Findings Of Recent Empirical Research Research Articles

Central Bank Independence and Inflation Under Asymmetric Information: Delegation vs. Seesaw Effects

Abstract Recent empirical research finds little or mixed evidence in favour of a negative relationship between central bank independence and inflation. In this paper, we construct a theory where the relationship between inflation and central bank independence depends on the extent of informational asymmetry regarding the government’s efficiency in its provision of public goods and also provide some empirical support for it. In the theoretical part of the paper, we introduce the degree of central bank independence as a fixed cost that is paid when the government (whose objective is to minimize output gap via inflation or costly fiscal expansion) rejects the monetary policy proposal of the central bank (which aims to minimize inflation) and determines both fiscal and monetary policies itself. Government efficiency in providing public goods, i.e. the cost of fiscal expansion, is the private information and the source of informational asymmetry in our model. In this setting, increasing the fixed cost of rejecting the central bank’s offer creates two opposite effects on inflation: delegation effect and seesaw effect (since fiscal and monetary expansion are substitutes for the government, now it relies more on fiscal expansion). We show that while the magnitude of the delegation effect is equal to or higher than the seesaw effect, the magnitude of each effect depends on the current level of the fixed cost. If the current fixed cost is not high enough, then a small improvement in central bank independence creates a relatively smaller delegation effect compared to the case where fixed cost is high enough and both efficient and inefficient government types accept the offer.

Awaken the Awareness of Transcendence: New Strategies for Catholic Schools in the Netherlands to Deal with Secularization

Secularization poses serious challenges for religiously affiliated schools. Catholic schools in the Netherlands find themselves embarrassed regarding their educational endeavor because they are unable or lack the inspiration to talk about this subject in religious terms. This article aims to explore new ways of overcoming this embarrassment. Firstly, an overview is presented of the current situa­tion and of the embarrassment of Catholic schools, in terms of their problematic choice of actions. Based on a critical-dialogical convergence of theological and pedagogical considerations, a Catholic vi­sion on the educational endeavor is subsequently developed that is understood in terms of interrup­tion, the other, and transcendence. From this vision of the educational endeavor, new strategies are presented – at the community level of Catholic schools, and at the individual level of teachers, school leaders, and governors – to promote an openness to receiving new, unexpected insights and possibili­ties. The receipt of these insights and possibilities is closely related to an awareness of transcendence, in both a secular and a religious sense. The initial findings of recent empirical research on the impact of these strategies are presented.

Equity Market Fragmentation and Capital Investment Efficiency

This study examines how equity market fragmentation affects firms’ capital investment decisions. Recent empirical research finds that market fragmentation lowers trading costs and thus improves market quality. We examine whether this increase in market quality translates into greater revelatory price efficiency, where stock prices reveal with greater precision information to managers and/or creditors about firms’ investment opportunities. Consistent with this notion, our findings reveal that the association between capital investment and investment opportunities is increasing in market fragmentation. Additional evidence suggests that (a) market fragmentation increases revelatory price efficiency at least in part by encouraging information acquisition and informed trade by equity investors and (b) the more efficient stock prices inform both managers and creditors about firms’ investment opportunities. Inferences based on difference-in-differences and instrumental variable tests are consistent with those based on our primary findings. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting. Funding: The authors are grateful to the Kenan-Flagler Business School, Cox School of Business, Smeal School of Business, and David Eccles School of Business for funding our research. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4905 .

Equity Market Fragmentation and Capital Investment Efficiency

This study examines how equity market fragmentation affects firms’ capital investment decisions. Recent empirical research finds that market fragmentation lowers trading costs and thus improves market quality. We examine whether this increase in market quality translates into greater revelatory price efficiency, where stock prices reveal with greater precision information to managers and/or creditors about firms’ investment opportunities. Consistent with this notion, our findings reveal that the association between capital investment and investment opportunities is increasing in market fragmentation. Additional findings suggest that (a) market fragmentation increases revelatory price efficiency at least in part by encouraging information acquisition by equity investors and (b) the more efficient stock prices inform both managers and creditors about firms’ investment opportunities. Inferences based on difference-in-differences and instrumental variable tests are consistent with those based on our primary findings.

Reflection on Bhe v Magistrate Khayelitsha: In Honour of Emeritus Justice Ngcobo of the Constitutional Court of South Africa

This article highlights the major areas of convergence between Justice Ngcobo’s judgment and living customary law as revealed in the findings of recent empirical research. Its purpose is to enhance the confidence of the courts and inform their interpretation of the Reform of the Customary Law of Succession and Regulation of Related Matters Act 11 of 2009 by drawing on the minority opinion. Put differently, the article seeks to vindicate the minority opinion in Bhe & Others v Khayelitsha Magistrate & Others with regard to its reflection of the grounded realities of succession under living customary law, using the findings of recent empirical research. In this way, the article highlights the contribution that Justice Ngcobo’s constitutional jurisprudence can make to the interpretation of legislation dealing with the reform of the customary law of succession—subject, of course, to the fact that any precedent has inherently limited value for understanding a dynamic and ever-evolving system of law such as living customary law. Needless to say, the courts must continually be alert to this caveat when interpreting and applying any legislation that deals with customary law.

Queensland Community Legal Centres' Use of Information Technology to Deliver Access to Justice

AbstractIn Queensland, Australia, community legal centres utilise a range of different types of information technology to provide legal advice and assistance to their clients, which include marginalised and disadvantaged groups. In this article Emma Phillips and James Farrell considers the use and efficacy of different types of information technology within the community legal sector, discussing the findings of recent empirical research on this issue in the context of the relevant research literature. The article then explores issues associated with the use of information technology in the provision of legal information and advice, including the limitations associated with this technology in the context of the delivery of legal assistance to vulnerable clients.

Time-Inconsistent Preferences and the Term Structure of Dividend Strips

Recent empirical research finds that the term structures of risk premia, return volatilities and Sharpe ratios on dividend strips are all downward-sloping (van Binsbergen et al. (2012)), but these observations cannot be explained by most asset-pricing theories. In this paper, I resolve this discrepancy using time-inconsistent risk preferences: agents' risk aversion differs in the short-run from the long-run. I solve three variants of the model: i) I allow the agent to commit to her future plan; assuming committing is not possible, I consider ii) a naive agent unaware of her time inconsistency, and iii) a sophisticated agent aware of it. I show that the naive agent case generates a flat term structure when endowment growth is i.i.d., as with standard time-consistent preferences. In the commitment and sophisticated agent cases, the term structures are downward-sloping when the agent is less averse to immediate risks than to future risks. The reasoning is that time inconsistency makes the state prices depend on the current state of the economy. If the agent is less averse to immediate risk, one-period future consumption is valued less if the current state is the good state than if it is the bad state, which causes the payoff structure of long-maturity dividend strips to become less risky than short-maturity dividend strips, leading to a downward-sloping term structure.

Globalization and diversification strategy: A managerial perspective

Summary This study presents survey evidence about managerial views on how the processes of globalization affect managers’ strategic decisions regarding a firm's international and product market scope. Our purpose is to assess whether managerial behaviors are consistent with theoretical predictions and whether managerial decisions about firm scope are consistent with the findings of recent empirical research. Our findings generally support those of academic research on the impacts of globalization on managerial decisions concerning firms’ strategic scope, but raise questions about findings to date on the nature of a relationship between product and international diversification and their impacts on firm performance. Our findings serve as a check on the results of extant research and offer guidance for future research.

Healthcare executives’ readiness for a performance measurement system: a rehabilitation hospital case study

The literature on organizational change identifies readiness as an important factor for understanding the outcome of implementation. In the context of implementing a performance measurement system (PMS) in a rehabilitation hospital, we conducted a case study to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors that might impede or facilitate readiness to use a PMS. Two data sources were used: key informant interviews with healthcare executives and official organizational documents. Our results indicate that healthcare executives’ readiness for a PMS was high. This state of readiness is influenced by 12 factors that were classified into three main themes: (1) adopters’ attributes, (2) PMS attributes, and (3) organizational attributes. These results are consistent with change management theory as well as the findings of recent empirical research. In the context of implementing a PMS, a readiness assessment can help identify organizational strengths and weaknesses so that strategies necessary for successful implementation can be developed.

Financial literacy -- A traditional, yet new field for business educators

It is the objective of this paper to explore the definitions of financial education, as well as of financial literacy, in order to reveal the many dimensions that these terms comprise. Furthermore, the paper is intended to present, analyze, and discuss recent empirical research findings on various dimensions of financial literacy in an international context. The paper is concluded by summarizing the most important implications for future work and future research and development in this field.

A Portfolio Approach to Mortality Shocks and Fertility Choice: Theory and Evidence from Africa

Abstract: The effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on fertility in Africa remains ill understood. To align the contrasting findings of recent empirical research, we develop a portfolio model that captures the potential trade-off between quantity and quality of offspring. According to this theoretical model, the overall impact of mortality shocks on fertility is heterogeneous, and involves changes in human capital investment strategies. A key prediction is that investment switching and fertility impacts are conditional on income levels. We use African panel data to test the implications of the model, and find strong support for key model predictions. In particular, the impact of HIV prevalence on both fertility and human capital investments varies with income in a manner that is consistent with model predictions.

Testing Accommodations Under the Amended Americans With Disabilities Act

The 2008 amendments to the Americans With Disabilities Act have now been followed by implementation guidelines from the Department of Justice. These guidelines take strong positions on how testing entities should review requests for testing accommodations from examinees with disabilities. In this article, themes from the guidelines are evaluated against the findings of recent empirical research, highlighting major discrepancies. In general, the Department of Justice places more trust in the accommodations expertise of K–12 schools, clinical professionals, and testing entities than is warranted by empirical research. This trust is likely to lead to excessive recommendation of testing accommodations, even when they threaten a test’s validity. Several implications of these findings for practice and policy are discussed.

The Governance of a Shrinking City: Housing Renewal in the Liverpool Conurbation, UK

This paper contributes to an emerging international research agenda examining the governance of ‘shrinking’ (depopulating) cities. It presents the findings of recent empirical research into the governance of housing renewal in the Liverpool conurbation (Merseyside), UK. Housing is a policy area which is directly affected by changes in population trends, and so this study provides insights into the way the conurbation has responded to shrinkage with regard to this issue. This paper concludes that the Merseyside response bears similarities to other international studies of shrinking cities in displaying an interplay between local and wider actors seeking to address the specific problems being faced by the area. An increasing reliance upon private sector involvement has also been evident, concurring with the findings of other recent studies on housing renewal governance in the UK. However, while the agendas of local delivery bodies have aligned in implementing programmes, there have been conflicts with some local residents.

A TAXONOMY OF THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING AND BUDGETING: EVIDENCE FROM GERMAN STATES

Accrual Output-Based Budgeting (AOBB) in government has been disputed intensely among academics and practitioners. While normative, conceptual, or theory-based literature made promising claims about which benefits can be expected from reforming government accounting and budgeting, recent empirical research finds that at least some of these expectations have been massively overstated. The observed gap between promises and reality poses the question for the true benefits anew. Basing our analysis on practitioners’ judgment, we suggest a general and prioritized landscape of perceived benefits (taxonomy). Our findings are derived from 42 interviews conducted in the context of two German federal states. Mapping our results to prior claims in the literature, we reveal that the practitioners interviewed do not see upsides in areas that former research deems to be important while other and previously not emphasized areas, such as mindset changes, seem to convince in practical life. The results of our analysis offer a profound basis for further exploration of the benefits and/or even cost/benefit evaluations.

The Influence of Context on Pain Practices in the NICU: Perceptions of Health Care Professionals

In this qualitative descriptive study, we explored health care professionals' perceptions of the influence of context (i.e., organizational culture, structure, resources, capabilities/competencies, and politics) on evidence-based pain practices. A total of 16 focus groups with 147 health care professionals were conducted in three neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in central and eastern Canada. Three overarching themes emerged from the data, which captured influences on optimal pain practices in the NICU, including (a) a culture of collaboration and support for evidence-based practice, (b) threats to autonomous decision making, and (c) complexities in care delivery. These results were consistent with theoretical conceptualizations of how context influences practice, as well as recent empirical research findings. This study supports the importance of context in shaping evidence-based practices by health care professionals in the management of pain in the NICU.

The Distress Premium Puzzle

Fama and French (1992) suggest that the positive value premium results from financial distress risk. However, recent empirical research finds that financially distressed firms have lower stock returns, by using empirical estimates of default probabilities. This paper reconciles the positive value premium and the negative distress premium in a model that decouples actual and risk-neutral default probabilities. Moreover, in agreement with the data, firms with higher bond yields have higher stock returns in the model. The model also captures the fact that book-to-market dominates financial leverage in explaining stock returns. Finally, the model makes the prediction that the firms with higher risk-neutral default probabilities should have higher stock returns, which can be tested using credit-default-swap premiums.

A Turkish Response to the REDCo Project

This article aims to respond to Wolfram Weisse's summary of the REDCo Project from a Turkish perspective. The author focuses on the following two issues in Turkey: (a) debate regarding the place of religious education in schools and (b) student attitudes toward religious education and religious diversity in terms of recent empirical research findings. Turkish students support the existence of religious education in schools and exhibit a tendency from traditional religious education to pluralistic.

Endogenous nominal rigidities and monetary policy

Recent empirical research finds that the degree of nominal rigidities varies over monetary policy regimes. This implies that monetary policy analysis with exogenously given nominal rigidities is subject to the Lucas critique. We allow firms to choose the probability of price adjustment in a Calvo-style sticky price model, and analyze how this probability changes according to an inflation coefficient of the Taylor rule. The model shows that a more aggressive monetary policy response to inflation makes firms less likely to reset prices and gives the resulting New Keynesian Phillips curve a flatter slope and a smaller disturbance, as observed during the Volcker-Greenspan era. Also, such a policy response can stabilize both inflation and the output gap by exploiting the feedback effects of this policy response on firms’ price-setting. These results offer theoretical support for the good policy hypothesis about the Great Moderation.

Sexual Orientation and Mental Health

This article provides an overview of current psychological research on mental health and sexual orientation, as well as clinical practice with sexual minorities. The historical context for current research questions and controversies is described, and the findings of recent empirical research on psychological well-being and distress among nonheterosexuals are summarized. The minority stress model is used to frame a discussion of stressors unique to sexual minorities and to consider their possible effects on psychological well-being. The possible ameliorative effects of adopting a sexual orientation identity are examined, followed by a discussion of how these ideas translate into contemporary clinical work with sexual minority clients. The review concludes with a brief discussion of priority areas for empirical research and clinical practice.

Can the standard international business cycle model explain the relation between trade and comovement?

Recent empirical research finds that pairs of countries with stronger trade linkages tend to have more highly correlated business cycles. We assess whether the standard international business cycle framework can replicate this intuitive result. We employ a three-country model with transportation costs. We simulate the effects of increased goods market integration under two asset market structures, complete markets and international financial autarky. Our main finding is that under both asset market structures the model can generate stronger correlations for pairs of countries that trade more, but the increased correlation falls far short of the empirical findings. Even when we control for the fact that most country-pairs are small with respect to the rest-of-the-world, the model continues to fall short. We also conduct additional simulations that allow for increased trade with the third country or increased TFP shock comovement to affect the country-pair's business cycle comovement. These simulations are helpful in highlighting channels that could narrow the gap between the empirical findings and the predictions of the model.