Innovation and the Survival of New Firms in the UK

This paper analyzes the survival over the subsequent 5-year period of the complete cohort of nearly 162,000 limited companies that incorporated in Britain in 2001. The paper focuses on the relationship between innovation and survival at the firm-level. The data available allow us to look at the intellectual property (IP) activity of all British firms, including that of the cohort of new firms in 2001. The results indicate that IP activity, measured as patenting and trade-marking, is associated with a considerably lower probability of exit. We also find substantial differences in survival probabilities across sectors. In some sectors patenting is associated with a lower probability of exit; however, trade-marking is associated with lower probability in almost all sectors.     

Portfolio turnpikes

Profolio turnpike theorems show that if preferences at largewealth levels are similar to power utility, then the investmentstrategy converges to the power utility strategy as the horizonincreases. We state and prove two simple and general portfolioturnpike theorems. Unlike existing literature, our main resultdoes not assume independence of returns and depends only ondiscounting of future cash flows. We also provide a critiqueof portfolio turnpike results, based on the observations that(1) the time required for convergence is often too large tobe relevant, and (2) there is no convergence for consumptionwithdrawal problems.     

The economics of advertising: Where's the data?

Economists accept the importance of advertising to firm rivalry and economic performance, but data limitations have frustrated empirical research. This paper addresses that frustration and compares sources of advertising data. The paper concludes that data provided by a private vendor on measured-media consumer advertising represents the best choice, but involves substantial effort to link it to the Census industrial classification system. The authors do this for 284 manufacturing industries for Census years 1967 and 1982. Comparisons of industry advertising levels and advertising-to-sales ratios are given. Relative advertising levels and intensities have remained remarkably stable over the 15 year period.     

The use of structural modeling for technology assessment

Structural modeling (SM) techniques are a set of geometric, semi-quantitative tools that can assist in organizing a technology assessment (TA), developing a rough overview of it, and analyzing various component problems. In this project about 100 SM techniques were identified and seven were tested in detail: ISM, ELECTRE, SPIN, KSIM, QSIM, IMPACT, and XIMP. Guidelines were developed to help the assessor in the choice and proper use of such tools.     

A note on refinancing costs,prepayment assumptions,and the value of mortgage-backed securities

This article analyzes the effect and timing of the FHA's streamline refinance program on the value of GNMA 15s. The program announced in March 1989 reduced the refinancing costs for those mortgages of 15 percent and above. The program is expected to reduce the value of GNMA's. The authors find a reduction of .47 to 3.40 points in the value of GNMA 15s during the 3-week to 13-week period following the announcement of the plan. The drop in value translates into a wealth loss for GNMA 15 holders of about $20 million over this time.     

Does Voter Turnout Influence School Bond Elections?

This article investigates the role of voter turnout in school bond election outcomes. It is widely believed that turnout is negatively related to bond approval rates. Conclusions from previous empirical research, however, may be misleading because many sociodemographic factors and election parameters that influence bond support are also likely to influence voter turnout decisions. To account for the endogeneity of turnout, we employ an instrumental variable approach. We find that the persistent part of voter turnout plays a negligible role in explaining bond approval shares conditioned on election timing, past voting behavior, and district characteristics. Using first‐difference models, change in turnout has a negative and significant influence on change in approval share and probability of bond success. Our results support previous research and suggest that targeted voter mobilization strategies have the potential to influence school bond outcomes.     

The Interface of Work to Family Conflict and Racioethnic Identification: An Analysis of Hispanic Business Professionals

This article examines work to family conflict for Hispanic Business Professionals with varied levels of Hispanic identity. Based on this study of 971 Hispanics from across the United States, results show that level of Hispanic identity moderates the relationship between work to family conflict and job satisfaction. The authors posit that identification with a culture of collectivism may attenuate the negative impact of work to family conflict on job satisfaction, enabling Hispanic professionals to view work as a way of supporting the family and contributing to the greater good of the groups to which they belong.