Trends in Total Advertising Expenditure in 16 Countries, 1970–1981

Television advertisements deal with a host of human problems by identifying a problem or cultivating a perception that a problem exists, then demonstrating the capacity of a product to resolve that problem. This study examines the nature of problems and their resolutions on prime-time television. Findings reveal that the problem-presentation, problem-resolution format is extremely prevalent among television advertisements. Further, these advertisements deal with only a narrow range of human needs, and they often exaggerate the magnitude and urgency of problems in a way that makes them appear larger than life. Resolutions are depicted to be easy and quickly implemented, and are portrayed to resolve the problem with a high degree of certainty. These findings are discussed in terms of cultivation theories.     

The Propensity To Sue: Why Do People Seek Legal Actions?

Tort costs as a fraction of U.S. GDP have increased over three-fold in the past 50 years, now hovering slightly above two percent. Although there has been much ink spilled blaming the plaintiffs’ bar and so-called hellhole jurisdictions, less has been written about the behavior and attitudes of individual plaintiffs. Using a unique survey from the RAND Corporation, this paper empirically analyzes the perceptual and economic factors that affect the decision of an injured party to seek legal action. We find that, independent of economic incentives, perception of fault is the most important factor in the decision to make a claim. On average, a person who blames another person or firm for his or her injury is four times more likely to claim regardless of the type of injury involved. Unsurprisingly, the severity of injury—either as perceived by the claimant or as measured by actual injury during the accident—is another key factor in explaining the claiming rate. Also, as expected, there is a negative relation between age and claiming behavior. Somewhat unexpectedly, whether the person has had experience with filing before has no independent effect on the decision to claim. JEL Classification K41     

Credit risk dynamics in response to changes in the federal funds target: The implication for firm short-term debt

The recent credit crisis has raised a number of interesting questions regarding the role of the Federal Reserve Bank and the effectiveness of its expected and unexpected interventions in financial markets, especially during the crisis, given its mandate. This paper reviews and evaluates the impact of expected and unexpected changes in the federal funds rate target on credit risk premia. The paper's main innovation is the use of an ACH-VAR (autoregressive conditional hazard VAR) model to generate the Fed's expected and unexpected monetary policy shocks which are then used to determine the effects of a Federal Reserve policy change on counterparty credit risk and more importantly short-term firm debt financing. The findings answer a longstanding question sought by researchers on the effect of policy makers' announcements on firm debt financing. The results clearly show that the Federal Reserve influences short-term debt financing through the credit channel for both expansionary and contractionary monetary policies. In particular, we find that the growth in counterparty risk appears less responsive to anticipated responses in the Fed funds rate that fail to materialize than to an unanticipated increase in the federal funds rate. Finally, we also document that the results appear to validate the Feds interventions in financial markets to stem counterparty risk and to make liquidity more readily available to firms.     

Second time lucky? Withdrawn IPOs that return to the market

We investigate issuers withdrawing an IPO (after security regulation filings) that return later for a successful offering. Venture capital backing and reputation of the lead underwriter are key factors in predicting successful return. The possibility of returning has a significant impact on the decision to withdraw and the pricing of offerings that succeed. Our sample of returning IPOs also provides a unique setting to investigate underwriter switching after a withdrawal but before a successful IPO. We find that switching occurs in response to poor bank performance and when switching firms “graduate” to banks that have high industry market shares.     

Impacts of recreational diving on hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) behaviour in a marine protected area

The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered species encountered by recreational divers in marine protected areas (MPAs) circumtropically. Few studies, however, have examined the impacts of recreational diving on hawksbill behaviours. In 2014, we collected turtle sightings surveys and dive logs from 14 dive operations, and conducted in-water observations of 61 juvenile hawksbill turtles in Roatán, Honduras, to determine if differences in dive site use and diver behaviours affected sea turtle behaviours in the Roatán Marine Park. Sightings distributions did not vary with diving pressure during an 82-day study period. We found the amount of time turtles spent eating, investigating and breathing decreased when approached by divers. Our results suggest diver interactions may negatively impact sea turtle behaviours, however it is unknown if recreational diving has a cumulative effect on turtles over time. We recommend that MPA managers should implement monitoring programmes that assess the impacts of tourism on natural resources. We have established monitoring of hawksbills as representatives of the marine habitat in an MPA, which has the potential to be heavily impacted by dive tourism, and provide recommendations for continued monitoring of the resource.     

Returns-to-scale and the equity premium puzzle

A model of heterogenous firms facing idiosyncratic risk is proposed which generates an equity premium of 6 per cent and a risk-free rate of 1.5 per cent even if aggregate returns are risk-free. The premium in this model reflects diminishing returns-to-scale and the fact that equity shares are equal claims to firm output. In the bond market, the risk-free rate reflects trade in assets at marginal rates of return with a linear technology and thus the equity premium in excess returns reflects a comparison of average returns with marginal returns. In the model, credit constraints lower the equity premium and, absent such constraints, the equity premium would roughly double. Since the model may be interpreted as a model of entrepreneurship, this paper also presents estimates from a structural model of entrepreneurship using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances and also finds only a modest level of risk aversion is sufficient to replicate entrepreneurial returns.     

Seasonal adjustment,demography, and GDP growth

Seasonal adjustment removes the predictable seasonal variation in GDP. If there is seasonal variation in factor inputs, then seasonal adjustment factors may be correlated with those inputs. This correlation can obscure statistically the importance of those inputs for GDP. This effect is apparent for the demographic composition of the labour force for Canada. Seasonal adjustment also changes the time‐series properties of GDP. Accounting for the seasonal pattern and trend change in demography suggests that the period of reduced volatility in GDP growth for Canada, the ‘Great Moderation,’ can be traced to the changing demographic structure of the labour force.     

An exploration of the variables contributing to graphical education students’ CAD modelling capability

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - This paper reports on a study exploring the variables that contribute to upper second level students’ capability in a digital...     

Expatriate Selection,Training and Career-Pathing: A Review and Critique

In order to delineate the current state of the art of overseas relocation programs in U.S. multinational corporations, the extant literature was reviewed in the areas of expatriate personnel selection, training and career-pathing. The implications of the study's findings for U.S. MNCs are discussed and recommendations for policy change are offered.