Bootstrap validity for the score test when instruments may be weak

It is well-known that size adjustments based on bootstrapping the t$t$-statistic perform poorly when instruments are weakly correlated with the endogenous explanatory variable. In this paper, we provide a theoretical proof that guarantees the validity of the bootstrap for the score statistic. This theory does not follow from standard results, since the score statistic is not a smooth function of sample means and some parameters are not consistently estimable when the instruments are uncorrelated with the explanatory variable.     

The Effects of 9/11 and Terrorism on Human Resource Management: Recovery, Reconsideration, and Renewal

The United States suffered an unprecedented loss of life on September 11, 2001, from what was labeled a terrorist attack. Mainly on the basis of data from professional association surveys and government agencies, it was found that the United States and many other countries of the world have been significantly affected by the events and aftermath of that morning's events. As an unprecedented attack on a country not usually affected by external terrorism, it allows a unique study of how terrorism can affect countries in the world. As a result of 9/11 there were significant changes in the U.S. economy and society that, because of the global economy and politics as well as the international war on terrorism, certainly have international consequences. Changes also occurred in most areas of human resource management as well as producing a much greater emphasis on having an overall business crisis management program. However, many of the initial changes appear to have diminished over time. The resultant changes, and lack of changes, produce rich questions for further research.     

Employee Awareness of Workplace Violence Policies and Perceptions for Addressing Perpetrators at Colleges and Universities

Most of the research on workplace violence has focused on workplace violence incidents and the development of models to predict and address the phenomenon. The assumption that all organizations are essentially similar in nature underlies this research. However, colleges and universities differ from for-profit businesses. Little, if any, research has been conducted to determine employees’ awareness of workplace violence policies and employee perceptions of potential perpetrators and how to address perpetrators which is necessary for increasing such policies’ effectiveness. The present study examines the awareness of employees at a large, public university in the Midwestern United States concerning WPV. Respondents indicate which sources they perceive to be likely perpetrators of workplace violence, and the actions that organization should take if WPV occurs. Based on this information, steps to increase employee awareness of workplace violence policies in colleges and universities are suggested.     

THE EFFECT ON POVERTY STATUS IN ISRAEL OF CONSIDERING WEALTH AND VARIABILITY OF INCOME

This paper assesses the effects of including wealth and the variability of income on the incidence of poverty and the degree of income inequality in Israel. A special survey, which includes data on the wealth and income of a national sample of Israeli families in 1963–64 and 1964–65, allows us to go beyond measures based on current income alone.
The first section reviews earlier studies of poverty in Israel. The next section looks at poverty and inequality in terms of current income, current wealth, and a combined measure of income and wealth. The combined measure is the Hansen-Weisbrod measure (HW), which equals income plus the annuity value of wealth, assuming all wealth is just consumed at the time of death. It is interesting that, in spite of the much higher wealth inequality than income inequality, the HW measure was slightly more equally distributed than income. This result occurred because the annuity component made up a low share of the total HW measure and the correlation between income and wealth was well under 1. Although overall inequality and poverty were similar for income and HW measures, the incidence of poverty by subgroup depended on the measure used.
The final section presents a dynamic view of poverty and inequality. Year-to-year changes in poverty were substantial. Because of the use of a relative poverty concept and the rise in real incomes, the real income poverty line rose by 15 percent between 1963 and 1964. Still, of those in income poverty in 1963, 37 percent managed to escape poverty in 1964. The paper shows how the degree to which poverty was stable or transitory varied substantially by age and country of origin.     

Values of Gains and Losses: Reference States and Choice of Measure

The available empirical evidence continues to suggest that people commonly value losses more, and often much more, than otherwise commensurate gains. Consequently, current practice of using the WTP measure for all changes is often likely to lead to misleading assessments of welfare changes. The reference dependence of preferences implies instead that while the WTP measure is appropriate for gains, the value of both positive and negative changes in the domain of losses will usually be more accurately assessed with the WTA measure.     

Utility functions of equivalent form and the effect of parameter changes on optimum decision making

We derive a class of utility functions that are equivalent with respect to a well-defined functional form. We study the case of constant relative risk aversion (of some order) to investigate on different equivalence relations in order to determine the, possibly infinite, number of equivalence classes when utility functions satisfy a specific form. Then we apply our results to standard applications in economics and finance, for example, to the effect of price volatility on optimum hedging. We would like to thank Bernhard Eckwert and Itzhak Zilcha for constructive comments and suggestions.     

The effect of knowing a second language and experience working with non-English speakers on job performance

Managing a multicultural workforce involves a thorough understanding of individual and cultural differences. One strategy to successfully manage non-English speaking employees is to recruit or train managers who have the appropriate skill set. This study utilizes experimental methods to examine the effect of two skills related to multicultural competence – (1) the ability to speak a second language and (2) having frequent interactions with non-English workers at their current job – on job performance in an environment of communication barriers in a food service context. Job performance was measured through temporal performance or the speed of completing a dish, food quality, and food accuracy. The findings showed that employees were able to complete recipes by an average of 7.23 min faster when led by a manager who had the two multicultural skills. Teams led by a manager who had the two multicultural skills also scored higher quality food ratings on the measures of presentation, temperature, taste, aroma, and the degree to which the meal was fully cooked. The measure of accuracy was only significant at the 90% confidence interval and is worth further investigation. The results showed that the managers who had the two multicultural skills used more pointing and demonstration than the managers who did not have the two multicultural skills during the task.