Racial Differences in the Returns to Financial Literacy Education

We examine financial literacy and the returns to financial literacy education, specifically focusing on the racial financial literacy gap. We confirm evidence that whites have higher financial literacy scores relative to minorities and that financial literacy increases with participation in financial literacy education. However, we find the benefit of participation in financial literacy education is higher for whites than that for minorities. Thus, the impact of being white alone persists, indicating a racial financial literacy and/or behavioral difference despite financial literacy education. Our findings have implications for policymakers interested in narrowing the racial wealth gap via financial literacy education.     

FreeMarkets and Online Auctions

Before last year's dot-com meltdown, one of the most hyped areas was large industry-based business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces. Most of these have either failed or are struggling. Instead, the growth today is in less ambitious online auctions where individual firms, increasingly having to focus on costs, seek suppliers of the products or services they need. FreeMarkets, growing fast though still unprofitable, is the leader in this growing field. This case discusses the problems and potential not only for FreeMarkets itself but also for the buying and selling companies which use it.     

An Economic Analysis of the Returns to Canadian Swine Research: 1974–97

This paper reports a new set of estimates of the returns to swine research in Canada. These estimates are obtained using Agriculture and Agri‐Food Canada's Canadian Regional Agricultural Model (CRAM). Positive Mathematical Programming is incorporated into the model for use in this study. The CRAM allows the effects of supply shifts from technological change in the hog industry to interact with product and factor market conditions in the rest of Canadian agriculture. Extensive sensitivity analysis is conducted to examine the robustness of the return estimates under variations in some of the key assumptions employed in the analysis. The costs of public and private sector swine research are estimated. Public sector research costs are inclusive of the marginal excess burden of taxation. Overall, the estimated benefits from Canadian swine research are high relative to the estimated costs for the time period considered. Previous estimates of the returns to Canadian swine research were obtained by Huot et al. (1989) with a partial equilibrium model that did not allow for intra‐sectoral resource use adjustments. The estimated returns obtained in the present study are generally higher than those obtained by Huot et al. For example, the estimates obtained from the direct application of the econometrically estimated supply function in this study gave an internal rate of return of about 124% and a benefit‐cost ratio of 22.4 to 1. Huot et al reported comparable estimates of about 43% for the internal rate of return and 6–7 to 1 for the benefit‐cost ratio. The differences in returns are not solely attributable to the use of a multi‐market versus a single‐market partial equilibrium approach. There are also differences in the estimates of the marginal excess burden of taxation between the two studies. L'analyse que void présente une nouvelle série d'estimations quant au rendement de la recherche porcine au Canada. Ces estimations dérivent du Modèle d'analyse régionale de l'agriculture du Canada (MARAC) du ministère canadien de l'Agriculture et de l'Agroalimentaire. Aux fins de la présente étude, on avait intégré au modèle une programmation mathématique positive. Le MARAC autorise l'interaction entre les retombées d'une modification de l'offre attribuable au virage technologique de l'industrie porcine et les conditions du marché des produits et des facteurs dans le reste de l'agriculture canadienne. Les auteurs ont effectué une analyse de sensibilité poussée en vue d'établir la robustesse de leurs estimations quand variaient quelques‐unes des principales hypotheses de l'analyse. On a estimé le coût de la recherche sur les pores poursuivie par les secteurs public et privé. Dans le secteur public, le coût de la recherche incluait une charge fiscale légérement excessive. Dans l'ensemble, la recherche sur les porcs entreprise au Canada a rapporté beaucoup comparativement à ce qu'elle a coûté pendant la période à l'étude. Les estimations antérieures, établies par Huot et ses collaborateurs (1989), venaient d'un modèle àéquilibre partiel ne permettant aucun ajustement pour l'utilisation intra‐sectorielle des ressources. Les revenus estimés ici sont généralement plus élevés que ceux de Huot et de ses collaborateurs. Ainsi, une application directe de l'offre estimée par des méthodes économétriques à l'analyse donne un taux de rendement interne d'environ 124 % et un indice de rentabilité de 22,4 pour 1. À titre de comparaison, Huot et ses collaborateurs rapportent des résultats d'environ 43 % pour le taux de rendement interne et de 6 à 7 pour 1 en ce qui concerne l'indice de rentabilité. Pareil écart ne résulte pas uniquement du choix d'un modèle àéquilibre partiel reposant sur plusieurs marchés au lieu d'un seul; on relève aussi des variations dans l'estimation du léger excès de la charge fiscale entre les deux études.     

Art lessons for the global manager

Globalization has been seen as both a threat and an opportunity whenever it has occurred. Jamie Anderson, Martin Kupp and Jörg Reckhenrich give us an artists' perspective on managing in a global business world.     

A PATHWAY TO HOMEOWNERSHIP? EVIDENCE FROM THE IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL ACT OF 1986

The impact of legal status on economic outcomes has been well documented in the literature with most research focused on labor market outcomes such as wages and occupational mobility. In this paper, I utilize the exogenous variation created the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 to estimate the effect of amnesty polices on homeownership among undocumented immigrants. Using a regression discontinuity framework, the results suggest that the IRCA increased homeownership rates of eligible immigrants by around 4 percentage points relative to ineligible immigrants. Moreover, an extension to the main analysis suggests that immigrants ineligible for the IRCA adjusted their household formation by increasing the rates of coresidency. (JEL J61, R23, R31)     

Handle with care: Avoiding and managing retaliation claims

Anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers are routinely included in federal statutes. During the past decade, claims of retaliation in employment-related cases have grown in numbers and in reach, due in part to a seemingly far-reaching commitment by the U.S. Supreme Court to interpret anti-retaliation provisions to provide maximum protection to complainants. Employers must take care not to run afoul of the anti-retaliation provisions; however, that does not mean that employees who complain of discrimination are ‘untouchable.’ This article provides an overview of anti-retaliation law as it relates to the employer–employee relationship and outlines eight practical tips for managing and avoiding retaliation claims. Though anti-retaliation provisions provide ample reason for employers to proceed with caution in the face of employee complaints, employers need not succumb to paralyzing litigation fear when addressing concerns regarding complaining employees’ performance issues.     

Organizational socialization and positive organizational behaviour: implications for theory,research, and practice

The purpose of this paper is to advocate a shift in research and practice on organizational socialization towards one based on positive organizational behaviour (POB). First, we demonstrate how the prevailing perspectives of organizational socialization are based on a cognitive‐learning process that emphasizes information and knowledge acquisition. We then review the literature on POB and psychological capital (PsyCap) and argue that socialization processes should be designed to develop the PsyCap of newcomers. We offer a new approach to organizational socialization called socialization resources theory (SRT) and describe four broad socialization resources that can be used to develop newcomers' self‐efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience. Finally, we discuss the implications of this approach for research and practice on organizational socialization. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.