cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Murder after the Merger: A Commentary on Finkelstein

Critics have long sought the abolition of the felony murder rule, arguing that it is a form of strict liability. Despite widespread criticism, the rule remains firmly entrenched in many states' criminal statutes. In "Merger and Felony Murder," Professor Claire Finkelstein reconciles herself to the current state of affairs, and seeks to make "an incremental improvement" to the doctrine. She offers a new test for felony murder's merger limitation, which she believes will make merger less "mysterious" and its application "substantially clearer." Briefly put, Finkelstein claims that to understand merger, we must recognize that it is an analytically necessary part of felony murder that the defendant commit two acts - a felony and a killing. Thus, a killing merges with the felony when we have only one act instead of two. To make this determination, Finkelstein articulates a "redescriptive" test that tells us when the felony can be redescribed as a killing. Despite this project's potential, I believe that Finkelstein's proposed merger test, far from improving our understanding of merger, further confuses the doctrine. Finkelstein starts from the false conceptual premise that felony murder requires both a felony and then a distinct act of killing. There is simply no support for this claim. Nor does the promise of this project bear out in the application of Finkelstein's test to actual cases. First, the test cannot be squared with two other limitations on felony murder liability. Second, Finkelstein's test is guilty of the very arbitrary application for which she criticizes other tests. Finally, Finkelstein unsettles the law by turning paradigmatic cases on their heads. Finkelstein's theory, while claiming to refine felony murder, ultimately abolishes the doctrine as we know it and replaces it with a doctrine that seems even more unacceptable.
Generalized Systematic Risk

We generalize the concept of "systematic risk" to a broad class of risk measures potentially accounting for high distribution moments, downside risk, rare disasters, as well as other risk attributes. We offer two different approaches. First is an equilibrium framework generalizing the Capital Asset Pricing Model, two-fund separation, and the security market line. Second is an axiomatic approach resulting in a systematic risk measure as the unique solution to a risk allocation problem. Both approaches lead to similar results extending the traditional beta to capture multiple dimensions of risk. The results lend themselves naturally to empirical investigation. (JEL D81, G11, G12)
An efficiency measure for dynamic networks modeled as evolutionary variational inequalities with application to the Internet and vulnerability analysis

In this paper, we propose an efficiency/performance measure for dynamic networks, which have been modeled as evolutionary variational inequalities. Such applications include the Internet. The measure, which captures demands, flows, and costs/latencies over time, allows for the identification of the importance of the nodes and links and their rankings. We provide both continuous time and discrete time versions of the efficiency measure. We illustrate the efficiency measure for the time-dependent (demand-varying) Braess paradox and demonstrate how it can be used to assess the most vulnerable nodes and links in terms of the greatest impact of their removal on the efficiency/performance of the dynamic network over time.
Antitrust in a time of populism

Abstract This article discusses how to move antitrust enforcement forward in a constructive manner during a time of widespread and growing concern over the political and economic power of large corporations in the United States. Three themes are emphasized. First, a body of economic evidence supports more vigorous merger enforcement in the United States. Tighter merger control can be achieved by utilizing the existing legal presumption against highly concentrating mergers. Second, close antitrust scrutiny is appropriate for today's largest and most powerful firms, including those in the tech sector. Proper antitrust enforcement regarding unilateral conduct by dominant firms should continue to focus on identifying specific conduct that harms customers or disrupts the competitive process. Third, while antitrust enforcement has a vital role to play in keeping markets competitive, antitrust law and antitrust institutions are ill suited to directly address concerns associated with the political power of large corporations or other public policy goals such as income inequality or job creation.
HIV-1 Vpr Degrades TET2 to Suppress IRF7 and Interferon Expression in Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are the major source of type I interferons (IFN-I) in rapid response to viral infections, with constitutive expression of interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7). HIV-1 expresses several accessory proteins to counteract specific IFN-induced host restriction factors. As one abundant virion-associated protein, HIV-1 Vpr remains enigmatic in enhancing HIV-1 infection via unclear mechanisms. Here we report that Vpr impaired IFN-I induction in pDCs to enhance HIV-1 replication in CD4+ T cells. Blockade of IFN-I signaling abrogated the effect of Vpr on HIV-1 replication. Virion-associated Vpr suppressed IFN-I induction in pDC by TLR7 agonists. Modulation of IFN-I induction by Vpr was genetically dependent on its activity of TET2 degradation. We further demonstrate that Vpr-mediated TET2 degradation reduced expression of IRF7 in pDCs. Finally, degradation of TET2 in pDCs by Vpr reduced the demethylation level of the IRF7 promoter via CXXC5-dependent recruitment. We conclude that HIV-1 Vpr functions to promote HIV-1 replication by suppressing TET2-dependent IRF7 expression and IFN-I induction in pDCs. The Vpr-TET2-IRF7 axis provides a novel therapeutic target to control HIV-1 infection.
Child mortality and fertility decline: Does the Barro-Becker model fit the facts?

I compare the predictions of three variants of the altruistic parent model of Barro and Becker for the relationship between child mortality and fertility. In the baseline model fertility choice is continuous, and there is no uncertainty over the number of surviving children. The baseline model is contrasted to an extension with discrete fertility choice and stochastic mortality and a setup with sequential fertility choice. The quantitative predictions of the models are remarkably similar. While in each model the total fertility rate falls as child mortality declines, the number of surviving children increases. The results suggest that factors other than declining infant and child mortality are responsible for the large decline in net reproduction rates observed in industrialized countries over the last century.
INEQUALITY OF WAGE RATES, EARNINGS AND FAMILY INCOME IN THE UNITED STATES, 1975–2002†

This paper analyzes distributional changes over the last quarter of the twentieth century. We focus on four distinct distributions: the distribution of hourly wage rates, the distribution of annual earnings of individuals, the distribution of annual earnings of families, and the distribution of total family income adjusted for family size. Both male wage rate inequality and family income inequality accelerated during the early 1980s, increased at a slower rate through the early 1990s and then stabilized at a high level through the early 2000s. The similarity in the timing of changes in these two distributions has been used as evidence that increased family income inequality primarily reflects increased inequality of wage rates. We show that other important factors were also at work.
International Law and Institutions and the American Constitution in War and Peace

This Article describes how international law and institutions are not necessarily incompatible with U.S. sovereign interests today and how they were historically accepted as valid inputs to interpreting and implementing the Constitution during the founding and infancy of the United States and through the Civil War.
Religious Freedom and the Interscholastic Athlete

This article delineates the religious rights of interscholastic athletes under the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause. Part I provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary free exercise doctrine, followed by a brief summary of other laws that may govern religion-related conflicts arising in the context of interscholastic athletics. Part II then surveys the types of controversies that can arise in this context and will examine their resolution in light of the governing laws. Part II also offers guidelines to coaches and administrators for the prevention and resolution of such conflicts, including steps that can be taken to avoid First Amendment violations and, thus, legal liability.
How asymmetric is U.S. stock market volatility

Abstract This paper explores differences in the impact of equally large positive and negative surprise return shocks in the aggregate U.S. stock market on: (1) the volatility predictions of asymmetric time-series models, (2) implied volatility, and (3) realized volatility. Following large negative surprise return shocks, both asymmetric time-series models (such as the EGARCH and GJR models) and implied volatility predict an increase in volatility and, consistent with this, ex post realized volatility normally rises as predicted. Following large positive return shocks, asymmetric time-series models predict an increase in volatility (albeit a much smaller increase than following a negative shock of the same magnitude), but both implied and realized volatilities generally fall sharply. While asymmetric time-series models predict a decline in volatility following near-zero returns, both implied and realized volatility are normally little changed from levels observed prior to the stable market. The reasons for the differences are explored.
The success of divestitures in merger enforcement: Evidence from the J&J–Pfizer transaction

Abstract Despite being a widely used tool in merger enforcement, there have been few studies of whether antitrust divestitures are successful. We help fill this void by conducting a study of the divestitures relating to Johnson & Johnson's $16.6 billion acquisition of Pfizer's consumer health division in 2006. Six brands were divested in this matter to alleviate antitrust concern. For three of the brands, their pre- and post-divestiture performances are similar, while the remainder underwent changes that do not appear to be divestiture related. Overall, the results are consistent with the view that the divestitures maintained the pre-transaction level of competition.
Insolvency, Trigger Events, and Consumer Risk Posture in the Theory of Single-Family Mortgage Default

This article integrates the concepts of insolvency, trigger events, and consumer risk posture into the theory of single-family mortgage default. It presents a traditional consumer- or choice-theore...
When No Law is Better Than a Good Law

This paper argues, both theoretically and empirically, that sometimes no securities law may be better than a good securities law that is not enforced. The first part of the paper formalizes the sufficient conditions under which this happens for any law. The second part of the paper shows that a specific securities law -- the law prohibiting insider trading -- may satisfy these conditions. The third part of the paper takes this prediction to the data. We find that the cost of equity actually rises when some countries enact an insider trading law, but do not enforce it. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
Contracts Between Firms and Shareholders

Theory predicts the existence of explicit bilateral contracts between firms and expert shareholders. I assemble and analyze a large‐scale data set of these contracts. Using block investments from 1996 to 2018, I find that these contracts involve mainly corporate owners and activist owners, and often specify covenants pertaining to financing, trading, directorships, dividends, joint ventures, corporate investment, financial reporting, and information access. I also find that some of the contract covenants are stated in terms of accounting information, and that the prevalence of these contracts is significantly positively associated with measures of information asymmetry between managers and shareholders. Overall, this study provides some of the first systematic evidence on explicit bilateral contracts between firms and shareholders.
Informed trading before analyst downgrades: Evidence from short sellers

Abstract This paper studies short-selling prior to the release of analyst downgrades in a sample of 670 downgrades of Nasdaq stocks between 2000 and 2001. We find abnormal levels of short-selling in the three days before downgrades are publicly announced. Further, we show that this pre-announcement abnormal short-selling is significantly related to the subsequent share price reaction to the downgrade, and especially so for downgrades that prompt the most substantial price declines. Our findings are robust to various controls that might also affect short-selling such as pre-announcement momentum, three-day pre-announcement returns, and announcement-day share price. In addition, the results are independent of scheduled earnings announcements, analyst herding, and non-routine events near downgrades. Further evidence suggests that tipping is more consistent with the data than the prediction explanation which posits that short sellers successfully predict downgrades on the basis of public information about firms’ financial health. Finally, we present evidence that downgraded stocks with high abnormal short-selling perform poorly over the subsequent six months by comparison with those with low abnormal short-selling. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that short sellers are informed traders and exploit profitable opportunities provided by downgrade announcements.
Urban Wages and Labor Market Agglomeration

Abstract Using the 5% public use micro sample of the 1990 U.S. census, we find that observationally equivalent workers in the manufacturing sector earn higher wages when they are in urban labor markets that have a larger share of national or metropolitan employment in their same occupation and industry groups. Quantitatively, the effect is large, with an elasticity (measured at the means) of between 1.2 and 3.6 for these effects. We interpret the willingness of firms to pay more for equivalent workers in dense markets as evidence of an agglomeration economy in urban labor.
Estimating the effects of higher coupon face values on the timing of redemptions, the mix of coupon redeemers, and purchase quantity

One of the key decisions a manager must make in designing a coupon promotion is to decide on the face value. In this study we examine the effects of higher face values on coupon redemption timing, category purchase timing, the mix of buyers who redeem the coupon, and purchase quantity. Data from a field experiment on coupon face values are used to test the hypotheses. A new method of measuring the effects of a coupon on category purchase timing is proposed. We find that coupons per se tend to advance category purchase timing, but higher face values do not increase the magnitude of this effect. Surprisingly, higher face values appear to increase redemption rates for both the prior nonbuyers and prior buyers of the brand in a similar way. However, higher face values have little effect on the package size purchased, the number of units purchased, or the total quantity (package size times units) purchased.
One Size Does Not Fit All: The Deterrent Effect of Transferring Juveniles to Criminal Court

All states transfer certain serious or repeat juvenile offenders from the juvenile court for adjudication in the adult criminal court in the hopes that doing so will reduce offender recidivism. Yet, clear empirical data on whether transfer achieves these results has been lacking. This essay discusses the implications for policy, practice, and future research of the findings of Zane et al.'s (2016) meta-analysis of the nine methodologically sound studies of the specific deterrent effects of juvenile transfer. The central take home message of the meta-analytic findings is that transfer likely has different effects depending upon the type of juvenile offender, type of transfer mechanism used, and the punishments and interventions meted out by the juvenile and criminal court systems. Thus, future research must be conducted across jurisdictions having different transfer mechanisms and sentencing options, and be of a level of sophistication that includes a host of offense and offender variables as well as court processing/sanction type, and employ methodologies that minimize or detect potential selection biases between comparison groups. Importantly, because one size of legal processing and sanction does not fit all offenders, judges and prosecutors should base their transfer decisions not primarily upon seriousness of the charge but on an individualized and nuanced evaluation of relevant case, offender, and local justice and social service system capabilities.
Using Online Video to Announce a Restatement: Influences on Investment Decisions and the Mediating Role of Trust

ABSTRACT: Press releases accompanying earnings restatements attempt to minimize negative reactions by explaining the reasons for the restatement. Although text-based press releases have been the norm for years, firms have recently begun using online video for such announcements. We examine the implications of doing so, and find that when a CEO accepts responsibility by making an internal attribution for a restatement, investors viewing the announcement online via video recommend larger investments in the firm than do investors viewing the announcement online via text. In contrast, when the CEO denies responsibility by making an external attribution for the restatement, investors viewing the announcement online via video recommend smaller investments in the firm than do investors viewing the announcement online via text. Our results also reveal that investor trust mediates the effect of disclosure venue and attribution on investment recommendations. These findings are important given the economic significa...
The Entry Incentives of Complementary Producers: A Simple Model with Implications for Antitrust Policy

Abstract We model competition between two firms in an upstream–downstream relationship. Each firm can pay a sunk cost to enter the other's market. We show that coordination (e.g., through merger) can be anticompetitive, and that such coordination can arise in equilibrium.
The impact of verifiability on contracts

We show how the verifiability of signals affects their use in mitigating adverse selection. With verifiable signals, the observed practice of investigating agents before contracting is inferior to writing contingent contracts. This holds regardless of the agent's risk aversion, bounded penalties, or investigation costs. With risk-neutral agents, contingent contracts yield first-best outcomes. We further show that even unverifiable signals can be gainfully used in contingent contracts by removing a principal's incentives to distort signals or by removing an agent's incentives to demand verification.
Managing Crowds in Innovation Challenges

Crowdsourcing for innovation is typically conducted as an “innovation challenge.” Despite the popularity of innovation challenges, there appears to be a growing consensus that innovation challenges do not succeed at generating solutions with competitive advantage potential. This article presents three ways in which managers can assure that their innovation challenges are fruitful: foster different crowd roles to encourage contribution diversity; offer knowledge integration instructions and dual incentives; and offer explicit instructions for sharing different types of knowledge.
Beyond Invisibility: Afro-Argentines in Their Nation's Culture and Memory

This essay examines recent works on the history and culture of Afro-Argentines. It discusses why the study of Afro-Argentines has traditionally been an underexamined topic by scholars specializing in Argentina and why there has been a recent renewal of interest in the topic. Essay explores influence of Africans and Afro-Argentines on Argentine culture and the question of the so-called disappearance of the Afro-Argentines.
Quadratic reflected BSDEs with unbounded obstacles

Abstract In this paper, we analyze a real-valued reflected backward stochastic differential equation (RBSDE) with an unbounded obstacle and an unbounded terminal condition when its generator f has quadratic growth in the z -variable. In particular, we obtain existence, uniqueness, and stability results, and consider the optimal stopping for quadratic g -evaluations. As an application of our results we analyze the obstacle problem for semi-linear parabolic PDEs in which the non-linearity appears as the square of the gradient. Finally, we prove a comparison theorem for these obstacle problems when the generator is concave in the z -variable.
A cost‐benefit analysis of real‐money trade in the products of synthetic economies

Purpose – Macro goals: To alert the telecommunications policy community to the emergence of persistent online worlds as a communications and policy issue. Also to provide game industry decisionmakers with solid economic research on which to base policy decisions. Third, to connect these two communities to each other, for mutual benefit. Micro goals: to conduct a solid cost‐benefit analysis of a knotty problem in game economics: what to do about people who break the rules and use real money to buy game items (swords, wands, gold pieces, etc.)Design/methodology/approach – Traditional cost‐benefit analysis. Consumer surplus analysis of externality effects, with a parameterized estimate of effects sizes.Findings – Real‐money trading acts as a negative externality on the game subscription market. Seems likely to amount to several million dollars per 100,000 users per year.Research limitations/implications – The effects sizes are simulated only. More data from the game industry are needed before one can put a s...
Epistemological Skepticism(S) and Rational Self-Control

In this paper I aim to do two things. First, I attempt to illustrate an interesting pattern of argument one can find in Hume's work. Next, I employ this Humean pattern of argument to show that IF there is a cogent and intuitive argument for any form of epistemological skepticism, which despite its cogency and intuitiveness has a (literally) unbelievable conclusion, THEN we lack a very important form of doxastic self-control, which I call rational self-control (RSC), over the beliefs problematized by that skeptical argument. Thus, (1) the challenge posed by skepticism is even deeper and more radical than commonly supposed: If any form of skepticism proves unanswerable and yet unbelievable, then we demonstrably lack RSC in the domain problematized by that form of skepticism. Thus, (2) one's views on skepticism may entail definite views on (at least one form of) doxastic self-control.
Stock Price Response to Calls of Convertible Bonds: Still a Puzzle?

The liquidity hypothesis predicts negative abnormal returns around the conversion-forcing call announcements of convertible bonds, followed by a price recovery. We find the former but not the latter. The liquidity hypothesis also implies that the abnormal returns during the announcement and the post-announcement periods should be related to proxies for the stock s liquidity. Again, our findings do not support these implications of the liquidity hypothesis. We conclude that the reason for the negative abnormal returns around the announcement of a conversion-forcing call needs further examination.
Parental job loss and infant health

This paper is the first to explore the extent to which the health effects of job displacement extend to the children of displaced workers. Using detailed work and fertility histories from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, estimates are identified by comparing the outcomes of children born after a displacement to the outcomes of those born before. This analysis reveals that husbands' job losses have significant negative effects on infant health. They reduce birth weights by approximately four and a half percent with suggestive evidence that the effect is concentrated on the lower half of the birth weight distribution.
Developmental PCB Exposure Disrupts Synaptic Transmission and Connectivity in the Rat Auditory Cortex, Independent of Its Effects on Peripheral Hearing Threshold.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are enduring environmental toxicants and exposure is associated with neurodevelopmental deficits. The auditory system appears particularly sensitive, as previous work has shown that developmental PCB exposure causes both hearing loss and gross disruptions in the organization of the rat auditory cortex. However, the mechanisms underlying PCB-induced changes are not known, nor is it known if the central effects of PCBs are a consequence of peripheral hearing loss. Here, we study changes in both peripheral and central auditory function in rats with developmental PCB exposure using a combination of optical and electrophysiological approaches. Female rats were exposed to an environmental PCB mixture in utero and until weaning. At adulthood, auditory brainstem responses were measured, and synaptic currents were recorded in slices from auditory cortex layer 2/3 neurons. Spontaneous and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were more frequent in PCB-exposed rats compared to controls and the normal relationship between IPSC parameters and peripheral hearing was eliminated in PCB-exposed rats. No changes in spontaneous EPSCs were found. Conversely, when synaptic currents were evoked by laser photostimulation of caged-glutamate, PCB exposure did not affect evoked inhibitory transmission, but increased the total excitatory charge, the number and distance of sites that evoke a significant response. Together, these findings indicate that early developmental exposure to PCBs causes long-lasting changes in both inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission in the auditory cortex that are independent of peripheral hearing changes, suggesting the effects are due to the direct impact of PCBs on the developing auditory cortex.Significance Statement The mechanisms by which developmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) disrupt the central nervous system are not yet known. Here we show that developmental PCB exposure is associated with long-lasting dysregulation of both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission in the rodent brain. We further find that, unlike controls, synaptic parameters in the auditory cortex of PCB-exposed rats are independent of peripheral hearing changes. These data suggest that PCB-related changes in the auditory cortex are independent of their effects on the auditory periphery and that PCB exposure may disrupt the plastic mechanisms needed to restore normal processing in the auditory cortex after peripheral hearing loss.
Investment and Institutions in Post-Civil War Recovery

Theories of post-civil war recovery predict a ‘peace dividend’ via the re-accumulation of capital per worker. I suggest that such a recovery will occur only when quality institutions have been established. I couple data on civil wars from 1965 to 2000 with the measure of legal structure and protection of private property from the Economic Freedom of the World Index. The results from growth regressions using an interaction between an index of institutions, and investment/GDP confirm that weak institutions inhibit recovery in the post-conflict environment, providing empirical support for a model of conflict recovery via capital accumulation, conditional on institutions.
Impact of risk assessment on judges' fairness in sentencing relatively poor defendants.

Objective Use of risk assessment instruments in the criminal justice system is controversial. Advocates emphasize that risk assessments are more transparent, consistent, and accurate in predicting re-offending than judicial intuition. Skeptics worry that risk assessments will increase socioeconomic disparities in incarceration. Ultimately, judges make decisions-not risk assessments. This study tests whether providing risk assessment information interacts with a defendant's socioeconomic class to influence judges' sentencing decisions. Hypotheses Tentatively, socioeconomic status was expected to have a main effect; without an interaction with risk assessment information. Method Judges (N = 340) with sentencing experience were randomly assigned to review 1 of 4 case vignettes and sentence the defendant to probation, jail, or prison. Information in the vignettes was held constant, except the defendant's socioeconomic status and whether risk assessment information was provided. Results Risk assessment information reduced the likelihood of incarceration for relatively affluent defendants, but the same information increased the likelihood of incarceration for relatively poor defendants. This finding held after controlling for the sex, race, political orientation, and jurisdiction of the judge. Conclusions Cuing judges to focus on risk may re-frame how they process socioeconomic status-a variable with opposite effects on perceptions of blameworthiness for past crime versus perceptions of risk for future crime. Providing risk assessment information may have transformed low socioeconomic status from a circumstance that reduced the likelihood of incarceration (by mitigating perceived blameworthiness) to a factor that increased the likelihood of incarceration (by increasing perceived risk). Under some circumstances, risk assessment information may increase sentencing disparities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
The State of the Onion: Peeling Back the Layers of America's Ambivalence Toward Judicial Independence

This essay addresses the question of whether the public really wants an independent judiciary. It is a question which implicates two discrete issues: What is an independent judiciary?; and does the public want one? The first issue seemingly invites a protracted disquisition on the meaning of judicial independence, but that would be unnecessarily digressive. For purposes here, it will suffice to isolate from the several facets of judicial independence that scholars have identified, those of central relevance to the public judicial independence debate. With those meanings in hand, I will then turn to the second part of the question and peel back the layers of the public’s views on judicial independence, like an onion, to reveal the nature and extent of the public’s ambivalence.
Enhancing Communication between Marketing and Engineering: The Moderating Role of Relative Functional Identification:

Using research in social psychology, the authors illustrate how two key routes to improve communication between marketing and engineering are dependent on the strength of managers’ psychological co...
Ownership change, institutional development and performance

This paper conducts a cross-country empirical study of the impact of institutions and agency conflicts on ownership reforms and their implications for changes in performance and efficiency. We examine two main questions. First, we evaluate the effects of certain property rights and institutional quality measures on performance and efficiency. We find that property rights and contracting rights protections contribute to stronger post-privatization performance. Second, we ask whether sectors undergoing changes from state to private ownership exhibit better or worse performance than sectors remaining public. We find an insignificant effect of privatization in ordinary least squares estimates and a negative short-term effect after correcting for endogeneity of privatization decisions that disappears in the long run, consistent with recently privatized enterprises facing short-run costs of restructuring and the challenges of mitigating agency and expropriation concerns.
The Uneasy Case for the Flat Tax

Social contract theories assume thatbecause personal security and private property are at risk ina state of nature, citizens will agree to grant Leviathan a monopolyof violence. But what is to prevent Leviathan from turning onhis citizens once they have lain down their arms? The socialcontract leaves citizens worse off unless Leviathan can fetterhimself, as constitutional democracies seek to do. Self-bindingfetters are hard to find. We suggest that schemes of progressivetaxation, in which marginal tax rates increase with taxable income,may be useful incentives to realign Leviathan's incentives withthose of his citizens. Income taxes give Leviathan an equityclaim in his state's economy, and progressive taxes give hima greater residual interest in upside payoffs. Leviathan willthen demand higher side payments from interest groups beforehe imposes value-destroying regulations.
Survey Mode Effects on Valuation of Environmental Goods

This article evaluates the effect of the choice of survey recruitment mode on the value of water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams. Four different modes are compared: bringing respondents to one central location after phone recruitment, mall intercepts in two states, national phone-mail survey, and an Internet survey with a national, probability-based panel. The modes differ in terms of the representativeness of the samples, non-response rates, sample selection effects, and consistency of responses. The article also shows that the estimated value of water quality can differ substantially depending on the survey mode. The national Internet panel has the most desirable properties with respect to performance on the four important survey dimensions of interest.
Debt, Equity and Hybrid Decoupling: Governance and Systemic Risk Implications

We extend here our prior work, which focused on equity decoupling ( Hu and Black, 2006, 2007, 2008), by providing a systematic treatment of debt decoupling and an initial exploration of hybrid decoupling. Equity decoupling involves unbundling of economic, voting, and sometimes other rights customarily associated with shares, often in ways that may permit avoidance of disclosure and other obligations. We discuss a new U.S. court decision which will likely curtail the use of equity decoupling strategies to avoid large shareholder disclosure rules. Debt decoupling involving the unbundling of the economic rights, contractual control rights, and legal and other rights normally associated with debt, through credit derivatives and securitisation. Corporations can have empty and hidden creditors, just as they can have empty and hidden shareholders. ‘Hybrid decoupling’ across standard equity and debt categories is also possible. All forms of decoupling appear to be increasingly common. Debt decoupling can pose risks at the firm level for what can be termed ‘debt governance’ − the overall relationship between creditor and debtor, including creditors’ exercise of contractual and legal rights with respect to firms and other borrowers. Widespread debt decoupling can also involve externalities and therefore create systemic financial risks; we explore those risks.
Deciding to Kill: Revealing the Gender in the Task Handed to Capital Jurors

ion has, of late, been characterized by a 'call to context.'"). Professor Massaro attributes the phrase to Professor Frederick Schauer. Id. 92. See Menkel-Meadow, supra note 30, at 58 n.97. 93. HuGo A. BEDAU, THE DEATH PENALTY IN AMERICA 11 (3d ed. 1982); see Graham v. Collins, 113 S. Ct. 892, 903 (1993) (Thomas, J., concurring). 94. 402 U.S. 183 (1971). 95. Justice Harlan's opinion for the Court in McGautha held that neither substantive standards to control juror discretion nor a bifurcated trial was constitutionally mandated. 96. 402 U.S. at 204. 1366 HeinOnline -1994 Wis. L. Rev. 1366 1994
Active Institutional Shareholders and Costs of Monitoring: Evidence from Executive Compensation

Although evidence suggests that institutional investors play a role in monitoring management, not all institutions are equally willing or able to serve this function. We present a stylized model that examines the effects of institutional monitoring on executive compensation. The model predicts that institutions' influence on managers' pay-for-performance sensitivity and level of compensation is enhanced when institutions have lower implied costs of monitoring, but that these effects are attenuated when the firm-specific cost of monitoring is high. Our empirical results are broadly consistent with these implications, suggesting that independent investment advisors and investment company managers have advantages in monitoring firms' management.
A Framework for the Regulation of Securities Market Intermediaries

Author(s): Choi, Stephen | Abstract: This Essay examines the role of private institutions in promoting strong securities markets. Recent scandals in the United States highlight both the importance and the fallibility of the securities market intermediary institutions to which investors typically turn for protection, such as auditors, analysts, and proxy advisory firms. From the perspective of investor welfare, this Essay discusses the various forms of institution failure and the efficacy of recently promulgated reforms. First, the paper provides a taxonomy of the various forms of securities market intermediary institution failure. Second, the essay compares the failings of the market against the fallibility of regulators. Not all regulations are the same - a series of possible interventions into the securities market exists ranging from merit regulation at one extreme to the provision of optional investor education materials at the other. Some forms of market failures require less intervention (with a corresponding reduced cost of regulatory error and capture). Lawmakers often regulate first and ask questions later, ignoring both the potential downsides of regulation as well as the possibility of market-based alternative solutions to market failures. The presence of market-based solutions allows regulators to intervene less stringently into markets, leaving the market with some degree of choice in how to address particular intermediary defects.
Earnings Announcement Premia and the Limits to Arbitrage

Abstract We examine the factors underlying the presence of earnings announcement premia. We find that the premia persist beyond the sample period examined in prior studies (ending in 1988), although they decline in magnitude after 1988. Further, premia are lower on the expected than the actual earnings announcement dates. We document that increases in voluntary disclosures result in lower premia, despite the increase in return volatility over time. Finally, our evidence suggests that the premia are not completely eliminated because of the costs of arbitrage.
Decision Focus and Consumer Choice among Assortments

This research examines an empirical paradox documented by prior research: when choosing among assortments, consumers opt for the variety offered by larger assortments; however, consumers often are less confident in choices made from larger rather than from smaller assortments. By implying that consumers cannot always accurately predict their need for variety, this preference inconsistency also raises the question of what factors influence consumers' tendency to overestimate their need for the flexibility offered by larger assortments. Building on the view of choice as a hierarchical decision process, this research posits that choice among assortments is a function of consumers' decision focus and, in particular, the degree to which the subsequent task of making a choice from the selected assortment is salient to consumers. The data from four experiments offer converging evidence for the moderating role of decision focus on choice among assortments.
Public reporting of HAI rates: What we (mostly don't) know

Purpose – Health‐care associated infections (HAIs) kill about 100,000 people annually; many are preventable. In response, 18 states currently require hospitals to publicly report their infection rates and national reporting is planned. Yet there is limited evidence on the effects of public reporting on HAI rates, and none on what elements of a reporting plan affect its impact on HAI rates. The author aims to review here what little we know, emphasizing his own case study of Pennsylvania.Design/methodology/approach – The paper contains a narrative description of empirical challenges in attributing changes in infection rates to the introduction of public reporting, and the author's own research findings from a case study of Pennsylvania using both infection rates estimated from administrative (billing) data (“inpatient rates”) and public reported rates.Findings – Hospitals, faced with public HAI reporting, may respond both by reducing infection rates and through time‐inconsistent reporting (“gaming”). Both ...
On the Impact of Foreign Aid in Education on Growth: How Relevant Is the Heterogeneity of Aid Flows and the Heterogeneity of Aid Recipients?

This paper examines whether foreign aid in education has a significant effect on growth. We take into consideration the heterogeneous nature of aid as well as the heterogeneity of aid recipients—we disaggregate the aid data into primary, secondary, and higher education, and run separate regressions for low income and middle income countries. We find that the effect of aid varies by income as well as by the type of aid. Thus our results underscore the importance of the heterogeneity of aid flows as well as the heterogeneity of recipient countries when analyzing the effect of aid on growth.
Capital structure and earnings manipulation

We consider an optimal contract between an entrepreneur and an investor, where the entrepreneur is subject to a double-moral hazard problem (one being the choice of production effort and the other being earnings manipulation). Since the entrepreneur cannot entirely capture the results of his effort, investment is below the optimal level and production effort is socially inefficient. The opportunity to manipulate earnings protects the entrepreneur against the risk of a low payoff when production is unsuccessful. Ex ante, this provides an incentive for the entrepreneur to increase investment and improve effort.
Contested Territoriality: Ethnic Challenges to Colombia's Territorial Regimes

This article studies ethnic social movement autonomy claims in three regions of Colombia. It maintains that place-based and regime-specific political processes condition institutional change affecting common property regimes. The article finds that to assert local self-determination and territorial control, ethnic social movements (a) respond to territorial regimes threatening local autonomy; (b) use innovative tactics to negotiate autonomy; and (c) engage in deliberation to redefine identities and understand the conditions limiting local autonomy.
Investigating resonant low-energy electron attachment to formamide: Dynamics of model peptide bond dissociation and other fragmentation channels

Author(s): Panelli, G; Moradmand, A; Griffin, B; Swanson, K; Weber, T; Rescigno, TN; McCurdy, CW; Slaughter, DS; Williams, JB | Abstract: We report experimental results on three-dimensional momentum-imaging measurements of anions generated via dissociative electron attachment to gaseous formamide. From the momentum images, we analyze the angular and kinetic-energy distributions for NH2-, O-, and H- fragments and discuss the possible electron attachment and dissociation mechanisms for multiple resonances for two ranges of incident electron energies, from 5.3 to 6.8 eV and from 10.0 to 11.5 eV. Ab initio theoretical results for the angular distributions of the NH2- anion for ∼6-eV incident electrons, when compared with the experimental results, strongly suggest that one of the two resonances producing this fragment is a A′′2 Feshbach resonance.
Business and Human Rights The Evolving International Agenda

The state-based system of global governance has struggled for more than a generation to adjust to the expanding reach and growing influence of transnational corporations. The United Nations first attempted to establish binding international rules to govern the activities of transnationals in the 1970s. That endeavor was initiated by developing countries as part of a broader regulatory program with redistributive aims known as the New International Economic Order. Human rights did not feature in this initiative. The Soviet bloc supported it while most industrialized countries were opposed. Negotiations ground to a halt after more than a decade, though they were not formally abandoned until 1992.
Bund for glory, or it's a long way to tip a market

Theory predicts that liquidity considerations make nancial markets \tippy." In 1998, trading on Bund futures tipped from LIFFE (an open outcry exchange) to Eurex (an electronic market). Measures of spreads on LIFFE and Eurex did not change markedly in the eighteen month period over which Eurex achieved dominance in Bund futures trading, but a measure of market depth did worsen on LIFFE as tipping proceeded. The evidence suggests that trading fee di®erentials and operational e±ciences were the key factors in preciptiating the shift in volume. The \sponsorship" of the Eurex platform by German banks narrowed liquidity cost di®erences su±ciently to permit Eurex to charge lower fees and thereby undercut total trading costs on LIFFE. JEL Classi cation: L11, L12, L31, G10, G20.
A Clash of Civilizations? Nonsense

This paper critique's Samuel Huntington's thesis of the clash of civilizations. The clash thesis is shown to be flawed for several reasons. It is confused about its definition of civilizations; it ignores cases where a civilization nearly coincides with a state (China and India); it ignores the deep structural divide between the Center and the Periphery in the global economy; and, it lacks empirical basis in history. This is ideology masquerading as social science.
Who Trades on Pro Forma Earnings Information

In recent years, many companies have emphasized adjusted‐GAAP earnings numbers in their quarterly press releases. While managers use different names to describe these nonstandard earnings metrics, the financial press frequently refers to them as “pro forma” earnings. Managers and other advocates of pro forma reporting argue that these disclosures provide a clearer picture of companies' core earnings. On the other hand, regulators, policymakers, and the financial press often allege that managers' pro forma earnings disclosures are opportunistic attempts to mislead investors. Recent evidence suggests that while many pro forma earnings disclosures are altruistically motivated, some may represent managers' attempts to portray overly optimistic financial performance. If this is the case, then less wealthy, less sophisticated, individual investors are arguably the most at risk of being misled. Consequently, this study investigates who trades on pro forma earnings information. Our intraday investigation of trans...