Urban size (dis)amenities revisited

An article by Kelley in this Journal has argued that most studies of urban-size amenities built around the analysis of wage differentials have ignored the interaction of supply and demand forces. The result, it was argued, has been serious simultaneous equation bias which suggested that larger cities had lower-valued non-pecuniary amenities. If the bias is eliminated, the opposite is shown to be correct: urban amenities increase in value with city size. This note argues that Kelley's conclusions are themselves based on serious theoretical and econometric errors: (i) He ignores the equilibrium conditions of the model. (ii) He treats variables as exogenous which are not. (iii) He ignores almost perfect collinearity between the variables he uses.     

UK GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE—IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGES IN AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT UNDER THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY

The change in government expenditure which accompanies change in agricultural land use and output is an important parameter in current policy decisions. This change is estimated in this paper using a simple accounting model which recognises the diversity of support schemes in operation and the interaction between them. Use of the model is illustrated by estimating the effects of changes in beef, sheepmeat and cereals output under alternative assumptions about market conditions, yield levels and land classes affected. The paper concludes by discussing other ways in which the model might be used.     

Contents of Volume 5

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 5     

Spatial development program for middle school: teacher perceptions of effectiveness

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - International comparisons suggest that middle school American students compare poorly to their international peers in tasks that require...     

输配电价改革——考察带来的启示和建议

为学习和借鉴国外一些国家电力体制和电价改革的成功做法和经验,深化和促进我国电力体制和电价改革,健全合理的电价形成机制,国家电力公司组成电价考察团,于2001年3月底4月初对英国、西班牙、意大利、法国四国的电力市场、电价尤其是输配电价情况进行了考察。期间,访问了四国的政府电力主管部门、监管机构、电力集团公司、发电公司、电网公司等单位,听取了他们对电力体制、电力市场改革及电价情况的介绍,并就电价形成机制、政府监管、利润水平、电价构成及电价分类等问题与相关部门进行了讨论交流。现结合考察的情况对我国的电力市场及电价改革谈一些看法和建议。     

An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Financial Education on Graduating Business Students’ Perceptions of Their Retirement Planning Familiarity,Motivation, and Preparedness

Today's multifaceted and dynamic financial environment requires a high level of individual financial literacy to ensure that sound financial behaviors are the norm. Unfortunately, many individuals have limited knowledge regarding financial issues and are ill prepared to make sound financial choices. The purpose of this article was to benchmark and then determine if graduating business students’ perception of their retirement planning familiarity, motivation, and preparedness improved after taking a semester‐long course in Personal Risk Management and Insurance (PRMI). We discovered that business students were more financially literate than nonbusiness students and that business students’ familiarity with retirement plans and personal level of readiness to make retirement planning decisions improved significantly after taking the principles class. Specifically, we showed that only 15.8 percent and 42.3 percent of the nonbusiness and business control students, respectively, felt adequately prepared to make retirement decisions, while 82 percent of the business students who completed the PRMI class felt prepared. Ex post, graduating seniors who were exposed to coursework covering life‐cycle risks and options to treat those risks perceived that they are leaving college with a better ability to meet the financial challenges that await them. Last, we showed that significant differences existed in retirement plan and investment familiarity based on gender. Our findings provide support for including financial literacy as a general education requirement at colleges and universities.     

The cultural characteristic of individualism/collectivism: A comparative study of implications for investment in operations between emerging Asian and industrialized Western countries

This study provides insight into the importance of national culture, investment in operations, and performance in the context of emerging Asian economies with a collectivist orientation, which are compared to industrialized Western nations with an individualist orientation. Hypotheses are developed and tested based on the cultural concept of individualism/collectivism, the theory of performance frontiers, and the extent of economic development. More specifically, data collected from 639 manufacturing plants in nine countries are used to first assess the influence of the cultural trait of individualism/collectivism on the extent of investment in structural assets (specifically: physical and capital-based) and infrastructural assets (specifically: team-based methods and improvement programs). Second, the influence of the extent of economic development on these investment factors is measured. Third, evidence is provided supportive of the theory of performance frontiers, and the nature of resource investments in the context of the cultural construct of individualism/collectivism. And fourth, support is provided for the efficacy of this theory, as well as for its compatibility and association with the resource-based view of the firm. Overall, this study makes important contributions to both theory and practice, and provides evidence for the role played by the cultural characteristic of individualism/collectivism in determining plant level investment outcomes in emerging Asian economies.     

The relationship between South Asian stock returns and macroeconomic variables

This article investigates whether economic variables have explanatory power for share returns in South Asian stock markets. In particular, using data for four South Asian emerging stock markets over the period 1998–2012, the article examines the influence of a selection of local, regional and global economic variables in explaining equity returns; most previous studies that have examined this issue have tended to focus on only local and/or global factors. Important factors are identified by distilling the macroeconomic variables into principal components. Economic activities, real interest rates, real exchange rates and the trade balance represent local factors. Regional factors are represented by interregional trade and regional economic activity while global factors are represented by world financial asset returns and world economic activity. The vector autoregression results suggest that the South Asian markets examined are not efficient. Both local and regional factors can directly and indirectly explain Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Sri Lankan stock returns while the lagged returns of the Pakistani stock market and world economic activity can explain Indian stock returns.