cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Decreasing Impatience: A Criterion for Non-stationary Time Preference and "Hyperbolic" Discounting

Despite recent interest in hyperbolic discounting, there has been little discussion of exactly what property of time preferences is instantiated by hyperbolic or quasi-hyperbolic functional forms. The paper revives an earlier proposal in Prelec (1989) that the key property is PrattArrow convexity of the log of the discount function, which corresponds to decreasing impatience (DI) at the level of preferences. DI provides a natural criterion for assessing the severity of departure from stationarity in that greater DI is equivalent to more choices of dominated options in two-stage decision problems, as well as greater convexity of the log of the discount function. Inefficient choices may arise as intentional precommitments, or as unintended reversals of preference by "naive" agents.
The Abuse of Section 1115 Waivers: Welfare Reform in Search of a Standard

This article documents the federal government's relinquishment, in the name of experimentation, of any obligation to set welfare policy, and the abuse of section 1115 waivers in terms of both methodology and substantive result. In Part I, I explore the historical purpose of section 1115, which was to provide for limited research projects. Parts II and III critique the abuse of section 1115 through broad-based executive waiver approvals, and show how these waiver approvals have resulted in wholesale alterations of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program by the states. Finally, Part IV focuses on the reasons why unrestricted state discretion is not an appropriate strategy for addressing welfare policy concerns.
Estimating the returns to education using the newest current population survey education questions

Abstract This paper examines the 1997 additions to the Current Population Survey education question. These new questions allow researchers to come closer to the “highest grade completed” measure available before 1992. Using the new information, the average imputed “highest grade completed” is one-tenth grade greater and the estimated return to education 0.6 to 1 percentage points lower than when using only the post-1991 “highest degree received” question.
Unconscionability, Exploitation, and Hypocrisy

I argue that under a wide range of conditions it will be difficult for the state to justify non-enforcement of contracts on grounds of unconscionability without making itself vulnerable either to the charge of paternalism or the charge of hypocrisy. On the one hand, the state might take the view that there is something morally wrong with the agreement because it didn’t make sense for the weaker party to enter into it in the first place. But this kind of justification seems to be premised upon a paternalistic judgment about the weaker party’s rational capacities. On the other hand, the state might take the view that although the agreement was entered into freely and rationally by both parties, it nonetheless involves a morally problematic form of exploitation, because the stronger party has secured terms that take unfair advantage of the impoverished circumstances of the weaker party. But then it is difficult to see what could be morally wrong with the contract unless the conditions under which it was made were unjust. And if the injustice of the initial conditions contributes to the state’s view that the agreement is morally problematic, then it will often be awkward for the state to invoke these moral problems to justify non-enforcement of the agreement, because the state will usually be deeply implicated in creating and preserving those unjust conditions of contract. The state’s justification thus makes it vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy: it appears to be subjecting contracting parties to a kind of critical scrutiny to which it does not subject its own actions. I consider two ways in which a defender of the unconscionability doctrine might respond to the hypocrisy charge. First, he might attempt to diffuse the objection by rejecting the key premise that drives it — that the state is in fact subjecting contracting parties to a form of critical scrutiny to which it does not subject its own actions. He might do so by arguing that the state has good reasons to preserve background injustices at least in the short-run. Second, he might deny that hypocrisy has any bearing on permissibility in this context. If this objection succeeds, then the state can continue to decline to enforce exploitative contracts notwithstanding the charge of hypocrisy. I argue that the diffusion strategy succeeds in some but not all circumstances, while the second objection fails in general because the state has a pro tanto reason not to act hypocritically.
The stability of stochastic systems: The case of persistence and resilience

Beginning with the seminal work of Arrow and Hurwicz [1], there now exists a vast literature in economics on the stability of economic systems. This notwithstanding, to the best of our knowledge, the economics literature does not contain any studies of the stability of jointly determined, stochastic ecological-economic systems. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to identify and mathematically characterize two stability concepts for such systems.
International Judicial Legitimacy: Lessons from National Courts

How can international courts better establish their legitimacy? We can better answer this question by first focusing on what scholars have learned about how national courts build legitimacy over time. The literature suggests that national courts strategically build legitimacy by balancing their own policy preferences with those of their audiences. In so doing, they attempt to avoid instances of court curbing that can diminish legitimacy over the long run. Applying a similar strategy may be more difficult for international courts for two key reasons: (1) they serve audiences with more diverse preferences than national courts; (2) they are less likely to be able to predict which rulings will result in significant backlashes from these audiences.
Passive Decisions and Potent Defaults

Default options have an enormous impact on household choices.' Defaults matter because opting out of a default is costly and these costs change over time, generating an option value of waiting. In addition, people have a tendency to procrastinate. We develop a theory of optimal defaults based on these considerations. We find that it is sometimes optimal to set extreme defaults, which are far away from the mean optimal savings rate. A default that is far away from a consumer's optimal savings rate may make that consumer better off since such a bad' default will lead procrastinating consumers to more quickly opt out of the default. We calibrate our model and use it to calculate optimal defaults for employees at four different companies. Our work suggests that optimal defaults are likely to be at one of three savings rates: the minimum savings rate (i.e., 0%), the match threshold (typically 5% or 6%), or the maximal savings rate.
Constitutional Authority Statements in Congress

At the opening of the 112th Congress in January of 2011, the House of Representatives created a new rule that requires each bill or resolution introduced in the House to include a constitutional authority statement. This statement must identify 'the power or powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the bill or resolution.' This is the first time that either house of Congress has required formal statements of constitutional authority for every bill that is introduced. Constitutional authority statements are a practical example of constitutional interpretation in Congress, a subject much discussed by constitutional theorists. In this Article, I situate these statements within the debates over congressional constitutional interpretation and examine some questions about the substantive content of the statements. I argue that as the rule is currently structured, the statements are useful mainly as an internal deliberative tool for Congress, not as an interpretive guide for courts. Finally, I suggest modifications to the House rule that would strengthen the statements for use both by Congress and later interpreters.
Media Freedom in the Shadow of a Coup

Popular protests and palace coups are the two domestic threats to dictators. We show that free media, which informs citizens about their rulers, is a double-edged sword that alleviates one threat, but exacerbates the other. Informed citizens may protest against a ruler, but they may also protest to restore her after a palace coup. We develop a model in which citizens engage in a regime-change global game, and media freedom is a ruler’s instrument for Bayesian persuasion, used to manage the competing risks of coups and protests. A coup switches the status quo from being in the ruler’s favor to being against her. This introduces convexities in the ruler’s Bayesian persuasion problem, causing her to benefit from an informed citizenry. Rulers tolerate freer press when citizens are pessimistic about them, or coups signal information about them to citizens.
The significance of roll calls in voting bodies: A model and statistical estimation

Abstract In the long history of legislative roll call analyses, there continues to exist a particularly troubling problem: There is no satisfactory method for measuring the relative importance or significance of individual roll calls. A measure of roll call significance would be intersting in and of itself, but many have realized that it could also substantially improve empirical research. The consequence of this situation is that hundreds of researchers risk heteroskedastic disturbances (resulting in inefficient estimates and biased standard errors and test statistics), are unable to appropriately choose the roll calls most suited to their theory (resulting in analyses that may not correctly test their theory), and often use methods that create more problems than they solve (resulting in selection bias, unrealistic weighting schemes, or relatively subjective measures). This article introduces a new method designed to meet these problems. Based on an application of Box-Tiao intervention analysis, the method extracts from observed voting participation scores the “revealed preferences” of legislators as a measure of roll call significance. Applying this method to roll calls from the U.S. Senate demonstrates the success of the method and suggests its utility in applied research.
Communicating Trust, Community, and Process in Public Meetings: A Reflection on How Close Attention to Communication Can Contribute to the Future of Public Participation

This concluding essay reflects on how the essays included in this special issue can help address some prevailing issues in public participation scholarship. We see three themes running through the contributions to this special issue that are particularly important for public participation scholars and practitioners to consider. These issues are: citizens’ distrust of public officials, concerns about who counts as a legitimate member of the community, and challenges related to the framing the process and goals of the meeting. In this concluding essay we summarize and reflect on the insights provided by the special issue contributions. We also look ahead to assess how these contributions can inform future public participation research and practice by illuminating the importance of communication practices and public meeting formats.
Transfer Spending in the English Premier League: The Haves and the Have Nots

Transfer spending among English Premier League clubs has increased drastically since the inception of the league, often funded by extremely wealthy owners who began purchasing majority stakes in clubs. Using data from the Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance, we allow for different tiers of football clubs representing the haves and the have nots as well as a comparison between the first and second decades of the Premier League. Our finding that heightened spending has improved on-field performance only at the expense of hurting profitability is in line with win maximisation surmounting profit maximisation in today's Premier League.
Upjohn Warnings, the Attorney-Client Privilege, and Principles of Lawyer Ethics: Achieving Harmony

Individuals who are related to an entity such as a corporation sometimes claim that when they communicated with the entity lawyer, they honestly and reasonably believed that the lawyer represented them. Thus, they claim that the attorney-client privilege applies and protects their statements from disclosure even when the entity has waived its privilege with regard to the communications. Many courts have given privilege claims by entity individuals harsh treatment. These courts, in the interest of protecting the entity, have required individuals to make proofs beyond that required by the traditional definition of the attorney-client privilege. In addition, these courts have ignored the traditional approach to the recognition of an attorney-client relationship which requires giving value to the honest and reasonable belief of the person in the position of client. Courts have erred by creating these special rules to protect the entity in this situation. This approach has contributed to an environment in which lawyers often do not use their best efforts to dispel the confusion of entity individuals about the lawyer’s relationship to the individual and the protections afforded the communications. This is so even though the tenets of professional responsibility provide a background requirement for lawyers of honesty and forthrightness. Courts should apply the traditional definition of the attorney-client privilege and should honor the traditional approach to recognition of an attorney-client relationship. Lawyers can protect their entity clients by giving very clear warnings, often called Upjohn warnings, to the individuals. Individuals who are told that the lawyer does not represent them and who are told that communications with the lawyer are not privileged, will have a difficult time arguing that they honestly and reasonably believed that the lawyer represented them and that the communications are privileged. The warning preserves the entity’s right to control the disclosure of the communications. More important, however, the individual is dealt with forthrightly and not misled. Lastly, this conduct follows the teachings of the tenets of professional responsibility for lawyers. ∗ James R. Merritt Professor and Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.
The Case Against Smoking Bans

In recent months, numerous localities and states have banned smoking in public places (i.e., privately owned places to which members of the public are invited). Such sweeping bans are typically justified on grounds that they alleviate externalities, shape individuals' preferences in a desirable manner, and reduce risks. This essay rebuts the externality, preference-shaping, and risk-reduction arguments for smoking bans and contends that such bans are unnecessary and, on the whole, utility-reducing.
Moral hazard and selection among the poor: evidence from a randomized experiment

Not only does economic theory predict high-risk individuals to be more likely to purchase insurance, but insurance coverage is also thought to crowd out precautionary activities. In spite of stark theoretical predictions, there is conflicting empirical evidence on adverse selection, and evidence on ex ante moral hazard is very scarce. Using data from the Seguro Popular Experiment in Mexico, this paper documents patterns of selection on observables into health insurance as well as the existence of non-negligible ex ante moral hazard. More specifically, the findings indicate that (i) agents in poor self-assessed health prior to the intervention have, all else equal, a higher propensity to take up insurance; and (ii) insurance coverage reduces the demand for self-protection in the form of preventive care. Curiously, however, individuals do not sort based on objective measures of their health.
HeteroFL: Computation and Communication Efficient Federated Learning for Heterogeneous Clients

Federated Learning (FL) is a method of training machine learning models on private data distributed over a large number of possibly heterogeneous clients such as mobile phones and IoT devices. In this work, we propose a new federated learning framework named HeteroFL to address heterogeneous clients equipped with very different computation and communication capabilities. Our solution can enable the training of heterogeneous local models with varying computation complexities and still produce a single global inference model. For the first time, our method challenges the underlying assumption of existing work that local models have to share the same architecture as the global model. We demonstrate several strategies to enhance FL training and conduct extensive empirical evaluations, including five computation complexity levels of three model architecture on three datasets. We show that adaptively distributing subnetworks according to clients' capabilities is both computation and communication efficient.
Do countries free ride on MFN

Abstract The Most-Favored Nation (MFN) clause has long been suspected of creating a free rider problem in multilateral trade negotiations. To address this issue, we model multilateral negotiations as a mechanism design problem with voluntary participation. We show that an optimal mechanism induces only the largest exporters to participate in negotiations over any product, thus providing a rationalization for the Principal supplier rule. We also show that, through this channel, equilibrium tariffs vary according to the Herfindahl–Hirschman index of export shares: higher concentration in a sector reduces free riding and thus causes a lower tariff. Estimation of our model using sector-level tariff data for the U.S. provides strong support for this relationship.
The effect of banking relationships on the future of financially distressed firms

Abstract In this study I empirically examine U.S. publicly traded firms to determine the impact of banking relationships on the future of financially distressed firms. Results demonstrate that obtaining a relationship-backed loan in the six months prior to distress identification significantly increases the probability of future firm emergence from distress. However, this effect decreases as the severity of firm distress increases. These results are robust to variations in banking relationship measures and to addressing endogeneity. This study provides evidence consistent with the value of lending relationships stemming from the ease of transmission of “soft” information within the lender's organization.
Mathematical contributions to the scientific understanding of war

During the past 50 years mathematics has provided a unique tool for the rational acquisition of new objective knowledge about war as a social phenomenon. Four discoveries are examined: the hyporeliability effect in deterrence systems aimed at war prevention; the N-crisis problem of war escalation (originally conjectured by Q. Wright); a ledge of time at the onset of war; and a phenomenon called war dilation, which explains the decreasing propensity of wars to terminate once they have begun. Though in different ways, each of these discoveries exemplifies significant new aspects of war which would not have been discovered without the medium of mathematics.
Variance dynamics: Joint evidence from options and high-frequency returns

This paper analyzes the S&P 500 index return variance dynamics and the variance risk premium by combining information in variance swap rates constructed from options and quadratic variation estimators constructed from tick data on S&P 500 index futures. Estimation shows that the index return variance jumps. The jump arrival rate is not constant over time, but is proportional to the variance rate level. The variance jumps are not rare events but arrive frequently. Estimation also identifies a strongly negative variance risk premium, the absolute magnitude of which is proportional to the variance rate level.
The SEC’s Enforcement Record against Auditors

We investigate the effectiveness of regulatory oversight exercised by the SEC against auditors over the years 1996â€“2009. The evidence suggests that the SEC is significantly less likely to name a Big N auditor as a defendant, after controlling for both the severity of the violation and for the characteristics of companies more likely to be audited by Big N auditors. Further, when the SEC does charge Big N auditors, the SEC (i) is less likely to impose harsher penalties on the Big N; and (ii) is less likely to name a Big N audit firm relative to individual Big N partners. Moreover, the SEC relies overwhelmingly on administrative proceedings, instead of the tougher civil proceedings, against auditors. One interpretation of these patterns is that the SECâ€™s enforcement against auditors is relatively mild. Other interpretations of these results are also discussed. Though private litigation against auditors is associated with a loss of market share for the auditor, there is no evidence of such product market penalty subsequent to SEC action.
Gunsmoke and Legal Mirrors: Women Surviving Intimate Battery and Deadly Legal Doctrines

Written directly following the passage of the controversial “Stand Your Ground” Act, this article illuminates the circumstances of Florida's adoption of that piece of legislation. In 2005, the National Rifle Association announced the “first step of a multi-state strategy” to expand beyond the walls of a dwelling the castle doctrine’s privilege in which a person is permitted to use deadly force without retreating. After securing the adoption of the Stand Your Ground Act that expanded and strengthened the castle doctrine in Florida, the NRA vowed to “begin dropping bills” in other state capitals. The statutory re-casting of the castle doctrine gives occasion for the broader project of the article – to examine gender contradictions in the construction of legal doctrine. Women who live with (and kill) battering men must fight for their lives a second time in a criminal justice system that is structured with inhospitable legal doctrines such as those in the Stand Your Ground Act. Other people (mostly white men) have been given license to carry concealed weapons and expanded legal protections for the use of deadly force in the public domain. The Stand Your Ground Act demonstrates that the experiences of white women and people of color are relegated to the narrow, contradictory, and dangerous margins of the law. This article focuses on the discriminatory effects of gender incongruities in legal doctrine, which are particularly lethal in Florida’s Stand Your Ground Act.
Incorporating Systemic Influences Into Risk Measurements: A Survey of the Literature

Procyclicality has emerged as a potential drawback to adoption of risk-sensitive bank capital requirements. Systematic risk factors may result in increases (decreases) in bank capital requirements when the economy is depressed (overheated), thereby decreasing (increasing) bank lending capacity and exacerbating business cycle fluctuations. Procyclicality may result from systematic risk emanating from common macroeconomic influences or from interdependencies across firms as financial markets and institutions consolidate internationally. We survey the literature on cyclical effects on operational risk, credit risk and market risk measures.
Land Leverage: Decomposing Home Price Dynamics

∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ This article demonstrates the importance of separating the bundled good of housing into land and improvements, arguing that changes in a property’s overall value will depend critically on how much of its total value is contained in the land, a proportion we call land leverage. The importance of this deconstruction is demonstrated by highlighting how land leverage helps to explain variation in house price appreciation in Wichita, Kansas. Noting that land leverage should be relevant for many real estate issues and policies, we highlight four specific areas where consideration of land leverage could significantly improve our understanding of real estate markets. Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything ... for ‘tis the only thing in this world that lasts, and don’t you be forgetting it! ‘Tis the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for—worth dying for. Gerald O’Hara in Gone with the Wind 1 It has long been recognized that housing, despite its frequent treatment as single good in the press (e.g., the housing market, the housing bubble, etc.), is a bundled good. The academic literature has recognized the magnitude of the variation across dwellings, which has led to a general acceptance of “qualitycontrolled” price indexes over simple price indexes, such as those based on mean or median prices. At the same time, it is common to assume (often implicitly) that the prices of these heterogeneous attributes all appreciate at the same rate. In considering how the value of a home changes over time, however, it is important to recognize that the values of these bundled components do not necessarily
Search Engine Bias and the Demise of Search Engine Utopianism

Due to search engines’ automated operations, people often assume that search engines display search results neutrally and without bias. However, this perception is mistaken. Like any other media company, search engines affirmatively control their users’ experiences, which has the consequence of skewing search results (a phenomenon called “search engine bias”). Some commentators believe that search engine bias is a defect requiring legislative correction. Instead, this chapter argues that search engine bias is the beneficial consequence of search engines optimizing content for their users. The chapter further argues that the most problematic aspect of search engine bias, the “winner-take-all” effect caused by top placement in search results, will be mooted by emerging personalized search technology.
Human Capital Investments and Expectations about Career and Family

We conducted a survey of high-ability college students and elicited beliefs about how their choice of major, and of whether to complete their degree, would affect an array of future events: earning...
Solving Eco-Driving Problems Using Indirect Collocation Method and Smooth Representation

This letter discusses the eco-driving problem, considering both electric and conventional powertrains, and presents a pathway to solving it numerically using an indirect collocation method. Despite the low-order system dynamics, the piecewise fuel/efficiency map, gear shifting, and real-world traffic/road situations bring system discontinuities/switchings and pure state constraints into the problem formulation, which make the problem highly nonlinear and nontrivial to solve. This letter introduces smooth approximations to convert the original problem to an unconstrained (and penalized) smooth boundary-value problem. This approach eliminates the discussion of the switching structure and leads to a lightweight Newton-method-based solution procedure.
Exchange rate variability and the riskiness of U.S. multinational firms: Evidence from the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system

Abstract We examine the relation between exchange rate variability and stock return volatility for U.S. multinational firms and decompose this relation into components of systematic and diversifiable risk. Focusing on two five-year periods around the 1973 switch from fixed to floating exchange rates, we find a significant increase in volatility of monthly stock returns corresponding to the period of increased exchange rate variability, even relative to the increase in stock return volatility for three control samples. In conjunction with this increase in total volatility there is also an increase in market risk (beta) for multinational firms.
The Economic Structure of Fiduciary Law

This essay revisits the economic theory of fiduciary law. Nearly two decades have passed since the publication of the seminal economic analyses of fiduciary law by Cooter and Freedman (1991), and by Easterbrook and Fischel (1993), which together have come to underpin the prevailing economic, contractarian model of fiduciary law. The economic theory of agency that motivates those papers has come to permeate the literature on law and legal institutions generally. The law-and-economics movement has matured further, developing new tools and refining its understanding of previously applied concepts. The purpose of this essay is to restate the economic theory of fiduciary law in an updated and accessible synthesis.
What’s Wrong with Executive Compensation?

I broadly explore the question by examining several common criticisms of CEO pay through both philosophical and empirical lenses. While some criticisms appear to be unfounded, the analysis shows not only that current compensation practices are problematic both from the standpoint of distributive justice and fairness, but also that incentive pay ultimately exacerbates the very agency problem it is purported to solve.
A model of a professional sports league

This paper considers a multi-firm analysis of a cartel. It examines the individual owner's choice of labor, the primary factor of production, and the cartel's choice of revenue sharing and salary cap policies in both a profit maximizing model and a utility maximizing model. The effect of decision making outcomes on labor market issues such as talent distribution and wages is explored. Cartel innovation and stability are discussed, especially the likelihood of adoption of institutional policies. The effect of the degree of the salary cap restriction (from unbinding to partially binding to completely binding) is examined. The optimal revenue sharing agreement and salary cap level are generally found to be 100% and 0%, respectively, from the owners' perspective. Wages are found to decrease with increases in revenue sharing and decreases in the salary cap level.
Two-stage pricing for custom-made products

Abstract A commonly observed two-stage pricing strategy for a custom-made product involves a pre-purchase entry fee for a potential consumer and a purchase price if he decides to buy the product. We solve and compare two settings: In the first, the firm does not commit in advance to the second-stage price and in the second, the firm does. We show that without a commitment mechanism, the two price points are strategic complements, in that the higher pre-product fee implies a higher post-product price. With commitment, the two price points are strategic substitutes and the firm can improve profit over the no-commitment case by offering a low purchase price in the second stage and extracting the surplus through an entry fee. When the production cost is low, the commitment solution benefits both the firm and the consumer.
Toward a Substantive Definition of the Corporate Issue Construct A Review and Synthesis of the Literature

This article works toward a more meaningful answer to the question, What is a corporate issue? The article builds from existing literature in business strategy, public policy, and business and soci...
Knowledge Assessment Methodology - Results for Poland

The object of this paper is to present the latest findings relating to the Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM), with particular regard to Poland, which the author has compared to other countries in Europe and Central Asia (taken as one grouping of countries according to region). The four main pillars of this tool for elementary analysis in the area are, eg. the economic and institutional regime, education, innovation and ICT. The article begins by presenting evidence of an emerging knowledge-based economy, its importance and issues concerning its definition. Subsequently the author discussed the key elements of KAM in order to present the results of the so called Basic Scorecard and KEI and KI indexes.
Should Retail Investors' Leverage Be Limited?

Abstract Does the provision of leverage to retail traders improve market quality or facilitate socially inefficient speculation that enriches financial intermediaries? We evaluate the effects of 2010 regulations that cap leverage in the U.S. retail foreign exchange market. Using three unique data sets and a difference-in-differences approach, we document that the leverage-constraint reduces trading volume by 23%, alleviates high-leverage traders’ losses by 40%, and reduces brokerages’ operating capital by 25%. Yet, the policy does not affect the relative bid-ask prices charged by the brokerages. These results suggest the policy improves belief-neutral social welfare without reducing market liquidity.
Development and Political Theory in Classical Athens

The birth of political thought has long been associated with the development of either the polis as a new form of political organization in Greece, or of democracy as a new form of government in Athens. This article suggests that this view ought to be expanded. Between the late 6th and 4th centuries BC, the Greek polis of Athens established large, participatory democratic institutions. But the transformation that the polis underwent did not merely affect political structures: in this period, Athens transitioned from an undeveloped, limited access, ‘natural state’ toward a developed open access society – a society characterized by impersonal, perpetual, and inclusive political, economic, legal and, social institutions. Those who witnessed this transformation first-hand attempted to grapple, often critically, with its implications. We show that Thucydides, Plato, and other Greek political thinkers devoted a considerable part of their work to analyzing the polis’ tendency toward not only political, but also economic, social, and legal inclusion. Without understanding this larger picture, we cannot adequately explain the development of Greek political thought.
The Effect on Financial Reporting Quality of an Exemption from the SEC Reporting Requirements for Foreign Private Issuers

Abstract We test for differences in financial reporting quality between companies that are required to file periodically with the SEC and those that are exempted from filing reports with the SEC under Rule 12g3-2(b). We examine three earnings quality measures: conservatism, abnormal accruals, and the predictability of earnings. Our results, for all three measures, show different financial reporting quality for companies that file with the SEC than for companies exempt from the filing requirements. This paper provides empirical evidence of a link between filing with the SEC and financial reporting quality for foreign firms.
Sound science and trade barriers: Democracy, autonomy, and the limits of the SPS agreement

This article examines the framework of the Agreement for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and assesses its impacts on domestic autonomy and authority in matters of food and environmental safety. The direct impact of the SPS Agreement appears quite limited, as only a few cases have arisen. The Agreement has not proven to be a pervasive tool for the purpose of overturning domestic policies on food or environmental safety, despite the fact that the WTO Panel or Appellate Body decisions have found that domestic measures violate the terms of the SPS Agreement. Limited enforcement mechanisms provide protection for domestic policies, though perhaps at the price of trade sanctions. Moreover, theoretical literature suggests that the SPS Agreement may indeed enhance democratic values by discounting the influence of special interests and retaining ultimate authority for enforcement within the discretion of domestic government. Important issues nevertheless remain, including the role of the precautionary principle in policymaking and the means to address normative values, such as developing moral consensus on animal welfare, in trade matters. Trade has proven to be a catalyst for change and cooperative development in this context.
An examination of underlying consumer demand and sport pricing using secondary market data

Abstract The growth of the secondary ticket market has given sport managers a new way to understand consumer demand for tickets. In the secondary market, transaction prices and the number of transactions are highly variable and respond directly to consumer preferences, making it ripe for exploration. Using secondary market data for the NFL provided by a secondary market firm, the purpose of the current study is to understand a variety of traditional sport economics issues such as demand, consumer surplus, and pricing (in)efficiency. Results show that secondary market prices, instead of number of transactions, respond to the factors commonly associated with consumer demand. Further, the data indicate that teams may be able to sell 20,000 additional seats for each game. However, given that teams cannot easily add this number of seats (and may not want to given the NFL's blackout rule), there is approximately $260,000 in consumer surplus per game that is captured by resellers.
Financial Education and Counseling—Still Holding Promise

This article reviews the evaluation literature on financial education and counseling for adults in order to synthesize implications for research and practice. Most evaluations report positive impacts, but the findings are often small when compared with valid comparison groups. Many evaluations use self-reported measures, measure outcomes over short time periods and cannot rule out selection bias due to nonrandomized designs, all of which may bias results. Although future research and practice in this field hold promise, more attention to theory-based evaluations and further investment in randomized field experiments may be fruitful. The rationale underlying most financial education and counseling programs is that consumers systematically lack financial information and that they will make “better” financial choices given exposure to added information. This rationale assumes that certain information failures and constraints result in inefficient outcomes and that, given fuller information, consumers will make different financial choices. Of course, consumers face more than informational barriers when they make financial decisions. For instance, consumers may lack self-control or exhibit other behavioral biases that education and counseling may not enable them to overcome. However, all else equal, financial education and counseling hold the promise of improving financial knowledge and facilitating behavior change. This article reviews and synthesizes forty-one evaluations of financial education and counseling programs in order to shape future areas of inquiry among researchers and inform new approaches among practitioners. The goal was to ascertain what, if any, effects on knowledge and behavior can be derived from past evaluations. This review offers insights for individuals and organizations in this field as well as provides cautions for researchers designing and implementing evaluations. The
LABOR- AND CAPITAL-AUGMENTING TECHNICAL CHANGE

I analyze an economy in which pro…t-maximizing …rms can undertake both laboror capital-augmenting technological improvements. In the long run, the economy looks like the standard growth model with purely labor-augmenting technical change, and the share of labor in GDP is constant. Along the transition path, however, there is capitalaugmenting technical change and factor shares change. A range of policies may have
Do Energy Efficiency Investments Deliver? Evidence from the Weatherization Assistance Program

A growing number of policies and programs aim to increase investment in energy efficiency, because conventional wisdom suggests that people fail to take up these investments even though they have positive private returns and generate environmental benefits. Many explanations for this energy efficiency gap have been put forward, but there has been surprisingly little field testing of whether the conventional wisdom is correct. This article reports on the results of an experimental evaluation of the nation’s largest residential energy efficiency program—the Weatherization Assistance Program—conducted on a sample of approximately 30,000 households in Michigan. The findings suggest that the upfront investment costs are about twice the actual energy savings. Furthermore, the model-projected savings are more than three times the actual savings. Although this might be attributed to the “rebound” effect—when demand for energy end uses increases as a result of greater efficiency—the article fails to find evidence of significantly higher indoor temperatures at weatherized homes. Even when accounting for the broader societal benefits derived from emissions reductions, the costs still substantially outweigh the benefits; the average rate of return is approximately −7.8% annually.
Corporate Philanthropy as Signaling and Co-optation

This Article provides a new perspective on corporate philanthropy by examining a previously unnoticed mechanism through which corporate pro-sociality enhances firm value: signaling. In particular, cash donations can signal financial strength. A substantial and unexpected increase in the level of cash donations can signal that a firm’s insiders perceive the company’s future to be good enough to spend ultra-discretionary funds on unrelated third parties. The first contribution of this Article is in shifting focus from the traditional “buying goodwill” explanation for corporate philanthropy (i.e., companies engage in pro-social sacrifices because stakeholders are willing to pay more for corporate goodness) to a signaling explanation (i.e., pro-social sacrifices mitigate asymmetric information about a firm’s fundamentals). But corporate philanthropy is not unequivocally good for the company. This is where the Article’s second contribution comes in: examining the conditions under which corporate philanthropy decreases firm value. Under certain circumstances, managers can use their discretion over pro-social expenditures to co-opt corporate governance mechanisms, thereby increasing the level of agency costs. This occurs, for example, when managers cause companies to donate to charitable causes affiliated with independent directors. The Article next evaluates the legal implications of corporate philanthropy. In particular, the theoretical arguments presented here on how philanthropy can be good (signaling) or bad (co-optation) for the company strengthen the case for introducing some form of mandatory disclosure.
Climate Change Triage

Climate change is the first global triage crisis. It is caused by the overuse of a severely limited natural resource — the atmosphere’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases — and millions of lives depend on how international law allocates this resource among nations. This Article is the first to explore solutions for climate change mitigation through the lens of triage ethics, drawing on law, philosophy, moral theory, and economics. The literature on triage ethics — developed in contexts such as battlefield trauma, organ donation, emergency medicine, and distribution of food and shelter — has direct implications for climate policy, yet it has been overlooked by climate change scholars. The triage lens rules out climate policies (including the current emissions path) that will lead to catastrophic warming, and it puts options on the table that are marginalized in the current United Nations negotiations on a climate change agreement. This Article examines three potential allocation principles that could potentially apply in climate change triage — utilitarianism, egalitarianism, and a market-based distribution — it concludes that egalitarianism is the preferable allocation principle from the standpoint of ethics and international law. This Article ends by exploring four major policy implications that emerge from viewing climate change through the lens of triage.
Notes on Minority Report

When I was first invited to participate in this symposium, Legal Outsiders in American Film, I initially thought of myself. I thought maybe I would be the outsider among the contributors. I have never taken a law and film course, let alone taught one. I certainly do not claim to have a background in film studies, unless having an unlimited plan with Netflix and occasionally frequenting art houses count. And although I have written in related interdisciplinary fields— law and literature, and law and the visual arts—I have not written directly about law and film. The more I thought of the issue presented by this symposium, the more confident I felt that I had something unique to contribute. After all, although I have never taught law and film, I routinely use film as a pedagogical tool. When I teach criminal law, for example, I use film and television clips to illustrate criminal law concepts, to problematize those concepts, and even to raise larger issues about justice. And my criminal procedure students will attest to the fact that knowing every episode of The Shield and The Wire comes in handy in class. My Evidence course, thanks to the casebook I use, comes with its very own DVD of useful film clips. Even in my Race and the Law class, I find myself turning to film again and again to illustrate how race is socially constructed and maintained. In addition, as a former prosecutor, I have firsthand experience with using film as a predictive tool. Prior to any jury trial, I would invariably include in my proposed voir dire questions something along the following lines: “What are some of your favorite television shows and/or movies?” Fans of the television show 24 were, in my mind, good jurors for the prosecution. Fans of the film The Fugitive, in which Harrison Ford plays someone wrongfully convicted, were not. Lastly, although I do not have a background in film studies, I am acutely
Is trust a risky decision

In a series of laboratory experiments that focus on a two-person sequential, binary trust game, we examine the relationship between risk attitudes and the decision to trust an anonymous partner. Our experiments include two behavioral risk measures and one survey measure of risk attitudes in addition to the trust game. We find no statistical relationship between the behavioral risk measures and the decision to trust. With additional control variables, there is a weak relationship between risk measured from the survey and the decision to trust. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.