A study of the effect of age and gender upon student business ethics

The present survey was voluntarily and anonymously completed by 2,196 students enrolled in business courses at the University of Southern Mississippi. The intent of the survey was to determine whether or not age or gender played a role in a person's perception of proper ethical conduct.The findings suggests that gender is a significant factor in the determination of ethical conduct and that females are more ethical than males in their perception of business ethical situations.Students were divided into groups according to age as follows: under 21 years, 22–30 years, 31–40 years, and 40 plus years. The results of this survey also suggest that age is a determining factor in making ethical decisions. The statistics suggest that those students falling in the 40 plus years age group were the most ethical, followed in order by the 31–40 group, the 22–30 group and those of 21 years of age and under.Durwood Ruegger is currently an Associate Professor of Finance and General Business at the University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to joining the University, he was a practicing attorney and former municipal judge. His publications have appeared in theJournal of Health and Human Resources Administration, Labor Law Journal, Business Insights, andThe Practical Real Estate Lawyer.Ernest W. King is an Assistant Professor of Finance and General Business at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a member of the Florida and Washington, D.C. Bars. His publications have appeared inBusiness Insights, Nursing Administration Quarterly, and theCPCU Journal.     

Racial differences in the feminization of poverty

The feminization of poverty refers to female householders and their children becoming an increasing percentage of the poor population. After examining effects of race on poverty of female-headed households from 1959 to 1989, this study investigates statistical relationships among female poverty, economic and labor market conditions, and transfer payments (specifically AFDC) by means of the Granger causality test over the period from 1966 to 1988. This study reinforces the plausible assumption that policies which would lower the unemployment rate of females and would increase real economic growth could be expected to reduce the number of poor female households.     

中国"以电子政务拉动信息产业发展"政策的再评估

电子政务是中国信息化战略的重中之重，但其实际发展与预期间存在着明显差距。本文以中国“以电子政务拉动信息产业发展”政策为研究重点，把这一政策放在中国信息化历史中加以考察，分析中国信息化新阶段ICT市场的新变化和新挑战，针对电子政务实践与预期间的差距，对该政策提出我们的看法。     

Financial Challenges Facing Urban SMEs under Financial Sector Liberalization in Ghana

The paper examines the impact of financial sector liberalization (FSL) policies on the financial management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Ghana, using six case studies. Its findings, which confirm and extend the conclusions of previous studies, are integrated into a framework that explains the impact of FSL and the factors at work. The main financial challenge facing SMEs is access to affordable credit over a reasonable period. This is determined by the financing needs of SMEs and the action of investors. SME financing needs reflect their operational requirements, while the action of investors depends on their risk perception and the attractiveness of alternative investment (which affects their willingness to invest). Government borrowing, the general economic climate, availability of collateral, quality of SME record keeping, and SME investor relations skills affect the way in which this challenge is managed. The impact of the activities and potential of enterprise development agencies are also discussed.     

Comparing classification accuracy of neural networks,binary logit regression and discriminant analysis for insolvency prediction of life insurers

Past studies have documented the failure of the Insurance Regulatory Information System (IRIS) to provide adequate warning of insurer financial distress or insolvency. As a result, scholars have examined alternative parametric and non-parametric models to predict insurer insolvency. This study uses a neural network, a non-parametric alternative to past techniques, and shows how this methodology predicts insurer insolvency more effectively than parametric models.     

There is relevance in the classroom: Analysis of present methods of teaching business ethics

In 1988 the Journal of Business Ethics published a paper by David Mathison entitled Business Ethics Cases and Decision Models: A Call for Relevancy in the Classroom. Mathison argued that the present methods of teaching business ethics may be inappropriate for MBA students. He believes that faculty are teaching at one decision-making level and that students are and will be functioning on another (lower) level. The purpose of this paper is to respond to Mathison's arguments and offer support for the present methods and materials used to teach Master level ethics classes. The support includes suggested class discussion ideas and assignments.Victoria K. Strong is a graduate student at Bentley College. She returned to school to pursue a Master of Science in Accountancy after working in the engineering profession for 12 years. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1984. Her business experience includes positions as Mechanical Design Engineer and Unit Supervisor of an engineering development laboratory. Alan N. Hoffman is an Associate Professor of Management at Bentley College. He received his DBA from Indiana University. Dr. Hoffman's writing has been published in the Academy of Management Journal and Human Relations.The authors would like to thank Carolyn Colt and the entire spring 1988 MG520-class for their valuable contributions.     

DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: EFFECT OF INCLUDING PENSION RIGHTS,AND ANALYSIS BY AGE-GROUP*

This article on the distribution of wealth among individuals in the United Kingdom presents recent work on the effects of including pension rights and the significance of sex, age and marital status. It describes the rationale for including the accrued rights in occupational and State pension schemes (funded or unfunded) and the methods of estimation used. For funded schemes the rights are valued as the accrued liability of the schemes to their members, and for unfunded schemes similar liabilities are hypothecated; these estimates of the value of accrued pension rights involve assumptions about future earnings and interest rates. The trend in average marketable wealth with age is upwards until advanced years when it slows down or slightly reverses. Adding occupational pension rights only slightly raises the trend for females but has a bigger effect for males. Adding State pension rights raises these upward trends until the age of 60 after which there is a decline. For marketable wealth on the average males are wealthier than females but less wealthy if single, divorced or widowed. Adding occupational pension rights improves the relative position of males; adding State pension rights cancels this out. The effect of marital status rises with both age and sex and therefore a detailed three-way analysis is made. For females widows are on average the wealthiest; for young males the married; for older males the single. Using Theil's coefficient of entropy for comparing the inequality of wealth, the addition of pension rights reduces inequality by two-thirds. Age accounts for only 6 percent of inequality for marketable wealth but for 31 percent if pension rights are included.     

How I reversed an unfair UR denial

When an insurer wouldn't pay for a drug his patient needed, the author let loose a barrage of letters. See what made them work.     

Ethics in business education: Working toward a meaningful reciprocity

This paper outlines and argues against some criticisms of business ethics education. It maintains that these criticisms have been put forward due to a misunderstanding of the nature of business and/or ethics. Business ethics seeks a meaningful reciprocity among economic, social and moral concerns. This demands that business organizations autonomously develop ethical goals from within, which in turn demands a reciprocity between ethical theory and practical experience. Working toward such a reciprocity, the ultimate goal of business ethics education is a moral business point of view through which one can live with integrity and fulfillment.To everyone who proposes to have a good career, moral philosophy is indispensible. Cicero, De Officiis, 44BC W. Michael Hoffman is Chair and Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Director at the Center for Business Ethics, Bentley College, Waltham, MA. He has received the following Grants: Council for Philosophical Studies, NEH Fellow, NDEA Fellow, Matchette. His most important publications are: Kant's Theory of Freedom: A Metaphysical Inquiry (UPA, 1979); Proceedings of the National Conferences on Business Ethics, 5 volumes (1977–1984); Business Ethics (McGraw-Hill, 1984) and articles in Journal of Business Ethics, Idealistic Studies, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Journal of Thought, The Journal for Critical Analysis, and The Southern Journal of Philosophy.Paper presented at the 16th Conference on Value Inquiry, entitled: Ethics and the Market Place: An Exercise in Bridge-Building or On the Slopes of the Interface.     

Financial Market Fragmentation and Reforms in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania

This article reports the findings from surveys of formal andinformal institutions and their clients in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria,and Tanzania. It investigates the hypothesis that reformingfinancially repressive policies would not be sufficient to overcomefragmentation of financial markets because of structural andinstitutional barriers to interactions across different marketsegments. The four countries have substantially fragmented financialmarkets, with weak linkages between formal and informal segmentsand interest rate differentials that cannot be adequately explainedby differences in costs and risks. Nevertheless, the relativelylow transaction costs and loan losses of informal institutionsindicate that they provide a reasonably efficient solution toinformation, transaction cost, and enforcement problems thatexclude their clients from access to formal banking services.The findings imply that financial liberalization and bank restructuringin the African context should be accompanied by complementarymeasures to address institutional and structural problems, suchas contract enforcement and information availability, and toimprove the integration of informal and formal financial markets.