Observable differences among prime,variable, and absorption costing firms

How does a firm decide whether to be an absorption coster, variable coster, or prime coster? Although accountants have been unable to collectively resolve the variable-absorption costing debate that has been going on in the accounting literature for years, individual firms do resolve the issue. This study starts from the premise that similarities should exist within a group of firms choosing to produce the same cost data. After determining that one can categorize firms as prime costers, variable costers, or absorption costers, the researcher compares prime costers, variable costers, and absorption costers on four groups of characteristics that have been suggested in the accounting literature as possible guides to the firm's costing method. Of the four, cost structure tends to distinguish between different method choices. Variables that result in different costing methods producing net income figures, industry membership, and the importance of various uses within the firm are less useful in predicting whether a firm is a prime, variable, or absorption coster.     

A model of teenage labor supply

This paper develops a model of teenage labor supply and school participation which stresses the teenager's use of time in a family context. The family is viewed as imposing constraints on the teenager's allocation of time. The teenager maximizes his utility subject to these constraints which differ with his age, sex, and family type. Simultaneous equation estimation is used with market level (SMSA) data on teenage labor supply. Overall, we find well-behaved labor supply equations for teenage age, sex, and family-type groups. Moreover, different groups react differently to variables representing family-imposed constraints.     

The 2018 Clarence Ayres Scholar An Institutional Riposte to the “After the Washington Consensus”

The Washington Consensus as conceived in 1989 by John Williamson, the initiator of the term, was the foundation of the mainstream perspective on international development. The Washington Consensus consisted of a set of ten policies to be imposed through conditionality by international financial institutions on distressed developing countries. The vast criticism that ensued brought a set of policies in the form of the After the Washington Consensus (hereafter the AWC) in 2003, which designated a “new” set of policy reforms and conditionalities for developing countries. The aim of this article is to contrast the two sets of controversial policies, the original Washington Consensus and AWC, to an alternative perspective of international development based on an institutionalist approach.     

Sensitivity of multiattribute decision models to alternative specifications of weighting parameters

The issue of attribute weighting in multiattribute decision models is examined. Results are presented which show that the outputs produced by linear multiattribute models are extremely robust with respect to alternative specifications of the weighting parameters unless the number of attributes included in the models is small, the average correlation among the attributes is low, and the dispersion of the weights is large relative to their mean. Implications of these results are discussed for three different types of weighting schemes-regression weighting, equal weighting, and subjective weighting—which are used in multiattribute decision modeling.     

Market performance and the nature of a competitive fringe

It is sometimes argued that increasing the size of fringe firms in relation to market leaders will result in more competitive performance in the market. This paper tests the hypothesis that the number and size distribution of fringe firms in a market will affect overall market performance. The analysis is based on a sample of 3777 commercial banks located in 372 local markets during 1976–1980. Test results indicate that a competitively structured fringe of firms has a procompetitive influence on performance in the market. This implies that mergers between fringe firms are likely to have an adverse effect on competition rather than a procompetitive effect, as sometimes argued.     

Rethink Strategy or Perish

Not long ago, the telecommunications industry was a dusty strategic backwater of little interest, primarily concerned with proprietary technologies and enjoying a protected status. Not any more; the application of silicon and software to telecom has obliterated entry barriers, forced open the market, and, according to Mariann Jelinek, created a whole new strategic situation. Telecom is now a highly competitive, innovative, high-technology industry, with a worldwide market. Professor Jelinek suggests that the key to understanding the shift lies in comprehending the new technologies being applied and understanding their impact on the traditional markets and missions of the firms that use them. The lessons of these changes are important for all managers, especially those in mature industries, since microelectronics and software applications seem to know no industry boundaries. They are invading our lives on all sides.     

Shippers' transportation choice processes under deregulation

Deregulation of the motor carrier industry affords an opportunity to better understand industrial choice processes during a period of significant environmental uncertainty. Partial validation of a decision process model and the managerial implications of that model are presented.     

Increase response to industrial surveys

The results of this article support the contention that a prenotification telephone call increases the probability of response to a mail survey request. The article also discusses the practical problems associated with the use of a telephone prenotification in an industrial setting and provides a step-by-step procedure to help overcome these problems.     

中国道路的本质和中国未来的选择

是否存在中国模式的争议涉及经济学的基本问题:劳动分工的发展方式究竟是趋同还是多样的?均衡经济学派与演化经济学派有完全不同的观点。文章从历史和比较的分析出发,论证中国的改革开放探索了一条不同于英美模式和华盛顿共识的道路,而且中国未来的发展也要求中国探索不同于已有市场模式的新路。政府的作用不能由意识形态先验地决定。中国所处的生态历史条件,要求有远见的政府。只有这样的政府才能再造中国,并引领世界走出金融危机。     

The impact of bank holding companies on local market rivalry and performance

The bank holding company movement in banking is, in many respects, the counterpart of the conglomerate movement in the industrial sector. Both are characterized by a substantial amount of merger activity and thus raise questions as to the affect of the acquiring firms on competition. This study uses Tobit analysis and OLS to examine the influence of bank holding companies on rivalry and performance in 154 banking markets (1970–1979). Test results indicate that in markets where bank holding companies are a significant factor rivalry is higher, but so are prices even though profits are not higher, than in markets where bank holding companies are less important. These seemingly conflicting findings may be explained by the finding that significant holding company presence in a market is associated with relatively high noninterest expenses.