The KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study (KIDS) third wave: methods,first findings and an agenda for future research

The panel study known as the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study (KIDS) has been extended by a new wave of data collection conducted in 2004. This third wave of the study interviewed 865 households containing core adult members from 760 of the households contacted in 1993. It also conducted interviews in next-generation households that have split off from the parental households and in the current households of children who have been fostered out. The study finds that the proportion of people aged 20–44 dying between the second and third waves was nearly three times the proportion dying between the first two waves. The pattern of income distribution is one of increasing poverty and inequality since 1993, although the partial reversal of these trends in the post-1998 period is hopeful, as are signs of relative prosperity among those who established independent next-generation households. In addition, access to services has improved.     

Estimating the Effect of Air Quality: Spatial versus Traditional Hedonic Price Models

Empirical studies of hedonic housing prices show that the spatial maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method is preferable to the traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) hedonic method. Current computing capabilities restrict the MLE method to relatively small data sets. This paper circumvents this limitation by coupling the spatial MLE method with block bootstrapping, a form of Monte Carlo simulation that accounts for spatially dependent data. Blocks are created based on monthly and census tract information for resampling. For each month, we obtained 50 resamples of 750 observations from a data set of 15,727 residential properties to compare OLS and MLE empirical results. We find that the spatial MLE method consistently outperforms the traditional OLS method under these simulated conditions and that air quality matters irrespective of the method used.     

An analysis of the global position of U.S. manufacturing

This article provides an overview of the changing export and import flows of U.S. manufactured goods in the global economy, offers some thoughts on the repercussions of these changes, and outlines possible outcomes. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

E‐learning: emerging uses,empirical results and future directions

The use of network technology to deliver training is the latest trend in the training and development industry and has been heralded as the ‘e‐learning revolution.’ In an effort to separate hype from reality, this paper reviews practitioner and research literature on e‐learning, incorporating unpublished information from interviews with managers and consultants directly involved in e‐learning initiatives. Specific attention is given to why organizations use e‐learning, what the potential drawbacks to e‐learning are, what we know from research about e‐learning and what the future of e‐learning may hold.     

The Bubble and the Lost Decade

In this overview of the Symposium papers, we note that the bubble that occurred in Japan's asset markets in the late 1980s came at a time when the conventional indicators of Japan's economic performance were relatively stable. Following the collapse of the bubble, neither the Bank of Japan (BOJ) nor the Ministry of Finance (MOF) took timely and effective measures to deal with the recession that followed. While the evidence suggests that looser fiscal policy would have been ineffective, monetary policy measures might have worked. However, the BOJ followed a relatively tight monetary policy in 1991–93. In the face of the liquidity trap that ensued in the last of the 1990s, the conventional tools of stabilisation policy appeared to be of limited use. To help the Japanese economy to recover from the ‘lost decade,’ we thus discuss a number of unconventional and bold measures that the BOJ and MOF could pursue. It appears, however, that the political will is absent to undertake such measures. So long as this is the case, the effects of the lost decade will continue to act as a drag on the economy.     

The Information Content of Mutual Fund Print Advertising

The mutual fund industry has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. During this time period mutual funds have become somewhat of a commodity with many funds using advertising to attract investors. The current study uses content analysis to determine the informational content of fund advertising. The results indicate that while the average number of informational cues increased during the time period 1979 to 1989, there was no significant increase in the information content of mutual fund advertising between 1989 and 1999. Relatively few funds include information such as loads, 12b‐1 fees, and expense ratios in their advertisements, and fund ads rarely discuss risk.     

The Purchase of Equipment in Consumer Production of Outdoor Experiences

Consumers use combinations of goods to produce experiences. In order to produce outdoor experiences, consumers include environmental amenities as production factors in addition to purchasable instruments such as equipment. While amenities are not marketed, equipment is. Inspecting consumer purchases of the latter may uncover attitudes towards the former. Purchases of equipment are realized money outlays in a market and constitute lower bounds for the willingness to pay for one factor in outdoor experience production. This study investigates income and demographic effects in the demand for outdoor equipment over time in Norway, and examines the proportion of purchasing households for each year. Results show that equipment is a luxury item, and that it becomes more popular over time. The findings are relevant to policymakers in two ways since use of equipment may entail environmental degradation, but purchases of equipment may reflect a willingness to pay for environmental standards.     

Comparing Big Givers and Small Givers: Financial Correlates of Corporate Philanthropy

In a departure from the traditional studies of corporate philanthropy that focus on board composition, advertising, and social networks, the authors investigate the financial correlates of corporate philanthropy. The research design controls for firm size and industry while observing firms from a variety of industries. The sample contains matched pairs of generous and less generous corporate givers. The authors find, as hypothesized, a positive relationship between a firm's cash resources available and cash donations, but no significant relationship between corporate philanthropy and firm financial performance, regardless of whether corporate philanthropy is measured as cash payouts or the aggregate contributions that charities actually receive, and regardless of whether financial performance is gauged using accounting measures or market measures. Whereas the link between available resources and corporate philanthropy is well accepted in the literature on corporate social responsibility, it has been rarely tested and never so definitively found as in this research.     

Doing Unto Others: The Reciprocity of Helping Behavior in Organizations

Reciprocity is a fundamental aspect of social life, and a phenomenon studied from a wide variety of philosophical, theological, and social scientific perspectives. In this study, we use social exchange theory to investigate why employees help other employees. We hypothesize, based on the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), that a significant cause of an employee's helping behavior is how much organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) the employee has received from coworkers. To provide evidence of the discriminant validity of OCB received as an antecedent of helping behavior, we also assess its effects on another form of extra-role behavior, voice, as well as in-role performance. We found, in a sample of 157 employee-supervisor dyads, that OCB received was related to helping behavior after controlling for several antecedents of helping behavior identified in past research, and was less related to voice and in-role behavior, as hypothesized. Implications for theory and practice are presented.