ASPECTS OF THE ECONOMICS OF LANDOWNERSHIP

There will be an increasing demand for additional capital as the pattern of landownership changes. In the past it was easier t o acquire on the death of a landowner a large block of land but as this land becomes broken up and becomes less homogeneous as far as landownership is concerned, this will give rise t o many social and economic problems. Undoubtedly the dead hand of the past lies heavily on the present and future pattern of British agriculture. There is a need for a change in attitude towards the new class of landowners, and for research on the implication of continuing policies that were initiated in times when there was reaction against landownership held by a few privileged individuals. It is hkely that if attention is not paid to these aspects we are likely to see landownership being transferred to institutional bodies. The past system of landownership on a personal basis will be replaced by various institutional arrangements on a very impersonal basis. Owner-occupiers (particularly those above 600 S.M.D.) faced with increasing charges for purchasing and servicing of landlord responsibilities will be forced to intensify their production and may demand greater support from government sources. It is suggested that as an immediate measure in addition to collecting information on a net farm income basis, data should be collected on the networth of individual farm businesses as well as of the industry as a whole. Non-agriculutural presswes en on land values need tc be considered. In the marginal areas part-time farming, together with tourism, or integration with other pursuits such as afforestation, appear to be sound enough proposals in general, but difficult to implement for the individual. More research work is required to assist us to deal with this problem of change of landownership and its interaction on the competing demands for capital.     

An Emerging Model for Purchase and Consumption of Non-Prescription Drugs

This paper presents the results of exploratory surveys which describe the behavior of the buyer and consumer of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. The results are summarized in a simple decision model which describes the information search process under various conditions of symptom severity, user satisfaction and brand familiarity. Implications are discussed for regulating problem consumption. In particular, advertising and labeling regulations seem unlikely to reduce patterns of heavy usage observed in the research. Problems arising from the self medication process must be examined in a broader context of health care behavior.     

The Explanatory Power of Canadian Accounting Measures of Earnings Dilution*

This paper examines the properties of the accounting measures of dilution under pre‐2001 Canadian GAAP. Fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) presents investors with a per‐share figure that attempts to capture the maximum potential dilution that would occur if all dilutive convertible securities were converted and all dilutive stock options and rights exercised. We examine how the difference between basic and fully diluted EPS, which we refer to as the dilutive adjustment, affects the ability of EPS to predict one‐period‐ahead EPS. Moreover, we address the issue of the explanatory power of changes in the dilutive adjustment for unexpected stock returns over the year and at the earnings announcement date. Surprisingly, in contrast with the traditional accounting view that increases in the dilutive adjustment present the investor with bad news due to potential dilution of the future earnings stream, the dilutive adjustment is positively related to next period's earnings and increases in the dilutive adjustment are positively correlated with contemporaneous long‐window stock returns. These results can be attributed to the relation between the dilutive adjustment and the earnings process combined with a partial resolution of the uncertainty attached to growth firms. We find no evidence that investors use information from the disclosure of fully diluted EPS at the earnings announcement date. These results are consistent with increases in the dilutive adjustment capturing the partial realization of a firm's growth potential that more than outweighs the potential dilution attached to the convertible securities; however, this information appears to be already embedded in price prior to the disclosure of fully diluted EPS.