Economics Commons^™

Regulation Of Government Agencies Through Limitation Riders, Neal Devins

Neal E. Devins

Congress often attaches limitation riders to appropriations bills to establish its policy directives. Professor Devins argues that the appropriations process is not the proper vehicle for substantive policymaking. In this article, he analyzes institutional characteristics that prevent the full consideration or articulation of policy in appropriations bills. Professor Devins also considers the extent to which Congress's use of limitation riders inhibits the effectiveness of the other branches of the federal government. Professor Devins concludes that, while Congress's use of limitation riders is sometimes necessary, Congress should be aware of the significant risks associated with policymaking through the appropriations process.

Understanding Kaye Scholer: The Autonomous Citizen, The Managed Subject And The Role Of The Lawyer, Nancy Amoury Combs

Nancy Combs

The Office of Thrift Supervision's (OTS) unprecedented enforcement action against Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays and Handler (Kaye Scholer) prompted howls of protest from the legal community. OTS, it was claimed, was using its excessive power to redefine the role of the lawyer. This Comment confirms that OTS sought to impose duties on Kaye Scholer that conflict with professional ethics rules. The Comment then goes on to suggest that the conflict over professional responsibility in the Kaye Scholer case reflects, more fundamentally, a conflict over the role of the citizen, and the citizen's relationship with the state. Our adversarial system of …

Naked And Covered In Monte Carlo: A Reappraisal Of Option Taxation, Eric D. Chason

Eric D. Chason

The market for equity options and related derivatives is staggering, covering trillions of dollars worth of assets. As a result, the taxation of these instruments is inherently important. Moreover, the importance is made even more acute by the use of options in creating more complex transactions and in avoiding taxes. Consider an equity call option, which entitles, but does not obligate, its holder to buy stock at a set price at a set time in the future. Option theory gives us a way to break the option down into more fundamental units. For example, an equity call option over 10,000 …

Accounting Education In Greece During The Gfc (2009-2016), Dimitrios V. Siskos

Dimitrios V. Siskos

The structure of accounting education in Greece, and in the world, is facing nowadays many significant challenges since the global financial crisis has left behind many critical educational burdens. At the same time, there is an increase in accounting omissions and malpractices of ethics both in the public and in the private sector of Greece. These undoubtedly contributed to massive unemployment, high poverty rate, crime and other social ills experienced in the country. This motivated the study on restructuring accounting education by devising a new educational framework that can be applied to Greek universities and colleges with the purpose of …

Thinking Finance - The Comic Book, Dimitrios V. Siskos

Dimitrios V. Siskos

Thinking financially results in the best possible outcome and establishes a secure foundation for the future as an independent man. In contrast, thinking emotionally leads to short-sighted financial decisions and usually, deep regrets. However, thinking financially is not pleasant for the people around us. This comic book presents a guy, whose dream is to become an accountant. When he finally succeeds in this, he realizes that thinking financially may be effective for his boss but it is irritating for everyone else, even for his family.

The Effects Of Natural Resource Dependence And Democracy On The Incremental Budgeting Theory And Punctuated Equilibrium Within A Budgetary Context, Barrak Algharabali

Barrak Algharabali

Liquidity Policies And Financial Fragility, Danilo Lopomo Beteto Wegner

Danilo Lopomo Beteto Wegner

Merger & Acquisition And Capital Expenditure In Health Care: Information Gleaned From Stock Price Variation, Wenjing Ouyang, Peter E. Hilsenrath

Peter E. Hilsenrath

Investment, especially through merger and acquisition (M&A), is a leading topic of concern among health care managers. In addition, the implications of this activity for organization and market concentration are of great interest to policy makers. Using a sample of 2256 firm-year observations in the health care industry during the period from 1985 to 2011, this article provides novel evidence that managers learn from financial markets in making capital expenditure (CAPEX) and M&A investment decisions. Within the industry, managers in the Drugs subsector are most likely to do so, whereas managers in the Medical Equipment and Supplies are least likely …

The Effects Of Short-Selling Threats On Incentive Contracts: Evidence From An Experiment, David De Angelis, Gustavo Grullon, Sebastien Michenaud

Sébastien Michenaud

The Integrity Of Financial Analysts: Evidence From Asymmetric Responses To Earnings Surprises, Rui Lu, Wenxuan Hou, Henry Oppenheimer, Ting Zhang

Ting Zhang

This paper investigates the integrity of financial analysts by examining their recommendation responses to large quarterly earnings surprises. Although there is no significant difference in recommendation changes between affiliated and unaffiliated analysts in response to positive earnings surprises, affiliated analysts are more reluctant than unaffiliated analysts to downgrade stock recommendations in response to negative earnings surprises. The evidence implies that conflicts of interest undermine the integrity of financial analysts. We further examine the effects of reputation concern and the Global Research Analyst Settlement as informal and formal mechanisms, on restoring analysts’ integrity. The results show that the positive bias in …

An Analysis Of Risk-Taking Behavior For Public Defined Benefit Pension Plans, Nancy Mohan, Ting Zhang

Ting Zhang

This paper presents the first comprehensive study on the determinants of public pension fund investment risk and reports several new important findings. Unlike private pension plans, public funds undertake more risk if they are underfunded and have lower investment returns in the previous years, consistent with the risk transfer hypothesis. Furthermore, pension funds in states facing fiscal constraints allocate more assets to equity and have higher betas. There also appears to be a herding effect in that CalPERS equity allocation or beta is mimicked by other pension funds. Finally, our results suggest that government accounting standards strongly affect pension fund …

An Analysis Of Risk-Taking Behavior For Public Defined Benefit Pension Plans, Nancy Mohan, Ting Zhang

Nancy Mohan

This paper presents the first comprehensive study on the determinants of public pension fund investment risk and reports several new important findings. Unlike private pension plans, public funds undertake more risk if they are underfunded and have lower investment returns in the previous years, consistent with the risk transfer hypothesis. Furthermore, pension funds in states facing fiscal constraints allocate more assets to equity and have higher betas. There also appears to be a herding effect in that CalPERS equity allocation or beta is mimicked by other pension funds. Finally, our results suggest that government accounting standards strongly affect pension fund …

Policy Considerations Related To Further Intervention In The Farm Credit System, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The Farm Credit System Is a major participant in extending credit to and brokering losses from the agricultural sector during the current adjustment process. This article focuses on the problems faced by the system as a cooperative lender with relatively little diversity in its loan portfolio. Assistance to the system should be accompanied by organizational and structural changes that address the fundamental reasons for its vulnerability. Conditions suggest three basic choices: (1) preservation of the system in recognizable form, (2) decentralization to the district level, or (3) a shift toward a wholesaling function. One realistic alternative would involve a combination …

Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Based on the Ricardian rent theory, this study employs the variable profit function to analyze the determinants of Iowa cropland cash rental rates using county-level panel data from 1987 to 2005. Accounting for spatial and temporal autocorrelations, responses of local cash rental rates to changes in output prices and other exogenous variables are estimated. We find that Iowa cash rental rates are largely determined by output/input prices, soil quality, relative location, and other county-specific factors. Cash rents go up by $79 for a $1 increase in corn price in the short run. The marginal value of cropland quality, as represented …

Does A Rising Biofuels Tide Raise All Boats? A Study Of Cash Rent Determinants For Iowa Farmland Under Hay And Pasture, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Iowa's farmland consists of over 16% hay crops and pastureland, a significant portion of which is under cash rental contracts. This study investigates the comparative relationships between cash rental rates for cropped land and non-cropped land, where the latter includes hay and pastureland. We find that higher crop prices resulting from biofuel demand induces land use conversion from non-cropped land to crop production and thus bids up non-cropped land rents. Compared with changes in cropped land cash rents, non-cropped farmland rents could increase by a higher percentage. Non-cropped land cash rental rates are largely determined by crop and feeder cattle …

Does A Rising Biofuels Tide Raise All Boats? A Study Of Cash Rent Determinants For Iowa Farmland Under Hay And Pasture, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Iowa's farmland consists of over 16% hay crops and pastureland, a significant portion of which is under cash rental contracts. This study investigates the comparative relationships between cash rental rates for cropped land and non-cropped land, where the latter includes hay and pastureland. We find that higher crop prices resulting from biofuel demand induces land use conversion from non-cropped land to crop production and thus bids up non-cropped land rents. Compared with changes in cropped land cash rents, non-cropped farmland rents could increase by a higher percentage. Non-cropped land cash rental rates are largely determined by crop and feeder cattle …

Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Based on the Ricardian rent theory, this study employs the variable profit function to analyze the determinants of Iowa cropland cash rental rates using county-level panel data from 1987 to 2005. Accounting for spatial and temporal autocorrelations, responses of local cash rental rates to changes in output prices and other exogenous variables are estimated. We find that Iowa cash rental rates are largely determined by output/input prices, soil quality, relative location, and other county-specific factors. Cash rents go up by $79 for a $1 increase in corn price in the short run. The marginal value of cropland quality, as represented …

Does A Rising Biofuels Tide Raise All Boats? A Study Of Cash Rent Determinants For Iowa Farmland Under Hay And Pasture, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Iowa's farmland consists of over 16% hay crops and pastureland, a significant portion of which is under cash rental contracts. This study investigates the comparative relationships between cash rental rates for cropped land and non-cropped land, where the latter includes hay and pastureland. We find that higher crop prices resulting from biofuel demand induces land use conversion from non-cropped land to crop production and thus bids up non-cropped land rents. Compared with changes in cropped land cash rents, non-cropped farmland rents could increase by a higher percentage. Non-cropped land cash rental rates are largely determined by crop and feeder cattle …

Does A Rising Biofuels Tide Raise All Boats? A Study Of Cash Rent Determinants For Iowa Farmland Under Hay And Pasture, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Iowa's farmland consists of over 16% hay crops and pastureland, a significant portion of which is under cash rental contracts. This study investigates the comparative relationships between cash rental rates for cropped land and non-cropped land, where the latter includes hay and pastureland. We find that higher crop prices resulting from biofuel demand induces land use conversion from non-cropped land to crop production and thus bids up non-cropped land rents. Compared with changes in cropped land cash rents, non-cropped farmland rents could increase by a higher percentage. Non-cropped land cash rental rates are largely determined by crop and feeder cattle …

Determinants Of Iowa Cropland Cash Rental Rates: Testing Ricardian Rent Theory, Xiaodong Du, David A. Hennessy, William M. Edwards

William Edwards

Based on the Ricardian rent theory, this study employs the variable profit function to analyze the determinants of Iowa cropland cash rental rates using county-level panel data from 1987 to 2005. Accounting for spatial and temporal autocorrelations, responses of local cash rental rates to changes in output prices and other exogenous variables are estimated. We find that Iowa cash rental rates are largely determined by output/input prices, soil quality, relative location, and other county-specific factors. Cash rents go up by $79 for a $1 increase in corn price in the short run. The marginal value of cropland quality, as represented …

The Effect Of Institutional Ownership On Payout Policy: Evidence From Index Thresholds, Alan D. Crane, Sébastien Michenaud, James P. Weston

Sébastien Michenaud

The Impact Of Institutional Arrangements On Educational Efficiency, Trevor Collier

Trevor Collier

Per-pupil expenditures on education in the United States have grown immensely in recent decades, yet student achievement has been stagnant. An abundance of research has sought to solve this enigma, much of it centered on the incentive structure facing administrators. Some recent papers use TIMSS data to analyze the relationship between institutional arrangements—that typically do not vary within a single country—and student achievement. Similarly, we utilize TIMSS 1999 to determine if there is an indirect relationship between institutional arrangements and student achievement, via a relationship with school efficiency. Our results show that the specified link between institutional arrangements and student …

Teacher Qualifications And Student Achievement: A Panel Data Of Analysis, Trevor Collier

Trevor Collier

Recent academic research suggests that teacher quality plays an important role in student achievement: however, empirical research on the efficacy of policies requiring teachers to obtain certain degrees is inconclusive, particularly in elementary education. This paper models a panel data production function with fixed effects using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) to asses the relationship between different undergraduate and graduate majors and elementary student test scores. Specifcally, we aim to discern if there is a difference in teacher efficacy within the different education related majors (e.g. early childhood education and elementary education) and between education and non-education related majors.

Tobin, James, Tony Caporale

Tony Caporale

James Tobin was born in Champaign, Illinois, in 1918. He received his bachelor's degree in 1939 and his master's degree in 1940, both from Harvard. Following naval service during the years 1942-6, he returned to his graduate studies and received his PhD from Harvard in 1947. In 1950, he joined the economics department at Yale University, and he has largely remained at Yale and has been identified with this institution throughout his career. He twice directed the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, first from 1955 to 1961, and then from 1964 to 1965. He also served for two years, …

Currency Wars And The Erosion Of Dollar Hegemony, Lan Cao

Lan Cao

Advancing Individual And Societal Development At The Community Level: Role Of Ngo Microcredit And Leadership Training, Denise Lucy, Jayati Ghosh, Edward Kujawa

Denise Lucy

In many countries throughout the world micro-credit loans are utilized to empower women by seeking to reduce the poverty of families and communities. Originally Non-governmental organizations’ (NGO) microcredit programs focused on funding women’s businesses. In so doing, NGOs encourage and support women’s empowerment leading to community building, as well as to advancing women’s individual gender equity. This descriptive study is based upon interviews of 100 women who participated in microcredit loan programs run by a Bangladeshi NGO, entitled, Nari Uddog Kendra (NUK). The case study examines the participation and impact of NUK’s business development and leadership training programs. The study …

Bank Solvency And Economic Activity, Lester G. Telser

Lester G Telser

This note explains why bank solvency is extremely important in a modern economy. Although banks provide many services including loans to business and households, these are secondary. Provision of the means of payment is primary. Every transaction in a modern economy involves a means of payment offered by the buyer and acceptable to the seller.

Ii Keynes On Safe Assets, Lester G. Telser

Lester G Telser

Only the monetary authorities can create and issue safe assets. A safe asset is not offset by any liability so no private entity can issue it. The nominal value of a safe asset is fixed and it usually offers no nominal yield. The rationale for safe assets can be traced to the factors underlying the Keynesian liquidity trap. Since late 2008 the Fed has paid 0.25 percent on member bank reserves held in deposits at the Fed. This is part of the program known as ‘quantitative easing.’ It may have presented collapse of the U.S. banking system.

Public Actors In Private Markets: Toward A Developmental Finance State, Robert Hockett, Saule Omarova

Saule T. Omarova

The recent financial crisis brought into sharp relief fundamental questions about the social function and purpose of the financial system, including its relation to the “real” economy. This Article argues that, to answer these questions, we must recapture a distinctively American view of the proper relations among state, financial market, and development. This programmatic vision – captured in what we call a “developmental finance state” – is based on three key propositions: (1) that economic and social development is not an “end-state” but a continuing national policy priority; (2) that the modalities of finance are the most potent means of …

The Real Effects Of Short-Selling Constraints, Gustavo Grullon, Sébastien Michenaud, James P. Weston

Sébastien Michenaud