Social Media Usage by Law Firms: Correlation to Revenue,Reputation, and Practice Areas

Social media can be used for multiple purposes within the legal profession, such as client development, networking, disseminating information, and building awareness of the firm and its practices. This study found that the more social media platforms a firm uses, the higher its ranking among prestigious law firms. Based on the practices of successful law firms, it is recommended that lawyers maintain LinkedIn and Twitter accounts as a way to connect with clients and the public. Findings indicate that additional platforms are beneficial, based on the practice areas of a firm. Guidelines are provided for composing effective social media messages.     

‘Intelligent investment’? Welsh sport policy and the (in)visibility of ‘race’

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we draw on research conducted in Wales to consider reasons for participation and non-participation in sport and physical activity among Black and minoritised ethnic (BME) groups. This study exposes the challenge at the heart of sports policy in relation to ‘race’ and ethnicity in Wales that, if not addressed, may lead to the marginalisation of attempts to increase BME participation in sport and physical activity despite good intent. It points to a disjuncture between supply and demand and leads us to question the extent to which such policies resonate with the interests, needs and lived experiences of people from different BME communities in Wales. We draw on testimonies of policy-makers and implementers, as well as individuals from various BME communities in five regions of Wales, to consider the extent to which national sports policy encourages strategies to increase participation among different ethnic groups. We suggest that increasing participation among BME communities and other ‘hard-to-reach’ groups must go beyond accounting for the supply aspects of sport and physical activity to consider more critically the plethora of barriers and exclusions facing many BME communities. We conclude by arguing that for racial inequalities to be reduced, and promises such as ‘sport for all’ to be realised, the analysis of policy needs to be related to broader relations of power in the culture of both sport and society.     

Do Substantial Horizontal Mergers Generate Significant Price Effects? Evidence From The Banking Industry

This study examines the price effects of recent US bank mergers that substantially increased local market concentration. Using the deposit interest rates that banks offer their customers as our price measure, we find that, over the 1991–94 time period, deposit rates offered by participants in substantial horizontal mergers and their local market rivals declined by a greater percentage than did deposit rates offered by banks not operating in markets in which such mergers took place. We interpret our results as evidence that these mergers led to increased market power.     

Tests of Fairness Models Based on Equity Considerations in a Three-Person Ultimatum Game

Two recent models incorporating fairness considerations into the economics literature based on agents' concerns about the distribution of payoffs between themselves and others (Fehr-Schmidt, 1999,Quarterly Journal of Economics. 114 (3), 769–816; Bolton-Ockenfels, 2000,American Economic Review. 90, 166–193) are investigated using a new three-person ultimatum game: One person allocates a sum of money to two others, one of which is randomly chosen to accept or reject the offer. Rejection gives both the responder and the proposer zero income and a positive consolation prize for the non-responder. The data show essentially no reductions in rejection rates, holding offers constant, with and without consolation prizes, contrary to both models' predictions.     

Use of Contingent Valuation to Elicit Willingness-to-Pay for the Benefits of Developmental Health Risk Reductions

We report the results of several contingent valuation (CV) surveys to elicit willingness-to-pay values from the general public for risk reductions associated with decreases in exposure to a chemical, PCBs, in the environment. We also develop Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) from the survey using both standard gamble and time-tradeoff elicitation methods to explore the relationship between QALYs and willingness-to-pay (WTP), and to develop QALY weights for subtle developmental effects. The results of the CV surveys are designed for incorporation into a case study of an integrated risk model to monetize the benefits of predicted risk reductions. Respondents showed a nearly proportional, positive relationship between decreasing the risk of a 6-point reduction in IQ (a standard measure of “intelligence”) and WTP, but showed a negative relationship between risk reduction and WTP for reading comprehension as an outcome. The range of mortality risks that respondents would accept on behalf of their (hypothetical) 10-year-old child is 2 in 10,000 to 9 in 1,000 per IQ point, and WTP per IQ point is $466 ($380, $520). QALY weights elicited via time tradeoff (reduction in life expectancy) were significantly different from QALY weights elicited via a standard gamble (p = 0.001). Respondents who answered questions about ecological endpoints first were willing to pay a small additional amount when asked about human health effects, but those respondents who answered questions about human health endpoints first were not willing to pay any additional amount when subsequently asked about ecological effects. This paper has not been submitted elsewhere in identical or similar form, nor will it be during the first three months after its submission to the Publisher.     

Effects of selected antioxidants on physical and sensory characteristics of yeast bread containing flaxseed meal

Flaxseed has been identified as a potential functional food because of its high content of phytochemicals, alpha‐linolenic (α‐linolenic) acid and lignans. Flaxseed can be used in baked goods because of its minimal loss of α‐linolenic acid. Alpha‐linolenic acid is susceptible to oxidation and the development of off‐aromas and flavours in the food. The focus of this study was to determine the effectiveness of both synthetic and natural antioxidants that were incorporated into a yeast bread that contained 15% flaxseed as a partial replacement for bread flour. The study evaluated the effectiveness of the antioxidants on the physical and sensory characteristics of the bread. Physical properties, such as per cent moisture and loaf volume, were not affected (P > 0.05) by the antioxidants, but ascorbic acid, butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole, independently, had a softening affect (P < 0.05) on crumb firmness. Sensory analysis indicated significant (P < 0.05) changes in aroma, grainy taste, aftertaste and moistness in all bread samples regardless of antioxidant, however, only ascorbic acid was rated as effective in maintaining a softer (P < 0.05) crumb.     

Can Stigma Explain Large Property Value Losses? The Psychology and Economics of Superfund

This research documents the long term impacts of delayed cleanup on property values in communities neighboring prominent Superfund sites. The research examines the sale prices of nearly 34,000 homes near sites in three metropolitan areas for up to a 30-year period. To our knowledge, no other property value studies have examined sites in multiple areas with large property value losses over the length of time used here. The results are both surprising and inconsistent with most prior work. The principal result is that, when cleanup is delayed for 10, 15, and even up to 20 years, the discounted present value of the cleanup is mostly lost. A possible explanation for these property value losses is that the sites are stigmatized and the homes in the surrounding communities are shunned. The results suggest that expedited cleanup and minimizing the number of stigmatizing events would reduce these losses. This research was supported by the USEPA under cooperative agreement CR 824393-01-0. The authors wish to thank Alan Carlin for his patience and support along with Shelby Gerking, Kip Viscusi and three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. We also would like to thank Christian Coerds, Graham Crawford, Rachel Deming, Karen Grace-Martin, Brian Hurd, Joe LaVerde, Eleanor Smith, and Matt Todaro for their support on this project and the participants of the Risk Perception, Valuation and Policy conference at the University of Central Florida and the AERE Workshop in Estes Park, Colorado, for their helpful feedback.