Long-Term Contracts and Asset Specificity Revisited: An Empirical Analysis of Producer–Importer Relations in the Natural Gas Industry

This paper discusses long-term contracts as a particular organizational form situated somewhere between full vertical integration and short-term, market-based trading in the natural gas industry. We focus on the determinants of the duration of contracts under changing technical, economic, and institutional conditions. Using 311 long-term contracts we find that duration decreases as international market structures grow more competitive, and that contracts linked to an asset-specific investment extend, on average, three years longer.     

Equilibrium tracing in strategic-form games

We analyze the relationships of the van den Elzen–Talman algorithm, the Lemke–Howson algorithm and the global Newton method for equilibrium computation by Govindan and Wilson. For two-player games, all three can be implemented as complementary pivoting algorithms. The algorithms by Lemke and Howson and by van den Elzen and Talman start at a pair of strategies: the first method at a pure strategy and its best reply, the latter anywhere in the strategy space. However, we show that even with the same starting point they may find different equilibria. Our second result is that the van den Elzen–Talman algorithm is a special case of the global Newton method, which was known only for the Lemke–Howson algorithm. More generally, the global Newton method implements the linear tracing procedure for any number of players. All three algorithms find generically only equilibria of positive index. Even though the van den Elzen–Talman algorithm is extremely flexible in the choice of starting point, we show that there are generic coordination games where the completely mixed equilibrium, which has positive index, is generically not found by the algorithm.     

Research in Purpose and Value for the Study of Technology in Secondary Schools: A Theory of Authentic Learning

This paper briefly examines the literature on (a) problem-based learning (PBL), including constructivism and problem solving, and (b) learning in context, including mediation, embodiment, distribution, and situatedness. We use this literature, our previous research [Hill & Smith Journal of Technology Education 9(1), 29–41 (1998)], and some initial findings from our present research as a basis for a theory that we call authentic learning. The Theory of Authentic Learning provides a theoretical framework on which to scaffold purpose and value for the study of technology in secondary school curriculum. Initial results from Year One of our present three-year study contribute to the refinement of our Theory of Authentic Learning. First, we present some relevant literature, then we illustrate the Theory of Authentic Learning, and finally we conclude with some preliminary findings from our present research.     

The Living Arrangements of Single Mothers with Dependent Children

Abstract . Despite the rapid increase in families headed by single mothers, sufficient attention has not been paid to the living arrangements of these families. Most prior research has generally relied on Bureau of the Census definitions as household head and subfamily head to categorize single mothers' living arrangements. This two part grouping, however, obscures the actual diversity of living arrangements undertaken, including cohabitation with unrelated males. This paper moves beyond the standard two part grouping of single mothers and instead provides a detailed taxonomy of single mothers' living arrangements using data from the Current Population Survey. Among the findings, the economic status of families headed by single mothers varies tremendously by living arrangement, a fact which has been entirely overlooked in earlier research.     

How Fleet Bank fought employee flight

In the late 1990s, Fleet Bank was facing high and rising employee turnover, particularly in its retail operations. Overall turnover had reached 25% annually, and among some groups, such as tellers and customer service reps, turnover was as high as 40%. Using a new methodology developed by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Fleet set out to determine why so many employees were leaving and what could be done to retain them. It began examining data from HR, finance, operations, and sales about employee behavior and the factors that influence it in different locations and labor markets, departments or work groups, in positions with different pay and benefits, and under different supervisors. Fleet's analysis showed that people were leaving not so much for better pay--their personal testimony notwithstanding--but for broader experience, which they thought would enhance their marketability. Additionally, the analysis revealed a link between the turnover problem and the company's busy history of mergers and acquisitions. Fleet's mergers and acquisitions. frequently meant that it had to consolidate operations. That consolidation resulted in layoffs, which provoked higher levels of voluntary turnover, perhaps because remaining employees began worrying about their job security. While the obvious solution to the turnover problem might have been to compensate the remaining employees--say, with higher pay--the more effective and less costly solution, Fleet discovered, was to focus on employees' career opportunities within the company. Those who moved up the hierarchy, or who even made lateral moves, stayed longer. By offering better internal opportunities for career development, the bank was able to stanch much of the hemorrhaging in personnel. Its solutions required only modest investments, which in the end saved the company millions of dollars.