Regular production economies

In this paper we extend the concept of regularity developed by Mas-Colell and Kehoe for constant-returns production economies to economies with primary and intermediate goods. To do so, we must deal with consumer demand functions that satisfy boundary conditions more general than any considered previously. We initially specify the production technology as a linear activity analysis model that allows free disposal of all commodities. Later, we indicate how our results can be extended to economies with more general production technologies.     

Long range planning in the mature corporation

The decade of the seventies has seen a dramatic surge in the acceptance and adoption of long range planning systems by U.S. firms. This paper examines the planning experiences of 86 Fortune 1000 companies, many of them with formal planning systems ten years of age or more. Data collected in this study suggests that planning systems move through different phases in a development cycle. The ability to cope with planning problems, the satisfaction of planning participants, and the extent to which companies formulate explicit policies to recognize managerial contributions to long range planning activities are associated with the age of a company's formal planning system and its phase of planning system development. Mature system companies do a better job in coping with planning problems, are more satisfied with their planning systems, and are more likely to recognize managerial contributions to long range planning.     

Testing a model of intraurban firm relocation

A neoclassical model of firm behavior, analogous to Muth's household analysis, in a monocentric urban environment yields comparative static predictions concerning radial direction of relocation. Knowledge of plant production and demand conditions and economic characteristics of the urban environment is needed to make relocation predictions. Expected and unexpected relations between the technology, economic environment, and comparative static results on input demands and location are derived. A small, detailed data set from Cincinnati is used to test a probit model of the relocation decision. The results are consistent with theoretical expectations. Demand changes, initial plant size, and the relative magnitude of transport costs are the most important determinants of the propensity to decentralize. Traditional measures of agglomeration economies lack explanatory power.     

ON APPLICATION OF THE RANK TRANSFORMATION DISCRIMINATION METHOD TO FINANCIAL PROBLEMS

Multiple discriminant analysis is a powerful analytic tool for the financial researcher. However, data transformations are a near necessity for improving relevant sample characteristics, since the assumption of normality plays a critical role in successfully applying the technique to financial problems. The rank transformation approach is an alternative that offers considerable advantages over traditional mathematical transformation procedures. The strength of rank transformation is illustrated in this paper using the bond-rating problem as an empirical example. The results are significant because a classic model is shown to be more robust than previously was assumed. We suspect that other multivariate financial problems could benefit from the approach as well.