The regulation of science-based claims in advertising

This paper analyzes the effects of scientific information dissemination on consumer and producer behavior. The first section draws heavily from evidence on the ready-to-eat cereal market during a period in which information developed about the health benefits of fiber cereal consumption. Although producers were initially prohibited from advertising these benefits, the regulatory ban against advertising was lifted during the period we study. Our results indicate that advertising was an important source of information leading to increased fiber cereal consumption and product innovation. The second part of our paper discusses the potential for deception if science-based claims are allowed. In the final section we consider a number of regulatory proposals that have been raised in the context of health claims for food products. We evaluate these proposals against the three goals of encouraging the dissemination of truthful information and discouraging the dissemination of deceptive or misleading information and their ability to keep pace with the changing science.     

PUBLIC POLICY TOWARDS PRIVATE PENSIONS

This paper reviews and evaluates public policy towards private pensions which has developed in the U.S. over the past 60 years. It is shown that research results reported in the literature are not sufficiently conclusive to permit resolution of all, or even the most important, efficiency questions that surround pension policy. Given available information, a series of policy recommendations are made to either retain or alter current federal policy towards pensions. Unanswered research questions that prevent a more definitive set of conclusions are identified and discussed     

The importance of design for firms׳ competitiveness: A review of the literature

Scholars dedicated increasing attention towards appreciating how design has changed individuals? perception of new products, firms? understanding and formulation of strategy, or other relevant actors? approach to innovation and technology management. By emphasising the importance of design for the definition of consumers? needs, the restructuring of firms? organisational structures and strategies, and the evolution of firms? value creation processes, this review paper identifies relevant research gaps and questions that would benefit from future scholarly attention. In particular, it is suggested that such effort should address the analysis of how design consumption can help better comprehend consumers? needs; what are the implications of design thinking on the skill sets of design professionals; the organisational structure of firms, including the reconfiguration of other business functions, and their strategy; and whether and how design thinking can shape firms? value creation processes and contribute to the formalisation of design tasks.     

The Survival Rate of Defined-Benefit Plans, 1987-1995

We look at the survival rate of defined-benefit pension plans with at least 500 participants over the period 1987–1995. We find that termination in favor of defined-contribution plans is a rare event and that the vast majority of these plans survive, albeit often under a different plan sponsor or in a new merged plan. Indeed, the frequency of mergers is an important feature in the pension market and partially explains the growing number of large defined-benefit plans.     

The market for illicit monopoly: Its implication for social welfare

Conclusions In this paper, the market for illicit monopoly was formulated and the corresponding measure of the social cost of any observed monopoly was derived. It was shown that if the potential for successful monopoly is known (although not necessarily with certainty), if the property rights to monopoly profits are defined ex-ante, and if the analysis is viewed ex-ante to the existence of monopoly, then the social cost of any observed monopoly is the Harberger triangle plus some portion of monopoly profits. If it is attained unexpectedly and costlessly or if the economic analysis is performed after the existence of the monopoly, then the social cost of monopoly is largely confined to the Harberger triangle.Conversely, if the prize of monopoly rent is captured only ex-post by the winner of some costly race (this is easier to envision in the case of patent monopoly), the social cost of monopoly profit and the Posner measure will prevaill. In general, however, the generalized Tullock measure implies a socially optimal level of antitrust enforcement that lies somewhere between those implied by Harberger and Posner.     

Leverage and pricing of debt in LBOs

We show that the structure and pricing of debt in LBOs mostly depend on a single characteristic of the target firm, pre-LBO profitability. We find a positive relationship between pre-LBO profitability and deal leverage that is consistent with a dynamic trade-off theory of capital structure in the presence of adjustment costs. We argue that the wide range of debt tranches used in LBO financing can be folded into two main categories, senior and junior debt, where the pricing of senior and junior debt depends on their relative use and on bankruptcy risk. Our evidence also suggests that senior lenders oversupply cheap credit during hot buyout markets.     

Credit lines as monitored liquidity insurance: Theory and evidence

We propose a theory of credit lines provided by banks to firms as a form of monitored liquidity insurance. Bank monitoring and resulting revocations help control illiquidity-seeking behavior of firms insured by credit lines. The cost of credit lines is thus greater for firms with high liquidity risk, which in turn are likely to use cash instead of credit lines. We test this implication for corporate liquidity management by identifying exogenous shocks to liquidity risk of firms in corporate bond and equity markets. Firms experiencing increases in liquidity risk move out of credit lines and into cash holdings.