Capital investment and employment in the information sector

Estimation of the employment effects of changes in capital investment is a standard tool in public policy debates. Typically, such predictions are based on employment multipliers derived from Input–Output analysis. In this paper, we measure the employment effects of changes in capital investment in the U.S. information sector by econometrically estimating an “employment multiplier” from historical data. The estimated multiplier is 10 information sector jobs for each million dollars in expenditure, and perhaps 24 new jobs per million dollars invested across the entire economy. Employment multipliers derived from the Input–Output methodology average about 16 jobs per million, but the multiplier includes jobs outside the information sector. Including employment spillovers, our estimates suggest the multipliers from Input–Output models are plausible. We also note that information sector jobs have substantially higher median earnings than the private sector average, so the economic significance of changes in information sector employment are greater than might first appear. Our findings may be useful in debates over changes in industry regulation that could affect investment.     

Publications: A valid measure of faculty contribution?

Publication productivity of academic accountants has been variously measured and used to rank accounting faculties as well as accounting doctoral programs. Implicit in the results of these studies is the assumption that publications are a surrogate measurement of the contribution of faculty members. This study presents evidence of the declining publication productivity of academic accountants throughout their careers and discusses some implications of this phenomenon for performance evaluation.     

Financial aspects of motor carrier safety inspection performance

This paper investigates the empirical relationships between the safety performances and the financial conditions and management forms of a group of motor carriers. Unlike previous work, we utilize cash flow analyses and random, comprehensive roadside safety inspection results to measure financial status and safety performance, respectively, thus avoiding many criticisms of previous studies.Several probit models are specified and estimated by the method of moments technique. The results strongly suggest that firm financial status is an important predictor of firm safety performance, that closely-held firms exhibit substantially different behavior than other firms, that carriers respond to cargo-specific risks, and that some common safety inspection criteria seem to sensibly measure safety.     

Price-Quality Tradeoffs and Welfare Effects in Cable Television Markets

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 reduced restrictions on the cable TV industry, providing completely deregulated rates in March 1999. Prior to that time the cable industry was generally allowed to increase rates so long as additional channels were supplied. In this paper we develop a simple tradeoff between price and quality in order to calculate the welfare tradeoff to consumers of the provision of one additional satellite channel. Gauging the impact of this quality change on consumers alone, we conclude that the increase in consumer gains due to an extra channel provision are almost exactly counterbalanced by reductions due to price increases. This ceteris paribus calculation does not mean, of course, that dynamic supply effects from the provision and availability of more channels will not increase future competition and potential consumer benefits.     

Bounding consumer surplus by monopoly profits

Regulatory agencies and other public authorities in the United States frequently require private firms seeking regulatory approvals to enter geographic markets, or offer products, that they would not otherwise provide. Examples include “build-out” rules for cable television franchisees, and universal service or “common carrier” obligations. The social welfare consequences of such policies are often difficult to evaluate because, among other things, consumer surpluses generated by entry must be assessed. This article shows that the level of (variable) monopoly profits in the markets of interest can be used to place an upper bound on the associated consumer surplus whenever demand vanishes at a sufficiently high price. This result, which is new, can then be used to evaluate the social consequences of forced entry. Our methods can also be used to provide a bound on the change in consumer surplus resulting from the imposition of regulated prices on an existing monopoly.      

Self-Protection in the expected-utility-of-wealth model: An impossibility theorem

We investigate the possibility of ordering expected utility-of-wealth maximizers according to their propensities to purchase self-protection. We define one agent as “more cautious” than another (toward a loss of specific size given a specific initial wealth) if the first agent would spend more on self-protection than the other, so long- as the technological relationship between spending and loss probability belongs to a broad class of functions. We show that the expected-utility-of-wealth model does not allow for the possibility that one agent could be “more cautious” than another.     

Deficits,money and inflation: Comment

This paper re-examines the fiscal policy-money growth linkage analysed by Hamburger-Zwick (1981) in this Journal. Newly revised national income accounts data are employed. Unlike Hamburger-Zwick we do not find any strong evidence of a positive Federal budget deficit-money growth relationship over the period 1961–1974. When the estimation period is extended to 1976 and then to 1978, the results suggest no relationship between deficits and money growth.     

Classroom assessment techniques (CATs): Tools for improving accounting education

Classroom assessment techniques (CATs) are ungraded anonymous instruments and techniques used throughout the semester for ongoing micro-assessments of teaching and learning. CATs have the dual mission of promoting learning of subject matter while providing feedback on teaching effectiveness. This paper introduces classroom assessment techniques and gives three examples of CATs that were adapted for use in Principles of Accounting.Teachers of the first course in accounting should put a priority on their interaction with students and on interaction among students. (The First Course in Accounting: AECC Position Statement No. Two)     

Faculty perceptions of online homework software in accounting education

Emerging technologies are providing a variety of tools for accounting educators. One of these tools is Online Homework Software (OHS). This study collects survey data from accounting faculty in the U.S.A. who were queried as to the utilization and perception of OHS in undergraduate accounting courses. Analysis of the survey data indicated five differences between OHS users and nonusers: (1) years of teaching, (2) number of course sections taught, (3) Accounting AACSB accreditation status, (4) faculty rank, and (5) courses taught by the respondents. Faculty indicated the tool is helpful when teaching in the online format and that OHS saves faculty time by reducing the time spent grading and processing student work. Users of OHS raised concerns about whether and how the tool helps students learn, how the students view the tool, and the cost of OHS. The data reported in this study are relevant to educators who have never used OHS as well as those who are currently using OHS. The data collected is important in promoting dialog concerning OHS usage and developing recommendations for continued improvements in the software.