Showing papers in "Social Science Research Network in 1970"

Relexation algorithms in finding Nash equilibria

Abstract: Relaxation algorithms provide a powerful method of finding noncooperative equilibria in general synchronous games. Through use of the Nikaido-Isoda function, the Nash solution to a broad category of constrained, multiplayer, non-zerosum games can easily be found. We provide solutions to some simple games using this procedure and extend ourselves to more difficult games involving coupled constraints and multiple discrete time periods using a program developed in Matlab.

How to avoid exploratory research

Abstract: Introduction: Studies in marketing research often start with data rather than with a theory. This exploratory or inductive approach is at odds with the more preferred scientific method where the theory precedes the data in any single research study. (See, for example, the discussion by Francis, 1957). Because exploratory research is common, however, one might argue that it is of some value. A number of researchers have claimed that the exploratory approach leads to new and useful theories. But there is also the danger that the research will produce false leads or useless theories. An attempt is made in this paper to illustrate the dangers inherent in the exploratory approach. The question of whether the potential benefits are large enough to outweigh the dangers is left to the reader.

Applications of Mathematical Control Theory to Finance: Modeling Simple Dynamic Cash Balance Problems

Abstract: This paper introduces continuous and discrete modern control theory, especially the free-end point versions of the maximum principle, to the field of finance. We shall not, however, go into the proofs and other mathematical details because they are available in the cited literature. Instead, we shall briefly review the continuous and discrete maximum principles and then model simple cash balance problems as problems in control theory. we shall be especially intersted in the financial interpretations of the various functions such as the Hamiltonian function and the adjoint functions that arise in the course of the situation. Thus, we illustrate how such problems can be solved by simply capitalizing on the available control theory literature.

The Canadian Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act: New Stresses on the Law of the Sea

Abstract: On June 17, 1970, the Canadian Parliament approved the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act which asserts Canada’s jurisdiction to regulate all shipping in zones up to 100 nautical miles off its Arctic coasts in order to guard against pollution of the regions coastal and marine resources The United States promptly protested Canada’s enactment of this legislation, taking the position that international law provides no basis for such unilateral extensions of jurisdiction on the high seasThe Canadian Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act raises complex and controversial questions of international law and policy regarding the legal regime of Arctic water, the concept of contiguous areas, the status of waters when archipelagos, and the doctrines of innocent passage and international straits It also illustrates the strong pressures within coastal states for unilateral action to protect what they regard as their legitimate interests – particularly against the threat of ocean pollution, and suggests the difficult issues involved in attempting to reach an international agreement on a regulatory regime adequate to prevent such pollution Finally, the diplomatic interactions between the US and Canada with respect to Canada’s passage of the Act offer an instructive study of the international legal process in actionThis article analyzes and discusses each of these issues and, in particular, Canada’s claim to sovereignty and jurisdiction over substantial portions of the waters of the Northwest Passage, concluding that an agreed solution to these problems between the US and Canada will not be easily reached

The Constitutional Rights of Teachers and Professors

Abstract: The discussion examines the current state of educators' rights and identifies two key areas that are still hotly contested: extramural utterances that my be critical of the institution itself and a teacher's freedom with his own classroom. A survey of two recent cases illuminates these issues.

Jury Research in America

Abstract: This paper is an attempt to review the body of social science writings of the last four and one-half decades on the petit jury. The major portion of this presentation will be limited to organizing the findings on the jury around the two major themes - competence and representation - which are most often discussed in empirical literature. A concluding section will offer some evaluative comments and present some tentative proposals for a new perspective on the sociological study of the jury.

A Framework and Survey Evidence to Inform The Use of Novice Auditors as Research Participants

Abstract: Expectations for novice auditors have increased in recent years. However, few studies examine novice auditors, possibly due to challenges associated with the justification of less experienced research participants. This study develops a participant selection framework from prior research and provides survey evidence to inform the use of novice auditors as participants. After consideration of the research question and theory, our framework recommends researchers consider proposed participant characteristics including 1) task-specific experience, 2) task knowledge and/or knowledge structures, and 3) institutional knowledge prior to the use of novice auditors as participants. The framework also highlights design modifications that could enable researchers to use novices. Survey evidence from 104 recent audit interns on task-specific, formal learning, and institutional experiences informs researcher evaluation of the three participant characteristics in our framework. This study facilitates the use of novice auditors in research to inform policy and practice, reducing the need for costly experienced participants.

Trends of U.S. Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides and Volatile Organic Compounds

Abstract: Time-series analysis of how government regulation has affected the U.S. air pollution trends since 1970 has generated considerable interest in the area of environmental economics . Using recently developed structural break tests that are valid for difference-stationary (DS) and trendstationary (TS) data and efficient unit root tests that allow for breaks we examine the trend behavior of two air pollutants, Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). We concentrate on answering two questions. First, was there a break in the trends of NOX and VOCs emissions around the time the CAAA of 1970 were passed? And second, are the U.S. emissions of NOX and VOC trend-stationary or difference-stationary. Existence of a reduction in the slope of the trend in pollution emissions around the timing of the CAAA of 1970 provides strong evidence of the effectiveness of the policy, and the distinction between DS and TS processes is important for assessing the potential long-term impact of environmental policy which relies on forecasting future emissions and evaluating the accuracy of these forecasts. We find that there was a break in the trend of both air pollutants at the time the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970 were passed. The unit root tests show that NOX are difference-stationary

How does the Gender Difference in Willingness to Compete evolve with Experience

Abstract: I study how gender differences in willingness to compete evolve over time in response to experience. Participants in a lab experiment perform the same real-effort task over several rounds. In each round, they have to choose between piece-rate remuneration and a winner-takes-all competition. At the end of each round, those who compete get feedback on the competition outcome. The main result is that women are much more likely than men to stop competing after a loss, which leads to the appearance of a significant gender gap in competitiveness even among those who are initially willing to compete. This gender effect is also present for high performers. In an additional experiment, I show that giving feedback to non-competers might further increase the gender gap in willingness to compete as men who initially choose not to compete react more strongly to positive feedback compared to women.

Asymmetric growth impact of fiscal policy: Evidence from Egypt

Abstract: This paper empirically explores how fiscal policy - represented by changes in government spending- exerts asymmetric effects on economic growth in the context of a developing country, Egypt in particular. By allowing for the theoretical plausibility of asymmetric effects of fiscal policy on economic activity, our research suggests that nothing can guarantee linearity between the growth impact of increasing and decreasing government expenditures. Using a non-linear ARDL model on Egypt data - at both aggregated and disaggregated levels- for the period 1980-2013, this paper provides new evidence of a non-linear relationship between government spending and economic growth.

East West Trade Boycotts: A Study in Private, Labor Union, State, and Local Interference with Foreign Policy

Abstract: During the decade 1958-69, the Executive Branch of the U.S. government moved gradually in the direction of liberalizing East-West trade. This shift in policy encountered considerable resistance from Congress. But, in addition, private groups organized boycotts of Communist goods and of business engaged in East-West trade; maritime unions sporadically refused to load or unload goods destined for or coming from Eastern Europe; and a number of municipalities enacted ordinances intended to discourage local merchants from selling goods of Eastern European origin. These “East-West Trade Boycotts” illustrate a continuing problem in American foreign policy – the extent to which Presidential foreign policies, and Congressional policies as well, may be undermined by state or local government action, or by private groups or labor unions disagreeing with the policies or otherwise unwilling to conduct themselves as those policies require. This article describes these East-West trade boycotts and explores the legal and practical problems associated with attempts to restrain such foreign policy interferences. Among the questions discussed are: (1) To what extent are state and local governments barred from actively interfering with foreign policy, and how can any restraints be enforced? (2) Under what circumstances can the national government control purely private or labor union conduct relating to foreign policy, and what issues does such regulation raise? (3) Are legal remedies presently available to private parties adversely affected by private interference with foreign policy? (4) Does it make a difference whether the foreign policy involved is one established by the President along or also by Congress through legislation? (5) How important is it that our foreign policy not be “embarrassed” and what price are we prepared to pay to prevent such interference? The article concludes by noting that foreign policy interferences – by private groups, labor unions, and state and local governments will likely continue to be a recurrent feature of American political life. While significant state and local government interference in foreign policy clearly implicates constitutional principles of federal supremacy over foreign relations, interference by private groups or labor unions raises complex and difficult issues of balancing basic social values – the right to dissent versus the need for national unity in the conduct of our nation’s foreign policy. Thus far, our nation has been reluctant, in the name of foreign policy, to attempt to control private or labor union conduct associated with dissent. On balance the nation seems best served by maintaining this tradition.

Peruvian Domestic Law Aspects of the La Brea Y Pariñas Controversy

Abstract: In the renowned La Brea y Parinas controversy, the North American public has consistently assumed, Professor Furnish says, that Peru acted arbitrarily in effectively rendering the International Petroleum Corporation (IPC) without compensation for the expropriated oilfield. The legal mechanism utilized was granting IPC compensatory damages, but offsetting the award with a restitutionary claim for the deletion of the resources of the tract by IPC under a claim of title which Peru deems invalid. It is Professor Furnish’s view, elaborated in this article, that there is a solid basis in Peruvian domestic law for most of what Peru has done in this affair.

Non-Extradition for Political Offenses: The Communist Perspective

Abstract: A key problem in political asylum determinations has been determining what constitutes a "political" offense. The controversy includes the issues of what should be done with respect to terrorists, political assassins, war criminals, deserters, and prisoners of war, who seek asylum.Communist views regarding general principles of extradition were quite similar to those of countries outside the communist sphere. Principles of reciprocity, double criminality, speciality, non-refoulement, and so forth were all applied. The political offenses exception, however, was heavily influenced by the communist point of view. The definition of "political," in spite of its humanitarian basis, was bound up in ideological considerations.This article explores the communist perspective on asylum. On the way, it considers the communist law of extradition and what constituted a political offense for communist countries, with special attention several subjects such as terrorism, "attendat" clauses, and to war crimes.

Treaties and Legislation

Abstract: This article discusses some of the issues concerning the implementation of international treaties into domestic legislation. It does so by examining in detail the decision Corocraft Ltd v Pan American Airways Inc, a case which concerned the interpretation of the Warsaw Convention on Carriage by Air and the domestic legislation which implemented that Treaty. It considers in particular the purpose of the Warsaw Convention and the relevance of a treaty’s purpose to interpretation of its implementing legislation.

Applying Majority Judgment over a Polyhedral Candidate Space

Abstract: Most of the existing voting methods deal with a moderate (or at least finite) number of candidates. In practice, there are important voting applications where candidate space is huge or even of infinite size. We describe new methods in voting by extending the Majority Judgment voting and ranking method to handle a candidate space of infinite size. Specifically, the candidate space is modeled as a polyhedral set. Two approaches are developed. The first approach relies on multiple rounds of grading and iterative candidate generation. The candidate generation employs a novel mixed-integer programming model. The second approach employs a robust optimization framework and only takes as input each voters most preferred candidate. This results in an output vector which is the candidate that has the best worst-case guarantee in terms of majority grade. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approaches through two case studies involving voting over polyhedral candidate space.

Do Managers Provide Misleading Earnings Guidance Before Stock Repurchases

Abstract: We point out several methodological flaws in previous research that concludes that managers mislead shareholders into selling their stock for too cheap by releasing overly negative information before stock repurchases. In particular, this research relies primarily on measured market reaction to management guidance which suffers from endogeneity concerns. Using a sample of 3,181 repurchase firms and matching rival firms during 2003-2012, we find insignificant differences between their frequencies of management guidance, the implied earnings updates, and the closeness of earnings guidance to actual earnings. In contrast, there is a significant difference in market reaction to guidance, which is 1.5% lower for repurchase firms than for rival firms after accounting for differences in earnings updates and other information. Our evidence suggests that repurchases occur in response to investor misreaction to management guidance, but we find no evidence to suggest that managers mislead investors before this dominant form of shareholder returns.

Violence and the Rule of Law

Abstract: Robert Paul Wolff defends his "philosophical anarchism" by arguing that the concept of legitimate political authority is incoherent. This belief entails the understanding that there is no special political problem of justifying violence. While it is commonly argued that individual violence is prima facie immoral in two ways: (1) if it harms someone, and (2) if it violates the prima facie obligation to obey the law, Wolff contends that (2) is incoherent and thus irrelevant. This article argues that while Wolff is correct to argue that we should be suspicious of those who are always ranting and raving about violence and suspect their motives, this is a question of political ideology and commitment and not a question of philosophical analysis. This article shows how Wolff's attempted analysis of violence is both superficial and wrong.

CEO Facial Structure and Corporate Risk Taking

Abstract: We examine the relationship between facial features of chief executive officers (CEOs) and corporate risk taking. We find that CEOs’ facial width-to-height ratio (WHR) is positively correlated with their tendency to make risky business decisions such as large investments in research and development projects and corporate acquisitions. Moreover, companies managed by CEOs with a higher facial WHR experience greater volatility in their annual financial performance. Overall, our results indicate that facial WHR, which has been shown to be positively associated with individuals’ sense of psychological power and levels of testosterone, is a valid predictor of risk taking by top executives.

Choice sets and gender bias in hiring decisions: The role of decoys

Abstract: There is strong evidence that hiring decisions are often unfairly biased against women. Whereas prior research has focused on factors related to individual applicants and job characteristics to explain and predict gender bias, we explore a novel factor that has received little attention: the composition of the choice set. Drawing on prior research on the “attraction effect” in consumer choice, we posit that when decision makers need to decide whether to hire a male or a female applicant for a stereotypically male position, the presence of a third inferior applicant can in many circumstances strongly increase the odds that the male applicant will be selected, but it will never be beneficial for the female applicant. We test our hypotheses in four experimental studies and find robust evidence demonstrating the strong effects of applicant pool composition on the emergence of gender bias in hiring decisions.

The Massachusetts Antiwar Bill

Abstract: The Massachusetts Antiwar bill provides that no inhabitant of Massachusetts inducted into or serving in the armed forces "shall be required to serve" abroad in an armed hostility that has not been declared a war by Congress under Art. I, Sect. 8 of the United States Constitution. One could hardly imagine a more fundamental constitutional doubt arising in the mind of the American public than that of the legality of a major war. The purpose of the Massachusetts bill is purely and simply to obtain an authoritative judicial test of the constitutionality of an undeclared war.

The 'Knowledge' Rule

Abstract: On May 28, 1967, one Solomon Hamatprest voluntarily presented himself before the military authority, after. having failed for a number of years to report for registration and medical examination as required by a notice published under the Defence Service Law, 1959 (hereafter called the Law). Omission to fulfill a duty imposed by this law constitutes an offence punishable by two years imprisonment under section 5(a) (1) of the law; and where such offence is committed "with intent to evade defence service", the maximum penalty is increased by section 35 (b) (1 ) to five years prison. Before the Six Day War those who shirked defence service had consistently been charged with the lesser offence. But in the wake of the War this offence had been covered by an Amnesty Law; and that was probably why Hamatprest, among others, had been committed for trial under the alternative graver offence, involving "intent to evade defence service", which had been explicitly excluded from the amnesty.oIt is of course open to argument, whether the discretion granted to the prosecution in charging a citizen of any offence, ought to be wide enough to defeat the very policy of leniency adopted by State legislature; and, in the present case, one of the judges of the Supreme Court, himself a former Attorney General, did not fail to make some harsh remarks on that subject.' The accused was nonetheless convicted by the District Court, and his appeal to the Supreme Court was disallowed by a majority judgment (Cohn J. dissentiente: hereafter called "the Criminal Appeal"). In view of the importance of the case, the appeal was reheard by an enlarged forum of five, which confirmed the former judgment (hereafter called "the Further Hearing", Cohn J. again dissentiente). These two consecutive decisions of the Supreme Court raise a number of legal issues, closely connected with basic concepts of criminal law. The main problem is to determine the exact scope of the rule that "knowledge" of a high degree of probability on the part of the perpetrator 4 as to the consequences of his conduct, is equivalent to actual intent to bring about such consequences (hereafter called the "knowledge" rule). Another aspect which will also be discussed concerns the impact of the various types of presumption on the application of the "knowledge" rule. It will be noted that, although the judges of the majority agreed among themselves on the disposal of the appeal, they were far from reaching unanimity on the grounds for such disposal. These divergences enhance the importance of the case, but they are not conducive to clarity and they may justify the rather long developments which will presently be devoted to their discussion.

Turner v. United States

Abstract: In Turner v. United States, 396 U.S. 398 (1970), petitioner and two companions were arrested by federal agents for possession of cocaine hydrochloride, and a bag of heroine. Petitioner was indicted and convicted for possession and for distribution of drugs that were not in the bag. The Supreme Court held that statutory presumption that unexplained possession of narcotic drug is sufficient to authorize conviction for trafficking in narcotics unless defendant explains possession to satisfaction of the jury was valid. The Court also held that the absence of appropriate tax stamps shall be prima facie evidence to purchase, dispense or distribute narcotic drug not in or from original package bearing tax stamps.This article is a history of those laws granting presumptions and the need to give greater protection to defendants’ constitutional rights.

Cheaper by the dozen: Family size effects on children's educational attainment in Egypt

Abstract: Education is a crucial determinant of child quality. Economic theory and empirical research suggest a trade-off between the quantity and quality of children. Larger families facing tighter constraints are likely to distribute resources among children unevenly, which can adversely affect educational investment in some children within the same family. This paper investigates the effects of the number and order of siblings on children's educational attainment in Egypt; a developing country that has been overlooked in the literature. For this purpose, we use the Egyptian labor market panel survey between 2006 and 2012. We control for parental family income, age at birth, and other family-level attributes. We find that a child with more siblings is likely to complete elementary school, but less likely to have a high school degree. Our findings are robust to several specification checks. We build on these findings to inform policy making in the areas of education and family planning.