INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR AND BIDDING HETEROGENEITY IN SEALED BID AUCTIONS WHERE THE NUMBER OF BIDDERS IS UNKNOWN

This article uses laboratory data from a series of first‐price (FP) and second‐price (SP) sealed bid auctions in which the number of bidders is unknown to test for possible deviations of individual behavior from theory and study the source of heterogeneity in bidding. In SP auctions we find a substantial amount of coincidence with theory. We observe systematic deviations from risk neutral bidding in FP auctions and show theoretically that these deviations are consistent with risk averse preferences. We find essentially no heterogeneity in bidding in SP auctions where risk preferences and the number of bidders do not affect the optimal bid, while in the FP auctions heterogeneity in bidding persists with experience. We find that heterogeneity in bidding in FP auctions is consistent with heterogeneity in risk preferences, the attempt to count the number of bidders in the auction, and bidder specific noise. (JEL D44, C91)     

Southwest Ethnic Literature of China in English-speaking World---An Interview with Professor Mark Bender of Ohio University,USA

Professor Huang Li conducted an interview with Professor Mark Bender of Ohio Uni-versity in 2013.Their discussion focuses on the translation and propagation of the ethnic literature of Southwest China ...     

Stress and Opportunity in the Role of the Prison Welfare Officer

Summary The role of social workers within the penal system has beenthe subject of much discussion and heart-searching by probationofficers and others since the probation service took on responsibilityfor rilling prison welfare posts in 1966. Many officers havebeen reluctant to undertake secondment as Prison Welfare Officersbecause of the difficulties of applying their social work trainingand experience in a penal setting and their fears of absorptioninto a punishment-oriented culture. This article explores thenature of the stresses involved in the practice of social workin this setting, and argues the case for the positive contributionthat social workers can make, at present often ignored in discussingthe stress and conflict inherent in the situation. Stress, itis argued, may be a necessary function of effective work inthis context, and the attempt to reduce it by giving the PWOa more detailed role definition and a clearer position withinthe prison hierarchy is premature. The role is best definedas it emerges from the experience of good practitioners withinthe setting, a concept which has implications for the choiceof probation officers for this type of work and for their approach.They should be able to see and utilize the opportunities foreffective social work, and incorporate available research ina flexible and imaginative methodology     

SIMULATING A MULTIPRODUCT BARTER EXCHANGE ECONOMY

We describe a multiproduct barter trading experiment in which students exchange real goods in an open market based on their own personal preference. The experiment is designed for simulating a pure exchange market in order to demonstrate the role of money and its functions in real economies by showing the limitations and inefficiencies of the traditional barter economy. In addition, the simulation is very effective in highlighting some of the key features that an object that serves as money needs to possess in order to function as an efficient medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value.     

The Methodology and Performance of Election Day Polls

Methodological details are presented of a survey research techniqueknown as exit or election day polling. Using this technique,major American news organizations collect and analyze votingand attitude data from samples of persons who have just castballots. On the basis of the 1980 elections, differences inpolling strategies and performance of the exit poll method areexamined. How election day survey data are used by journalistsis discussed.     

THE EFFECT OF CONCEALED WEAPONS LAWS: AN EXTREME BOUND ANALYSIS

Lott and Mustard [1997] provide evidence that enactment of concealed handgun ("right-to-carry") laws deters violent crime and induces substitution into property crime. A critique by Black and Nagin [1998] questions the particular model specification used in the empirical analysis. In this paper, we estimate the "model uncertainty" surrounding the model specified by Lott and Mustard using an extreme bound analysis (Leamer [1983]). We find that the deterrence results are robust enough to make them difficult to dismiss as unfounded, particularly those findings about the change in violent crime trends. The substitution effects are not robust with respect to different model specifications. (JEL K42)     

INEQUALITY AND GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES: EVIDENCE FROM A NEW STATE-LEVEL PANEL OF INCOME INEQUALITY MEASURES

This paper introduces a new comprehensive panel of annual state-level income inequality measures spanning the postwar period 1945–2004. For many states, the share of income held by the top decile experienced a prolonged period of stability after World War II, followed by a substantial increase in inequality during the 1980s and 1990s. This paper also presents an examination of the long-run relationship between income inequality and economic growth. Our findings indicate that the long-run relationship between inequality and growth is positive in nature and driven principally by the concentration of income in the upper end of the income distribution. ( JEL D31, O40)     

An Empirical Investigation of Music and Gambling Behaviour

There has been an increasing amount of research that has examined the structural and situational characteristics of gambling behaviour. However, there is a lack of research examining the role of music and gambling. This study investigated the effects of background music on virtual roulette gaming behaviour under laboratory conditions. There was one independent variable of music with three conditions. The three conditions were (i) no music, (ii) slow tempo music, and (iii) fast music. A total of 60 participants were allocated to one of the three conditions. Ten games of roulette were played with speed of betting, amount spent across high, medium and low-level risk bets and total amount spent recorded. The winner with the most money at the end of the session was rewarded with a non-monetary prize. Results indicated that speed of betting was influenced by musical tempo with faster betting occurring while listening to higher tempo music. There was no relationship between musical tempo and either the size of the bet or the overall amount spent. The results provide valuable insight into how background music can be manipulated to increase betting speed. The implications of these findings for problem gambling management and commercial benefits are discussed.