Economic and Social Factors in Income Inequality: Race and Sex Discrimination and Status as Elements in Wage Differentials

Abstract . This paper examines by the use of several econometric techniques some of the economic and social factors in wage differentials as elements in income inequality. The effects of education, sex, occupation, class of workers, industry, race, marital status, hours and weeks worked, and age are analyzed by the use of regression analysis in conjunction with binary variables and joint tests of significance. The results show that the inclusion of the sex variable represents a significant improvement over previous economic models and that it is not the number of years of education that is important but rather the obtaining of academic degrees.     

Student performance in business and economics statistics: Does exam structure matter?

We investigate whether exam structure really matters in an economics and business statistics course by (1) determining how well performance on multiple choice questions alone expalins overall performance on exams composed of both multiple choice questions and problems, and (2) discovering whether various student characteristics have significantly different impacts on student performance on multiple choice questions versus problems. Our findings suggest that student scores on multiple-choice portions of exams do not adequately determine overall student performance, and that some students are predisposed to do better on multiple choice or problems depending on the characteristics they possess.(JEl A22, A29)     

Denise von Herrmann, ed.. Resorting to Casinos: The Mississippi Gambling Industry

This collection of essays examines the emergence of legalizedcasino gambling in Mississippi. Desperately seeking economicdevelopment for some of the most impoverished areas of the nationand to revive once vibrant coastal economies, Mississippi legislatorsembarked on a controversial development strategy: legalizedgambling. While other states adopted lotteries, Mississippiadopted legislation permitting floating casinos along the coastand Mississippi River. Mississippians have had a long association with gambling, DeanneStephens Nuwer and Greg O'Brien observed. Mississippi officialstolerated gambling in and around Biloxi for decades even thoughit was technically     

PAC Contributions from Sectors of the Financial Services Industry, 1998–2002

This paper explores the relationship between House committee membership and campaign contributions from financial services industry political action committees (PACs) over the 1998–2002 election periods. Three significant pieces of banking legislation were passed during this time. Because members of the financial services industry were affected greatly by this legislation, it seems logical that PACs might attempt to influence the legislative process through the distribution of campaign contributions. We examine the relationship between PAC contributions to individual legislators for the 1998–2002 election cycle and membership on the House banking committee using a sample selection model. We find committee membership matters and the different financial services industry PACs give disproportionately more to representatives with the power to write legislation favorable to the industry. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the October 2007 International Atlantic Economic Conference.     

Correlates of student performance in Business and Economics Statistics

Over the years many studies have been done to investigate the determinants of student performance in courses of particular fields of study. However, this is not true of Introduction to Business and Economics Statistics. Our objective is to identify the correlates of student performance both overall, and on individual exams, in an Introduction to Business and Economics Statistics course. A wide variety of variables are found to significantly influence the performance of students, including their grades on previous exams and examination design. Our results indicate that it is important to isolate performance on individual exams.     

Relative price efficiency,technical change,and scale economies for large commercial banks

One of the more important and frequently researched topics in banking is the production process. Previous studies of bank production, however, have employed a methodology which is not appropriate for regulated firms. We generate cost estimates for large commercial banks utilizing a generalized cost model which subsumes the commonly used model as a special case. Our findings suggest that the traditional methodology is inappropriate for the sample banks and generates biased estimates of cost parameters, scale effects, and the influence of technological change. The new methodology allows us to measure directly the effect of regulation on bank costs. The effect found is small, but significant.     

Do early birds get the returns? An empirical investigation of early‐mover advantages in acquisitions

We explore whether pioneering advantages exist for early‐mover acquirers in industry acquisition waves by examining both combined (target and acquirer) and acquirer stock returns. Combined abnormal returns are higher for acquisitions that occur at the beginning of acquisition waves. However, for acquirers' returns, only strategic pioneers—those acting in manners consistent with having superior information—capture significant advantages. Specifically, early‐mover acquirers who realize superior stock returns are those that conduct acquisitions in related industries, during industry expansionary phases, and finance their acquisitions as financial theory suggests they should when they possess an informational advantage—with cash. Our findings extend the first‐mover literature to corporate practices and link these practices to acquisition returns. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.