THE IMPACT OF TAX POLICY ON INVESTMENT BEHAVIOR IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, 1951-65

The purpose of this study was to estimate the impact of changes in Federal tax policy on investment behavior in the chemicals and allied products industry and to examine the possibility of a differential impact of changes in tax policy on investment behavior in manufacturing industries. The impact of changes in tax policy on investment behavior in the chemical and allied products industry was estimated and compared with the impact of tax policy on investment behavior in total manufacturing found in earlier studies. The model used to estimate the impact of changes in tax policy on investment behavior in the chemicals and allied products industry was the neo-classical model of capital accumulation as formulated initially by Dale Jorgenson. The conclusions reached were that changes in tax policy have had a measurable impact on investment behavior in the chemical and allied products industry which was greater as a percentage of gross investment than that found on total manufacturing in earlier studies.     

WHAT DO UNIONS DO TO PENSION PERFORMANCE?

Unions can have either positive or negative effects on risk‐adjusted returns in pension plans. On the positive side, a union can improve monitoring of pension advisors and asset managers. On the negative side, the union may sacrifice returns by making investments that promote union goals. This paper discusses how the structure of the pension plan affects the union's ability and willingness to sacrifice returns to promote union goals. Using panel data on over 38,000 pension plans drawn from IRS Form 5500 filings between 1988 and 2008, we find the lowest performing plans are unionized multi‐employer plans. Among defined contribution plans, the underperformance of multi‐employer union plans disappears when the pension is controlled by individual participants. (JEL J32, J51)     

The global corporate elite after the financial crisis: evidence from the transnational network of interlocking directorates

What impact did the recent financial crisis have on the corporate elite's international network? Has corporate governance taken on an essentially national structure or have transnational networks remained robust? We investigate this issue by comparing the networks of interlocking directorates among the 176 largest corporations in the world economy in 1976, 1996, 2006 and 2013. We find that corporate elites have not retrenched into their national business communities: the transnational network increased in relative importance and remained largely intact during the crisis lasting from 2006 to 2013. However, this network does not depend – as it used to do – on a small number of big linkers but on a growing number of single linkers. The network has become less hierarchical. As a group, the corporate elite has become more transnational in character. We see this as indicative of a recomposition of the corporate elite from a national to a transnational orientation.     

POWER IN A RURAL COUNTY

To more fully understand power structures in rural settings, this article investigates the power structure of an economically depressed rural county in southwestern Pennsylvania. The power structure must be viewed in the context of the economic hard times that the county has confronted. In this regard, there has been a decline in the number of local economic notables over the years making the formation of growth machines unlikely. The most powerful individual in the county, a wealthy philanthropist, has enhanced his stature and influence in the community by forming an economic development organization in an attempt to improve the economic situation in the county. The other powerful individuals in the county are political or state actors, who have benefited from the increases in government funding for various social programs.     

INDUSTRIAL DYNAMICS AND THE NEOCLASSICAL GROWTH MODEL

This paper studies industry-level dynamics and demonstrates the ability of a modified neoclassical growth model to capture a range of empirical facts. The paper begins by using U.S. data to document skilled and unskilled labor trends within industry sector classifications as well as industry sector output trends. Using Current Population Survey data from 1968 to 2004, it is shown that the ratio of skilled workers to unskilled workers employed has risen in all industries. The absolute increase in this ratio was larger in the more skilled industries, while the growth rate was larger in the less skilled industries. Furthermore, using national income account data, it is shown that relatively high-skilled industries have accounted for an increasing share of output over time. A version of the neoclassical growth model is then constructed to match these observations. One important feature of this model is a structure that introduces new goods into the economy at each moment of time. The model is able to capture a rich set of labor market movements between sectors and between skill levels as well as changes in the relative output shares across industries, yet preserves many nice features of the neoclassical growth model. ( JEL E13, J20, 030)     

Sentencing and Recidivism: an Analysis by Personality Tyoe

Summary This article describes some personality and other characteristicsof a sample of 230 male offenders in London, and relates thesevariables to recommendations made by probation officers, sentencespassed by the courts, and the outcome of penal treatment interms of further convictions. The probation officers in thestudy were more likely to recommend probation for introvertedneurotics than any other personality type, and once on probationthis group was the least likely to be reconvicted. Offenderswho were extravert attracted the largest proportion of recommendationsfor custodial sentences, and on probation the extraverts whoscored low on neuroticism were most likely to be reconvicted.A tentative explanation of the findings is offered in termsof a probation 'treatment success hierarchy'     

THE IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND HUMAN CAPITAL ON WAGES

Historically, economists have taken the position that psychological capital is either unobservable or immeasurable; thus, heretofore, little evidence has been available on the contribution of psychological capital to wages. Using data drawn from two different waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we offer evidence that psychological capital has both a direct effect—via self-esteem—and an indirect effect—through locus of control—on an individual's real wage. We find a person s wage is more sensitive to changes in self-esteem than to comparable alterations in human capital. Both relative wages and human capital contribute to self-esteem.