The Economic Cost of Fatal Occupational Injuries in the United States, 1980–97

According to the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system, occupational injuries claimed the lives of over 100,000 American workers from 1980 to 1997. Previous estimates presented aggregate values of life, providing no information on the cost variations for different case or worker characteristics. This research developed an interactive computer program that estimates comprehensive national costs for all occupational fatal injuries reported through NTOF, nearly $85 billion for 1980–97, and specific estimates for the burden on selected groups and characteristics of the fatality. These estimates provide an additional basis for targeting and evaluating the effectiveness of investments in prevention of occupational fatalities. (JEL I18 )     

When Capital Follows Profitability: Non-linear Residual Income Dynamics

Economic reasoning suggests that capital follows profitability. This study introduces into residual income valuation capital follows profitability investment dynamics whereby capital investments are guided by the profitability of underlying investment opportunities. These investment dynamics predict convex versus linear relations between future and current residual income, with slope and convexity dependent on investment opportunity. We test these predictions against the linear information dynamics (LID) proposed by Ohlson (1995) and Feltham and Ohlson (1996), with supportive results. These findings point the way to further development of links between firm value and the economics of value creation.     

EVIDENCE ON EVA

EVA has attracted considerable attention as an alternative to traditional accounting earnings for use in both valuation and incentive compensation. With a host of consultants now marketing related metrics, numerous claims have been made—most based on anecdotal evidence or in-house studies. This paper summarizes the authors' independent evidence regarding EVA's alleged advantages.
The authors begin by reviewing the theory that links the underlying concept of residual income to shareholder value. Second, they discuss how Stern Stewart modifies residual income to produce its proprietary EVA metric and show how median EVA compares with residual income, net income, and operating cash flows over the period 1988–97. Third, they examine the claim that EVA is more closely associated with stock returns and firm value than is net income. Their evidence indicates that EVA does not dominate net income in associations with stock returns and firm values. Fourth, they examine a second claim that compensation plans based on residual income motivate managers to take actions consistent with increasing shareholder value. Here the evidence (from a study by Wallace) suggests that managers do respond to residual income-based incentives by, for example, increasing asset sales, cutting capital expenditures, repurchasing stock, and producing higher levels of residual income. The authors conclude by arguing that a metric such as EVA can be effective for internal incentive purposes even if it conveys little news to market participants regarding the firm's valuation.     

PROSPECTS FOR ‘CLOSING THE GAP’ IN SOCIOECONOMIC OUTCOMES FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS?

Practical reconciliation' and more recently 'closing the gap' have been put forward as frameworks on which to base and evaluate policies to address Indigenous disadvantage. This paper analyses national-level census-based data to examine trends in Indigenous wellbeing since 1971. There has been steady improvement in most socioeconomic outcomes in the last 35 years; a finding at odds with the current discourse of failure. Evidence of convergence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes, however, is not consistent. For some outcomes, relatively rapid convergence is predicted (within 25 years), but for the majority of outcomes, convergence is unlikely to occur within a generation, if at all.     

Claiming Behavior in Workers' Compensation

Using administrative data on workers' compensation claims in Michigan combined with data collected from a sample of workers identified by physicians as having work‐related pain in their backs, wrists, hands, or shoulders, this article provides evidence that a substantial number of potentially eligible workers do not file workers' compensation claims. Multivariate analysis identifies the effects of various factors on the probability of filing a workers' compensation claim, conditional on having a work‐related health problem. We find that the severity of the worker's condition and the worker's general health are the most important determinants of the decision to file, and that the generosity of wage loss benefits also affects the decision of an eligible worker to file. Finally, claims propensities vary considerably across workplaces, holding all other measured factors constant.     

Pathways through trusteeship: Responding to the trustee recruitment crisis

Getting on Board 2017 suggests that the recruitment of trustees to the Board of Trustees (henceforth volunteer trustees) by charities in the United Kingdom is in a state of crisis. This report and a range of other stakeholders offer advice and guidance about recruitment, but attention to what motivates individuals to become trustees is lacking. Drawing upon the Pathways Through Participation framework , we argue that an important part of addressing the crisis in trustee recruitment is to consider the motivations of volunteer trustees in tandem with their resources and triggers for volunteering. We draw upon a study of 14 volunteer trustees of learning disability charities to explore how a critical understanding of volunteer trusteeship as a pathway through participation provides a full and rounded picture of trustee recruitment. Building on other research on volunteer recruitment and markets, we argue that recruitment can be improved when charities better understand what motivates their volunteer trustees. We recommend that charities consider trusteeship as a pathway through participation as part of their recruitment practices.     

Explaining the spread of residential air conditioning, 1955–1980

In 1955 fewer than 2% of the nation’s residences had air conditioning; by 1980 over half were air conditioned, and over a quarter had central air. This paper attempts to explain the growth and the geographic differences in the prevalence of residential air conditioning from the mid fifties to 1980. Census data and data on climate and relevant prices are combined to estimate a model that focuses on the role of economic factors, that is, geographic differences and changes over time in incomes and prices, in affecting the pattern of diffusion of residential air conditioning.     

Financial Disclosure Levels and Foreign Stock Exchange Listing Decisions

Firms are increasingly listing their shares on foreign stock exchanges. However, not all exchanges have had equal appeal. Anecdotal evidence suggests that when firms are making foreign listing decisions, they are influenced by financial disclosure requirements. As a result, regulatory authorities around the globe are weighing increasing demands for foreign capital and investment opportunities against the desire to protect domestic investors from possibly misleading foreign financial disclosures. The competitiveness of domestic stock exchanges often hangs in the balance.
This study examines a key question in this debate: whether firms' choices regarding alternative foreign stock exchange listings are influenced by financial disclosure levels. Examined are the listings of 302 internationally traded firms with at least one foreign listing, on one of nine major exchanges, as of year-end 1987. Also examined are changes in listings between 1981 and 1987, an important design feature since these changes are more likely to have been influenced by differences across countries in financial disclosure levels during this period. Financial disclosure levels are obtained from a survey of 142 experts actively involved in the foreign listing process.
Test results based on the cross-section of listings at year-end 1987 are consistent with the hypothesis that exchange choices are influenced by financial disclosure levels. However, they do not lend support to a second hypothesis suggesting that this effect should operate only for firms whose domestic disclosure levels are lower than those of a given foreign exchange. Tests based on changes in listings between 1981 and 1987 support both hypotheses. Overall, the results lend credence to concerns expressed by regulatory authorities and exchange officials that stringent disclosure levels could reduce access to foreign capital and foreign investment opportunities.     

Introducing the Longitudinal Multi‐Agency Data Integration Project and Its Role in Understanding Income Dynamics in Australia

The opening up of access to data from the Multi‐Agency Data Integration Project provides an opportunity to fill a number of research gaps on inequality in Australia. Our paper begins the external validation of these data, focusing on what the data can tell us about the distribution, dynamics and determinants of income in Australia. It has the potential to shed new light on these aspects, but the dataset should be used with caution, taking into account some key limitations, including incomplete linkage and more limited income information for those who do not complete a tax return.