A Time Series Analysis of Private College Closures and Mergers

This study examines and explains private four-yearcollege closures and mergers in the United Statesusing time series data at the national level for theperiod 1960 to 1994. The data imply that, exceptduring the 1970s, private colleges were much lesslikely to close than businesses in general.Furthermore, the data indicate that private collegemergers occur more often than casual empiricismsuggests. Multiple regression analysis of the exit andmerger decision reveals that private college closuresand mergers are more likely when the real tuition ratedeclines and real faculty salaries rise at privatecolleges. Both the closure and merger rates are foundto be highly responsive with respect to changes inprivate tuition and faculty salaries. The empiricalresults further indicate that religiously-affiliatedcolleges are less likely to close and merge thansecular institutions and that a larger student poolleads to less closing and merging of private four-yearcolleges.     

Young UK adults and the 5 A DAY campaign: perceived benefits and barriers of eating more fruits and vegetables

Although consuming adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases, it is widely recognized that young adults' intakes are currently well below the Department of Health's recommended five portions a day, with men consuming even less than women. One approach in the UK has been to introduce health campaigns such as the 5 A DAY programme; however, little is currently known about how well their messages are understood amongst young adults. This study examined current knowledge of the 5 A DAY message in young adults, as well as the perceived benefits and remaining barriers towards consuming more fruits and vegetables. In total, four focus groups were conducted using male (n = 22) and female (n = 18) students at the University of Reading. Content analysis revealed that while participants were aware of the 5 A DAY recommendation, there was widespread confusion regarding the detail. In addition, men were less accepting of the message than women, reporting greater disbelief and a lack of motivation to increase intake. Finally, a range of barriers was reported by participants of both genders, despite the perceived beneficial effects for health and appearance. The results illustrate a considerable gap between awareness and knowledge of the 5 A DAY message, and underscore the challenge that changing behaviour in young adults represents. As well as stepping up education‐ and skill‐based health campaigns, more targeted gender specific interventions will be needed to achieve sustained increases in fruit and vegetable intake.     

Augmenting the Value of Ownership by Protecting It Only Partially: The "Market-Overt" Rule Revisited

This article analyzes alternative rules for settling conflictsbetween right owner and a bona fide purchaser. The optimal rule,so it is argued, is the one which maximizes the expected valueof the ownership right, given the risk of right violation. Inorder to maximize this value, one must seek to both mitigatethe risk of right violation and augment a potential buyer'swillingness to pay for the right. The analysis specifies therelevant parameters that define which rule is optimal in givencircumstances, and proves that there are cases in which thevalue of the ownership right is maximized if the owner's rightis only partially protected against innocent third parties.Two prevailing notions are challenged: first, that the "market-overt"rule necessarily induces buyers to invest fewer resources inprepurchase precautions, and second, that a buyer's willingnessto pay is unaffected by the choice of the legal rule.     

Moving towards an Improved Microsimulation Model of the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

Finding ways of curbing government expenditure on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) while maintaining social equity and access to ‘essential’ medicines is at the centre of ongoing public debate. This article describes a microsimulation model of the PBS that simulates current and future use and costs of PBS medicines under existing and different PBS policy settings, and estimates the distributional effects of policy changes. The article outlines future developments that will extend the current model to include health outcomes. Adding health outcomes will enable the debate on PBS sustainability to be advanced beyond the prevailing cost‐containment mentality to consider not only the costs of pharmaceutical use but also the benefits that result from the use of these medicines.     

Size,Age and Activity Sector on the Growth of the Small and Medium Firm Size

Although corporate growth is one of the most researched subjects in different areas of economic science, it is not currently based on a general theory or generally accepted conceptual definition. In spite of this, growth has usually been considered an essential objective for a firm, contributing to its survival and competitiveness. This work aims to provide a more in-depth study of the factors that condition the growth of small and medium-sized firms, by offering some empirical evidence that will contribute to its modelling, especially in relation to the influence of size, age and activity sector. In this context, we shall attempt to contrast the validity of Gibrat's approach and the Learning Theory.     

The Cost of Foreclosure Delay

We measure the cost of foreclosure delay by estimating time‐related foreclosure costs using a large national sample of residential mortgages before, during, and after the recent U.S. housing crisis. The large volume of foreclosures, coupled with an unprecedented series of government interventions in mortgage servicing practices, significantly extended foreclosure timelines during and after the crisis.  Costs were especially pronounced in judicial review states, which saw average foreclosure costs go up 15 percentage points, 24 percentage points in the highest cost state.  Cost increases of this magnitude are likely to have consequences for servicing practices and mortgage credit availability.     

The Economics of Software Development by Pair Programmers

Evidence suggests that pair programmers–two programmers working collaboratively on the same design, algorithm, code, or test–perform substantially better than the two would working alone. Improved quality, teamwork, communication, knowledge management, and morale have been among the reported benefits of pair programming. This paper presents a comparative economic evaluation that strengthens the case for pair programming. The evaluation builds on the quantitative results of an empirical study conducted at the University of Utah. The evaluation is performed by interpreting these findings in the context of two different, idealized models of value realization. In the first model, consistent with the traditional waterfall process of software development, code produced by a development team is deployed in a single increment; its value is not realized until the full project completion. In the second model, consistent with agile software development processes such as Extreme Programming, code is produced and delivered in small increments; thus its value is realized in an equally incremental fashion. Under both models, our analysis demonstrates a distinct economic advantage of pair programmers over solo programmers. Based on these preliminary results, we recommend that organizations engaged in software development consider adopting pair programming as a practice that could improve their bottom line. To be able to perform quantitative analyses, several simplifying assumptions had to be made regarding alternative models of software development, the costs and benefits associated with these models, and how these costs and benefits are recognized. The implications of these assumptions are addressed in the paper.