stable personality difference, and perceptions of managerial discretion. We also find that perceived discretion predicts managerial power, but only in situations in which the manager actually has little discretion. The dynamic model presented and tested here suggests that managers, in part through impression management activities and their ability to attend to critical contingencies, may both increase their power and enlarge their latitude for action. Implications for strategy formulation and implementation are discussed. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employee Stock Option Exercise and Firm Cost

We develop an empirical model of employee stock option exercise that is suitable for valuation and allows for behavioral channels. We estimate exercise rates as functions of option, stock, and employee characteristics using all employee exercises at 88 public firms, 27 of them in the S&P 500. Increasing vesting frequency from annual to monthly reduces option value by 11% to 16%. Men exercise faster, reducing value by 2% to 4%, while top employees exercise slower, increasing value by 2% to 7%. Finally, we develop an analytic valuation approximation that is more accurate than methods used in practice.     

Trends in Food Attitudes and Behaviors Among Adults with 6–11‐Year‐Old Children

This study presents an analysis of survey data measuring food attitudes and behaviors among a nationally representative sample of adults with 6–11‐year‐old children for 2002–2010 from Experian Simmons Market Research. Results show numerous significantly positive improvements in attitudes and behaviors regarding healthier diets. In general, parents report increasing fiber intake, thinking about calories, and reducing sweets consumption as well as a generic effort to eat healthier. However, some areas still needing improvement include relatively neutral views that their diet is “very healthy” and that they only snack on healthy foods. While there are a number of improvements in parents' attitudes and behaviors regarding a healthy diet, the majority of the ground gained was early, from 2002 to between 2003 and 2006. This study's results suggest that a better understanding of the parental “snacking mindset” and indulgence‐healthy diet paradox might further assist in addressing childhood obesity.