Sampling studies on a test against trend in binomial data

Summary A series of 375 “Monte-Carlo” realizations were performed on a number of groupings of 100 samples each fromt distinct binomial populations (t=3, 4, 5, 7, 9) in order to obtain estimates of the power function of theV andX ² index of dispersion tests in detection of a “trend” in the binomial probabilities.     

The economic implications of the VLSI revolution

In 1970 a silicon-wafer fabrication plant cost $2 million: in 1979 it was $50 million. The production of integrated circuits is not only capital intensive. It is also a high-risk business—rapid innovation brings the dangers of product and process obsolescence. Vast investments in complex equipment to produce ever tinier integrated circuits can be recouped only through high-volume sales. Consumers pay less per unit of performance and large firms are favoured. VLSI (very large scale integration) may shortly bring a generation of devices more flexible even than the microprocessor. But the diffusion of the new technology depends heavily on ‘gatekeepers’ who evaluate potential applications. The greatest obstacle, as in the case of automation, will be the design and choice of appropriate software.     

Who was affected by new welfare reform strategies? Microdata estimates from Canada

A heterogeneous mix of aggressive welfare reforms took effect in different provinces and years starting in the 1990s. Welfare participation rates subsequently declined. Previous investigations of these declines focused on cuts in benefits and stricter eligibility requirements. This article focuses instead on work requirements, diversion, earning exemptions and time limits – referred to jointly as new welfare reform strategies – while controlling for benefit levels, eligibility requirements, province-specific labour market conditions and GDP growth, as well as individual-level socio-economic information. Province-year-specific variation in new reform strategies produce estimates implying that their presence is associated with a large decline in welfare participation of 1.3 percentage points (14% relative to the unconditional mean participation rate of 9.2%). Our coding scheme generates new measures of policy variation that distinguish reductions in benefit levels and tighter eligibility restrictions from new welfare reform strategies, helping identify how different subpopulations responded to different kinds of welfare reforms. Estimates from 46 subpopulations demonstrate that immigrants, native Canadians, single parents and disabled people were substantially more likely to be affected by aggressive new attempts to limit welfare participation than other Canadians receiving social assistance.     

The impact of offering two versus three alternatives in choice modelling experiments

Researchers designing choice modelling experiments have some latitude over the number of choice alternatives that can be offered in each choice set. There is some evidence that design dimensions, including the number of alternatives available in each choice set, can influence model outcomes. A key issue is whether referendum formats with binary options are preferable to choice sets with multiple alternatives.A choice modelling experiment was performed where questionnaires delivered to two split samples differed only according to whether two or three alternatives were offered to respondents in each choice set. The results indicate that more robust models could be constructed from the three-alternative split compared to the two-alternative split. One reason for the difference is that respondents tended to display serial non-participation in the two-alternative format, choosing an alternative consistently without regard for changes in the attributes. For practitioners of the CM technique, the results suggest that it may be preferable to offer more than two alternatives in a choice set that includes a status quo option.     

Dispelling misconceptions and providing guidelines for leader reward and punishment behavior

One unfortunate consequence of the focus on “charismatic,” “transformational,” and “visionary” leader behaviors during the past few decades has been the tendency to diminish the importance that transactional leadership behaviors have on leadership effectiveness. We say that this is unfortunate because recent research has shown that transactional leadership, in the form of contingent reward and punishment behaviors, can have substantial effects on a variety of important employee attitudes, perceptions, and measures of job performance. Therefore, in this article we discuss some possible reasons why transactional leadership has been relegated to a lesser role than transformational leadership, summarize the research that indicates the importance of leader contingent reward and punishment behavior to leadership effectiveness, and identify some of the mechanisms that these forms of leadership behavior work through to influence employee attitudes and behaviors. Following this, we address ten misconceptions managers often have regarding the administration of rewards and punishments, and provide some recommendations about how leaders can improve their effectiveness in administering recognition and discipline in organizational settings.     

Informal firms in developing countries: entrepreneurial stepping stone or consolation prize?

The potential dynamic benefits of a firm having the option to adopt informal status are analysed. Informality may be a stepping stone, without which formality may never be achieved. This result is obtained for a broad range of realistic parameter values, suggesting a potential dynamic case for government support of informal firms. Informality may alternatively play a converse role as a consolation prize, with a firm only entering an industry (formally) because it recognizes that if profitability is disappointing, it can switch to informality. However, this result is obtained for a range of parameter values so narrow as to be of no practical significance.     

Economic Freedom and Migration Flows between U.S. States

A modified gravity model is estimated using a cross section of data drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau survey of 2000 in order to analyze the impact of economic freedom on gross migration flows among the lower 48 states. Spatial econometric methods are utilized in order to capture spatial effects not detected by distance. In addition, the Economic Freedom of North America Index is decomposed to determine the individual impact of various policies. Results show that states with higher relative economic freedom experience greater migration inflow through its direct impact on income and employment growth. In aggregate, the findings indicate that individuals migrate toward states with relatively higher government consumption expenditures, relatively lower tax burdens, and states with more freedom with respect to labor decisions in the form of less restrictive minimum wages, less concentration of unions, and less dependence on public employment.