On syndicate sharing rules for unanimous project rankings

This paper extends the notion of individual certainty equivalent to group certainty equivalent, in order to derive sharing rules that ensure unanimity on project rankings within a syndicate. A constrained maximization problem is set up with optimal project-specific sharing rules as the solution. It is shown that the group certainty equivalent construct allows for experimental derivation of a syndicate's preference function from a procedure parallel to that presently employed for deriving preference functions of individuals. The analysis potentially has a role in examining the nature of optimal compensation systems (sharing rules) for closely held (non-traded) corporations and partnerships.     

TAX AND SAVINGS IMPLICATIONS OF THE CANADIAN REGISTERED RETIREMENT SAVINGS PLANS

This paper shows that the net effective tax rate on the Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) in Canada has not been inflation non-neutral because of the combination of the non-neutrality of various sources of retirement income and the progressivity of the personal tax system. The paper also shows that although the RRSPs provide some tax arbitrage opportunities, these opportunities in Canada are limited due to the non-tax-deductibility of interest on mortgage and consumer credits. Finally, on theoretical grounds, the paper argues that the RRSPs may not have provided any incentives for personal savings in Canada.     

The progress of school education in India

This paper provides an overview of school education in India.First, it places India's educational achievements in internationalperspective, particularly against countries with which it isnow increasingly compared, especially China. Second, the paperexamines schooling access in terms of enrolment and school attendancerates, and schooling quality in terms of literacy rates, learningachievement levels, school resources, and teacher inputs. Third,the paper investigates the role of private schooling in India,examining the extent of growth of private schooling and surveyingevidence on the relative effectiveness and unit costs of privateand public schools. Last, the paper discusses some major publiceducation initiatives. The concluding section suggests a futureresearch agenda and appeals for rigorous evaluation of the impactsand costs of the numerous existing educational interventions,in order to learn about their relative cost-effectiveness forevidence-based policy-making.     

The British investor's gains from international portfolio investment

This paper analyses the effects of exchange controls on the ranking of British and overseas investments. A method is developed by which the costs of such controls can be incorporated into return calculations. It is shown that the adjustment of returns for exchange controls significantly alters the rankings of investments. An additional aspect of the paper is to rank domestic and foreign investments by stochastic dominance and compare the derived rankings with mean-variance. Again a significant differences in rankings is identifiable. It is concluded that the exchange rate regime, institutional exchange controls and the entire distribution of returns should be considered in ranking domestic and foreign investments.     

Nonparametric identification and estimation of random coefficients in multinomial choice models

We show how to nonparametrically identify the distribution of unobservables, such as random coefficients, that characterizes the heterogeneity among consumers in multinomial choice models. We provide general identification conditions for a class of nonlinear models and then verify these conditions using the primitives of the multinomial choice model. We require that the distribution of unobservables lie in the class of all distributions with finite support, which under our most general assumptions, resembles a product space where some of the product members are function spaces. We show how identification leads to the consistency of a nonparametric estimator.     

Gender and household education expenditure in Pakistan

Pakistan has very large gender gaps in educational outcomes. One explanation could be that girls receive lower educational expenditure allocations than boys within the household, but this has never convincingly been tested. This article investigates whether the intra-household allocation of educational expenditure in Pakistan favours males over females. It also explores two different explanations for the failure of the extant ‘Engel curve’ studies to detect gender-differentiated treatment in education even where gender bias is strongly expected. Using individual level data from the latest household survey from Pakistan, we posit two potential channels of gender bias: bias in the decision whether to enrol/keep sons and daughters in school, and bias in the decision of education expenditure conditional on enrolling both sons and daughters in school. In middle and secondary school ages, evidence points to significant pro-male biases in both the enrolment decision as well as the decision of how much to spend conditional on enrolment. However, in the primary school age-group, only the former channel of bias applies. Results suggest that the observed strong gender difference in education expenditure is a within rather than an across household phenomenon.     

School Participation in Rural India

This paper presents an analysis of the determinants of school participation in rural north India, based on a recent household survey which includes detailed information on school characteristics. School participation, especially among girls, responds to a wide range of variables, including parental education and motivation, social background, dependency ratios, work opportunities, village development, teacher postings, mid-day meals and infrastructural quality. Mid-day meals are particularly effective: the provision of a mid-day meal in the local school roughly halves the proportion of girls excluded from the schooling system. School quality matters, though it is not related in a simple way to specific inputs.     

Toward defining the accountant's role in the evaluation of social programs

Currently a conflict exists in the accounting literature concerning the propriety of extending the accountant's function to include the assessment of social programs. This paper attempts to clarify the issues of debate and evaluate the various points of view. The first two sections discuss the social science literature on evaluation and evaluation problems. The following two sections focus the discussion on the accountant's role in various evaluation activities. The concluding section of the paper offers a schema of the process that can be applied in the evaluation of social programs.     

Expert systems in marketing: Guidelines for development

This paper is aimed at understanding and developing marketing expert systems. A discussion of the structure of expert systems is presented. Guidelines for development of marketing expert systems and marketing areas most amenable to expert system development are also provided.     

Trends in helmet use by motorcycle riders in the decades following the repeal of mandatory helmet laws

Several US states repealed universal motorcycle helmet laws in the 1990s and 2000s. The purpose of this study was to examine national trends in helmet use among adult trauma patients with motorcycle-related injuries. We hypothesized that motorcycle helmet use declined over time. We retrospectively analyzed the National Trauma Data Bank's National Sample Program for 2003–2010. We also obtained data on US motorcycle fatalities reported in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau to calculate motorcycle-related fatality rates over time. A total of 255,914 patients met inclusion criteria, of whom 148,524 (58%) were helmeted. During the study period, helmet use increased from 56% in 2003 to 60% in 2010 (p < 0.001). However, motorcycle-related fatality rates also increased in states with and without universal helmet laws. Nationally, rates of helmet use have increased. However, fatalities due to motorcycle crashes have also increased during the same period.