The influence of instructor gender on learning and instructor ratings

This paper uses two large databases to determine if students of a given gender learn more from instructors of the same gender and if instructors of a given gender receive higher ratings from students of the same gender compared to students of the opposite gender. The Indiana University (IU) data set was collected over a six-year period from the fall of 1984 to the spring of 1990 for associate instructors teaching introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics courses. A subset of the data collected in norming the third edition of the Test of Understanding College Economics is the TUCE III data set. The results of this study do not lend support for a positive gender-match role model effect concerning student learning and instructor ratings. This effect appeared only in the IU micro data set but did not appear on a consistent yearly basis. The effect did not appear at all in the IU macro data or either of the TUCE III data sets.     

A Model of the Australian Housing Market

We build an empirical model of the Australian housing market that quantifies interrelationships between construction, vacancies, rents and prices. We find that low interest rates (partly reflecting lower world long-term rates) explain much of the rapid growth in housing prices and construction over the past few years. Another demand factor, high immigration, also helps explain the tight housing market and rapid growth in rents in the late 2000s. A large part of the effect of interest rates on dwelling investment, and hence GDP, works through housing prices.     

ELECTRONIC DISSEMINATION EXPERIENCES OF THE U.S. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

This paper describes the experiences of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in the electronic dissemination of its statistical products. Section I describes the institutional setting. Section 11, the heart of the paper, is based on a review BEA recently undertook with a view to improving its procedures and policies for disseminating its information to the public. Section III draws conclusions from the review and raises some questions as a basis for comparisons among agencies.     

Board members,corporate social responsiveness and profitability: Are tradeoffs necessary?

The relationship between corporate social responsiveness and profitability is investigated in a sample of corporate directors. The findings show there is no relationship between the level of director social responsiveness and corporate profitability. The implications of these results are discussed, especially as they relate to concerns about corporate governance.Hugh M. O'Neill is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Connecticut. He has published studies on corporate strategies and on worker alienation.Charles Saunders is Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Connecticut, and Director of the Ph.D. Program. He has written numerous articles for a wide variety of business journals.Anne McCarthy is a doctoral student in Strategic Management at the Krannert Graduate School of Management, Purdue University. She has an MBA from the University of Connecticut and an AB in Economics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests include strategy and entrepreneurship as well as business ethics.     

Stock price reactions to increases in loan-loss reserves: A broader perspective

Loan loss reserves (LLR) provide a cushion to absorb operating losses. Several studies have focused on the market's reaction to increases in LLR in response to a specific event related to the international debt crisis. This study takes a broader view of LLR by examining, over a six year period, the market's reaction to announcements of increases to LLR that are above the expected annual reserve and that are a result of factors other than the international debt crisis. We find a negative reaction in the market, indicating that the negative signal from identifying unanticipated risk in the loan portfolio appears to dominate the positive cash flow effects.     

Jardine Matheson & Company: The Role of External Organization in a Nineteenth-Century Trading Firm

Jardine Matheson & Company, a Hong Kong conglomerate foundedin 1832, has survived political upheaval and global and regionaleconomic crises, transforming itself several times. From theirbeginnings in the commission business, William Jardine and JamesMatheson developed a reputation for sound financial managementthat furthered their trading relationships and supported theirfirm's expansion from agency house to managing agent to investmenthouse between 1832 and 1885. Fundamental to Jardine Matheson'ssuccess was the strategic decision to eschew speculation andto concentrate on building a pattern of relationships withinand outside the business that would foster the flow of information,the knowledge with which to interpret it, the ability to influenceothers, and a reputation for probity that would attract andretain trading partners.