Statistics Research at Bell Labs in the Regulated Monopoly Era

Industrial research in the United States took hold and grew during much of the 20th century. Bell Labs, a corporate component of the Bell System, was perhaps the premier example. The period from 1925, when Bell Labs was formed, to 1984, when the Bell System was broken up following a government antitrust lawsuit, is of special interest because the system operated as a regulated monopoly during that period. Telephone subscribers effectively paid for research and development in their monthly phone bills, which provided an element of financial stability for the labs. Statistics research was one of many types that thrived, much to the benefit of the Bell System, its customers, and the science of statistics. The purpose of this article is to review, explain, and illustrate the circumstances that contributed to this success and to raise the question of how modern corporations, operating in fully competitive environments, might achieve some of the same benefits.     

The Persistence of IPO Mispricing and the Predictive Power of Flipping

This paper examines underwriters' pricing errors and the information content of first-day trading activity in IPOs. We show that first-day winners continue to be winners over the first year, and first-day dogs continue to be relative dogs. Exceptions are "extra-hot" IPOs, which provide the worst future performance. We also demonstrate that large, supposedly informed, traders "flip" IPOs that perform the worst in the future. IPOs with low flipping generate abnormal returns of 1.5 percentage points per month over the first six months beginning on the third day. We show that flipping is predictable and conclude that underwriters' pricing errors are intentional.     

A theoretic reappraisal of the offsetting behavior hypothesis

This paper examines the theoretical basis of the claim that product safety regulation may not lead to either a decrease in accident rates or an increase in consumer health. We find that the technology which determines the household's probability of having an accident may guarantee that regulation will lower accident rates, and that therefore, predictions about the effect of regulation on the incidence of accidents can be made without detailed knowledge of consumer behavior.     

Strategic paradigms as a frame of explanation of innovations: a theoretical synthesis

Innovation has mainly been analysed as a rather narrow phenomenon. This has been an obstacle to a more operationally useful understanding of innovation processes. Two main approaches to explain innovation exist, namely economic innovation theory and the theory of entrepreneurship. Both are criticized in the article, the economic innovation theory for being based on a technological reductionism, the entrepreneurship theory for being based on an individualistic determinism. The two theories have not been coordinated to form a more comprehensive synthesis. The concept of technological paradigm within the economic innovation theory and the concept of entrepreneurial networks within the entrepreneurship theory mark some improvement in establishing a broader understanding of innovation, but have not yet been synthesized. The idea of paradigms is used in the article for a broader, synthesizing conception of innovations as being determined by shifts in strategic paradigms. A theoretical model of factors causing shifts in the strategic paradigm is set up.     

Creative destruction and labor's options

New technology, the fall of Eastern European socialism, new international trade agreements, and a resurgence of classical liberalism have greatly augmented the pace of capitalism's creative destruction. The principal benefits of this process have come in the form of new, better, and less-expensive consumer goods. But this process also generates a generalized sense of insecurity that most afflicts labor. Yet, the dominant ideology that has accompanied this latest burst of creative destruction has not been terribly sympathetic to labor's plight. After analyzing the character of this most recent burst of creative destruction, this paper explores the various options available to labor within a generally hostile ideological climate. The principle focus is on how labor's most promising options may not be found primarily in restablishing constrants upon markets, but rather in gaining greater control over production in the form of greater participation in both firm decision-making and ownership.     

Scarcity Message Effects on Consumption Behavior: Limited Edition Product Considerations

Recently, many luxury brands have begun to launch limited edition (LE) products. When this happens, advertisers implement two typical types of scarcity messages for LE products: limited‐time scarcity (LTS) versus limited‐quantity scarcity (LQS) messages (Cialdini, 2008). Prior research offered empirical evidence that these scarcity messages make consumers feel that LE products are more special, unique, and valuable, and thus, positively influence their evaluation of the product (Aggarwal, Jun, & Huh, 2011). The current study examined the differential effects of LTS and LQS messages on different types of LE products by focusing on consumers’ need for uniqueness.     

Future play: tourism,recreation and land use

Recent changes in land use for tourism and recreation have been driven by socio-demographic shifts, increases in disposable time and incomes, technological changes, transport developments, and emerging systems of policy and governance. Combined with changes in consumption preferences, these have led to general but differentiated increases in tourism and recreation. Outbound tourism has grown more rapidly than inbound, which has led to some displacement of land use demands. In the case of recreation, there are shifts between at home and outdoor recreation, and changes in the content and location of each. The resulting land use trends can be understood in regional, intra-regional (urban versus rural versus coastal) and temporal terms. Future trends are considered in terms of how this broad set of drivers and the relationships between them are being and are likely to be transformed.     

Land rights in postwar Liberia: The volatile part of the peace process

The end to the war in Liberia, along with quality leadership and a large UN presence has laid the foundation for a successful peace process. Now the delicate part of the process is underway—building viable, equitable, and durable social relations, institutions and legal constructs. A potentially volatile part of any postwar scenario is the inability of land rights institutions to perform in an effective, legitimate, equitable manner. Reform of land tenure via policies, laws, institutions, and capacity, needs to happen in a manner that is able to attend to both the land rights related causes of conflict, and the tangle of land problems brought on by the war itself. This article reports on the current situation in Liberia, and examines the primary set of land tenure problems in the country. The article concludes with a series of suggestions for dealing with the unique circumstances of postwar land tenure, and the Liberian case.