THE ROLE OF CRIMINAL SANCTIONS IN ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT

Recently enacted sentencing guidelines were designed to reduce disparity and to increase the average sanction for white-collar offenders. Whether these outcomes will be achieved, however, depends on how closely judges adhere to the new guidelines. We cannot yet determine how the guidelines will be implemented but can learn much about judicial behavior by studying past sentencing practice.
This paper examines sentences imposed on criminal antitrust offenders from 1955 to 1980. Judges are appointed for life and ostensibly are "independent" of the political process. The data suggest, however, that judges do not operate in apolitical vacuum. When Congress increased the status of antitrust violations from misdemeanor to felony in 1974, judges responded by doling out higher penalties–even for offenders not subject to new higher statutory maximums. In addition, the paper shows that Republican judges tend to impose harsher antitrust penalties than do Democratic judges, and that sentencing behavior apparently is influenced by a judge's prospect of promotion to a higher court position. These findings have important policy implications both for the judicial selection process and for ensuring that the judicial branch follows congressional wishes.     

The “LIFO Reserve” and the Value of the Firm: Theory and Empirical Evidence*

Abstract. A valuation approach is used to examine the effect of the LIFO inventory method on the relation between the market value of a firm's stock and the book value of equity. The paper develops three competing hypotheses that have different predictions regarding the relation between the LIFO reserve and the market value of equity. Results indicate a significant negative relation between the LIFO reserve and the value of equity, inconsistent with the pricing of LIFO reserves as unbooked assets, but consistent with a model that views the LIFO reserve as a measure of the effect of increases in factor input prices on firm value. Résumé. Les auteurs ont recours à une évaluation pour examiner l'incidence de la méthode DEPS de détermination du coût des stocks sur la relation entre le cours de l'action d'une société et sa valeur comptable. Ils élaborent trois hypothèses concurrentes qui débouchent sur des prédictions différentes en ce qui a trait à la relation entre la réserve résultant de l'utilisation de la méthode DEPS et la valeur marchande de l'entreprise. Les résultats indiquent une relation négative significative entre cette réserve et la valeur comptable de l'entreprise, relation qui ne concorde pas avec le prix de ladite réserve que l'on voudrait assimiler à un actif non comptabilisé, mais qui cadre avec un modèle selon lequel la réserve résultant de l'utilisation de la méthode DEPS est considérée comme une mesure de l'incidence des hausses du prix des intrants sur la valeur de l'entreprise.     

Apparel sizing solutions for an ageing problem

The purpose of this study was to evaluate apparel sizing needs of women 65 years or older. Girth, vertical, width and length body measurements were taken from a computerized Body Graph Measuring Device placed on 104 participants. Findings showed significant differences between sample, and PS 42–70 and commercial basic pattern measurements in three of four sizing systems identified. In all differences, 65-plus measurements were larger. Bust girth, abdominal extension and base of armscye girth measurements with height were acceptable sizing predictors for bodice, skirt and sleeve, respectively.     

Compensation Structure and Establishment Quit and Fire Rates

Despite the claims of efficiency wage theory, there is surprisingly little direct evidence that firms that pay higher wages have lower turnover rates than otherwise similar firms. This study uses data on 205 child care establishments to examine the influence of wages, fringe benefits, and the dispersion of wages within a skill class on establishment quit and fire rates. We separately examine one high-skill group (teachers) and one lowskill group (teacher aides). While we find that wages (alone) significantly reduce establishment quit and fire rates, the effect seems too small to be consistent with the efficiency wage hypothesis.     

World Agricultural Trade Reform: Implications for Australia

In this paper we assess the implications of agricultural trade reform by GATT member countries. To do this, we link two general equilibrium models, a world food trade model and the ORANI model of the Australian economy. By treating the ORANI model as an integral part of the world model, we are able to focus on the implications for Australia of world agricultural trade reform.
The findings suggest that, if price distorting agricultural policies were removed by GATT member countries, world food commodity prices would rise, some by up to 30 per cent, and world food trade expand by about a third. Australia would be a major beneficiary of these international developments, the value of its agricultural exports rising by close to 15 per cent. In 1986, this would have meant for Australia additional export earnings of around SUS750 million, as well as more rapid economic growth.