HOUSEHOLD SAVING AND PORTFOLIO CHANGE: EVIDENCE FROM THE 1983–89 SCF PANEL

There are few sources of high-quality data on the dynamics of wealth accumulation. This paper uses newly available data from the 1983 89 panel of the Survey of Consumer Finances to examine household saving and portfolio change over the 1980s. Our main findings are as follows. First, median household wealth rose modestly over the period. Second, while overall wealth inequality increased, households in the top 1 percent of the wealth distribution in 1983 saw their share of total wealth decline, probably reflecting turnover among the very wealthy. Third, although age, income, and initial wealth had significant effects in regressions on household saving, a large part of the variation in saving was unexplained. Finally, there were clear life-cycle patterns in the portfolios of assets and liabilities held by households, with younger households acquiring homes, businesses and all types of debts, and older households divesting themselves of these assets and debts.     

Pioneers for Profit: St. Petersburg Entrepreneurs in Services

Russian private entrepreneurs in services are truly pioneering,because many services— especially trade, financial services,and most business and consumer services—are poorly developed.This article uses 1992 and 1993 survey data from St. Petersburgto assess the characteristics of these entrepreneurs, theirfirms, and the markets in which they deal. Evaluation of thefirms' performance establishes how well they are doing and providesinsight into the determinants of success. Their performancewas surprisingly good and can be attributed to several factors,including the existence of a substantial gap between the desiredand the actual levels of many services and the high level ofeducation and motivation of the entrepreneurs themselves. Policypriorities are to achieve macroeconomic stability, a transparentlegal framework and simplified regulations, a well-designedtax code, further privatization of real estate, and better accessto finance. Direct assistance programs would be useful in providinginformation, counseling, and financing to small and medium-sizefirms.     

Case Study: Energy Industry Economic Impacts from Ohio River Transportation Disruption

Recent history is full of water transport disruption events that have had significant economic effects on the waterside industries. Such disruptions may be either natural or man-made disasters or planned outages on the river's lock and dam structures. To assess coal-based economic impacts for the Ohio River Basin, we developed a network flow model to represent waterside coal-fired power plants situated along the Ohio River, their respective coal supplying mines, and the various transportation modes that connect them. We show that significant transportation-centric insights can be derived by using only commonly available spreadsheet-based analysis tools, open-source information systems, and web-based geographic tools.     

QUALITATIVE AND MIXED‐METHODS RESEARCH IN ECONOMICS: SURPRISING GROWTH,PROMISING FUTURE

Qualitative research in economics has traditionally been unimportant compared to quantitative work. Yet there has been a small explosion in use of quantitative approaches in the past 10–15 years, including ‘mixed‐methods’ projects which use qualitative and quantitative methods in combination. This paper surveys the growing use of qualitative methods in economics and closely related fields, aiming to provide economists with a useful roadmap through major sets of qualitative methods and how and why they are used. We review the growing body of economic research using qualitative approaches, emphasizing the gains from using qualitative‐ or mixed‐methods over traditional ‘closed‐ended’ approaches. It is argued that, although qualitative methods are often portrayed as less reliable, less accurate, less powerful and/or less credible than quantitative methods, in fact, the two sets of methods have their own strengths, and how much can be learned from one type of method or the other depends on specific issues that arise in studying the topic of interest. The central message of the paper is that well‐done qualitative work can provide scientifically valuable and intellectually helpful ways of adding to the stock of economic knowledge, especially when applied to research questions for which they are well suited.     

Patterns of Transition from Plan to Market

The transition from a planned economy to a market economy involvesa complex process of institutional, structural, and behavioralchange. This article develops an index of economic liberalizationand analyzes its interaction with growth and inflation, usingdata from twenty-six transition countries for 1989–94.The article reveals two paradoxes of transition. First, theattempt to maintain output by subsidizing enterprises resultsin larger declines in output than occur under a policy of reducingsubsidies. Second, price liberalization results in lower inflationthan occurs under a policy of continued price controls. Strong common patterns exist among countries at similar stagesof reform. The common legacy and the associated changes thatresult from initial disruptions in the socialist economic coordinatingmechanisms and subsequent liberalization measures go a longway toward explaining the transition experience. Because stronginteractions between liberalization and stabilization are likely,stabilization becomes a priority for the resumption of growth.     

Efecto en la calidad de la información ante cambios en la normatividad contable: caso aplicado al sector real mexicano

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether changes in accounting standards improve value relevance of financial information on listed companies in Mexico. The research was conducted for the period 2000-2013 using a sample of 141 companies that report to the Mexican stock exchange using the methodology of panel data. Our findings show that changes in local regulations (generally accepted accounting principles) to internationally approved standards (financial reporting standards and international financial reporting standards) increase the value relevance and therefore the quality of information. The study shows that the accounting information with international financial reporting standards is more trustworthy for foreign and national investors.