Economics Commons^™

Functional Form And Spatial Dependence In Dynamic Panels, Zhenlin Yang, Chen Wei Li, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper proposes a generalized dynamic error component model that simultaneously accounts for the effects of functional form and spatial dependence. Maximum likelihood method is used for model estimation and inference. An empirical illustration using the demand for cigarettes data is given.

Forecasting The Global Electronics Cycle With Leading Indicators: A Bayesian Var Approach, Hwee Kwan Chow, Keen Meng Choy

Research Collection School Of Economics

Developments in the global electronics industry are typically monitored by tracking indicators that span a whole spectrum of activities in the sector. However, these indicators invariably give mixed signals at each point in time, thereby hampering attempts at prediction. In this paper, we propose a unified framework for forecasting the global electronics cycle by constructing a VAR model that captures the economic interactions between putative leading indicators representing expectations, orders, inventories and prices. The ability of the indicators to presage world semiconductor sales is first examined by Granger causality tests. Subsequently, an impulse response analysis confirms the leading qualities of …

New Mexico Labor Market Review 03-31-2006, New Mexico Department Of Labor

Historic Publications

The New Mexico Labor Market Review is a monthly publication presenting statistical data and analysis on labor market conditions throughout New Mexico. Issues examine statewide and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labor force estimates, industry activity, wages, occupational demand, and related economic conditions, often accompanied by feature articles on topics affecting the state’s economy. This issue covers February 2006.

An Evaluation Of Michigan Regional Skills Alliances (Mirsas): Interim Report, Kevin Hollenbeck, Randall W. Eberts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Commodification And Contract Formation: Placing The Consideration Doctrine On Stronger Foundations, David S. Gamage

ExpressO

Under the traditional consideration doctrine, a promise is only legally enforceable if it is made in exchange for something of value. This doctrine lies at the heart of contract law, yet it lacks a sound theoretical justification – a fact that has confounded generations of scholars and created a mess of case law.

This paper argues that the failure of traditional justifications for the doctrine comes from two mistaken assumptions. First, previous scholars have assumed that anyone can back a promise with nominal consideration if they wish to do so. We show how social norms against commodification limit the availability …

What Kinds Of Stock Ownership Plans Should There Be? Of Esops, Other Sops And “Ownership Societies”, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

Present-day advocates of an “ownership society” (OS) do not seem to have noticed the means by which, since the 1930s and 1960s respectively, we have worked to become an OS already where homes and “human capital” are concerned. Nor have those advocates considered whether these same means ­ which amount to publicly augmented private financial engineering ­ might be employed to spread shares in business firms as widely as we have spread homes and higher educations. This Article, the third in a trio of pieces devoted to fleshing out what a contemporary OS consistent with American values, endowment psychology and …

Reverse Bifurcation, Dru Stevenson

ExpressO

Reverse bifurcation is a trial procedure in which the jury determines damages first, before determining liability. The liability phase of the trial rarely occurs, because the parties usually settle once they know the value of the case. This procedure is already being used in thousands of cases – nearly all the asbestos and Fen-phen cases – but this is the first academic article devoted to the subject. This article explains the history of the procedure and analyzes why it encourages settlements, simplifies jury instructions, and produces better outcomes for the parties.

Evaluating Alternatives For Drinking Water At Deployed Locations, Brian S. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

Because of potential improvements to water security and cost savings, military decision makers may want to consider new means of providing potable water to Airmen in deployed locations. Drilling for water and field bottling show great potential because of the increased security and lower per unit cost when compared to bottled water from approved sources. However, the selection of the best means to supply water is a hard decision which must balance multiple objectives (e.g., security, palatability, and convenience) against limited resources (e.g., cost, airlift, trucks, and personnel). A multi-objective decision analysis model quantifies a decision-maker's values regarding the many …

Punitive Damages, Liquidated Damages, And Clauses Penale In Contract Actions: A Comparative Analysis Of The American Common Law And The French Code Civil, Charles R. Calleros

ExpressO

Although American common law allows punitive damages for reckless or intentional torts, it will neither allow a jury to assess punitive damages for breach of contract nor permit enforcement of a contractual damages clause that is deemed to be punitive. This approach is rooted in an early Chancery practice of granting equitable relief from oppressive penal bonds and has been more recently justified as a means of facilitating efficient breach. Economic efficiency, however, can be accomplished even if punitive damages could be assessed for intentional breach, because the parties would have an incentive to negotiate a release from the first …

Farm Income Outlook 2006, Burton Pflueger, Jack Davis

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Economic Factors And Acquisition Reforms On The Cost Of Defense Weapon Systems, James P. Smirnoff

Theses and Dissertations

Cost overruns in weapon system purchases have plagued the Department of Defense (DoD) throughout its history and have resulted in schedule delays and potentially reduced combat capability. This thesis created an empirical model that begins to explain those cost overruns. The model describes how changes in defense budgets, consolidation of the defense industry, acquisition reform, war, and cost estimating error are related to cost overruns. The cost performance of 186 major weapon system programs managed by the Air Force, Army, and Navy from 1970 to 2002 was described using a panel regression model. This research found that funding instability resulting …

Buried Online: State Laws That Limit E-Commerce In Caskets, Jerry Ellig, Asheesh Agarwal

ExpressO

Consumers seeking to purchase caskets online could benefit from the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision that states cannot discriminate against interstate direct wine shipment. Federal courts have reached conflicting conclusions when asked whether state laws requiring casket sellers to be licensed funeral directors violate the U.S. Constitution’s Due Process Clause. In Powers v. Harris, the 10th Circuit even offered an unprecedented ruling that economic protectionism is a legitimate state interest that can justify otherwise unconstitutional policies. In Granholm v. Heald, however, the Supreme Court declared that discriminatory barriers to interstate wine shipment must be justified by a legitimate state interest, and …

The Efficiencies Defense In Mergers: The Baby-Food Case Reconsidered , Daniel J. Richards, Richard B. Dagen

ExpressO

The Federal Trade Commission’s successful challenge to the proposed merger of Heinz and Beech-Nut baby food operations in 2001 remains a controversial case that raises concern over the role of cost efficiencies in merger analysis. Although the FTC argued that the merger would result in an increased likelihood of coordinated effects, we develop an alternative explanation for why the merger was likely to harm consumers even in the absence of such cooperation. We show that a conventional model of vertical product differentiation is able to replicate the premerger market data. Vertical product differentiation assumes that consumers agree on the relative …

Information Disclosure And The Union Representation Election, Matthew T. Bodie

ExpressO

In its oversight of union representation elections, the National Labor Relations Board seeks to create “laboratory conditions” to determine “the uninhibited desires” of employees. Despite the Board’s intrusive regulation of union and employer campaign conduct, the Board does nothing to insure that employees get basic information relating to their decision. Given the flaws in the market for union representation, particularly with respect to conflicts of interest, the Board should take a more aggressive role in ensuring that employees get the information they need to make rational representation decisions. This Article proposes a new system of mandatory disclosure, modeled on disclosure …

Corporate Form And Substantive Consolidation, William H. Widen

ExpressO

This Article reformulates substantive consolidation doctrine in light of modern financing techniques. Building upon the author's research showing the prevalence of substantive consolidation in large public bankruptcies, it offers an economic account (based on Coase's theory of firm size) to explain why we should expect that the circumstances giving rise to substantive consolidation should be common (rather than rare as suggested by the rhetoric of case law). Extending the asset partitioning theory developed by Professors Hannsmann and Kraakman, it offers a model for looking at the corporate form within corporate groups, particularly in the insolvency context. The recent Third Circuit …

The Impact Of The Defense Industry Consolidation On The Aerospace Industry, Judy B. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of the defense industry consolidation on the aerospace industry. The defense industry is comprised of twelve sectors that impact different industries. This research focused on the formal aspects of the aerospace industry which supports six of the twelve defense sectors. The aerospace industry is identified by six North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) or Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. Using the structure-conduct- performance paradigm, a method in industrial organization, this thesis focused on how the defense consolidation affected the structure and behavior of the aerospace industry. For structure, this study …

The Dutch Auction Myth, Peter B. Oh

ExpressO

The initial public offering process is under assault. Critics of this process have woven a complex set of interconnected objections to the orthodox method for conducting IPOs, pricing of shares, and allocating them to preferred investors. These critics instead point to online auctions as an alternative IPO method that can provide more equitable access, efficient prices, and egalitarian allocations. These claims rest on Google’s recent IPO and W.R. Hambrecht + Co.’s OpenIPO mechanism, conventionally regarded as impure variants of what is known as a descending-bid or Dutch auction (Dutch IPO).

This article assesses the empirical and theoretical case for Dutch …

Buying A Better Air Force, Jenny O. Herald

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to capture the United States Government's revealed preference for air superiority using the hedonic pricing approach (HPA), and (2) to compare the characteristics of U.S. Air Force (USAF) fighter aircraft with those of the former Soviet Union to evaluate the effectiveness of the USAF fleet. The resulting analysis showed that the U.S. Government is paying for physical and performance characteristics such as engine thrust, service ceiling, range, and large-scale integrated circuit technology. However, evidence suggests that the government is not paying to have a relative advantage over the enemy based on the …

Ordered Conflict Resolution, David R. Jenkins

ExpressO

The ancient philosophers who wrote scripture accomplished a feat in social choice theory Contemporary Economists have found to be generally impossible. The Scripture Writers' social choice theory model is defined by impossibility-resolved social welfare function formulation and social state definition interrelationships. Meanwhile, the Contemporary Economists' social choice theory models are defined by impossibility-plagued (tastes or values)-based social welfare functions.

Since social choice theory involves passing from individual well-being to societal well-being, and visa versa, it is reasonably foreseeable social choice theory model methodologies must pass from the (microeconomic: macroeconomic) perspective to the (macroeconomic: microeconomic) perspective, and visa versa. The Scripture …

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002: Are Multi-National Corporations Unduly Burdened?, William Alan Nelson

ExpressO

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted by Congress in response to the frauds perpetrated by several large U.S. companies; Enron and WorldCom were the main catalysts for the swift regulatory response. Though the primary impetus of Sarbanes-Oxley was to deter corruption domestically, its impact has had multinational reach. Problems arise when foreign corporations domiciled outside the United States are subject to both U.S. securities law and the laws of their home country, particularly when the laws are in conflict. This five part comment examines the effect that the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 has had on multinational corporations. The comment begins by …

New Mexico Labor Market Review 03-13-2006, New Mexico Department Of Labor

Historic Publications

The New Mexico Labor Market Review is a monthly publication presenting statistical data and analysis on labor market conditions throughout New Mexico. Issues examine statewide and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labor force estimates, industry activity, wages, occupational demand, and related economic conditions, often accompanied by feature articles on topics affecting the state’s economy. This issue covers January 2006.

Entrenched Managers & Corporate Social Responsibility, Shane M. Shelley

ExpressO

A growing number of academics have suggested U.S. corporate governance laws bestow too much power on managers. Much of the research focuses on the relationship between corporate governance arrangements, which supply a means to managerial power, and the financial performance of corporations. This exclusive focus on financial performance may be misguided. Although profits serve as a proxy for the benefits corporations provide society, they do not always adequately reflect the costs of the activities that generated them. In this sense, financial performance may not give an accurate, or at least complete, picture of the real value of corporations. Whether managers …

Overvalued Equity And The Case For An Asymmetric Insider Trading Regime, Thomas A. Lambert

ExpressO

The forty-year debate over whether insider trading should be regulated has generally proceeded in all-or-nothing terms: Either all insider trading should be permitted (subject only to private restrictions imposed by issuers themselves), or none should. This Article argues for an asymmetric insider trading policy under which insider trading that decreases the price of an overvalued stock is generally permitted, but insider trading that increases the price of an undervalued stock is generally prohibited. Concluding that the net investor benefits of price-decreasing insider trading exceed those of price-enhancing insider trading, the Article argues that an asymmetric insider trading regime likely represents …

Employee Blogs And Social Capital: A Time For State Legislative Action, Rafael Gely, Leonard Bierman

ExpressO

This Article addresses the issue of employee blogging and the interplay between such blogging and the asserted recent decline in American “social capital.” Relying on the recent work of Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, we argue that blogging by employees can play an important role in helping reverse the decline in social capital but that current legal structures impede that goal. The Article proposes state legislative reforms to ameliorate this situation. We begin Part I by developing the argument that there is an important relationship between employee blogging and American social capital. Part II presents a review of blogs and …

Exploring The Source Of Transatlantic Antitrust Divergence, Alan J. Devlin

ExpressO

This paper seeks to explore the sources of substantive divergence between the antitrust regimes of the U.S. and EC and to present a framework upon which harmonization could potentially be achieved. While the rise of the Chicago School and post-Chicago theory have merged to ensure a central role for economics in dictating antitrust enforcement in the United States, no such clear standard has emerged in Europe. The consequences for firms operating on a transatlantic basis are potentially severe, as they have to formulate different business strategies depending on which jurisdiction they operate in. An assessment of EC law demonstrates an …

Global Pharmaceutical Patent Law In Developing Countries- Amending Trips To Promote Access For All, Angela J. Anderson

ExpressO

This comment will analyze the need to amend and revise the current global pharmaceutical patent system under TRIPS to take into account the needs of developing countries and overall public health. This comment will emphasize that the current international trade rules, which although administered by the WTO, are dictated by developed country governments and powerful pharmaceutical companies, and therefore, without reform will further diminish the access of poor people in developing countries to vital medicines. Part II of this comment will provide a general overview of the international trade law governing patents on pharmaceuticals focusing specifically on the development of …

The "Public Use" Requirement In Eminent Domain Law: A Rationale Based On Secret Purchases And Private Influence, Daniel B. Kelly

ExpressO

This article provides a rationale for understanding and interpreting the “public use” requirement within eminent domain law. The rationale is based on two factors. First, while the government often needs the power of eminent domain to avoid the problem of strategic holdout, private parties are usually able to purchase property through secret buying agents. The availability of these buying agents makes the use of eminent domain for private parties unnecessary (and indeed, undesirable). The government, however, is ordinarily unable to make secret purchases because its plans are subject to democratic deliberation and known in advance. Second, while the use of …

The Promise (And Limits) Of Neuroeconomics, Jedediah S. Purdy

ExpressO

Neuroeconomics – the study of brain activity in people engaged in tasks of reasoning and choice – looks set to be the next behavioral economics: a set of findings about how people make decisions that casts doubt on widely accepted premises about rationality and social life. This essay explains what is most exciting about the new field and lays out some specific research tasks for it.

By enabling researchers to view the mind at work, neuroeconomics puts in question the most basic premise of twentieth-century empiricism, sometimes called positivism or behaviorism: that people are black boxes to one another, and …

Regulatory Status Of Voip In The Post-Brand X World, Jerry Ellig

ExpressO

During the past several years, the Federal Communications Commission has engaged in a series of rulemakings to determine the regulatory status of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The Supreme Court’s Brand X decision clarifies that even if the FCC’s determination conflicts with that of a court, the FCC’s judgment holds sway as long as the decision is reasonable. We believe that VoIP should be classified as an information service, rather than a telecommunications service, for several reasons. First, the Internet Protocol nature of VoIP technology means that it functions like an information service, rather than a telecommunications service. Second, in …

Informal Economy: Is It A Problem, A Solution Or Both? The Perspective Of The Informal Business, Omar E. Garcia-Bolivar

ExpressO

This paper deals with the informal economy. For many it is a solution, for others it is a problem. What can the law do to incorporate the informal economy into the formal economy? Does it really matter? What are the challenges?