Public Sympathy for O. J. Simpson

ABSTRACT This paper examines those factors affecting public attitudes about the O. J. Simpson trial and the American criminal justice system. The separate and combined effects of these factors–which include race, age, gender, income, and education–were estimated using a logit model. It was found that blacks were more likely than whites to be sympathetic to Simpson and to believe he was innocent of the crimes he was charged with. Older individuals, males, those with higher incomes, and those with more education were less likely to be sympathetic to Simpson and more likely to think he was guilty. Finally, it was found that blacks were more likely than whites to perceive that the criminal justice system is biased against blacks.     

Reactions to abusive supervision: examining the roles of emotions and gender in the USA

Abusive supervision leads to many detrimental outcomes, yet the role of gender and emotions has received little attention. We applied affective events theory to study emotions in a new context. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we tested a conditional process model of the effects of abusive supervision on subordinate work and job withdrawal as mediated by negative emotions and moderated by gender. We found support for our proposed model. Specifically, abusive supervision increased work and job withdrawal via victims’ negative emotional reactions. When negative emotions are low, women are more likely to engage in work withdrawal; when negative emotions are high, men are more likely to do so. Additionally, men experiencing high negative emotions are likely to quit their job.     

An entropy approach to size and variance heterogeneity in U.S. commercial banks

In this paper, we investigate the effect of bank size differences on cost efficiency heterogeneity using a heteroskedastic stochastic frontier model. This model is implemented by using an information theoretic maximum entropy approach. We explicitly model both bank size and variance heterogeneity simultaneously. We find that non-performing loans, federal insurance premium, legal expenses and director fees drive bank inefficiency as the bank becomes larger. Moral hazard, bank management and a ??too big to fail?? doctrine are likely explanations for the results from this study.     

Worker mobility,employer-provided general training,and the choice of graduate education

This paper links inherent mobility to observed schooling choices. A job search model with graduate education predicts that more mobile workers are more likely to enroll in full-time MBA programs. Adding to the literature on employer-sponsored general training, the model predicts that employers are likely to provide tuition assistance to workers who find quits costly. I use a panel survey of GMAT registrants to test some of the empirical implications of the model. I show that observable measures of job attachment are correlated with the probability of attending part-time and, conditional on part-time attendance, with the likelihood of receiving tuition reimbursement.     

An econometric model of new-car demand in the UK

An econometric model which explains the demand for new cars is specified and estimated, and good empirical results are obtained which imply that the model should provide reliable forecasts of new-car demand. Furthermore, these forecasts are likely to be greatly superior to those generated by simple naive models.     

Explaining the Choice Among Regulatory Plans in the U.S. Telecommunications Industry

We investigate why different states in the United States choose different regulatory plans in their telecommunications industry. We present a simple theoretical model and an empirical analysis of the issue. We find that a state is more likely to replace rate-of-return regulation with incentive regulation when: (1) residential basic local service rates have historically been relatively high; (2) allowed earnings under rate-of-return regulation in the state have been either particularly high or particularly low; (3) the state's leaders tend to come from both major political parties, rather than from a single party; (4) the state's urban population is growing relatively rapidly; and (5) the bypass activity of competitors in the state is less pronounced.     

Evaluating new product ideas….systematically

Survival, growth, and the creation of a comparative advantage are all important concerns of smaller enterprises. In order to address those concerns, new product ideas must be found, screened, and developed, but over 80% of these enterprises do not, according to a survey, have a systematic process to carry out these tasks.This paper suggests potential sources for finding new product ideas and presents a simple model, which has been tested extensively, that may be used to screen them. This systematic approach, the authors conclude, should help to minimize the costs and risks of developing products that are likely to fail in the marketplace.     

Tenure choice and the riskiness of non-housing consumption

This paper analyzes a household's choice of housing tenure within a dynamic utility maximization model that yields simple analytical results under uncertainty of income, housing prices, and rents. Given a housing consumption plan, we show that a decrease in the covariance between a household's earnings and housing rents increases the likelihood of ownership. A household who plans to remain in its home over a long period is more likely to own; a household who plans to remain in its home over a short period is more likely to rent. The higher the covariance between the user cost of a home and that of other properties a household is likely to consider in the future, the more likely the household is to own this home. These predictions of our model find support in recent empirical studies.     

Entrepreneurial intention: the role of gender

There is general agreement in previous research, drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, that attitudes towards entrepreneurship are determining factors on entrepreneurial intention and gender also seems to play a key role. This study supports the core entrepreneurial intention model and focuses on the role of gender in this process, showing that men are more likely to think about creating a firm than being determined to do it. However, of those men, the ones who perceive higher congruence between masculine and entrepreneurial attributes are more likely to have a firm entrepreneurial intention. Also, both men and women with a firm entrepreneurial intention perceive successful entrepreneurs to have feminine attributes. This, together with the characteristics of the sample, may explain the lack of a gender difference in entrepreneurial intention.     

A sequential selectivity model of the decisions of arbitrators

The study investigates arbitrator gender and grievant gender effects on the decisions of 146 arbitrators rendered on a hypothetical drug-testing case. The effects are estimated using a sequential selectivity model. This approach takes into account the sequential and conditional nature of arbitrators' decisions. The results indicate that arbitrators are more likely to overturn terminations when the grievant is female, and that female arbitrators are less likely to fully reinstate grievants when the termination is overturned. Other results include the finding that older arbitrators treated grievants more harshly by more often awarding only partial reinstatements. When suspensions are given, however, we find that older arbitrators award shorter suspensions than do younger arbitrators. It is also found that more experienced arbitrators awarded longer suspensions than less experienced arbitrators.     

Predicting stock splits with the help of firm-specific experiences

Evidence exists of abnormal stock returns at and following stock split announcements. The successful prediction of splits may therefore enhance investor returns, yet few studies attempt such forecasts. We note a neglected aspect of prior prediction studies—that companies enjoying a favorable stock market response to a previous split are more likely to split again. Firms in industries with a record of favorable post-split performance may also be more likely to split. We find that inclusion of these factors enhances split prediction accuracy. We also find that with these factors our split prediction model generates significant abnormal returns.     

Consumer Cognition and Pricing in the Nines in Oligopolistic Markets

The paper fully characterizes the Bertrand equilibria of oligopolistic markets where consumers may ignore the last (i.e., the right-most) digits of prices. Consumers, in this model, do not do this reflexively or out of irrationality, but only when they expect the time cost of acquiring full cognizance of the exact price to exceed the expected loss caused by the slightly erroneous amounts that are likely to be purchased or the slightly higher price that may be paid by virtue of ignoring the information concerning the last digits of prices. It is shown that in this setting there will always exist firms that set prices that end in nine though there may also be some (nonstrict) equilibria where a non-nine price ending occurs. It is shown that all firms earn positive profits even in Bertrand equilibria. The model helps us understand in what kinds of markets we are most likely to encounter pricing in the nines.     

Does the bank risk concentration freeze the interbank system?

Probably, one test of the stability of the banking system is to evaluate how risky assets are distributed across banks’ portfolios and the implications for the contagion via interbank relations. This paper explores theoretically a bank sector with risks concentration and the functioning of interbank markets. It employs a simple model where banks are exposed to both credit and liquidity risk that suddenly correlate over the business cycle. We show that risk concentration makes interbank market breakdowns more likely and welfare monotonically decreases in risk concentration.     

Evidence on the motivation for management forecasts of corporate earnings

A multivariate model of the process by which managers decide to release public forecasts of their firms' earnings is developed, based on factors that are hypothesized to affect the demand for and the willingness to supply such forecasts. We test the model on data from a comprehensive sample of earnings forecasts, and find support for our hypotheses about the likely joint influence of those factors. Larger firm size, greater leverage, higher and more stable earnings rates and less rapid growth rates are found to be associated with an increased propensity for management to provide earnings forecasts for their firms.     

Adverse selection,limited compensation,and the design of environmental liability insurance contract in the case of enterprise bankruptcy

In the case of incomplete environmental liability insurance, enterprises are likely to go bankrupt. Rational enterprises generally do not want to insure the environmental loss liability in case of bankruptcy even if they are compensated by insurance companies. This means that the premium calculated now is high, which may be the main reason for the current enterprises to cherish insurance. Based on this, a basic model of environmental liability insurance contract considering bankruptcy under ex ante asymmetric information is established. The model is improved by using the information screening combination tool, which further improves the efficiency of information screening.     

Towards a Theory of Applicant Faking: Integrating Studies of Deception

Research on applicant faking has generally employed group comparison designs in order to investigate the prevalence and effects of intentional response distortion on noncognitive selection tests. Unfortunately, these studies do not tell us which applicants are most likely to successfully fake their responses or the situational conditions which are most likely to induce excessive faking. In an effort to understand individual differences in intentional response distortion, an interactional model of applicant faking is proposed. Because successful faking requires both a motivation to fake the test and the ability to fake, the situational and dispositional factors influencing these facets are described. Where possible, research from the faking literature is used to verify the model. Studies of academic cheating, employee theft, deception and antisocial behavior are also presented in order to provide empirical support for the proposed model.     

目标客户企业规模与差异化银行资本结构的关系研究

本文从企业引入银行外部监管的角度,构造了一个将融资企业规模与银行资本结构融合起来的模型,用以分析银行目标客户企业的规模是否会影响企业的资本结构水平的确定。研究结论表明,大的银行可能更趋向于通过目标客户企业规模的筛选,来降低自己的监督成本,而中小银行可能更趋向于通过资本金比率的方式吸引优质客户,以较高的收益水平来弥补监督成本的提高,这从一定程度上给出了目标客户企业规模不同的银行在资本结构安排上差异化的原因。     

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions with heterogeneous firms: Technology vs. market motives

The most common form of foreign direct investment (FDI) is cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). A common explanation for M&A activity identified in the industrial organization literature is that firms seek technological expertise. However, this has not been examined in the FDI literature. In this paper, I develop and estimate a model of cross-border M&A and focus on the technology seeking explanation. In particular, I develop a general equilibrium model of exporting, greenfield FDI, technology-seeking cross-border M&A, and market-seeking cross-border M&A with heterogeneous firms. The model predicts that firms from a larger country are more likely to acquire in a smaller country when M&A activity is driven by a technology-seeking motive, but the opposite is true when it is driven by a market-seeking motive. Using detailed data on worldwide M&A activity from 1985 to 2007, I find empirical evidence that cross-border M&A activity exhibits behavior consistent with this prediction.     

Investigating the Underlying Structure of the Citizenship Performance Domain

The purpose of this research was to delineate the conceptual organization of the contextual or citizenship performance domain. Similarity data were generated through the inductive content sorting of citizenship performance behavior (CPBs) categories and analyzed via exploratory factor analysis, multidimensional scaling (MDS), and a subsequent cluster analysis associated with the MDS. The current research resulted in a hierarchical integrated model providing a structural framework for this domain. When this framework is applied to a number of previously developed theoretical or empirically derived models, it appears to capture the constructs associated with the models, identifies similar constructs between the models and clarifies the relationships between our model and these previously developed models. Overall, the proposed integrated model has the potential to provide a much-needed framework to represent the underlying structure of the citizenship performance domain. However, models at different levels of specificity are likely to be useful for different applications.     

Sentiment and the U.S. business cycle

Psychological factors are commonly believed to play a role on cyclical economic fluctuations, but they are typically omitted from state-of-the-art macroeconomic models.This paper introduces “sentiment” in a medium-scale DSGE model of the U.S. economy and tests the empirical contribution of sentiment shocks to business cycle fluctuations.The assumption of rational expectations is relaxed. The paper exploits, instead, observed data on expectations in the estimation. The observed expectations are assumed to be formed from a near-rational learning model. Agents are endowed with a perceived law of motion that resembles the model solution under rational expectations, but they lack knowledge about the solution’s reduced-form coefficients. They attempt to learn those coefficients over time using available time series at each point in the sample and updating their beliefs through constant-gain learning. In each period, however, they may form expectations that fall above or below those implied by the learning model. These deviations capture excesses of optimism and pessimism, which can be quite persistent and which are defined as sentiment in the model. Different sentiment shocks are identified in the empirical analysis: waves of undue optimism and pessimism may refer to expected future consumption, future investment, or future inflationary pressures.The results show that exogenous variations in sentiment are responsible for a sizable (above forty percent) portion of historical U.S. business cycle fluctuations. Sentiment shocks related to investment decisions, which evoke Keynes’ animal spirits, play the largest role. When the model is estimated imposing the rational expectations hypothesis, instead, the role of structural investment-specific and neutral technology shocks significantly expands to capture the omitted contribution of sentiment.