Paragons of virtue? Competitor entry and the strategies of incumbents in the U.S. local telecommunications industry

We investigate whether the presence of new competitors has influenced the behaviour of U.S. incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) with respect to pricing, advertising and the extent of diversification that they engage in. This issue is explored empirically, using data for the major local exchange carriers for the years 1994 to 1998. The period straddles periods of both absence and presence of competition in the industry, since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has opened hitherto closed markets to competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). While a recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) report on local competition documents vigorous entry during the past years, the market share of the entrants is insubstantial. Our results indicate that the threat provided by market entrants has notably influenced the strategic behaviour of ILECs. The findings show that the incumbent U.S. local operators, particularly the larger ILECs, aggressively protect their profit streams from traditional business. The evidence demonstrates that the ILECs have responded to the Telecommunications Act 1996, and to the threat of market entry it has created, through entry deterrence. This strategic behaviour has been successful in providing ILECs with protection of their monopolistic markets so far.     

Risky business: The role of risk in voluntary turnover decisions

One aspect of turnover decision-making that turnover models have not adequately considered is the risk associated with quitting one's job and the potential that research on risky decision-making has for advancing understanding of turnover. We define risk and present turnover as a risky decision; review previous applications of risk in turnover theory; review literature on decision-making under risk as it applies to turnover; integrate these literatures and provide propositions. Our analysis suggests that individual differences, frames of reference, the decision context, and social influences affect perceptions of the risk associated with quitting as well as the willingness to take risks in this particular situation. The implications of turnover risk perceptions and turnover risk propensity for turnover theory and research are discussed.     

Market Consolidation and Productivity Growth in U.S. Wireline Telecommunications: Stochastic Frontier Analysis vs. Malmquist Index

This study analyzes the merger effects for 25 Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers over the period 1996–2005 using stochastic frontier analysis with a time-varying inefficiency model. We further conduct a comparison of results between the stochastic frontier analysis and the Malmquist index method. The empirical results indicate that the sample of telecommunications firms has experienced deterioration in average productivity growth following mergers. Significantly, both approaches suggest that firms that do not merge underperform in terms of average productivity growth.     

The Role of Broadcasting in National Collegiate Athletic Association Sports

This essay describes important technological changes with regard to broadcasting and the growth of new revenue streams that those changes have created over the last 30 years and their influence on how, when, where and even for whom college sports are played. We discuss college sports broadcasting history, including the advent of cable television and new media technologies, complementary industries such as sponsorships and apparel, and public goods and winner-take-all market considerations as they relate to broadcasting. We examine the impact of these changes on the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its members as they adjust to, and compete for this new money that is on the table. Finally, we speculate about how all of this might play out by 2030.     

How Are Derivatives Used? Evidence from the Mutual Fund Industry

We investigate investment managers' use of derivatives by comparing return distributions for equity mutual funds that use and do not use derivatives. In contrast to public perception, derivative users have risk exposure and return performance that are similar to nonusers. We also analyze changes in fund risk in response to prior fund performance. Changes in risk are substantially less severe for funds using derivatives, consistent with the explanation that managers use derivatives to reduce the impact of performance on risk. We provide new evidence regarding the implications of cash flows and managerial gaming for the relation between performance and risk.     

Do Financial Institutions Matter?

In standard asset pricing theory, investors are assumed to invest directly in financial markets. The role of financial institutions is ignored. The focus in corporate finance is on agency problems. How do you ensure that managers act in shareholders' interests? There is an inconsistency in assuming that when you give your money to a financial institution there is no agency problem, but when you give it to a firm there is. It is argued that both areas need to take proper account of the role of financial institutions and markets. Appropriate concepts for analyzing particular situations should be used.     

CONCENTRIC SAMPLING IN FARMING SYSTEMS RESEARCH

A preliminary case is made for intensive and long-term socio-economic survey work in farming systems research (FSR), as opposed to a reliance on rapid appraisals. A sampling methodology is described, based on collection of a detailed sample frame, which allows the selection of samples which can be related directly to each other, through common respondents. Thus causal relationships can be determined in one sample and, by extrapolation, linked to attributes found in another. The sampling method also makes it easy to select farmers with specific attributes for on-farm trial sites, and allows a more informed interpretation of agronomic results in relation to farm management criteria.     

Labor and training issues in advanced technology industrial development

The United States, together with other advanced industrial societies is having to address the skill and training requirements which stem from occupational change as a result of technological innovation. This article examines the major labor questions for policy-makers in the USA now and in the near future.     

Bond yield uncertainty and the demand for money : A comment

The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the work recently reported by Amihud that the demand for money is an increasing function of the risk of holding bonds. Our evidence from testing annual and quarterly Cambridge k and demand-for-money equations cannot confirm the positive and significant bond-yield uncertainty coefficient reported by Amihud in a semi-annual Cambridge k equation.     

The Spatial Proximity of Metropolitan Area Housing Submarkets

An important question related to housing submarket construction is whether geographic areas must be spatially adjacent in order to be considered the same submarket. Housing consumers do not necessarily limit their search to spatially concentrated areas and may search similarly priced neighborhoods located throughout a metropolitan area when making housing consumption decisions. This article examines two alternative procedures for delineating submarkets: one that combines adjacent census block groups into areas with enough transactions to estimate the parameters of a hedonic house price equation and a second that permits spatial discontinuities in submarkets. The criterion used to evaluate the alternative techniques is the accuracy of hedonic house price predictions.