An Exploratory Study of the Complexities of Coping Behavior in Adirondack Wilderness

Recreation researchers have considered coping behaviors one possible explanation for wilderness recreationists' high overall satisfaction levels despite reports of visitor over-crowding and other social conditions exceeding acceptable levels. Studies of recreationists' use of behavioral coping and cognitive coping mechanisms have had mixed results. This study used field-based interviews and surveys to identify coping behavior by hikers in the wilderness areas of New York's Adirondack Park. Findings indicate that wilderness hikers develop complex and variable strategies of coping behavior to maintain multiple satisfactions.     

Highly Educated Immigrants and Native Occupational Choice

Economic debate about the consequences of immigration in the United States has largely focused on how influxes of foreign‐born labor with little educational attainment have affected similarly educated native‐born workers. Fewer studies analyze the effect of immigration within the market for highly educated labor. We use O*NET data on job characteristics to assess whether native‐born workers with graduate degrees respond to an increased presence of highly educated foreign‐born workers by choosing new occupations with different skill content. We find that highly educated native and foreign‐born workers are imperfect substitutes. Immigrants with graduate degrees specialize in occupations demanding quantitative and analytical skills, whereas their native‐born counterparts specialize in occupations requiring interactive and communication skills. When the foreign‐born proportion of highly educated employment within an occupation rises, native employees with graduate degrees choose new occupations with less analytical and more communicative content.     

Fair Value Accounting and Debt Contracting: Evidence from Adoption of SFAS 159

We examine how fair value accounting affects debt contract design, specifically the use and definition of financial covenants in private loan contracts. Using SFAS 159 adoption as our setting, we find that a small but significant proportion of loans (14.5%) modify covenant definitions to exclude the effects of SFAS 159 fair values. Only a limited number of these modifications exclude assets elected at fair value (less than 7%), while all exclude liabilities elected at fair value. Notably, we document that covenant definition modification is unassociated with ex ante fair value elections. We find that covenant definition modification positively varies with common incentive problems attributed to fair value accounting and negatively varies with benefits attributed to fair value accounting. Our results suggest that fair value accounting is not uniformly detrimental for debt contracting and fair value adjustments are included when they are most likely to improve performance measurement.     

THE CORRELATION OF YOUTH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WITH STATE POLICIES

Childhood overweight has risen dramatically in the United States during the past three decades. The search for policy solutions is limited by a lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of state policies for increasing physical activity among youths. This paper estimates the correlation of student physical activity with a variety of state policies. We study nationwide data on high school students from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System for 1999, 2001, and 2003 merged with data on state policies from several sources. We control for a variety of characteristics of states and students to mitigate bias due to the endogenous selection of policies, but we conservatively interpret our results as correlations, not causal impacts. Two policies are positively correlated with participation in physical education (PE) class for both boys and girls: a binding PE unit requirement and a state PE curriculum. We also find that state spending on parks and recreation is positively correlated with two measures of girls' overall physical activity. ( JEL I18, I28)     

PRICES,SPATIAL COMPETITION AND HETEROGENEOUS PRODUCERS: AN EMPIRICAL TEST*

Homogeneous‐producer models attribute lower prices in denser markets solely to lower optimal markups. I argue here that when producers have different production costs, competition‐driven selection on costs also reduces prices. This selection mechanism can be distinguished from the homogenous‐producer case because it implies that higher density leads not only to lower average prices, but to declines in upper‐bound prices and price dispersion as well. I find empirical support for this mechanism in the prices of ready‐mixed concrete plants. I also show these findings do not simply reflect lower factor prices in dense markets, but result instead because dense‐market producers are more efficient.     

ARE SURVEYS OF EXPERTS UNBIASED? EVIDENCE FROM COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS

Policymakers are frequently interested in soliciting unbiased information regarding alternative policies, and expert surveys can be influential. As ranking policies is an often subjective process, there is always the concern of bias, both intentional and not. Expert bias is difficult to discern in the policy world, but surveys of expert opinion are compiled and “tested” for accuracy weekly in college football, allowing for hypothesis testing. Although previous research has used college football rankings to determine the ability of surveys to incorporate relevant information, this article examines the Associated Press and American Football Coaches' Association rankings for evidence of systematic bias. Specifically, more than 1,300 games from the 2003 to 2008 regular seasons are tested for factors that are systematically correlated with upsets. Both polls predict the winner nearly 80% of the time, and although there is evidence of systematic conference bias, correcting the rankings would only improve the accuracy of the polls by about 1%. There is no evidence of a bias favoring “big market” teams, nor teams that have strong journalism programs or are from the East Coast. (JEL D4, L8)     

TIMING AND INTENSITY EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENTS

This paper examines the investment timing and intensity conditions under which advantages may exist for first movers in environmental investments. The potential advantages on which the paper focuses are timing and intensity of investments in recent pollution-reducing manufacturing technologies that produce salable product at the same time that they reduce pollution. The data come from 50 chemical bleached paper pulp manufacturers in eight countries. The model measures the impact of the independent variables on growth in profits from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, controlling for national differences in environmental regulations, among other variables. Results indicate a positive relationship between timing of investments and profit growth. There is also evidence that more intense investment patterns, when not tempered by sufficient time to absorb the investments, may lead to lower profit growth.     

WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR SURPLUS SUGAR IN THE UNITED STATES

Sugar supply is managed in the United States to support minimum prices set by law. The 2008 farm bill contains the sugar‐to‐ethanol program to sell surplus sugar to ethanol producers and a program that allows bids from sugar processors. The sugar program is required to run at no net cost to taxpayers. Bids for surplus sugar are analyzed under various scenarios. Sugar processors will outbid ethanol producers given current ethanol prices. At present, surplus sugar bids will not exceed the minimum prices, and the sugar‐to‐ethanol program will not be able to help the government achieve no net program costs. (JEL Q18, Q42, Q48)