Productivity and computers in Canadian banking

Canadian banks have invested millions in computer systems in the last two decades. Yet the banks and outside observers have been uncertain that these investments have had net benefits. In this paper, unique data collected directly from a bank is used to investigate the impact of these investments on bank output, input and productivity. Using data from 1974–1987, a translog cost model is estimated. Both capital and labor are divided into information and noninformation inputs. The results are generally consistent with economic theory. The attempt to separate technical change from possible scale effects is very sensitive to alternative specification. Overall there has been some productivity growth associated with the changing computer technology. However, many of the benefits seem to have accrued to the customer and have not directly lead to gains for the bank.     

Pygmalion effect: An issue for business education and ethics

This study reports the results of a survey designed to assess the impact of business education on the ethical beliefs of business students. The study examines the beliefs of graduate and undergraduate students about ethical behavior in educational settings. The investigation indicates that the behavior which students learn or perceive is required to succeed in business schools may run counter to the ethical sanctions of society and the business community. Michael S. Lane is Assistant Professor of Management at West Virginia University. He is the coauthor of An Integrated Approach to Curriculum Design/Redesign, Journal of Education for Business (1986), and Corporate Goals and Managerial Motivation, Mid-South Business Journal (1985).Dietrich Schaupp is Professor of Management at West Virginia University.Barbara Parsons is Assistant Professor of Commerce at Fairmont State College.     

The Sustainability of Whale-watching in Scotland

Scotland's tourism trade grosses £2.5 billion annually and supports 180,000 jobs; whale-watching is an important part of this activity. Whales and dolphins are the country's number one wildlife attraction and with 11,770 km of coastline the potential for the Scottish industry is huge. In rural areas it can provide as much as 12% of local income. During the tourist season of 2000, questionnaires and telephone interviews were used to investigate the sustainability of Scottish whale-watching. 48 operators cooperated providing economic and environmental information. Most operators were found to be local people (72.4%), supporting five or less full-time equivalent jobs (86.4%). Over half of those questioned (63.2%) had alternative incomes and no formal training in wildlife tourism or business management (70.8%); 89.5% of respondents stated that they follow a code of conduct. The East Coast and Western Isles show the best-perceived trends in tourist numbers. Whale-watching in Scotland is shown to have potential for growth but a need to be regulated and managed from within the industry to ensure environmental and economic sustainability into the future.     

Testing the feasibility of small multiples of sparklines to display semimonthly income statement data

This paper tests the ability of 129 accounting students to look up data, perceive and compare data patterns, and detect anomalies when the amount of information in traditional single page three-year comparative income statements is expanded 25-fold by adding semimonthly data to the page in graphical form. Participants were able to use the graphs to perform most tasks correctly more often than not. Tabular presentation of the same 1100 to 2000 data points required six pages. Participants using the one-page income statements with embedded graphs were better able to identify and compare patterns than those using multipage tables, but had less success looking up precise data values. The results on pattern recognition and comparison are consistent with the proximity compatibility principle.     

Liberty,equality and consumerism in state education: exploring liberal angst under New Labour

This paper aims to explore aspects of consumerism in state secondary education in England, the dilemmas posed by the educational market‐place for a category we describe as the ‘resourced liberal egalitarians’ and the resolution of these dilemmas offered by the actions of prominent Labour Party parents‐as‐consumers. Having outlined the individual and societal significance of education, the ideological and ‘economic’ dimensions of educational consumption are explored in order to locate the category ‘resourced liberal egalitarians’. This group's dilemmas are then explained in the context of the strengthening of the market principle and the polarizing of the market‐place within education. These together increase the stakes of protecting their own children's interests while simultaneously exacerbating the inegalitarian character of the education system, a situation which they find distasteful. The final section looks at how the actions of prominent Labour Party figures address this angst through their own actions as parent‐consumers of state education.     

Valuing Changes in the Quality of Coral Reef Ecosystems: A Stated Preference Study of SCUBA Diving in the Bonaire National Marine Park

We estimated the economic value of changes in the quality of a coral reef ecosystem to SCUBA divers in the Caribbean using a stated preference mail survey. Our sampling frame was all divers with U.S. home addresses who purchased a tag required for diving in the Bonaire National Marine Park in 2001. Divers were asked how they might have altered their trip choice had the quality of the coral reef system been different from what they experienced. From these responses we inferred the value of three different levels of quality defined by visibility, species diversity, and percent coral cover. We used random utility theory and mixed logit to analyze the choice questions. Our sample size was 211, and our survey response rate was 75%. For modest changes in quality we estimated per person annual losses at $45. For larger losses the value was $192. Presented at the 3rd World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists in Kyoto, Japan, July 2006.     

Designing a U.S. Market for CO2

The United States may soon have a market for carbon. If so, that market will grow out of a cap-and-trade system like the EU's Emissions Trading System for CO₂ or the U.S. Acid Rain Program for SO₂.
This article reviews the historical performance of these two markets, with particular focus on how the flexibility afforded by, as well as restrictions on, the "banking" and borrowing of allowances has affected the evolution of prices. While both markets have generally functioned well, four episodes are used to illustrate the importance of designing the rules to encourage such flexibility.
The 2005 opening of the EU CO₂ market was marked by a surprisingly high price, one that resulted from a delay in institutions with long positions in allowances ("longs") bringing supply to the market.
The 2007 close of the first phase produced a sharp divergence between the spot price at the end of 2007 and the futures price for 2008, reflecting the restriction against carrying over (or "banking") allowances from one phase to the next.
The U.S. SO₂ market's transition to a tighter system in 2000 avoided such a divergence by allowing unlimited banking of allowances into the second phase.
In 2005-2006, the U.S. SO₂ market experienced a surprising price spike attributable to a combination of changing fundamentals and institutional features (notably, the tax treatment of "longs") that undermined the flexibility of the bank.     

Discussion of “Relating Product Prices to Long‐Run Marginal Cost: Evidence from Solar Photovoltaic Modules”

My discussion of Reichelstein and Sahoo (2018) is organized into three parts. First, what is the context for this work? That is, what are the energy and climate stakes? Second, what does the paper do? I will re‐work the equation defining the components of long‐run marginal cost to better reflect what is actually estimated and to better highlight some important choices about how the different components are modeled. Third, and most importantly, how do the results inform business decisions and policy choices regarding energy and climate? What more do we need?