cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The value of the wildcard option in cash-settled American index options☆

We estimate the size of the wildcard premium embedded in cash-settled American-style options. Similar to simulation results reported by Fleming and Whaley (1994), we find the wildcard premium significantly impacts the valuations of American-style put and call options. Furthermore, we find that the wildcard premium as a percentage of price is somewhat larger than the Fleming-Whaley simulation in periods of low implied volatility but not in periods of high volatility. Finally, we show a correlation between the size of the wildcard premium and overnight S&P 100 overnight returns.
Fire sale discount: Evidence from the sale of minority equity stakes

Abstract Most empirical studies estimate the impact of fire sales either without the benefit of market prices from frequent trades, as with aircraft sales, or without observing transaction prices, as with the forced sales of equity securities by mutual funds facing outflows. We observe both by studying firms’ sales of minority equity stakes in publicly listed third parties. We estimate the distressed sale discount to be about 8% while controlling for liquidity and for industry, or about double the 4% estimated for equity sales by distressed mutual funds. The discount becomes 13–14% if the stake sold is more than 5% of the firm or is sold as a block. Prices recover after distressed sales.
An Equilibrium Model of Asset Pricing and Moral Hazard

This article develops an integrated model of asset pricing and moral hazard. It is demonstrated that the expected dollar return of a stock is independent of managerial incentives and idiosyncratic risk, but the equilibrium price of the stock depends on them. Thus, the expected rate of return is affected by managerial incentives and idiosyncratic risk. It is shown, however, that managerial incentives and idiosyncratic risk affect the expected rate of return through their influence on systematic risk rather than serve as independent risk factors. It is also shown that the risk aversion of the principal in the model leads to less emphasis on relative performance evaluation than
Private action in public interest: The comparative governance of social issues

Research Summary We develop a theoretical framework to define the comparatively efficient organizational form for dealing with a social issue, based on the market frictions associated with it. Specifically, we argue that for‐profits have an advantage in undertaking innovation and coordinating production economies, nonprofits in playing a fiduciary role given ex post information asymmetry, self‐governing collectives in dealing with bounded externalities through private ordering, and state bureaucracies in governing general externalities. We build on these arguments to develop a mapping between combinations of these market frictions and the comparatively efficient arrangements to govern them, including a variety of hybrid arrangements such as private‐public partnerships, social enterprises, corporate social responsibility, and so on. Our framework thus contributes to research in strategy, organizations, and public policy. Managerial Summary What is the best way to deal with a social problem? While some believe such problems are best left to the state, others argue that business should take the lead in solving them, or favor nonprofit solutions. In this article, we move beyond such one‐size‐fits‐all approaches, highlighting the different strengths of different organizational forms. We argue that for‐profits' strong incentives make them more innovative; nonprofits are more trustworthy in representing the best interests of others; collectives enable actors to self‐organize around a common interest; and the state is best for issues that impact the entire population. We thus develop a mapping between the nature of the social problem and the organizational form—or combination of organizational forms—that may deal with it most efficiently.
Why Title VII Should Prohibit All Workplace Sexual Harassment

Legal scholars have generally taken two approaches in explaining why sexual harassment is unlawful under Title VII. In one camp, scholars have argued that Title VII prohibits sexual harassment because it is "a form of sex discrimination." Other scholars have rejected these arguments and maintained that "discrimination because of such individual's sex" simply means that employers may not treat members of one sex differently from members of the other sex. Scholars in this camp have been critical of sexual harassment doctrine, arguing that courts should not prohibit all sexual harassment because not all of it qualifies as sex discrimination. For their part, courts have fluctuated between these two incompatible approaches depending on the type of case being decided. In the paradigm case of a man sexually harassing a woman, courts have frequently stated, "sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination," although no court has explicitly adopted the reasoning on which such a conclusion must be based. Thus, courts have found employers liable whenever the plaintiff has proven that she was sexually harassed. But in cases of same sex sexual harassment or the sexual harassment of gay men and lesbians, courts have retreated and held that employers were not liable under Title VII even though the plaintiff had been sexually harassed. The goal of this article is to resolve this conflict by showing why courts may legitimately prohibit all sexual harassment regardless of the approach a court adopts or its definition of discrimination. Thus, its basic conclusion is that all plaintiffs should have a claim if they prove that that they were sexually harassed - regardless of their sex or sexual orientation. This article assumes, arguendo, that sex discrimination means treating men and women different but concludes that courts should still prohibit all sexual harassment because it serves as a good adjudicative rule for courts to apply to individual cases.
Cooper v. Aaron and the Faces of Federalism

The story of Cooper v. Aaron and the Little Rock desegregation crisis has many dimensions, one of the most important of which relates to federalism. In particular, the consensus understanding is that Little Rock was a story of federalism gone spectacularly wrong. Cut to the core, in Little Rock state government officials were illegitimately resisting the enforcement of federal law which was both legally and morally correct, creating a crisis which ultimately had to be resolved through the barrel of a gun (to be specific, the guns of the 101st Airborne), and through the unprecedented intervention of the United States Supreme Court. Ultimately, however, Little Rock resulted in the triumph of federal law, including the Federal Constitution, as well as the reaffirmation of the supremacy of the Supreme Court as the ultimate expositor of the meaning of that law. Concomitantly, the Little Rock crisis demonstrated the fundamental illegitimacy and immorality of state, as well as private, efforts to resist the implementation of federal law and the Federal Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court. That is the abiding lesson of Little Rock, a lesson which has substantially shaped background assumptions and political discourse in the subsequent half century. It is the contention of this Article that this lesson is incorrect. There is, I will argue, absolutely nothing improper about state officials resisting, even actively, the implementation of federal law or the Federal Constitution. This is true as a matter of moral principle, and as a matter of constitutional obligation. Indeed, the contrary suggestion, that state officials are obliged to support and cooperate with the implementation of federal law, is inconsistent with the constitutional vision of the Framers. Ultimately, what was wrong with the actions of Governor Faubus and other Arkansas state officials during the Little Rock crisis was not the fact that they were resisting federal authority, or even
Pension investments in employer stock

This study examines the consequences of a pension fund investing in the stock of the sponsoring firm. Using a merger of data on pension asset holdings from IRS Form 5500 filings and financial data on the company's stock from CRSP, two broad questions are addressed: first, what factors influence the extent of a pension fund's investments in the employer's stock? Second, when a pension invests in the employer's stock, how much is lost as a result of poor diversification? The empirical results suggest that investments in employer stock are responsive to non-diversification costs, tax consequences, and the employee's ability to absorb risk. There is also evidence that employers and employees weight these factors differentially in their decision of how much employer stock to include in the pension. Using actual return data on pension plans, we also find that concentrated investments in employer stock substantially reduce risk-adjusted return performance. However, modest holdings of employer stock have negligible effects on pension performance.
Shaping Citizenship: Chinese Family Law and Women

Current law-and-development literature overwhelmingly urges the privatization of the economy and the establishment of a rule-of-law system, which endows citizens with rights and obligations, with the expectation that democracy and equality will inevitably follow. However, the above excerpts from my research interviewing female Chinese divorce litigants about their experiences in the Chinese court system capture a much more ambiguous effect of Chinese reforms on its citizens’ sense of rights and entitlements. This article looks at China’s recent legal reform through the eyes of male and female divorce litigants, and examines the kinds of citizenship rights that are being promoted through the Chinese court system. Are the changes occurring within the Chinese legal system encouraging a sense of citizenship rights and equality amongst its citizens? How has the Chinese court system benefited its most vulnerable citizens? Are Chinese legal reforms consistent with its citizens’ conceptions of justice?
Feynman path integrals and asymptotic expansions for transition probability densities of some Lévy driven financial markets

In this paper we implement the method of Feynman path integral for the analysis of option pricing for certain Levy process driven financial markets. For such markets, we find closed form solutions of transition probability density functions of option pricing in terms of various special functions. Asymptotic analysis of transition probability density functions is provided. We also find expressions for transition probability density functions in terms of various special functions for certain Levy process driven market where the interest rate is stochastic.
Softness in International Law: A Self-Serving Quest for New Legal Materials: A Reply to Jean d’Aspremont

As international law grows and spreads into non-traditional areas such as the international ecosystem, the global economy, and human rights, some say it is becoming fragmented. This notion can actually appeal to those scholars who want to become experts in a fragment without having the burden of connecting it to the rest of international law. Another group views the idea of isolated specialization with apprehension; they feel that international law is and must be a coherent set of principles and rules—coherent in the sense that no member of the set contradicts any other member. The burden of resolving the tension between the two groups seems unfairly allocated: the first group simply asserts that international law is incoherently pluralistic, while the second group feels the need of disproving that assertion. To meet the burden of persuasion the second group needs to find an overarching theory of international law which could pull together most of the fragments into a coherent set and modify or delete the remaining fragments that do not fit. Tags: International Law, Theory of International Law, Soft law, Interstate Interventions, Opinio Juris, Norms,
The Public Health Aspects of Environmental Enforcement

Beyond being an environmental concern, pollution is a public health problem. As a result, enforcement of anti-pollution statutes, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, not only protects the environment, but also furthers fundamental public health goals. Moreover, public health benefits provide politically salient arguments for continuing and even strengthening environmental protection that can counteract any political opposition that can arise as a result of the costs of environmental regulation and compliance to regulated entities and the taxpayers. Thus, it is worth examining the extent to which the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) considers the public health in its environmental enforcement priorities and decisions. Focusing on the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, this Article undertakes such an examination by: (1) outlining the statutory connections between public health considerations and environmental regulation; (2) examining the EPA’s enforcement priorities and guidance; and (3) criticizing the EPA’s presentation of its own enforcement effectiveness over the last decade. This Article concludes that public health considerations do play a significant role in environmental enforcement policies and decisionmaking. However, the EPA’s commitment to presenting the public health benefits of its enforcement actions has varied considerably over the last decade. With the release of its FY2009 enforcement assessment, however, the EPA has both expanded its analysis of the connection between environmental pollution enforcement and public health benefits and created new tools to enhance the transparency of these benefits to the affected public.
Two-sided search and perfect segregation with fixed search costs

Abstract This paper studies a two-sided search model with the following characteristics: there is a continuum of agents with different types in each population, match utility is nontransferable, and agents incur a fixed search cost in each period. When utility functions are additively separable in types and strictly increasing in the partner’s type, there is a unique matching equilibrium. It exhibits perfect segregation as in Smith [Smith, The marriage model with search frictions, Working paper (1997) Department of Economics, MIT] and Burdett and Coles [Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112 (1997) 141]; i.e. agents form clusters and mate only within them. A simple sufficient condition on the match utility function and the density of types characterizes the duration of the search for each type of agent. The sufficiency of additive separability in the fixed search cost case is explained and contrasted with the discounted case; moreover, the results are generalized to a broader class of search cost functions that subsumes discounting and fixed search costs as special cases.
Lysine and Price Fixing: How Long? How Severe?

In October 1996 the Archer Daniels Midland Company(ADM) pleaded guilty to criminal price fixing withrespect to sales of lysine and agreed to pay a $70million fine. Earlier, in August 1996 two Japaneseproducers and a Korean producer of lysine had agreedto plead guilty to criminal price fixing charges. Andearlier still, in July 1996 ADM and the two Japanesecompanies settled the civil suits filed by some harmedbuyers by agreeing to pay a sum of $45 million. It is this last event that serves as the focus forthis paper. The adequacy of the settlement amount wasa major area of dispute. Connor (1996, 1997, 1998)has claimed that the trebled damages to lysinepurchasers were an order of magnitude larger. Crucialto Connor's conclusions are his assumptions as to thetime period during which the conspiracy had an effecton prices and the “but for” price that otherwise wouldhave prevailed in the absence of the conspiracy. Thispaper will argue that Connor substantiallyover-estimated the period of the conspiracy andunder-estimated the “but-for” price.
The Chapter 13 Alternative: a Legislative Solution to Undersecured Home Mortgages

This article discusses minor changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that would make avoiding foreclosure possible for a homeowner who (a) is presently not able to make the mortgage service payments but (b) could make payments for a mortgage that is reduced to the market value of the property and to a fixed market mortgage rate. This article does not address the political issue of what protections Congress might decide to provide mortgage owners and servicers as a part of such legislation.
Sales forecasts for existing consumer products and services: Do purchase intentions contribute to accuracy?

Abstract Purchase intentions are routinely used to forecast sales of existing products and services. While past studies have shown that intentions are predictive of sales, they have only examined the absolute accuracy of intentions, not their accuracy relative to other forecasting methods. For example, no research has been able to demonstrate that intentions-based forecasts can improve upon a simple extrapolation of past sales trends. We examined the relative accuracy of four methods that forecast sales from intentions. We tested these methods using four data sets involving different products and time horizons; one of French automobile sales, two of US automobile sales, and one of US wireless services. For all four products and time horizons, each of the four intentions-based forecasting methods was more accurate than an extrapolation of past sales. Combinations of these forecasting methods using equal weights lead to even greater accuracy, with error rates about one-third lower than extrapolations of past sales. Thus, it appears that purchase intentions can provide better forecasts than a simple extrapolation of past sales trends. While the evidence from the current study contradicts the findings of an earlier study, the consistency of the results in our study suggest that intentions are a valuable input to sales forecasts.
Hyper model management systems

Studies the integration of model management and hypertext systems to produce a hyper model management system (HMMS). Model management systems (MMS) constitute a class of software that is designed to support the construction, storage, retrieval, and use of models in the context of decision support systems. Hypertext systems allow users to split information into data fragments which the user can browse to find information by taking nonlinear paths in computer based texts. Such environments can be readily provided for the subtask of model management by hypertext systems. The different kinds of model knowledge can be captured within different types of hypertext nodes and the relationships among these can be maintained by hypertext links. The authors describe some aspects of model management where hypertext can have a significant impact. However, plain hypertext is ineffective in dealing with the dynamic nature of information in model management tasks where data is revised, models executed, and reports are created on-the-fly. Dynamic domains require dynamic hypertexts. The authors also study the requirements for dynamic hypertexts. These can be satisfied within the class of generalized hypertext systems by using special hypertext nodes and links. The authors explore different architectures to integrate MMS and hypertext systems to obtain HMMSs. >
Federal Fairness to State Taxpayers: Irrationality, Unfunded Mandates, and the 'Salt' Deduction

By sheer dollars alone, the largest impact of the Alternative Minimum Tax is to deny many taxpayers the deduction for the taxes they paid to their state and local governments under § 164 of the Internal Revenue Code. This Article provides a fine-grained analysis of the overall fairness of the state- and local-tax deduction ? and, by implication, the fairness of its partial repeal through the Alternative Minimum Tax. I offer for the first time a close examination of how newly understood limits on taxpayer mobility and rationality might affect individuals' choices of bundles of local taxes and local government services, which in turn informs our assessment of the "fairness" of those exchanges. Many of these lessons can be generalized to consumer choices more generally. In addition, I track the reciprocal benefits and burdens that flow between the national government and local governments ? again, although the influx or outgo of billions of dollars surely affects how the federal tax system should account for the outputs of local government, scholars have neglected that question. Finally, I note that § 164, and therefore the Alternative Minimum Tax, can have serious effects on federal-state relations, such that the debate over both provisions is in many ways a debate not only over fairness but also about federalism.
The uncertain trend in U.S. GDP

Abstract Several recent papers conclude that GDP is trend stationary, implying that all shocks are transitory. We re-examine the evidence in light of test size distortion due to data-based lag selection and departures from the maintained hypothesis of temporal homogeneity, and find both effects trigger false rejections of the unit root hypothesis when it is true and signal the presence of permanent shifts in trend that did not occur. Trend stationarity is not supported by the more homogeneous post-war data, but if imposed implies cycles of implausible duration and pattern – 1997 output was 8% below trend.
The effects of bank mergers on corporate information disclosure

Abstract Applying a difference-in-differences approach to explore variations in the timing of bank mergers in the U.S. over the last two decades, we document an increase in borrowers’ disclosure when their banks engage in mergers and acquisitions. The effect is stronger among borrowers more reliant on services from the merging banks and when mergers cause larger changes in banks’ monitoring and financing of borrowers. These findings suggest an information spillover effect from bank mergers to the public financial markets, and have implications for how changes in banking markets affect the availability of public disclosure in the stock markets.
Risk-taking behavior in the U.S. thrift industry: Ownership structure and regulatory changes

Abstract We examine the relationship between U.S. thrift institution ownership structure and risk taking along with the impact of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) on this relationship. Our results, based on various indicators of risk, suggest that insider controlled thrifts were more likely to engage in risk taking prior to 1989 than were diversely held institutions. FIRREA seems to have curtailed much of this risk taking. We find inverse relationships between risk-taking and levels of institutional shareholdings. This along with other evidence suggests that the motive for risk-taking was not maximization of the ‘option’ value of shares as has been reported elsewhere. We also find evidence that entrenched managers may have generated significant private benefits.
How Do We Get Along? International Economic Law and the Nation-State

This article responds to the arguments made by Dani Rodrik in his book Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy. It does so from the perspectives of international economic law and international law theory. The book calls for striking a different, better balance between economic globalization and the nation-state. It interweaves theory, empirics, and proposals in the tradition of economic pragmatism. Its focus on institutions, social context, and the importance of innovative, adaptive practice reflects new legal realism in legal scholarship. Part I assesses the book in light of transnational legal theory, analyzing the recursive relation of international and domestic law in an interconnected world. Part II views the book in terms of its lessons for international law theory from a new legal realist perspective. Part III concludes regarding what should be done and avoided in response to current crises. Decrying the risks to the “liberal international order” is not enough. We must also address the mistakes made so as to enhance policy space for nation-states. Otherwise economic integration could catalyze further social disintegration. Building inclusive, democratic societies at home will better ensure inter-state cooperation through international economic law. Their relationship is transnationally enmeshed.
Excess Sensitivity of High-Income Consumers

Using new transaction data, I find considerable deviations from consumption smoothing in response to large, regular, predetermined, and salient payments from the Alaska Permanent Fund. On average, the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) is 25% for nondurables and services within one quarter of the payments. The MPC is heterogeneous, monotonically increasing with income, and the average is largely driven by high-income households with substantial amounts of liquid assets, who have MPCs above 50%. The account-level data and the properties of the payments rule out most previous explanations of excess sensitivity, including buffer stock models and rational inattention. How big are these “mistakes?” Using a sufficient statistics approach, I show that the welfare loss from excess sensitivity depends on the MPC and the relative payment size as a fraction of income. Since the lump-sum payments do not depend on income, the two statistics are negatively correlated such that the welfare losses are similar across households and small (less than 0.1% of wealth), despite the large MPCs.
THE POWER OF SINGLE EQUATION TESTS FOR COINTEGRATION WHEN THE COINTEGRATING VECTOR IS PRESPECIFIED

In this paper I present an alternative derivation of the asymptotic distribution of Kremers, Ericsson, and Dolado's (1992, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 54, 325–348) conditional error correction model (ECM)–based t-test for cointegration with a single prespecified cointegrating vector. This alternative distribution, which is identical to the distribution of Hansen's (1995, Econometric Theory 11, 1148–1171) covariate augmented t-test for a unit root, is valid for weakly exogenous regressors and depends on a consistently estimable nuisance parameter that takes on values in the unit interval. I show analytically, using asymptotic power functions based on near-cointegrated alternatives, that the ECM t-test with a prespecified cointegrating vector can have much higher power than single equation tests for cointegration based on estimating the cointegrating vector. I also characterize situations in which the ECM t-test computed with a misspecified cointegrating vector will have high power.
Ancient and eternal solutions to mean curvature flow from minimal surfaces

We construct embedded ancient solutions to mean curvature flow related to certain classes of unstable minimal hypersurfaces in $${\mathbb {R}}^{n+1}$$ for $$n \ge 2$$ . These provide examples of mean convex yet nonconvex ancient solutions that are not solitons, meaning that they do not evolve by rigid motions or homotheties. Moreover, we construct embedded eternal solutions to mean curvature flow in $${\mathbb {R}}^{n+1}$$ for $$n \ge 2$$ . These eternal solutions are not solitons, are $$O(n)\times O(1)$$ -invariant, and are mean convex yet nonconvex. They flow out of the catenoid and are the rotation of a profile curve which becomes infinitely far from the axis of rotation. As $$t \rightarrow \infty $$ , the profile curves converge to a grim reaper for $$n \ge 3$$ and become flat for $$n=2$$ . Concerning these eternal solutions, we also show they are asymptotically unique up to scale among the embedded $$O(n)\times O(1)$$ -invariant, eternal solutions with uniformly bounded curvature and a sign on mean curvature.
Identification of significant features in DNA microarray data.

DNA microarrays are a relatively new technology that can simultaneously measure the expression level of thousands of genes. They have become an important tool for a wide variety of biological experiments. One of the most common goals of DNA microarray experiments is to identify genes associated with biological processes of interest. Conventional statistical tests often produce poor results when applied to microarray data owing to small sample sizes, noisy data, and correlation among the expression levels of the genes. Thus, novel statistical methods are needed to identify significant genes in DNA microarray experiments. This article discusses the challenges inherent in DNA microarray analysis and describes a series of statistical techniques that can be used to overcome these challenges. The problem of multiple hypothesis testing and its relation to microarray studies are also considered, along with several possible solutions. WIREs Comput Stat 2013, 5:309–325. doi: 10.1002/wics.1260 Conflict of interest: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Second-Best Considerations in Correcting Cognitive Biases

Studies in psychology and behavioral economics have found that decision-making is replete with cognitive biases. Using examples of time inconsistency, regret, and overconfidence, this article investigates the implications for correcting biases of how they may offset each other. If only some biases are known, even correction of all known biases has ambiguous effects. With costly correction, the presence of some biases may be optimal. Further, if the correct decision is unknown, then the presence of biases does not imply that decision-making is suboptimal.
Constitutional Restraints on State Right of Publicity Laws

Over the past fifty years, a new intellectual property right called the right of publicity has evolved under state common law. This Note explores a recurring concern hinted at by several lower courts and dissenting opinions: that current. publicity laws offend parts of the Constitution beyond the First Amendment and the Copyright Clause. The existing hodgepodge of state statutory and common law that makes up the right of publicity appears to be a minefield of constitutional hazards. Courts must consider a variety of First Amendment, Copyright. Clause, Commerce Clause, Due Process Clause, and Full Faith and Credit. Clause issues when resolving publicity rights cases. This Note argues that Congress could simplify this area of the law considerably for plaintiffs, defendants, and courts by creating a preemptive federal right of publicity. Alternatively, the right could remain state-based and still avoid these issues through other approaches.
Introduction to the Articles Presented by Three Rising Stars in Bankruptcy Scholarship

Bankruptcy law is one of the fundamental legal structures necessary to the functioning of a market economy. In the common law tradition of the United States and England, bankruptcy law dates back to 1542. Bankruptcy law’s origins are even more ancient, with roots extending back to at least to the Hammurabi Code and the Law of Moses. In the transition to market economies and Westernstyle legal systems in Central and Eastern Europe, the development of a viable bankruptcy law is one of the first priorities. Thus, the United States bankruptcy law that forms the background for this symposium is central to the economy and commercial life in the United States.
HAS WORLD POVERTY REALLY FALLEN

We evaluate the claim that world consumption poverty has fallen since 1990 in light of alternative assumptions about the extent of initial poverty and the rate of subsequent poverty reduction in China, India, and the rest of the developing world. We use two poverty indicators: the aggregate headcount and the headcount ratio, and consider two widely-used international poverty lines ($1/day and $2/day). We conclude that, because of uncertainties in relation to the extent and trend of poverty in China, India, and the rest of the developing world, global poverty may or may not have increased. The extent of the estimated increase or decrease in world poverty is critically dependent on the assumptions made. Our conclusions highlight the importance of improving the quality of global poverty statistics.
The Pragmatic Populism of Justice Stevens's Free Speech Jurisprudence

In his three decades on the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens has developed a distinctive approach to the First Amendment. During his tenure, the Court's majority has crystallized a theory of First Amendment speech protection as an abstract, negative protection of individual autonomy against government interference. In contrast, Justice Stevens' pragmatic judicial methodology has caused him to place greater emphasis on free speech decisions' practical consequences, particularly their effectiveness in making democratic debate inclusive as to both participants and subject matter in order to ensure robust, well-informed public discourse. Alone on the present Court, Justice Stevens manifests a deep concern with disparities in social power that can exclude economically and politically marginal speakers from public debate. This article refers to Justice Stevens's combination in free speech cases of a pragmatic methodology and a populist ethic as pragmatic populism. The article first examines the distinctions between the majority's and Justice Stevens's approaches to free speech cases. It then examines the distinctive ways in which Justice Stevens' pragmatic populism advances expressive freedom: his singular commitment to protecting means of expression especially important to underfinanced speakers; his efforts to ensure that the political process includes many and varied perspectives; and his nuanced analysis of commercial advertising and of speech that assaults marginalized groups and persons.
Jury Nullification: Features, Bugs, and the Possibility of Granular Law:

Jury nullification is the ability of juries to acquit criminal defendants even against the apparent weight of the law and the facts. This commentary asks whether jury nullification is a “bug” or a ...
Does Work Group Cohesiveness Affect Individuals' Performance and Organizational Commitment? A Cross-Level Examination

Using a cross-levelframework, the authors hypothesized that work group cohesiveness and perceived task competence would be associated with individual group members'performance and organizational commitment. Specifically, the authors tested whether perceived task competence was positively related to performance and organizational commitment and whether work group cohesiveness would explain variance in performance and organizational commitment beyond what was explained by perceived task competence. Four hundred and seventy-one Air Force and civilian employees representing 71 groups from several sites across the United States were used to test the hypotheses. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses produced support for the expected effects.
The Rise and Fall of Portfolio Pumping Among U.S. Mutual Funds

Abstract This study examines how increased regulatory attention to portfolio pumping affects the trading behavior of U.S. mutual funds. Attention by regulators should increase the likelihood of fines and reputational damage, raising the cost of such last-minute price manipulation. Consistent with this assertion, we find that last-minute price spikes in aggregate fund indices, in fund holdings and in institutional trading around quarter-ends declined, the declines are largest around year-ends, for small-cap and better-performing funds, and occurred faster for funds headquartered near SEC regional offices. These findings suggest that increased regulatory attention reduced portfolio pumping by U.S. mutual funds.
Retribution and Redemption in the Operation of Executive Clemency

In this Article, my goal is to raise doubts about the adequacy of the neo-retributive theory of clemency and stimulate reappraisal and development of what I will call the "redemptive" perspective. To this end I will present an exposition and critique of neo-retributive theory of clemency.
Theories and the reasons for war: a survey

Abstract. War or conflict is an activity of aggression and violence with weapons and new technologies for resolving internal and/or international disputes between two or more nations, between organized ethnic, social and religious groups, etc., for the purpose of reducing the freedom of other societies/groups and causing social, economic, culturalor ethnic damages over time. The theories of the causes of wars can be distinguished in historical and modern theories. In general, a general theory of the causes of war is difficult to create because of manifold factors engaged in triggering conflicts over time and space. This study describes some theories that focus on specific factors generating a socioeconomic disequilibrium between nations and different populations that can lead to war. Keywords. Conflict, Struggle, Disputes, War. JEL. O32, O33.
Bay Street as Contested Space

Bay Street, the main thoroughfare in Nassau, The Bahamas’ capital city, is a storehouse for much of that country’s social memory. It has been the stage for some of the most significant events in The Bahamas’ history and continues to be at the center of Bahamian cultural, economic, and political life. Understandably, Bay Street has also been a contested space. This article discusses the contested nature of Bay Street using the 1942 riot, a key event in Bahamian political history that occurred on Bay Street, and Junkanoo, an important cultural festival in The Bahamas.
Demand for Certified Human Resources Professionals in Internet‐Based Job Announcements

We tested empirically whether potential employers require and/or prefer human resources (HR) professionals who hold an HR certification. We analyzed each of 1873 HR job announcements available over a 1-week period on http://monster.com, http://hotjobs.yahoo.com, http://careerbuilder.com, and http://shrm.org. Results showed that only nine (i.e., .48%) job announcements stated that there was a requirement and only 70 (i.e., 3.73%) job announcements stated that there was a preference for job applicants with any type of HR certification. In spite of the low overall demand for certified HR professionals, results indicated that the demand is slightly higher for jobs posted on http://shrm.org, certain job titles (e.g., HR Director, HR Generalist), HR specialty areas (e.g., employee relations, general HR), industries (e.g., manufacturing), and for jobs requiring more years of HR job experience. Overall, results suggest that the field of HR needs to do a better job of gathering evidence about validity, utility, and lack of adverse impact regarding the use of certification in selection and assessment decision making. Once this evidence is collected, employers may perceive HR certification as a more critical signal of a job applicant's future contributions.
Diversity and arbitrage in a regulatory breakup model

In 1999 Robert Fernholz observed an inconsistency between the normative assumption of existence of an equivalent martingale measure (EMM) and the empirical reality of diversity in equity markets. We explore a method of imposing diversity on market models by a type of antitrust regulation that is compatible with EMMs. The regulatory procedure breaks up companies that become too large, while holding the total number of companies constant by imposing a simultaneous merge of other companies. The regulatory events are assumed to have no impact on portfolio values. As an example, regulation is imposed on a market model in which diversity is maintained via a log-pole in the drift of the largest company. The result is the removal of arbitrage opportunities from this market while maintaining the market’s diversity.
The Role of Purchase Quantity in Assortment Choice: The Quantity-Matching Heuristic

Abstract Consumers often purchase multiple items from a product category on a single shopping trip. In doing so, they must frequently choose among items that are grouped in assortments, such as those offered by a particular store or brand. This article examines how the number of to-be-purchased items influences consumer choice among assortments. It is argued that when consumers are uncertain about their preferences, they are more likely to prefer an assortment for which the number of available options matches the desired purchase quantity. This prediction is based on the notion that a match between the size of an assortment and the number of to-be-purchased items enables consumers to simplify the selection process by eliminating the need to trade off the benefits and costs of individual choice alternatives—a strategy referred to as the “quantity-matching heuristic.” The theoretical predictions are supported by data from five empirical studies that offer converging evidence for the role of purchase-quantit...
Dimension I: Habeas Corpus as a Common Law Writ

This article is the first part of a projected three-part work based on the extensive exploration of archival sources in America and England that has been conducted in the past several years by myself and other researchers.It advances two key claims: First, in researching the history of habeas corpus we need to get beyond the label "habeas corpus." The constitutional importance of the writ is in its function not its name. Demands for release from unlawful imprisonment could be made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by seeking a variety of writs or even by pleadings that asked for no particular writ at all. Hence for Suspension Clause purposes we should adopt a functional definition of "habeas corpus" to mean a demand, however denominated, challenging the legal basis of a detention and calling upon the custodian to justify it. Second, the broader group of cases thus defined shares important features of judicial methodology. The judges worked vigorously (a) to resolve the case speedily on a fact-specific and pragmatic basis; and (b) with respect to those issues of law necessarily involved (I) to overcome any procedural barriers to a prompt merits ruling and (II) if a legal question seemed dis-positive, to frame it specifically and isolate it for adjudication.I conclude by suggesting why historical research, legal scholarship, and judicial proceedings (including current ones involving Guantanamo) might benefit from applying these thoughts.
Governing Securities Class Actions

This short essay, written for a symposium on The Principles and Politics of Aggregate Litigation: CAFA, PSLRA, and Beyond, decouples due process from a proceduralist’s intuition and explains why it matters in securities class actions. It begins by exploring several analytical models that shed light on the representative relationship in class actions, including a public law analogy to the administrative state, a private law analogy to corporate law, and another, more modern public law analogy to political governance. After finding that the political-governance model best addresses both sources of inadequate representation in securities class actions — rifts between class members and class counsel, and between class members and their lead plaintiff — this Essay argues that incorporating qualified class members into securities class action governance will improve due process and legitimacy in securities litigation just as it does in the political sphere.
Small Noise Asymptotics for a Stochastic Growth Model

Abstract We develop analytic asymptotic methods to characterize time-series properties of nonlinear dynamic stochastic models. We focus on a stochastic growth model which is representative of the models underlying much of modern macroeconomics. Taking limits as the stochastic shocks become small, we derive a functional central limit theorem, a large deviation principle, and a moderate deviation principle. These allow us to calculate analytically the asymptotic distribution of the capital stock, and to obtain bounds on the probability that the log of the capital stock will differ from its deterministic steady-state level by a given amount. This latter result can be applied to characterize the probability and frequency of large business cycles. We then illustrate our theoretical results through some simulations. We find that our results do a good job of characterizing the model economy, both in terms of its average behavior and its occasional large cyclical fluctuations.
Pareto, Consent, and Respect for Dignity: A Kantian Perspective

Abstract This paper argues that the Pareto standard, by which policy changes are approved if they benefit at least one person and harms no one, is ethically questionable despite its nearly universal acceptance among economists and philosophers alike. As usually implemented, the Pareto standard bypasses actual consent, relying instead on hypothetical consent based on imputed measures of preferences or wellbeing. By so circumventing actual choice, the Pareto standard violates the respect for the dignity of autonomous agents, as emphasized by Immanuel Kant. If actual consent is obtained, however, the independent relevance of the Pareto standard is endangered.
Private Interest, Public Sphere: Eliminating the Use of Commercial Bail Bondsmen in the Criminal Justice System

The decision to grant bail is the first contact that a judge has with a defendant. If a defendant is unable to pay the set bail amount, this inability affects nearly every aspect of the defendant’s case from beginning to end. Despite attempts to ensure insolvency does not solely determine pretrial detention, the current bail system, in many cases, ensures just that. Special interest groups, specifically the bail bond industry, oppose any reform efforts that aim to decrease the use of money in the administration of bail. Defendants unable to afford a bail bondsman can spend weeks, months, and sometimes years detained while awaiting their day in court. Law and public policy compels courts to secure bail only to the extent that it will guarantee a defendant’s appearance in court. This Note argues that in order to accomplish this, two important changes must occur. First, commercial bail bonds should be eliminated in favor of a system in which cash bail is not the default method of securing pretrial release. Second, all states should establish and maintain pretrial services agencies that aid courts in making bail determinations.
Why do Restatements Decrease in a Clawback Environment? An Investigation into Financial Reporting Executives' Decision-Making during the Restatement Process

ABSTRACT: Prior archival studies find that firms that voluntarily adopted clawback policies have experienced a reduction in restatements. I experimentally examine this outcome by investigating the influence of two key factors (i.e., executive compensation structure and auditor quality) on financial reporting executives' (hereafter, “executives”) decision-making regarding a proposed restatement that will lead to a clawback of their incentives. I find that executives (i.e., CFOs, controllers, and treasurers) facing a lower quality auditor are less likely to agree with amending prior financial statements when a higher proportion of their pay is incentive-based. However, this tendency is reduced when executives face a higher quality auditor, indicating that higher quality auditors can act as effective monitors. My results identify an ex post unintended consequence of clawback regulation that could at least partially offset the benefits of the ex ante deterrent effects of clawbacks, and that could contribute t...
Imperfect Knowledge of Social Security and Pensions

This paper measures knowledge about future Social Security and pension benefits by comparing respondent reports with benefits calculated from Social Security records and employer pension plan descriptions. About half of all respondents are unable to report their expected Social Security and pension benefits. For only half of those who do report does Social Security and pension wealth fall within 25 percent of the objective measures. Knowledge about Social Security and pensions is related systematically to information provided in the work environment through the firm and union, and also depends on various factors related to the costs and benefits of gathering information.