TESTING FOR EFFICIENCY IN LOTTO MARKETS

State-sponsored lotto games, because they are pari-mutuel and because jackpots with no winner are rolled over into the next drawing, present an excellent opportunity to test for market efficiency. Using data from Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Ohio, we investigate bettors' responses and test for weak-form efficiency. Lotto bets do not have positive net expected returns, thus weak-form efficiency exists. To evaluate strong-form efficiency we utilize the concept of a rational expectations equilibrium. We find that in general lotto bettors' decisions to play generate a level of sales that conform to their original forecasts of expected value.     

No exit for wives: sexual division of labour and the cumulation of household demands

Deux thèses opposées sont formuluées sur la division sexuelle du travail domestique: une 'théorie d'associés en adaptation mutuelle' et une 'théorie de travail subordonné.' Des budgets de temps de semaine et de fin de semaine de plusieurs centaines de couples mariés du Grand Vancouver sont analysés de façon à permettre un choix entre les deux thèses. Les résultats de l'analyse sont compatibles avec la théorie du travail subordonné de la femme mariée. lis rendent la théorie d'associés en adaptation peu vraisemblable, vu que la conduite des maris demeure insensible à la cumulation des tâches domestiques causées par l'emploi de la femme, les heures prolongées de travail et les jeunes enfants.
Two conflicting arguments on the sexual division of household labour are formulated: an 'adaptive partnership theory' and a 'dependent labour theory.' Workday and weekend time budgets of several hundred married couples in Greater Vancouver are analysed in order to choose the most adequate of the two arguments. The results of the analysis are consistent with the theory of married women's dependent labour. They make the theory of adaptive partnership implausible, as the conduct of husbands remains insensitive to the cumulation of demands on the household, of wives' employment, extended job hours, and young children.     

RESPONSE LATENCY AS A SIGNAL TO QUESTION PROBLEMS IN SURVEY RESEARCH

This research explores the potential utility of response latencyas an index of question problems in survey research. The timerespondents took to answer three types of bad questions wascompared to the time they took to answer the repaired versionsof the questions. Questions containing a superfluous negativeand double-barreled questions took longer to answer than nearlyidentical questions without these problems. Repaired versionsof questions soliciting frequency estimates, however, took longerto answer than their problematic counter parts. The resultsare discussed in the context of a model of question answering,and their implications for survey methodology are explored.     

Research Note/Note de recherche Public opinion and gay rights

Bien que les attitudes canadiennes envers les droits à L'egalité des homosexuels soient devenues plus libérates, la condamnation morale de L'homosexualité n'a pas changé. Cela reflète des tendances contradictoires dans les démocraties libérates, qui d'un côte enchâssent les droits de L'individu au libre choix et à L'égalité des chances, et de L'autre imposent L'hétérosexisme et les normes traditionnelles basées sur la famille. Quoique le soutien du public pour les droits des homosexuels soit entouré de messages insitutionnels contradictoires, ce qui le rend volatile et fragile, il ouvre cependant la porte à d'importantes réformes.
Although Canadian attitudes toward gay equality rights have shifted toward more liberal positions, moral condemnation of homosexuality remains firm. This reflects contradictory tendencies in liberal democratic systems which on the one hand enshrine rights to individual choice and equal opportunity, and on the other enforce heterosexism and traditional family-based norms. Although public support for gay rights is beset by conflicting institutional messages, and is both volatile and fragile as a result, it does provide an opening for important reforms.     

A Qualitative Study of Social Work Assessment in Cases of Alleged Child Abuse

Correspondence to Dr Dorothy Scott, School of Social Work, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia 3052. Summary While there has been considerable theorizing about how socialworkers think and act, there has been relatively little researchin this area. In the study reported in this paper, in-depthinterviews and observations of practice were used to explorethe process of assessment undertaken by Australian social workersin a hospital specialist service and in a statutory child protectionservice. Using a semi-longitudinal approach which ‘shadowed’10 families (17 allegedly abused children), highly detaileddata were collected from 42 observations of practice and 123interviews with 12 hospital social workers and 15 child protectionworkers on how their assessments evolved over the life of thesecases. While there were some individual differences betweenpractitioners within each organization, of greater significancewere the marked differences between the two groups in the variablesto which they attended. Both groups tended to adopt a proceduralizedmodel of practice which narrowed the range of factorsconsideredin assessment.     

CAPITAL GAINS AND THE RATE OF RETURN ON A STRADIVARIUS

What is the return on a Stradivarius? The return equals the capital gain. The return on specific violin sales averages 2.17 percent. The best Stradivariuses were made in the “Golden Period.” Prices were significantly higher for Golden Period violins than for the other three periods examined. However, the rate of return was not significantly different for the four periods, with an overall return of 2.18 percent. When other factors (insurance, taxation and user benefits) were taken into account the rate of return varied between 4.7 and 1.2 percent.