The Effects of Advertising,Social Influences,and Self-Efficacy on Adolescent Tobacco Use and Alcohol Consumption

Exploring the simultaneous effects of key variables on the unhealthy consumption behavior of adolescents, two studies focused on the relative effects of advertising, parental and peer influence, and self-efficacy on adolescent tobacco use and alcohol consumption. The results suggest that (1) advertising effects are largely neutralized by parental and peer influence; (2) peer and parental influence strongly predict adolescent tobacco use and alcohol consumption; and (3) self-efficacy is a weak predictor of both adolescent risk behaviors.     

The Financial Crisis from the Family's Perspective: Evidence from the 2007–2009 SCF Panel*

This paper examines changes in families' finances as captured in the 2007–2009 Survey of Consumer Finances panel. The broad contours of changes in families' assets, debts, and wealth align with changes in the corresponding aggregate measures, but the microdata from the panel highlight substantial variation in families' experiences between 2007 and 2009. Although more than 60% of families saw their wealth decline over the two‐year period, a sizable fraction experienced gains in wealth, while some families' financial situations saw little change on net. The shifts in wealth do not appear to be correlated in a simple way with families' characteristics. Instead, the patterns of mixed losses, gains, and modest shifts in wealth generally hold within groups defined by demographic characteristics or by 2007 wealth or income. On the whole, changes in wealth appear to stem from changes in asset values rather than from changes in portfolio composition or debt levels.     

Unions and Firm Profits

This study examines the effect of unionization on manufacturing firm profits, extending earlier research by combining industry-level and firm-level measures of unionization. Using several profit measures, we find that quasi-rents from firm investments in intangible assets are a relatively greater source of union profit effects than product market concentration and that union profit effects occur largely in the first 10 percent of firm coverage, suggesting spillover effects on nonunion employees.     

Reconciling Financial Information at Varied Levels of Aggregation*

Financial statements summarize a firm's fiscal position using only a limited number of accounts. Readers often interpret financial statements in conjunction with other information, some of which may be aggregated in a different way (or not at all). This paper exploits properties of the double‐entry accounting system to provide a systematic approach to reconciling diverse financial data. The key is the ability to represent the double‐entry system by network flows and, thereby, access well‐recognized network optimization techniques. Two specific uses are investigated: the reconciliation of audit evidence with management‐prepared financial statements, and the creation of transaction‐level financial ratios.     

Alternative Liquidity Measures and Stock Returns

Abstract. This article compares the properties of several common liquidity measures including the bid-ask spread, the liquidity ratio and firm size. We also use the proportional hazard model to develop a new measure, the relative odds ratio, based on the volume necessary to move prices by a predetermined amount. Although each measure displays a liquidity premium, a composite measure better explaims expected returns, suggesting that liquidity is a multidimensional phenomenon.     

Can Taxes Shape an Industry? Evidence from the Implementation of the “Amazon Tax”

For years, online retailers have maintained a price advantage over brick‐and‐mortar retailers by not collecting sales tax at the time of sale. Recently, several states have required that online retailer Amazon collect sales tax during checkout. Using transaction‐level data, we document that households living in these states reduced their Amazon purchases by 9.4% following the implementation of the sales tax laws, implying elasticities of –1.2 to –1.4. The effect is stronger for large purchases, where purchases declined by 29.1%, corresponding to an elasticity of –3.9. Studying competitors in the electronics field, we find some evidence of substitution toward competing retailers.     

The Impact of Item Price Removal in Scanner Supermarkets: A Survey Study of Los Angeles Shoppers

The practice of removing item prices in scanner-equipped grocery stores has raised an important public policy issue relating to the ability of individual consumers to engage in effective shopping with less available price information at the point of purchase. This study investigated the likely impact of item price removal in scanner-equipped grocery stores as a function of consumers' use of price information, general consumer predispositions, and consumers' experience with scanner technology. Particular emphasis was placed on the likely effects of item price removal on disadvantaged consumers. The implications of the study for public policy are discussed.     

Debt Contracting on Management

Change of management restrictions (CMRs) in loan contracts give lenders explicit ex ante control rights over managerial retention and selection. This paper shows that lenders use CMRs to mitigate risks arising from CEO turnover, especially those related to the loss of human capital and replacement uncertainty, thereby providing evidence that human capital risk affects debt contracting. With a CMR in place, the likelihood of CEO turnover decreases by more than half, and future firm performance improves when retention frictions are important, suggesting that lenders can influence managerial turnover, even outside of default states, and help the borrower retain talent.     

Characteristics of Consumer‐Preferred Labeling Policies: Experimental Evidence from Price and Environmental Disclosure for Deregulated Electricity Services

This study gauges how different information disclosure policies impact consumer understanding, performance, and satisfaction during the choice of a deregulated electricity supplier, and it explores how the market share of each firm responds to different policies in a hypothetical market. Compulsory disclosure of detailed price and environmental attribute information yields high consumer satisfaction and minimizes most types of information processing errors. The implications for disclosure policy and firm‐level market share are discussed.