The role of attitude in learning economics: Race and gender differences

This study identifies and analyzes factors that affect a learner's knowledge, comprehension, and application of economics by racial and gender grouping. A decomposition model is used to evaluate the impact of attitudinal effects and other exogenous variables on economic cognition. Preliminary findings suggest that the attitude of black students towards economics instruction differs from their white cohorts while no gender differences are found.     

Ethical Unit Trust Financial Performance: Small Company Effects and Fund Size Effects

Recent papers which have examined unit trusts have controlled either for a 'fund size effect' or for the 'small firms effect' in the investment portfolio. The contribution of this paper is an analysis of the 'small firms effect' whilst simultaneously controlling for the 'fund size effect'. We show that the ethical unit trusts have significantly greater exposure than general unit trusts to the 'small firms effect', and that net of this there is no significant evidence of over or under performance by ethical trusts using an adjusted Jensen measure. Using two cross-sectional approaches, we demonstrate that whilst a 'small firms effect' has a role to play in explaining unit trust performance, fund size is not correlated with the financial performance of unit trusts. This cross-sectional analysis also provides some evidence that ethical unit trusts may perform less well than general unit trusts.     

The Impacts of Promotions/Marketing, Scheduling, and Economic Factors on Total Gross Revenues for Minor League Baseball Teams

The purpose of this empirical study is to identify the key marketing and scheduling determinants of game attendance at minor league baseball games. Identification of such marketing and scheduling factors can provide the management of minor league teams in similar environments with information to more efficiently pursue the goal of game attendance maximization. To ensure greater comparability of data between teams and hence relevance of results, this study focuses upon a single grouping of teams, the Carolina League, and a single minor league baseball season, 2006. The Carolina League consists of eight teams serving eight metropolitan areas: Lynchburg City, VA; Winston-Salem, NC; Wilmington, DE; Salem City, VA; Myrtle Beach, SC; Prince William County, VA; Lenoir City, NC; and Frederick County, MD.     

Hayek, Keynes, and modern macroeconomics

The Great Recession seems to be creating a change in the trend of macroeconomic thinking. Prior to the financial crisis of 2008, dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models dominated the macroeconomics literature without any apparent challengers on the horizon. Since then, however, we have seen an increasing interest in macroeconomic models that address the state of confidence (??animal spirits??), complexity, cognition, and radical uncertainty. Most of the renewed interest in animal spirits, complexity, cognition, and radical uncertainty has come from a more or less ??Keynesian?? perspective. We discuss the potential to emphasize these elements from a more ??Hayekian?? perspective and argue that Austrian approaches to macroeconomics along these lines are more likely to resonate with mainstream economists than in years past.     

The Information Content of Defence Documents in UK Hostile Takeover Bids

This study examines the defence documents of 79 hostile take-over bids of publicly quoted companies in the UK during the period 1988–1990 using logit regression and discriminant analysis to determine if any of the 41 identified characteristics of the defence document and seven continuous control variables lead to a higher or lower probability of a successful defence. The study finds that managers in target companies are unable to introduce new information in their defence documents that materially affects the outcome of a bid. This suggests that managers may advise shareholders to reject a bid for other reasons, such as to drive up the offer price.     

Macroeconomic Policy Impacts on United States Agriculture: A Simulation Analysis

United States monetary and fiscal policies influence the domestic agricultural economy directly and, through international linkages, indirectly. This study estimates the magnitude and statistical influence of coefficients relating U.S. macroeconomic policy to the U.S. agricultural economy through domestic and foreign markets. Specific objectives are to specify and estimate a general equilibrium quarterly econometric model of the U.S. macroeconomy and simulate the impact of federal deficit spending on real interest rates, real exchange rates, and net exports of agricultural products. Three hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis that an increase in federal deficit spending increases the real interest rate could not be rejected; a $100 billion reduction in the U.S. deficit was estimated to reduce real interest rates by two percentage points or more. The second hypothesis that an increase in real interest rate increases the real value of the U.S. dollar in foreign exchange markets had strong support and could not be rejected. A third hypothesis that a rise in the real value of the dollar reduces net exports of U.S. farm products also could not be rejected. Results indicate that the U.S. agriculture would benefit from the lower exchange value associated with an ‘optimal’ macroeconomic policy. That policy initially made the overall U.S. economy perform less satisfactorily but that performance improves over time.