Working conditions and factory survival: Evidence from better factories Cambodia

A large and growing literature has identified several conditions, including exporting, that contribute to plant survival. A prevailing sentiment suggests that anti‐sweatshop activity against plants in developing countries adds to the risk of closure, making survival more difficult by imposing external constraints that may interfere with optimizing behavior. Using a relatively new plant‐level panel data set from Cambodia, this paper applies survival analysis to estimate the relationship between changes in working conditions and plant closure. The results find little, if any, evidence that improving working conditions increases the probability of closure. In fact, some evidence suggests that improvements in standards relating to compensation are positively correlated with the probability of plant survival.     

AN ANALYTICAL MODEL OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATURITY AND BONDS RISK DIFFERENTIALS

This paper extends previous analyses of bond risk differentials by relaxing the key assumption of a constant probability of firm survival. Under the less restrictive assumption that firm income is stationary and independent over time, it is shown that risk differential clearly varies with maturity even with a flat term structure. Because the payoff possibilities of multi-period bonds are interdependent even though income in each period is independent, risk differentials must depend on maturity, even if term structure is flat. This conclusion is more compatible with empirical findings than were conclusions of previous analyses.     

The evolution of food aid : Towards a development first regime

The purpose of food aid has evolved over the past 30 years, shifting from surplus disposal to a ‘development first’ regime. This shift was accelerated by the World Food Conference, but even 10 years after the conference it is yet to be completed. There are inherent tensions between the older and new design principles. The author proposes a more coherent set of governing principles and norms.     

Employee ownership and internal governance

This paper is designed to counter Oliver Williamson's hypothetical ‘Peer Group’ model of organization with a discussion of three prosperous populations of employee-owned firms: worked-owned scavenger companies, taxi cooperatives, and professional partnerships such as the large law firm. It will be shown here that these firms are formed, endure and prevail over their competition for reasons that Williamson, more than anyone else, has taught us to appreciate. In particular, this paper will argue that the metering problems and human asset considerations that are so prominently featured in Williamson's work are crucial for understanding the success of these firms.     

Tax Timing Options on Futures Contracts and the 1981 Economic Recovery Act

This study utilizes foreign currency futures contracts to evaluate the tax timing options created by the 1981 Economic Recovery Act. Our findings suggest that the act had an impact on contracts with less than six months to maturity and that the marginal trader in those contracts is a long-position holder. Similarly, the results suggest that the option of tax year selection for foreign currency futures in valuable.     

Charitable Giving of Alumni

A bstract . This research examines the "age-donation" profile of gift-giving alumniai a large public university , based on a pooled micro-data random sample of 4,242 alumni (1926/27-1989/90 graduates) who gave cash gifts during the 1975/76-1989/90 fiscal years. The covariance regression model results indicate lack of statistically significant difference between gift-giving women and men. However, the School of Business graduates , alumni who proceeded to obtain graduate degrees from this university, and alumni members of non-Greek social organizations gave significantly more. Moreover, alumni contributions varied systematically over the business cycle and a 1962 Federal Court Order to desegregate the university racially reduced donations but not significantly. Given the 63-year cycle studied, the growth rates of alumni donations of money are projected to decline after roughly age 52, which falls short of the typical retirement age.     

Horizontal mergers and collusive behavior

In the Industrial Organization literature, it is generally felt that mergers hurt consumers; not only because of the increased industrial concentration they effect, but also because collusion becomes more likely. In this paper we show that, at least in one important case, this intuition is misguided. If a tacitly collusive agreement enforced by trigger strategies is not initially sustainable, mergers will tend to reduce the chance that it becomes sustainable in the future. This is so because the threat point implicit in the agreement becomes more favorable for outsiders.