The Current Efficiency of List-Assisted Telephone Sampling Designs

List-assisted random digit dialing (RDD) designs became popularin the late 1980s and early 1990s. Work done by the Bureau ofLabor Statistics and the University of Michigan in 1993 resultedin the development of the underlying theory for these designsas well as the evaluation of various alternative sampling plansto optimize the method. Recent research to reevaluate thesedesigns in light of the significant changes in the telephonesystem over the past decade is presented in this article. Thearticle provides background on the development of list-assisteddesigns, and recent changes in the U.S. telephone system arereviewed. Using 1999 data from Survey Sampling, Inc., an analysisof the current state of the telephone system is presented, anda reoptimization of the earlier designs is undertaken. Resultsfrom the earlier work are compared with findings from the 1999data.     

A NOTE ON THE THEORY OF BLACK MARKETS UNDER PRICE CONTROLS

In a recent article in this Journal Browning and Culbertson (hereafter B-C) extended the theoretical investigation of the predicted effects of maximum price controls to the competitive firm and deduced an excess capacity result. In this note we extend their analysis to derive long-run adjustment paths for the industry for changes in market demand or control prices. The importance of such an extension is that the relevant industry adjustment path is different depending on whether one considers changes in the control price through such mechanisms as cost pass-throughs or through changes in industry demand. To make this extension meaningful, however, we must first consider the link between the firm and market diagrams in B-C's model. Section I is devoted to the analysis. Section II offers some concluding remarks.     

POSTED PRICES VERSUS BARGAINING IN MARKETS WITH ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION

A search model is employed to analyze the choice between posting a price and bargaining for the seller of an asset who is imperfectly informed about both buyer valuations and buyer bargaining abilities. A mean preserving increase in risk of buyer valuations is relevant (and beneficial) to the seller; however, only the mean (and not the distribution) of buyer bargaining abilities is relevant. If is sufficiently high, the seller utilizes a posted price. Interestingly, social welfare decreases in while an increase in reduces expected search costs, it also results in misallocation of the good because the seller is less discriminating. ( JEL D42, D83)     

ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR CONSISTENCY: A REVIEW

Most people operate on the assumption that when a person statesthat he believes or feels a particular way about something hewill behave in a manner consistent with his statements. If thisis so, why do researchers report such a poor relationship betweenattitude and behavior? Personal, situational, and methodologicalfactors contributing to this discrepancy are examined.     

ENTREPRENEURIAL ENTERPRISES, ENDOGENOUS OWNERSHIP, AND THE LIMITS TO FIRM SIZE

This paper develops a simple model of entrepreneurial enterprises. The analysis differs from traditional work on entrepreneurship by analyzing why entrepreneurial activities are typically conducted in small firms owned by the entrepreneur. I argue that ownership incentives are an advantage of small firms. When the probability of success of an economic activity becomes small, if becomes costly for large firms to commit to strong incentives, and small worker-owned firms emerge. The paper discusses application of the theory to innovation, wild-cat oil exploration, restaurants and retail trade, professional practices, salesmen, and franchising.     

Time of Decision and Media Use During the Ford-Carter Campaign

This paper challenges the traditional belief that a full presidentialpolitical campaign can have only "limited effects" on voting,by identifying a group of voters who make their decisions duringthe campaign rather than either prior to or very late in thecampaign. In a panel study of Wisconsin voters in the 1976 election,40 percent were Campaign Deciders. These voters were low inpartisanship, but paid close attention to the campaign and theFord-Carter debates, and voted in accordance with campaign-specificperceptions. By contrast, both Pre-campaign Deciders and Last-minuteDeciders voted mainly on the basis of party identification.     

UNDERSTANDING REGRESSION VERSUS VARIANCE TESTS FOR SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

This article considers the relationship between the use of regressions and the use of variance contrast methods to uncover social interactions. We illustrate how these methods employ different identifying assumptions and are therefore complementary approaches. We also provide formal identification results that extend existing ones for the two methods. ( JEL C12, C21, C23, Z13)     

HETEROGENEITY UNDER COMPETITION

A standard prediction of neoclassical microeconomics is that with perfect competition, free entry, and atomistic firms producing a homogeneous product, equilibrium finds all firms employing that technology which has minimum average cost. That competition drives out inefficient producers and reduces heterogeneity within industries is, consequently, a commonplace rule of thumb in economic thinking. This paper demonstrates that demand uncertainty is sufficient to produce heterogeneity in the equilibrium employment of production technologies and to permit the coexistence of producers exhibiting different minimum average costs. This heterogeneity is ubiquitous because the conditions for its presence are not stringent.