AN EXAMINATION OF THE SMALL-FIRM EFFECT ON THE BASIS OF SKEWNESS PREFERENCE

This paper tests the hypothesis that the small-firm effect can be explained on the basis of investor preference for positive skewness. Traditional stochastic dominance methodology is extended to consider portfolios including variable weights of investment in a riskless asset. Including a riskless asset provides the result that small-firm portfolios stochastically dominate all other portfolios. This result, which is derived on the basis of 19 years of monthly returns, indicates that the small-firm effect cannot be fully attributed to tax effects, benchmark error, or incorrect assumptions of the CAPM about investor risk aversion.     

Teaching undergraduate econometrics with GRETL

This paper reviews GRETL, a software package for econometrics. Mainly it discusses GRETL's merits as an aid in teaching undergraduate econometrics. This discussion is in two parts. First one author, an instructor, reviews the teaching of undergraduate econometrics with GRETL. Then the second author, a student, discusses the experience of being introduced to GRETL as part of the introductory course and of putting it to work as part of his employment. The paper briefly discusses GRETL as a research tool. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social Structural Inquiries – Part 2: Statistical Methods and Process Models

A tightened linkage between theory and data would enhance cumulative sociological knowledge. Toward that end this article selectivity reviews and develops social structural theories – theories that explain data. It focuses on statistical methods and process models because both approaches advance cumulative social science, and the tension between their advocates works against disciplinary solidarity. Boudon’s structural schematics cover all of the examples, suggesting a common perspective that can lessen the friction among practitioners of these forms of quantitative analysis and refocus much of the diversity of current sociology. An erratum to this article is available at .     

How to give and receive: An exploratory study of charitable hybrids

Most charitable organizations can only rely on appeals to purely philanthropic motivations in attempting to solicit donor contributions. The decision processes exhibited by the targets of charitable solicitations are very different from those the same individuals use in making daily purchase decisions. Although both charitable giving and purchase contexts have been studied extensively, there are numerous organizations that require targeted customers to use a decision process that merges elements of both domains. Charitable hybrids, such as museums and universities, are such organizations, supplementing traditional revenue streams by soliciting charitable contributions, thus evoking a complex consumer decision process. For these firms, giving good service may yield an added benefit of maximizing charitable contributions received. Drawing on both the services and charitable giving literatures, a model of the consumer decision process is developed in this hybrid situation. In an exploratory test of the model, initial evidence is found that both classes of effects have significant influence on donors' intentions to give. However, in charitable giving contexts, organizational identification appears to fill a central role in influencing decision outcomes, which diminishes the role of satisfaction. The findings provide provocative evidence that further research in this setting is warranted. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Public Predisclosure Information, Firm Size, Analyst Following, and Market Reactions to Earnings Announcements

Abstract:   This study examines the effects of public predisclosure information on market reactions to earnings announcements. We develop an empirical measure of public predisclosure information impounded in price prior to earnings announcements by cumulating abnormal returns on public news release dates during the quarter. Consistent with prior literature, we document a negative association between this measure and market reactions to subsequent earnings announcements. Moreover, we find that after controlling for this measure, firm size and analyst following are significantly positively associated with market reactions to earnings announcements. Contrary to prior empirical evidence, our results suggest that, after controlling for actual predisclosure information impounded in price, market reactions to earnings announcements are greater in magnitude for larger, more widely-followed firms than for smaller, less widely-followed firms.     

Changes in regional input-output coefficients and regional forecasting

The issue of constant regional input-output coefficients is studied in the context of regional forecasting. Under the constant coefficient assumption and given known final demand vectors, output and intermediate output prediction errors average five and 20 percent, respectively. Neither price nor product-mix adjustments improve predictions, and measurement error in base-year tables accounts for only a portion of the observed variation in coefficients. On the other hand, the interindustry structure is sensitive to short-run disturbances in the region's propensity to import. Tests further indicate that input-output forecasting is superior to a series of naive methods, but that the problem of predicting regional final demands is a relatively serious one.