Current market conditions for veterinary services in the U.S

The veterinary industry has been plagued by low growth in income, yet flourished in growth of new veterinarians. By using a labour-/work-hour approach that allows for proper matching of the data, we develop a supply and demand model of companion animal services in the veterinary medicine profession. We use data from two unique sources that allow demand estimation by companion animal type and lets supply vary by practice type. The results here suggest that low income growth, relative to doctors and dentists, may be from allowing supply to outpace demand for veterinary services.     

The demand for mortgage finance in the united kingdom

This paper examines the rationing behaviour of building societies in the United kingdom. Mortgage rationing is defined as the use of non-interest rate terms to allocate available funds and the empirical results indicate that the adjustment of such terms is significant in determining the demand for mortgage finance. In contrast with previous studies, the demand side of the mortgage market is disaggregated between first-time house buyers and existing owner-occupiers.     

Running the Numbers on Lotteries and the Poor: An Empirical Analysis of Transfer Payment Distribution and Subsequent Lottery Sales

State lottery revenues are shown to increase during the week transfer payments are distributed. The timing of the increase in lottery purchases suggests a portion of the transfer payments is used to purchase lottery tickets. In addition to providing information on the timing of lottery purchases, this study finds sales of Pick 3 and Pick 4 tickets increase during the period, while sales of Pick 5 and Pick 6 games do not, suggesting a general preference for the relatively higher probability, smaller jackpot games for the group.

Sportsbook pricing and the behavioral biases of bettors in the NHL

The betting market for the NHL is investigated using actual betting percentages on favorites and underdogs from real sportsbooks. Sportsbooks do not appear to attempt to price to balance the book as betting percentages are not proportional to set odds. As in the NFL and NBA, bettors are shown to have a strong preference for favorites and road favorites in particular. Simple strategies of betting against significant imbalances toward the favorite are shown to generate positive returns. Although not pricing to balance the book, sportsbooks do not appear to price to exploit known bettor biases in all cases. Clear bettor behavioral biases for road favorites are not priced into the odds as the prices set in these cases appear to be a forecast of game outcomes. Pricing as a forecast may ensure long-run viability for the sportsbook as it discourages entry into this market by informed traders and still allows the sportsbook to capture its commission on losing bets over time.     

Line and HR executives' perceptions of HR effectiveness in firms in the People's Republic of China

This paper examines the differences in perceptions of the importance and effectiveness of human resources (HR) practices in firms operating in the People's Republic of China. The major finding is that while there are no significant differences between HR and line executives' perceptions of the importance of each functional area in human resource management (HRM), there are significant differences between line and HR executives' perceptions of the effectiveness of these areas. Line and HR executives both view the issue of securing, developing and maintaining human resources as a critical issue for the execution of daily operations and long-term strategic plans. However, line executives perceive HR performance effectiveness as significantly lower in these functional areas than HR executives do. Therefore, HR departments are not meeting the performance expectations of line executives. There are three possible reasons for the poor performance of HR departments. First, government intervention may limit HR departments' ability to act strategically. Second, HR departments may not have enough power to act strategically. Third, HR departments may have few capabilities to respond to line executives' demands.     

THE CHOICE AMONG DEBT,EQUITY, AND CONVERTIBLE BONDS

The hybrid nature of convertible bonds continues to interest corporate financial managers, investors, and economists. While much theoretical and empirical research examines an issuer's choice between using straight debt and equity, little research evaluates how an issuer chooses among debt, equity, and convertible bonds. This study extends Marsh's [ 13 ] research on the differences between debt and equity issuers in the United Kingdom by examining U.S. industrial firms that issue debt, equity, or convertible bonds. It also illustrates how various distinguishing features influence the probability that each security will be issued.     

Automated Induction of Rule-based Neural Networks from Databases

This paper describes our approach to the problem of automated knowledge acquisition from large databases of examples using an information-theoretic approach. Our previous research has resulted in practical algorithms (ITRULE) for the automatic induction of rules from large example databases. Utilizing these algorithms, the raw data can be transformed into a set of human readable IF THEN rules, thus giving insight into the knowledge hidden within the data. These rules can then be automatically loaded into an expert system shell. Alternatively, they can be used to build a new type of parallel inference system—a rule-based neural network. This process enables a prototype expert system to be automatically generated and up and running in a matter of minutes, compared with months using a manual knowledge-acquisition approach. The resulting expert system can then be used as a sophisticated search and analysis tool to query the original database capable of reasoning with uncertain and incomplete data.     

Uncertainty during tender offers and the measurement of shareholder wealth effects

Uncertainty concerning the ultimate outcome of tender offers may affect the measurement of changes in shareholder wealth. The uncertainty regarding the outcome of tender offers is measured by estimating the probability of acceptance of tender offers during the period when the tender offers are outstanding. The estimated probability of acceptance of tender offers implies that the amount of uncertainty prior to knowledge of the ultimate outcome is substantial and affects the measurement of expected equity gains. The uncertainty-adjusted measure of the change in shareholder wealth indicates that previous studies may have underestimated the gains expected to result from tender offers.     

The National Cycle Strategy in the UK: to what extent have local authorities adopted its model strategy approach?

In 1996 the UK government announced a National Cycle Strategy (NCS) which included a model local cycle strategy. This paper reports on the findings of an ongoing research project, which seeks to evaluate the extent to which recently published local cycle strategies reflect best practice as enshrined in the model guidance. The results suggest that the level of take up of the model strategy is highly variable and ranges from authorities which adopt the model in its entirety to those that effectively ignore it. If government targets for increasing cycle use are to be achieved then it will be necessary for more local authorities to develop robust plans which are consistent with the NCS.     

Learning to organise risk management in organisations: what future for enterprise risk management?

This paper identifies recurring issues in the regulation of new technologies through an historical review of the risk management of automobiles in the 1800s. Parallels are drawn between the regulation of early automobiles and that of the regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) today. It is found that many of the regulatory challenges facing UASs are analogous to those which faced the automobile industry more than a century and half ago and that the need for informed and objective decision making in policy development is reinforced. A systems engineering approach, based on general systems theory and decision‐based design principles, is then proposed as a means for improving the objectivity, transparency and rationality in the risk management decision making process. An example risk management decision making scenario is given within the context of a small UAS operating over a populated area. The results obtained from this case study illustrate how even simple analysis can support the decision making process and highlights some of the potential challenges in the regulatory approach currently applied to UASs.