ASSESSING THE RELATIVE IMPACTS OF ECONOMIC EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP: AN APPLICATION OF THE HARZING DATABASE

Despite the rising prominence of economic education scholarship, little work has been done to document how economic education scholarship is faring in the academic world. Unlike prior research in this genre, this study assesses the relative impacts of economic education scholarship by examining published research in (strictly) economic education journals. In order to do so, we use the Harzing database of citations to articles published in (strictly) economic education journals from 1990 to the present. Supporting some of the measures found in prior research, we find that the Journal of Economic Education (JEE) is unambiguously the dominant source of influential scholarship in the field of economic education. Interestingly, the JEE's closest competitors among active economic education journals are the International Review of Economics Education and Computers in Higher Education Economics Research, both of which are published under the auspices of the Economics Network, which is located in the UK. Following these two journals in our ranking is the Journal of Economics and Finance Education, a relatively new journal launch.     

Size of Financing Need and the Choice between Asset Sales and Security Issuances

We study the effect of the size of financing need on a firm's choice between selling assets and issuing securities to finance its investments. The balance sheet effect predicts that a firm prefers to sell assets when the financing need is relatively small as there is less information asymmetry regarding the value of a (small) subset of its assets. When the financing need is large, a firm prefers issuing securities to selling assets. We find evidence supporting the prediction. Our findings remain unchanged when we employ measures of financing need that are relatively independent of the actual amount of financing raised.     

The fiscal impact of high-skilled emigration: Flows of Indians to the U.S.

What are the fiscal consequences of high-skilled emigration for source countries? This paper develops methodologies for inferring these consequences and applies them to the recent sizable emigration of high-skilled workers from India to the U.S. This wave of emigration from India to the U.S. is shown to be unusually concentrated amongst the prime-age work force, the highly educated and high earners. In order to calculate the fiscal losses associated with these emigrants, estimates of their counterfactual earnings distributions are generated using two distinct methods and integrated with a model of the Indian fiscal system to calculate fiscal consequences. Conservative estimates indicate that the annual net fiscal impact to India of high-skilled emigration to the U.S. is one-half of 1% of gross national income (or 2.5% of total fiscal revenues). The sensitivity of these results to the method of predicting counterfactual incomes and the implications of these estimates for other developing countries is discussed in detail.     

Equilibrium parallel import policies and international market structure

In a North–South vertically differentiated duopoly we analyze (i) the effects of parallel import (PI) policies on price competition and (ii) the interdependence of national PI policies. Prices can be higher in the North if both countries permit PIs relative to when only the South does. If governments maximize national welfare and demand asymmetry across countries is sufficiently large, the North forbids PIs to ensure its firm sells in the South and international price discrimination — the South's most preferred market outcome — obtains. When demand structures are relatively similar across countries, the North permits PIs and uniform pricing — its most preferred outcome — results.     

On the causes of volatility effects of conglomerate breakups

We describe four channels through which breakups can potentially increase idiosyncratic volatility for parent firms. These are: loss of diversification (portfolio effect), change in growth opportunities, change in operational efficiency, and the flow and assimilation of information (information effect). The relevance of each channel depends on the mode of a breakup. We explain conceptually and show empirically, using a sample of 530 breakups (259 spinoffs and 271 equity carveouts), that the portfolio effect is dominant for spinoff parents, while the information effect gains importance for carveout parents. Our novel insight is that the magnitude of the information effect depends on the pre-announcement information set held by investors; we provide a simple state-space model and empirical evidence to support this intuition. We also find a relation between the change in operational efficiency and the change in idiosyncratic volatility for spinoff parents.     

The Nexus between Disability,Education, and Employment: Evidence from Nepal

The links between disability, education, and employment remain unclear in developing countries due to the lack of credible data. This paper identifies and compares the effect of education on employability, employment status (full-time or part-time), job type (white collar or blue collar), and job satisfaction among persons with disabilities using a unique data-set of over 400 respondents with hearing, physical, and visual impairments in Nepal. The analysis also utilizes nationally representative survey data from the Nepal Living Standard Survey 2010/2011 (NLSS III) for a robustness test. Results show a positive correlation between years of schooling and the likelihood of obtaining a full-time and white-collar job. Regarding the type of impairment, those with physical impairments are less likely to be employed when individual characteristics are controlled, but report higher levels of job satisfaction when they are employed. Results thus suggest the need to invest further in education for persons with disabilities, in order to increase their participation within the labor market.     

Categories of university-level entrepreneurship: a literature survey

Research into the nature, antecedents and effects of university-level entrepreneurship has grown due to the emergence of the university technology transfer phenomenon and the evolution of university's role in national innovation systems and economic development. From the literature survey, three research categories for university-level entrepreneurship are identified and examined namely entrepreneurial university, academic entrepreneurship and university technology transfer. Then, a framework depicting the relationship of the three research categories is developed and discussed. Lastly, recommendations are made for future research and analysis.