The Allocational Effects of the Precision of Accounting Estimates

This paper studies the allocational effects associated with the precision of accounting estimates when the precision of estimates is a choice variable for firms. One part of the paper considers the effects of the observability of precision choices. We show that, generally, making precision choices private increases firms' equilibrium precision choices and also, as a by‐product, their equilibrium investment choices. We further show that, when firms' precision choices are private, there may be a “disclosure trap,” in which, unless investors conjecture the owner has chosen an estimate with the highest possible precision, the owner will respond to investors' conjecture by choosing an estimate whose precision is higher than investors' conjecture. In a multifirm version of the model with endogenous investment, we show that the equilibrium investment by the firm increases in the precision of the firm's own estimate and decreases in the precisions of other firms' estimates. Finally, we show that, in a setting where the firm's initial owner sells his stake in the firm over the course of two periods, with disclosures of estimates of the firm's value occurring prior to each sale of shares, if the precisions of the estimates are public, the equilibrium precisions of the estimates increase over time when the owner sells a sufficiently large fraction of the firm in the first period, and otherwise the equilibrium precisions of estimates remain constant over time.     

Three‐Regime Asymmetric STAR Modeling and Exchange Rate Reversion

The breakdown of the Bretton Woods system and the adoption of generalized floating exchange rates ushered in a new era of exchange rate volatility and uncertainty. This increased volatility leads economists to search for economic models able to describe observed exchange rate behavior. In the present paper, we propose more general STAR transition functions that encompass both threshold nonlinearity and asymmetric effects. Our framework allows for a gradual adjustment from one regime to another and considers threshold effects by encompassing other existing models, such as TAR models. We apply our methodology to three different exchange rate data sets: one for developing countries and official nominal exchange rates, the second for emerging market economies using black market exchange rates, and the third for OECD economies.     

EXAMINING THE OBSTACLES TO BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING: EVIDENCE FROM A SURVEY OF PROFESSIONAL WORKERS

This article describes the results of a survey of professional workers that was designed to explore the underlying reasons for the widely documented underrepresentation of women in information technology (IT) jobs. Our analysis suggests that it is different occupational personalities between men and women rather than the demanding nature of IT work that is largely responsible for the relatively few women in IT occupations. We discuss the implications these results have for policies that are designed to create greater gender equity in the rapidly growing IT industries. ( JEL J08, J24, J70)     

The Changing Information Seeker: A Study of Attitudes Toward Product Test Reports–1970 and 1976

Systematic samples of subscribers to Consumer Reports were surveyed in 1970 and 1976 to obtain their evaluations of the information they had received. Responses are compared between the two years, stressing the environmental context of each measure. Attitudes toward characteristics of the information and satisfaction with Consumer Reports are found to be high in both years, but ratings are significantly less favorable in 1976. Implications for Consumers Union management, other policy-makers, and further research are discussed.     

Corporate Governance and Acquirer Returns

We examine whether corporate governance mechanisms, especially the market for corporate control, affect the profitability of firm acquisitions. We find that acquirers with more antitakeover provisions experience significantly lower announcement‐period abnormal stock returns. This supports the hypothesis that managers at firms protected by more antitakeover provisions are less subject to the disciplinary power of the market for corporate control and thus are more likely to indulge in empire‐building acquisitions that destroy shareholder value. We also find that acquirers operating in more competitive industries or separating the positions of CEO and chairman of the board experience higher abnormal announcement returns.     

A Cross-Category Analysis of Shelf-Space Allocation,Product Variety,and Retail Margins

Retailers' allocation of shelf space as well as the breadth of varietyoffered varies across categories. Many researchers have developedheuristics for determining what retailers should do with regard tothese decisions. We explore how these constructs are actually relatedin practice. We utilize data obtained from Marsh Supermarkets, a largeIndianapolis-based grocery retailer, to explore the relationshipsbetween these variables. The results of this analysis are a set of rawfacts concerning the relationship between some of grocery retailers'more important category-level decisions.