Synergies or Trade-Offs in University Life Sciences Research

Major legislative, legal, and technological changes paved the way for a period of remarkable growth in the patenting of life science research by U.S. universities in the 1980s and 1990s. Using a multiple-output cost framework and two decades of panel data on ninety-six universities, this article examines whether economies of scope and/or scale are present in university production of three major life science research outputs: journal articles, patents, and doctorates. The results show strong evidence of economies of scale in life science research production with mixed evidence of economies of scope between articles and patents.     

The Impact of Analysts' Forecast Errors and Forecast Revisions on Stock Prices

Abstract:  We present a comprehensive analysis of the association between stock returns, quarterly earnings forecast errors, and quarter-ahead and year-ahead earnings forecast revisions. We find that forecast errors and the two forecast revisions have significant effects on stock prices, indicating each conveys information content. Findings also show that the fourth quarter differs from other quarters—the relative importance of the forecast error (quarter-ahead forecast revision) is lower (higher). We also find a marked upward shift over time in the forecast error and forecast revision coefficients, consistent with the I/B/E/S database reflecting an improved quality of both earnings forecasts and actual earnings.     

When Is Bad News Really Bad News?

We examine whether the price response to bad and good earnings shocks changes as the relative level of the market changes. The study is based on a complete sample of annual earnings announcements during the period 1988 to 1998. The relative level of the market is based on the difference between the current market P/E and the average market P/E over the prior 12 months. We find that the stock price response to negative earnings surprises increases as the relative level of the market rises. Furthermore, the difference between bad news and good news earnings response coefficients rises with the market.     

Changes in Well-being in Zimbabwe, 1990-6: Evidence Using Semi-parametric Density Estimates

Semi-parametric density reweighting techniques are used to examinesources of change in well-being in Zimbabwe during the first-halfof the 1990s. Changes in urban well-being are decomposed intochanges in employment propensities, changes in human capitalattainment and changes in the structure of urban employmentchoice. Declines in national well-being are decomposed intochanges resulting from urban–rural residence choice andchanges in the structure of residential location. Finally, worseningrural conditions are decomposed into that part due to droughtand that due to improved educational attainment. Results showthat despite improvements in human capital attainment duringthe 1990s, well-being has worsened in all employment states.Investments in human capital only partially offset the generalworsening of the economy. Likewise, decisions to migrate tourban areas from rural Zimbabwe helped offset worsening ruralconditions. Drought explains a small amount of the general ruraldecline, but the bigger part of the worsening was due to generalequilibrium effects associated with a deteriorating economy.     

Total factor productivity growth on Britain’s railways, 1852–1912: A reappraisal of the evidence

This paper revisits the issue of the productivity performance of Britain’s railways with an improved dataset and modern cliometrics. We find a slowdown in TFP growth between 1850 and 1870, after which it stabilized at about 1.1%. An analysis of company-level productivity performance reveals large discrepancies in TFP growth and substantial cost inefficiency. The evidence suggests that there was managerial failure in companies with agency problems in a context of collusion and high entry barriers. A wider implication is that the neoclassical exoneration of late-Victorian British management may be less convincing for the services sector than for manufacturing.     

Testing neoclassical convergence in regional incomes and earnings

The time-series properties of per capita income and per capita earnings in the regions of the United States are tested for consistency with the neoclassical growth model's prediction of convergence. We find evidence for per capita income convergence for U.S. regions during the 1929–1990 period after allowing for a trend break in 1946. These findings support the neoclassical model's prediction of convergence. The evidence for per capita earnings convergence is, however, less conclusive. Shocks to per capita earnings are found to be more persistent than shocks to per capita income. This implies that the regional distribution of transfer payments tends to smooth the effects of deviation on relative regional per capita earnings and reinforce trends in per capita income convergence.     

Bureaucratic and Personalized Strategies for Efficiency and Organization An Investigation of Structures and Efficiency in a Set of 104 Profit-seeking Firms

A bstract . A causal model of the relationship between organization structure and economic efficiency in profit oriented organizations is proposed and tested. Applying path analysis to data collected from 104 savings and loan associations in New York State , the results show that structural characteristics explained 20 per cent of the variance in organizational efficiency and 8 per cent in managerial efficiency Specifically, span of control, promotion policy and practice, and personnel evaluation frequency are good predictors of organizational efficiency. Similarly, complexity, documentation, and managerial salary differences serve as major causes of managerial efficiency changes. Overall, determinants of the efficiency measures are different from one another a bureaucratic strategy evokes a response in managerial efficiency, while a personalized strategy produces changes in organizational efficiency.     

Organizational Size, Structure, and Efficiency: A Test of a Blau-Hage Model

A bstract . Combining the work of Peter Blau and Jerald Hage regarding organizational characteristics and efficiency, a correlational model was constructed consisting of testable propositions relating organizational size, complexity, stratification, formalization, centralization , and two measures of efficiency. The model was also extended to include hierarchical levels, after vertical and horizontal measures of complexity were separated. Following an extensive review of the literature, both official and self-reported data from one type of economic organization ( 104 savings and loan associations in New York State ) were employed to test the propositions in a profit-oriented context. While we findings demonstrate limited support for the model in this special type to economic organization (five of thirteen propositions were fully or partly supported by the analysis), a further classification and comparison of studies reviewed, according to the type of organization under study, suggests that a unified theory encompassing both economic and non-economic organizations is feasible.     

Military experience and corporate tax avoidance

We find that managers with military experience pursue less tax avoidance than other managers and pay an estimated $1–$2 million more in corporate taxes per firm-year. These managers also undertake less aggressive tax planning strategies with smaller tax reserves and fewer tax havens. Although they leave tax money on the table, boards hiring these managers benefit from reductions in other gray areas in corporate reporting. The broad implications are as follows: for employee selection, boards can consider employees’ personal characteristics as a control mechanism when outputs are difficult to contract ex ante or measure ex post.