Testing the effectiveness of online assignments in theory of finance

The authors investigated the effectiveness of online versus paper assignments using final examination scores in three cohorts of theory of finance. In particular, two cohorts were exposed to online assignments while another cohort was exposed to traditional assignments. The central result is that exposure to online assignments robustly leads to higher final exam scores, all else being equal. The authors also found a lower level of engagement as shown by low assignment completion rates for students exposed to online assignments.     

Building employer solidarity? Britain's experience of coordinated bargaining, 1979 to 1997

The election of the Conservative government in 1979 is seen as a watershed in pay determination in the UK, ending formal pay policies. While the government withdrew, the UK's major employer organisation, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), endeavoured to operate an alternative system of employer coordination on pay between 1979 and 1997. Had this approach succeeded, the UK's approach to pay determination would have become much more aligned to the models adopted within other EU Member States. We analyse the development of this alternative to government‐imposed incomes policy and measure its impact on the growth of earnings. We conclude that, despite the CBI's policy, the actions of individual employers suffered from classic market failure until the British economy was subjected to mounting competitive pressures from the international environment.     

Examining the heterogeneity of treatment patterns in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children and adolescents in the Texas Medicaid population: modeling suboptimal treatment response

Objectives: To examine suboptimal responses (SR) in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among pediatric patients in the Texas Medicaid program receiving osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate (OROS-MPH) or lisdexamfetamine (LDX) and apply an SR prediction model to identify patients most likely to experience an SR to either OROS-MPH or LDX therapies.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using Texas Medicaid claims data of ADHD children and adolescents (6–17?years of age) initiating OROS-MPH or LDX. Primary SR endpoints were drug discontinuation, switching, and augmentation 12-months post-ADHD drug initiation. Logistic regression models were developed to predict SR to OROS-MPH and LDX in 1:1 matched groups of children and adolescent cohorts.

Results: A total of 3,633 children and 1,611 adolescents were matched for each cohort. SR was observed among more children (76.4% vs 72.3%; p?p?=?0.002) initiating OROS-MPH compared to LDX. Patient sub-groups with the highest predicted risk of OROS-MPH SR experienced significantly lower observed SR rates (p?Conclusions: This study demonstrated how a personalized medicine approach using administrative claims data can be used to identify sub-groups of child and adolescent ADHD patients with different risks for suboptimal response with OROS-MPH or LDX in a Medicaid population.     

Rebalancing and Regional Economic Performance: Northern Ireland in A Nordic Mirror

Northern Ireland has been characterised as having an excessively large public sector. This characterisation has led some to explain poor regional economic performance in terms of ‘crowding out’. This diagnosis has been used to justify a policy of ‘rebalancing’ and the region copying its southern neighbour's lower rate of corporation tax. The experience of large public sectors in the Nordic economies seems however to suggest that higher public spending is not necessarily damaging. This argument is examined critically. Rodrik's comparative institutional analysis indicates that in the Nordics a large public sector was the result of building a successful tradable private sector rather than its cause. In terms of the possible ‘economic dividend’ from devolution we suggest that a Hayekian insight is better: no ‘silver bullets’ exist.