THE CLOTHING ATTITUDES AND ACTIVITIES OF HOME ECONOMISTS EMPLOYED IN BUSINESS

The Sproles Consumer Interest and Priorities questionnaire was administered to 3,036 American home economists, who were pursuing careers in business, in order to develop a profile of the clothing attitudes and activities of that segment of the consumer market who (1) have been enrolled in home economics programmes at the college level, and (2) have been employed in businesses created for profit or associations supported by profit-making companies. Sixty-four per cent (1,950) of the survey forms were returned. A majority of the respondents evidenced a consciousness of clothing styles worn by others, an understanding of the importance of fashionability within social situations, an awareness of personal clothing expenditures and an appreciation for the economic value of home sewing. Application of these principles, however, was individualized, as evidenced by contrasting methods of clothing acquisition, varied willingness to purchase clothing at sales or used clothing establishments, and diverse tendencies toward buying clothing on impulse. Only 22% of the sample perceived themselves to be fashion leaders.     

Hours of Part-Time and Full-Time Workers at the Same Firm

Nearly half of all firms hire both part-time and full-time workers. This note uses the results of a unique survey of more than 5,000 establishments to examine the ratio of part-time weekly hours to full-time weekly hours at firms employing both types of worker. The distribution of relative hours appears fairly stable across industries, Regression analysis shows that higher quasi-fixed labor costs increase the ratio of part-time to full-time hours, although the effect is empirically small.     

FISCAL ILLUSION (THE FLYPAPER EFFECT) AND GOVERNMENT SPENDING IN AUSTRALIA*

Work in the US and Canada has found the flypaper effect to be evident at the national as well as the sub-national government level. This paper uses the methodology developed by Robert R. Logan (1986) to examine how the payment of inter-governmental grants has affected government expenditure in Australia. The analysis is of both the recipient and payee governments.     

FAMILY LIFESTYLE AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION: AN ENERGY ADAPTATION MODEL*

The premise of the paper is that family energy consumption is a consequence of family lifestyle. To facilitate the development of policies that allow families to make satisfactory lifestyle choices as energy resources decline, we explore in detail the relationship between family lifestyle and energy consumption. A model is developed to illustrate the decision making processes that link individual and family behaviour patterns with energy consumption. A series of propositions is derived from the model that relates family values, family effectiveness and family decision making to energy prices, energy conservation adoption, attitude formation and family lifestyle changes. The model can be used by public and private decision makers to identify research and consumer information programs that will facilitate adoption of more energy efficient lifestyles.     

Volume,Volatility, and New York Stock Exchange Trading Halts

Trading halts increase, rather than reduce, both volume and volatility. Volume (volatility) in the first full trading day after a trading halt is 230 percent (50 to 115 percent) higher than following “pseudohalts”: nonhalt control periods matched on time of day, duration, and absolute net-of-market returns. These results are robust over different halt types and news categories. Higher posthalt volume is observed into the third day while higher posthalt volatility decays within hours. The extent of media coverage is a partial determinant of volume and volatility following both halts and pseudohalts, but a separate halt effect remains after controlling for the media effect.     

Individual Investors and Local Bias

The paper tests whether individuals have value‐relevant information about local stocks (where “local” is defined as being headquartered near where an investor lives). Our methodology uses two types of calendar‐time portfolios—one based on holdings and one based on transactions. Portfolios of local holdings do not generate abnormal performance (alphas are zero). When studying transactions, purchases of local stocks significantly underperform sales of local stocks. The underperformance remains when focusing on stocks with potentially high levels of information asymmetries. We conclude that individuals do not help incorporate information into stock prices. Our conclusions directly contradict existing studies.