A new approach to household fertility behavior

A 1st step is taken in this discussion towards the explicit theoretical recognition that fertility decisions are made by pairs of individuals who conceivably have different preferences or are in different circumstances. The focus is on disagreements between spouses over desired family size. The discussion begins by identifying the costs and benefits of child services to each spouse, which involves consideration of the type of interdependency of the utility functions as well as the nature of the externality problem in the production of child service. Specific examples are included of situations in which disagreement is likely to occur. Using the National Fertility Survey of 1965, it is possible to test whether disagreements are more likely to occur in these identified cases. 2 types of fertility conflict are predicted: the wife desires fewer children than the husband and the reverse. The National Fertility Survey (NFS) data set contains 5617 interview records. A sample of 1559 women who were married once, husband present, nonmenopausal, aged 25-39 with valid answers to all questions were selected. Husband's schooling in excess of wife's increased the probability that conflict of the husband demanding fewer children type will arise and the probability was increased at higher levels of income. The demand for quality rose with income and placed additional pressure on a husband with more education to assist (via lost leisure time) in the creation of quality. The effects were highly nonlinear. Higher levels of status of the wife's (potential) job had the predicted effect of making wife demands fewer children conflict more likely, but only through intermediate levels of status. Another variable which had a significant influence on the probability of conflict was the husband's age, with higher husband's age leading to husband demanding fewer children than wife conflict.     

The effect of information releases on the pricing and timing of equity issues

With time-varying adverse selection in the market for new equityissues, firms will prefer to issue equity when the market ismost informed about the quality of the firm. This implies thatequity issues tend to follow credible information releases.In addition, if the asymmetric in information increases overtime between information releases, the price drop at the announcementof an equity issue should increase in the time since the lastinformation release. Using earning releases as a proxy for informativeevents, we find evidence supporting these propositions.     

Entering the Minds of Serial Murderers: The Application of Forensic Leisure Science to Homicide Research

ABSTRACT

Years ago, a small handful of leisure scholars suggested that serial murder may be a form of leisure. However, to date this possibility remains virtually unexplored. This article draws from recent research to share reflections and rich, new insights on how leisure science may provide important contributions to serial homicide researchers and law enforcement personnel. At the same time, exploring such intersections offers leisure scholars new ways of understanding familiar concepts and theories. Possibilities for future research are discussed.     

Block trading and information revelation around quarterly earnings announcements

I investigate the empirical importance of information revelationin the pricing of block trades. In particular, I examine whetherblock prices are correlated with the unexpected part of firms'quarterly earnings. For my sample of block trades, informationrevelation does indeed appear to be a significant factor shortlybefore earnings announcements.     

Adjustment dynamics and the natural rate: an account of UK unemployment

This paper challenges what is the standard account of UK employment,namely that the major swings in unemployment over the past 25years are due predominantly to movements in the underlying empiricalnatural rate of unemployment (NRU). Our analysis suggests thatthe UK NRU has remained reasonably stable through time and thatthe medium-run swings in unemployment are due, instead, to veryprolonged after-effects of persistent (transitory but long-lasting)shocks. We argue that (i) past UK labour market shocks haveprolonged after-effects on unemployment due to interactionsamong different lagged adjustment processes in the labour market;(ii) many of the important shocks that have hit the UK labourmarket over the past 25 years have been persistent; and (iii)the persistence of the shocks is complementary to the persistenceof the lagged adjustment processes in generating movements ofUK employment.     

Existence level differences and spatial industrial restructuring in South Africa: RDP imperatives

The change of government in South Africa and the subsequent implementation of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) has necessitated afresh look at the spatial‐economic development policies of the past. Recently, an attempt was made to measure differences in existence level in South Africa using a combination of First and Third World criteria. In this paper these differences are related to general trends in population redistribution in the country since 1960 in an effort to assess the probable impact of existence level difference and migration on urbanisation in South Africa in the long run. On the basis of these assessments, expected trends in urban development in South Africa are compared with previous industrial development policies in an effort to determine RDP imperatives for the future.     

Post-socialist financial fragility: the case of Albania

The 1997 collapse of the Albanian economy caused by the collapseof economy-wide Ponzi schemes contrasts sharply to its successstatus as a post-Socialist transition country in the years 1992-1996.In this paper, an attempt is made to explain this 'AlbanianParadox'. The specific Albanian conditions for the growth ofPonzi schemes are identified. Theoretically, the Albanian Paradoxcan be interpreted as one version of the 'Financial InstabilityHypothesis' suggested by Minsky. Investigation of the underlyingfactors that render financial markets fragile suggest that theAlbanian case is extreme but not unique in the region. It isemphasised that sustainable growth is predicted on the qualityof government, on proper financial-sector regulation, on actualmicroeconomic restructuring and on the development of marketinstitutions through which adequate market information is disseminated.     

Liquidity provision with limit orders and a strategic specialist

This article presents a microstructure model of liquidity provisionin which a specialist with market power competes against a competitivelimit order book. General solutions, comparative statics andexamples are provided first with un-informative orders and thenwhen order flows are informative. The model is also used toaddress two optimal market design issues. The first is the effectof 'tick' size - for example, eighths versus decimal pricing- on market liquidity. Institutions trading large blocks havea larger optimal tick size than small retail investors, butboth prefer a tick size strictly greater than zero. Second,a hybrid specialist/limit order market (like the NYSE) providesbetter liquidity to small retail and institutional trades, buta pure limit order market (like the Paris Bourse) may offerbetter liquidity on mid-size orders.