How efficiently do U.S. cities manage roadway congestion?

We estimate efficiency and TFP growth for two measures of congestion and two measures of the monetary value of congestion for the largest 88 contiguous cities in the U.S. over the period 1982–2007. Using stochastic frontier analysis we find that the efficiency scores for congestion and the associated ranking of cities is sensitive to the measure of congestion. In contrast, the efficiency scores and rankings are robust for the two measures of the monetary value of congestion. Most importantly, for the most valid measure of congestion and both measures of the monetary value of congestion, we find that average TFP growth over the study period is characterized by an upward trend. This is an encouraging sign even though in all three cases growth is only zero or slightly less than zero at the end of the study period. We therefore conclude that policies which have been used towards the end of the study period such as providing incentives to carpool and encouraging employers to offer flexi-time and telecommuting arrangements appear to have been effective and should be implemented more widely.     

Social responsibility: U.S. power plants 1985–1998

This study introduces an Environmental Performance Index (EPI) to assess the performance of firms that produce both good and bad outputs. In the one good output one bad output case, the EPI simplifies to the ratio of good–bad output for period t + 1 and period t. After deriving the index, data for U.S. coal-fired power plants from 1985 to 1998 are used to demonstrate insights that the EPI can provide. We find that power plants with units participating in Phase I of the Acid Rain Program experience a dramatic improvement in their EPI during 1994–1995.

Productivity Dynamics: U.S. Manufacturing Plants, 1972–1986

This paper presents an analysis of the dynamics of total factor productivity measures for large plants in SICs 35, 36 and 38. Several TFP measures, derived from production functions and Solow type residuals, are computed and their behavior over time is compared, using non-parametric tools. Aggregate TFP, which has grown substantially over the time period, is compared with average plant level TFP, which has declined or remained flat. Using transition matrices, the persistence of plant productivity is examined, and it is shown how the transition probabilities vary by industry, plant age, and other characteristics.     

The effects of U.S. monetary policy on Colombia and Panama (2002–2007)

I study the economies of Colombia (floating exchange rate) and Panama (dollarized) to illustrate how the monetary policy of a large economy can export capital structure distortions to small open economies that follow different exchange rate regimes. The paper contributes to the literature on international business cycles in two ways. First, it adds to recent research that extends the Mises–Hayek business cycle theory to an international context. Second, most current research abstracts from effects on the production structures of emerging market economies when analyzing the transmission of monetary policy shocks. This paper seeks to fill this gap by studying structural effects of U.S. monetary policy on the economies of Colombia (floating exchange rate) and Panama (dollarized).     

Stock Repurchase and the Role of Signaling： A Comparative Analysis between U.S. and China

This paper compares different methods used for stock repurchase and examines the role of signaling in the U.S. and China＇s capital markets. We find that the ways to buyback stocks are very different in the two countries. Most U.S. stocks are repurchased through open market and the signals sent to the market through open market repurchase are getting weaker. Even though stock repurchases are at their early stage in the Chinese stock market and the dominated way to buyback is through a negotiated repurchase agreement for non-floating shares, the power of signaling seems much stronger. Examining stock prices pre- and post-repurchase, we find that stock repurchase records an average abnormal return of 3.42% on the announcement date and 3.24% on the date of actual renurchase.     

Canada’s growing market integration with the U.S.—with a focus on trade

There was a marked increase in Canada-U.S. trade linkages over the 1990–98 period. The rise was pervasive across all Canadian regions except British Columbia. Of particular import, is the fact that all Canadian regions increased their trade linkages with U.S markets that are further away (in particular, with the South). About half of Canada’s growing trade ties with the U.S. are attributed to the increased trade intensity and fast growth of the high-tech industries (industrial machinery, and electrical & electronic products) and the motor vehicle industries. The strength of trade linkages involving resource and resource-based industries relative to other industries showed no significant change except for the Prairies. For the Prairies, the trade linkages in resource and resource-industries relative to other industries experienced a significant decline over the period.     

Regression evidence of safety-net support in Canada and the U.S., 1893–1992

Using annual deviations between the stock market and accounting valuations of major banks, this paper constructs synthetic century-long time series for the intangible safety-net capital generated by reporting and supervisory policies in Canada and the U.S. The credibility of the modeling exercise that produces these synthetic time series is supported by evidence that, in each country, all sustained surges in the value of estimated safety-net capital correlate in appropriate ways with regulatory events and crisis pressures. We invite others to test the qualitative usefulness of our framework by applying the method to data from other countries.     

S.V.T.一体化系统管理方法及应用

<正>在我们的企业面临着发展和生存挑战的关键时刻,企业现代化管理的重要性和必要性会突出地表现出来。而随着现代化管理的起步推行,摆在面前的又是一系列待开发的课题。其具体表现在:第一,怎样采取一种系统的管理方法实现在企业素质的低起点上起步,迅速地改善企业素质并获得高效能和高效益。第二,采取一套怎样的管理方法能适应企业的现行管理体制和机构设置,且难度也不致太高,实施起来容易。第三,如何解决由推行现代化管理所带来的问题和暂时性困难。等等。根据上述课题所提出的各项要求,不难归结出我们要采取的一套系统管理方法具备以下三个主要功能:     

Benefits and Strategic Outcomes: Are Supplemental Retirement Plans and Safer Driving Related in the U.S. Trucking Industry?

We suggest that a firm's benefits can relate to important organizational outcomes that have strategic implications. We propose a number of mechanisms that could relate benefits to strategic outcomes, including the notion that benefits can help attract and retain the type of employees who are most likely to perform in ways consistent with the firms’ strategies. We illustrate this with the case of supplemental retirement benefits in an actual setting, the long‐haul trucking industry. We report positive organization‐level relationships associated with the management choice of offering these benefits. Our results show that firms offering supplemental retirement plans engage in significantly safer driving practices, as measured by the proxy of driver insurance costs, as hypothesized. These findings show that benefits can be related to outcomes that have strategic implications for the firm. By showing that retirement plans may be of value to organizations, we help to bridge the academic‐practitioner divide and provide motivation and guidance for additional work on this important but underresearched topic. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How can big data enhance the timeliness of official statistics?: The case of the U.S. consumer price index

The daily consumer price index (CPI) produced by the Billion Prices Project (BPP CPI) offers a glimpse of the direction taken by consumer price inflation in real time. This is in contrast to the official U.S. CPI, which is compiled monthly and released with an average of a three-week delay following the end of the reference month. A recent body of research contended that the movements of online prices are representative of those of offline retail prices, making the BPP CPI a natural candidate for accurately improving the timeliness of the official CPI. We assess the predictive content of the BPP CPI using a variety of MIDAS models that accommodate data sampled at different frequencies. These models generate estimates that remain robust to the variety of time periods considered and, by the standard of the existing literature, contribute to a significant upgrade in the forecast accuracy of official consumer price inflation figures. The paper then sketches the broad implications of BPP CPI for the consumer price statistics maintained by national statistics offices and discusses how the proposed improvement in the timeliness of the official CPI fits in this perspective.     

High-investment HR values and firm performance among local firms and U.S. MNCs’ subsidiaries in South Asia: a comparative study

Grounded in institutional theory, this study investigates the differential adoption and internalization of high-investment human resource (HR) values by local companies and by subsidiaries of US firms located throughout South Asia; and the impact of these HR values on firms’ performance. In line with our predictions, results suggest that US subsidiaries have a greater rate of adoption of high-investment HR values compared to local South Asian firms. Contrary to our predictions, however, both types of firms are similar in the level of internalization of their respective HR values. Finally, while greater levels of high-investment HR value adoption is associated with firm performance across the board, this relationship tends to be stronger for US MNCs’ subsidiaries compared to local South Asian companies. Theoretical and practical implications for the transfer and diffusion of high-investment HR values in institutionally and culturally distant contexts are discussed.     

Expense preference behavior and management “outsourcing”: a comparison of adopters and non-adopters of contract management in U.S. hospitals

Specialized managerial expertise, coupled with the threat of non-renewal should improve efficiency in firms that opt for contract management arrangements. To examine this we apply a generalized version of tests for expense preference behavior to U.S. hospitals in the 1990s. Extending prior literature, we create a quasi-experimental design for a comparison of adopters and non-adopters of contracts using propensity score methods. We generate the distribution of ‘expense preference’ parameters for all contract adopters in both the pre- and post-adoption states, and for a matched control group of non-adopters over the same period. Our results show that contract adoption leads to reduced expense preference behavior, but that this result depends critically on the input being examined.

T.S.艾略特诗学思想中的传统观

T.S.艾略特是一位不朽的文学巨匠,他在文学批评、诗歌和戏剧创作等多个领域,都取得了举世瞩目的成就。他被誉为现代批评的创始人,新批评流派的先驱,欧美现代派诗歌的创建者。艾略特极具现代性的诗歌创作令人耳目一新,他的＂传统＂诗学观更是别具一格。本文将从其理论渊源、诗歌评价体系、诗歌创作体系研究分析艾略特诗学思想中的传统观。     

Robert S.Kaplan学术成果述略

2006年5月31日,哈佛大学商学院举办了一场专题学术研讨会,会议的主题是纪念Robert S.Kaplan在会计研究领域,尤其是在管理会计领域的杰出贡献.自20世纪80年代以来,Kaplan无疑是全世界管理会计研究领域的领跑者.他似乎始终能够站在管理会计学的最前沿和制高点,带领大家思考管理会计的思想和方法.     

Robert S. Kaplan学术成果述略

2006年5月31日,哈佛大学商学院举办了一场专题学术研讨会,会议的主题是纪念Robert S. Kaplan在会计研究领域,尤其是在管理会计领域的杰出贡献。自20世纪80年代以来,Kaplan无疑是全世界管理会计研究领域的领跑者。他似乎始终能够站在管理会计学的最前沿和制高点,带领大家思考管理会计的思想和方法。     

朝阳局队依据S.W.O.T分析方法推进年报工作

正近期,朝阳局队召开了2011年统计年报及2012年定报统计工作布置会,标志着朝阳区年报工作正式开展。朝阳局队依据S.W.O.T模型分析方法,深入分析全区的Strengths(优势)、Weaknesses(劣势)、Opportunities(机遇)和Threats(挑战),紧密围绕着全区重点工作,全力推进年报工作。