A Cluster Analysis of Young Adult College Students' Beef Consumption Behavior Using the Constructs of a Proposed Modified Model of Planned Behavior

The theory of reasoned action (TRA) served as the theoretical framework for this study. This study focused on the development and analysis of a proposed modified model of planned behavior (MMpB) to investigate the beef consumption habits of young adult college students. The participants were a convenience self-selected sample of young adult college students from a major southeastern and southwestern university. A self-report survey was administered to (N = 914) students in classrooms at both universities. Using cluster and discriminant analysis three distinct cluster groupings were found based on the behavior construct.     

Codes of Ethics as Signals for Ethical Behavior

This study investigated effects of codes of ethics on perceptions of ethical behavior. Respondents from companies with codes of ethics (n = 465) rated role set members (top management, supervisors, peers, subordinates, self) as more ethical and felt more encouraged and supported for ethical behavior than respondents from companies without codes (n = 301). Key aspects of the organizational climate, such as supportiveness for ethical behavior, freedom to act ethically, and satisfaction with the outcome of ethical problems were impacted by the presence of an ethics code. The mere presence of a code of ethics appears to have a positive impact on perceptions of ethical behavior in organizations, even when respondents cannot recall specific content of the code.     

Earnings announcement timing,uncertainty, and volatility risk premiums

We examine the relationship between firms’ quarterly earnings report timing and uncertainty before quarterly earnings announcements. Prior research provides conflicting predictions on how investor uncertainty and report timing are related. Using implied volatilities from equity options and the realized returns to straddle positions, we find evidence that uncertainty and volatility risk premiums are higher for firms that report later in the quarter. Further tests show that the increase in option premiums is unexplained by risk factors suggesting a mispricing by investors. These results are not associated with static firm-level factors and our findings are concentrated in high growth firms.     

Managing policy lapse risk in Sweden’s life insurance market between 1915 and 1947

Abstract

We examine the challenges that Swedish life insurers faced in managing the lapse risk of policies written on the lives of the industrial urban working class between 1915 and 1947. We observe that with the threat of State socialisation of insurance in the 1930s, industrial life insurers modified their business practices to better control policy lapses. Using firm-level data, we also analyse the effect of socio-economic changes, such as rising real wages, interest rate fluctuations and unemployment on life insurance policy lapses. Our results support contemporary tests of the emergency fund and interest rate explanations for the voluntary premature termination of life insurance policies.     

Is ‘no news’ really ‘good news’? Country visibility and FDI location choice

In choosing where to invest, firms seek out information on a set of possible locations. Information asymmetries may make country visibility particularly important in decisions to locate investment abroad. We develop a country visibility index based on international news stories in The Economist, and show that broad country visibility is at least as important in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as other specific investment promotion activities or proxies for information frictions. Controlling for standard gravity model determinants of FDI, we find that greater visibility of developing countries, in particular lower middle- and low-income countries, increases the investment that they receive from US multinational corporations.     

Limitations of the Budget as an Instrument of Macroeconomic Policy in 1992–93

The major macroeconomic challenge facing the Government is to reduce the unemployment rate without increasing inflation and the current account deficit. The Budget for 1992–93 gave the Government an opportunity to set out its policy for meeting this challenge.
In this article we assess the Budget from a macro-economic point of view. We ask whether the Government could have done more to address the problem of unemployment.
Our analysis is in two parts. In the first, we answer the question: has the Government made believable forecasts for 1992–93, given its assumptions and the set of Budget policies. In the second part we consider whether, given the Budget assumptions, the chosen policy is the best one.
To answer the first question, we used the COPS short-run forecasting model (see the Appendix to the article) to obtain projections for 1992–93 under Budget policies and assumptions. These projections are almost identical to those of the Government, prompting a 'yes' to the first question. To answer the second question, we used our model to set out the effects of a more stimulatory budget strategy under five different sets of assumptions. These differ with respect to the exchange rate, private investment and wage rates. We find that a more stimulatory policy might help in increasing GDP and employment growth. However, nervousness in the foreign exchange market concerning the PSBR, resistance in the labour market to real wage reductions and sensitivity of private investors to increases in interest rates all combine to make the more stimulatory policy a risky one.     

Occupational Licensing of a Credence Good: The Regulation of Midwifery

A general theoretical and empirical model of the impact of regulation on supply and demand (prices and quantities) is developed in this paper. The regulation of midwifery services—of certified nurse-tnidwives (CNMs)—relative to obstetricians (OBs) is analyzed within this framework. Demand-side (quality assurance) effects are distinguished from supply-side (Stigler-Peltzman) effects in the model. Since both unambiguously predict a price increase, we focus on the regulatory impact on quantity. We find, within the empirical model, that while both effects are present, supply-restricting effects dominate quality assurance in the U.S. market for CNM services. When mean regulations are compared to minimum regulations in the sample, CNM births increase from just under 6% of all births to a little over 11%. On net, regulation reduces the quantity of CNM births.     

PACIFIC SALMON RESTORATION: TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY AND POLITICAL ACCEPTANCE

There is no simple solution to the problems of salmon restoration given substantial political and scientific uncertainties. There are, however, some local findings in Oregon that can provide guidance to resource managers charged with allocating funds for conservation purposes. This article shows that in most salmon habitat investments, there are likely to be strong nonlinearities (cumulative and threshold effects) that mitigate against politically palatable allocation criteria. In fact, this research indicates that decisions based on political equity concerns may actually lead to the lowest possible benefits to society. These scientific nonlinearities may make the political resolution of salmon recovery more difficult.     

DIVIDENDS, DIVIDEND POLICY AND OPTION VALUATION: A NEW PERSPECTIVE

This paper develops a model which explicitly incorporates the impact of the payment of dividends on the underlying stock into the valuation of both American and European calls and puts. Unlike earlier models, what we call the Dividend Adjustment Merton (DAM) model neither assumes arbitrary continuous dividends nor uses ad hoc methods to adjust for discrete dividend payments. Instead, it assumes the existence of a Miller and Modigliani (1961) valuation neutral dividend policy and adjusts Merton's constant proportional dividend model to incorporate any known schedule of discrete cash dividends of this type. The DAM model produces results which are equal to or superior to those of the separate models now used to value American calls (the Roll-Geske-Whaley model) and American puts (the Geske-Johnson model) on dividend paying stocks. It has the virtue of being internally consistent in that the same model can be used to value both calls and puts. In developing the DAM model, the paper clarifies the role of dividends and dividend policy in determining option values. It also produces significantly tightened boundary conditions for option values.