THE ESTIMATED EFFECT OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLING ON EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES USING PROPENSITY SCORE MATCHING

This paper examines the effect of attending a Catholic high school on educational outcomes. The statistical analysis is based on data obtained from the US National Educational Longitudinal Study. Using propensity score matching methods to control for selection bias, we find that Catholic schooling improves maths test scores, with stronger effects for males than for females, but appears to have little effect (if any) on reading scores. Catholic schooling also raises high school graduation rates and substantially increases the likelihood of enrolment in a 4‐year college. Use of the difference‐in‐difference method suggests that the effect of Catholic schooling on changes in maths scores is more muted, though still statistically significant.     

Bhopal,India and Union Carbide: The second tragedy

The paper examines the legal, ethical, and public policy issues involved in the Union Carbide gas leak in India which caused the deaths of over 3000 people and injury to thousands of people. The paper begins with a historical perspective on the operating environment in Bhopal, the events surrounding the accident, then discusses an international situation audit examining internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats faced by Union Carbide at the time of the accident. There is a discussion of management of the various interests involved in international public relations and ethical issues. A review of the financial ratio analysis of the company prior and subsequent to the accident follows, then an examination of the second tragedy of Bhopal — the tragic failure of the international legal system to adequately and timely compensate victims of the accident.The paper concludes with recommendations towards public policy, as well as a call for congressional action regarding international safety of U.S. based multinational operations.Clayton Trotter is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and College of Business Administration. Currently, he teaches in both the College of Business and the School of Law at Texas Tech University; and was formerly Associate Professor of Law at the Coburn School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He has taught courses in Real Estate Law, Corporations, International Business Transations, and Business Law.Mr. Trotter has been attorney of record in a number of contested civil cases and has appeared in the Fifth and Seventh United States Circuit Court of Appeals on such cases. He is licensed in Texas, Florida and the Supreme Court of the United States.He has authored a number of articles on business related legal matters.Susan G. Day is a Texas Real Estate Broker, Escrow Agent, and Insurance Agent. She graduated from Texas Tech University with a major in Business Administration with an emphasis on Management. She currently attends Texas Tech University pursuing a graduate degree in Education.Susan is Past President of the Toastmasters International group at Texas Tech University giving speeches and lectures on real estate and law. In addition, Susan is a member of the following associations at Texas Tech University: Society for Advancement of Management, Marketing Association, Tech Management Association, Lubbock Legal Secretaries Association, National Association for Female Executives and the Ex-Students Association.Amy E. Love graduated Magna Cum Laude in December, 1988 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management from Texas Tech University. Her long range goals include graduate school where she would like to emphasize finance. Amy is a member of the Society for Advancement of Management, Golden Key National Honor Society, Gamma Sigma Honor Society, and Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.     

Testing Monetary Policy Intentions in Open Economies

Temple (2002) argues that the inflation level used in Romer (1993) lacks power in revealing the policy intentions of monetary authorities, Temple also points out that Romer's use of the openness-inflation correlation cannot be explained by time consistency theory. In this article, we demonstrate that more open economies experience less inflation volatility and persislence. We attribute our findings to the hypothesis that monetary authorities in more open economies adopt more aggressive monetary policies. This pattern emerges strongly after 1990. Our results indicate that the near-universal regime shift in 1990 is not just a simple process of increased monetary policy aggressiveness, but an increased response to economic openness.     

Economists' perceptions versus managers' decisions: an experiment in transaction-cost analysis

Are the perceptions of professional economists on transactioncosts consistent with make-or-buy decisions made within firms?The answer may have important implications for transaction costresearch. Data on firms' outsourcing during the new productdevelopment process are taken from a large-scale survey of UK,German and Irish manufacturing plants, and we test the consistencyof these outsourcing decisions with the predictions derivedfrom the transaction cost perceptions of a panel of economists.Little consistency is evident between actual outsourcing patternsand the predictions of the (Williamsonian) transactions costmodel derived from the panel of economists. There is, however,evidence of a systematic pattern to the differences, suggestingthat a competence or resource-based approach may be relevantto understanding firm outsourcing, and that firms are adoptinga strategic approach to managing their external relationships.     

Stability and growth in the world oilseed market

Little research has been done on the economics of oilseeds and oilseed products, in proportion to their dietary importance in the world. The author discusses the political and economic aspects of the world oilseed market, as well as the main technical characteristics of the product. He argues that soybean is the key to stability in oilseed markets, and discusses possible policy options in the light of projected increases in both production and processing of oilseeds by developing countries.     

Business and the genesis of the European Community carbon tax proposal

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of business in the regulatory process associated with the carbon tax proposal. The first part of the paper describes the Community's climate change policy, noting first the essential features of Community environment policy-making, the role of consultation with industry and the significance of the ‘subsidiarity’ principle. This part of the paper moves on to examine the carbon tax proposal and its evolution since 1990. The second part of the paper addresses the specific role which business played in influencing the development of the carbon tax proposal. The general strategy of business was to block the proposal entirely. The paper identifies the potential impacts of the tax on business, implications for corporate strategies and the specific channels through which business influenced the tax proposal, by participating in public debates, through representations to different directorates of the European Commission or by making a case to national authorities. The final part of the paper attempts to draw some lessons about: the business position in relation to large scale environmental problems such as climate change; business responses to economic instruments such as the carbon/energy tax; and the wider relationship between public authorities and business in regulatory processes. The question of whether this relationship has entered a new phase or whether there is still ‘business as usual’ is addressed.