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This article investigates spillovers from foreign economies to the U.S. through changes in long-term Treasury yields. We document a decline in the contribution of U.S. domestic news to the variance of long-term Treasury yields and an increased importance of overnight yield changes, a proxy for foreign shocks' contribution to U.S. yields. A model that identifies U.S., Euro area, and U.K. shocks that move global yields suggests that foreign shocks account for at least 20% of the daily variation in long-term U.S. yields in recent years. We also document the predictability of long-term U.S. yields by the U.S.–foreign yield spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education accreditation has spread internationally as a vehicle for quality assurance and improvement but is strongly influenced by accreditation practices in the United States. The organisational structure and processes of seven United States health professions accreditors were analysed to identify common characteristics that reflect general fitness for purpose and infrequent features that show potential to enhance the effectiveness of accreditation processes, increase engagement of and support by accredited institutions and programmes and provide greater transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education is often framed as a means to social mobility and increased earnings. However, the value of university education in the United States is coming under scrutiny in regard to its costs. This article examines a university education's return on investment (ROI) from attending different types of universities in the United States. Unlike previous research, this study focuses on the variation of university institutional characteristics and their impact on ROI. This study analysed data from the US Department of Education College Scorecard, focusing on institutional factors, such as public/private, student body characteristics, research intensity, student diversity and selectivity. The results confirm that highly selective universities have a greater ROI, public universities overall have a better ROI, Research 1 universities have the higher ROI and private Research 1 institutions have the highest ROI. Implications for educational administration and university selection criteria are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We utilize data from the 2010–2019 Consumer Expenditure Surveys to examine middle‐class achievement of English‐speaking and non‐English‐speaking Hispanic households compared to non‐Hispanic white households in the United States. Using an innovative expenditure‐based middle‐class measure, our findings show that non‐English‐speaking Hispanics lag English‐speaking Hispanics, and English‐speaking Hispanics lag whites, in middle‐class attainment. We also identify significant structural differences among the three groups, particularly in how education, marriage, and employment affect middle‐class achievement. Non‐English‐speaking Hispanics have a lower rate of return on education compared to both whites and English‐speaking Hispanics. Non‐English‐speaking Hispanics experience lower marriage and employment premiums compared to their English‐speaking Hispanic counterparts, and English‐speaking Hispanics experience lower marriage and employment premiums compared to whites. This study contributes to the literature by introducing the innovative expenditure‐based middle‐class measure and emphasizing the importance of considering within‐group differences among Hispanics to reduce the Hispanic‐white economic disparity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin America faces a shortage in radiation therapy (RT) units and qualified personnel for timely and high-quality treatment of patients with cancer. Investing in equitable and inclusive access to RT over the next decade would prevent thousands of deaths. Measuring the investment gap and payoff is necessary for stakeholder discussions and capacity planning efforts. Data were collected from the International Atomic Energy Agency's Directory of Radiotherapy Centers, industry stakeholders, and individual surveys sent to national scientific societies. Nationwide data on available devices and personnel were compiled. The 10 most common cancers in 2020 with RT indication and their respective incidence rates were considered for gap calculations. The gross 2-year financial return on investment was calculated based on an average monthly salary across Latin America. A 10-year cost projection was calculated according to the estimated population dynamics for the period until 2030. Eleven countries were included in the study, accounting for 557,213,447 people in 2020 and 561 RT facilities. Approximately 1,065,684 new cancer cases were diagnosed, and a mean density of 768,469 (standard deviation ±392,778) people per available unit was found. By projecting the currently available treatment fractions to determine those required in 2030, it was found that 62.3% and 130.8% increases in external beam RT and brachytherapy units are needed from the baseline, respectively. An overall regional investment of approximately United States (US) $349,650,480 in 2020 would have covered the existing demand. An investment of US $872,889,949 will be necessary by 2030, with the expectation of a 2-year posttreatment gross return on investment of more than US $2.1 billion from patients treated in 2030 only. Investment in RT services is lagging in Latin America in terms of the population's needs. An accelerated outlay could save additional lives during the next decade, create a self-sustaining system, and reduce region-wide inequities in cancer care access. Cash flow analyses are warranted to tailor precise national-level intervention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aggregate US equity market has outperformed the rest of the world over the past decade. Additionally, correlation across equity markets of different geographic regions has increased over time. With this in mind, many investors question whether non-US equity investment should still play a role in diversified investment portfolios. The authors review the widely used reasons investors consider to support non-US investments and argue that the broader opportunity set and attractive relative valuations remain valid reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The United States (US) sugar program protects domestic sugar farmers from unrestricted imports of heavily-subsidized global sugar. Sugar-using firms (SUFs) criticize that program for causing US sugar prices to be higher than world sugar prices. This study examines the financial performance of publicly traded SUFs to determine if they are performing at an economic disadvantage in terms of accounting profitability, risk and economic profitability compared to other industries. Design/methodology/approach: Firm-level financial accounting and market data from 2010 to 2019 were utilized to construct financial metrics for publicly traded SUFs, agribusinesses and general US firms. These financial metrics were analyzed to determine how SUFs compare to their agribusiness peer group and general US companies. The comprehensive financial analysis in this study covers: (1) accounting profit rates, (2) drivers of profitability, (3) economic profit rates, (4) trend analysis and (5) peer comparisons. Quantile regression analysis and Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney statistics are employed for statistical comparisons. Findings: Regarding various profitability and risk measures, SUFs outperform their agribusiness peers and the general benchmark of all US firms in terms of accounting profit rates, risk levels and economic profit rates. Furthermore, compared to other US industries using the 17 French and Fama classifications, SUFs have the highest return on investment and economic profit rate―measured by the Economic Value Added® margin―and the second-lowest opportunity cost of capital, measured by the weighted average cost of capital. Originality/value: This study finds nothing to suggest that the US sugar program hinders the financial success of SUFs, contrary to recent claims by sugar-using firms. Notably in this analysis is the evaluation of economic profit rates and a series of robustness techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women and people from most racial and ethnic groups in the United States have historically been under‐represented in clinical trials of investigational medical products. Inadequate representation of these groups may lead to an incomplete understanding of the safety and efficacy of new drugs, devices, biologics, and vaccines, and limit the generalizability of trial findings. As a result, new medical products may not be beneficial to all people who need them, and existing inequities in outcomes among various population groups may remain unchanged or worsen, or new disparities may arise. Although much work has focused on study‐level strategies, research organizations must make systemic changes to how clinical trials are envisioned and implemented to achieve sustainable support for diversity and inclusion in clinical trials. The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) conducted interviews with leaders at institutions that conduct clinical trials to explore perspectives on organizational‐level practices that promote diversity and inclusion in clinical trials. Leaders described motivations, such as an ethical and moral imperative; organizational practices, such as staff investment and resource allocation; perceived return on investments, such as better science; and deterrents, such as cost and time. The CTTI also convened an expert meeting to discuss the interview findings and provide guidance. We present the interview findings and expert guidance in a framework that describes four key areas—commitment, partnerships, accountability, and resources—on sustaining organizational‐level approaches for improving diversity and inclusion in clinical trials, with the ultimate goal of advancing health equity. Institutions who conduct and support clinical trials should implement organizational‐level approaches to improve equitable access and diverse patient participation in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American economy has lurched from crisis to crisis for over a decade, enduring long stretches of high unemployment, market dysfunction, and ineffective government policy. Despite the enormous scale of this suffering and disruption, the full implications of the experience have not been absorbed by the corporate governance literature. Corporate law's focus on delivering financial returns to shareholders works reasonably well in a robust economy, when markets function effectively and align shareholder incentives with the goal of maximizing social wealth. But these tidy mechanisms fail in periods of macroeconomic stress, when markets send faulty signals and firms pursuing short-term shareholder profits can destroy social wealth. The layoffs or price increases often desired by shareholders can be useful in a healthy economic environment, as they cause resources to be allocated more efficiently to highervalue uses, and competitive markets prevent harm from falling on workers or consumers. But the same maneuvers can be destructive when the economy is afflicted by unemployment or inflation. Revising corporate governance arrangements so that companies focus less on maximizing short-term shareholder profits during crises can thus be a useful tool for managing economic problems and improving outcomes. This Article begins the theoretical and practical work of adapting corporate governance to periods of economic crisis. After demonstrating that the assumptions that have driven corporate law debates depend on macroeconomic context, the Article shows that correcting those assumptions could make corporate governance a powerful tool for managing crises. These insights offer a useful framework for evaluating measures undertaken by businesses, investors, and the government in response to the COVID-19 crisis, while suggesting new avenues for action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agency mortgage‐backed securities (MBSs) with diverse characteristics are traded in parallel through individualized specified pool (SP) contracts and standardized to‐be‐announced (TBA) contracts with delivery flexibility. This parallel trading environment generates distinctive effects on MBS pricing and trading: (i) Although cheapest‐to‐deliver (CTD) issues are present in TBA trading and absent from SP trading by design, MBS heterogeneity associated with CTD discounts affects SP yields positively, with the effect stronger for lower‐value SPs; (ii) high selling pressure amplifies the effects of MBS heterogeneity on SP yields; and (iii) greater MBS heterogeneity dampens SP and TBA trading activities but increases their ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores student perceptions of the financial and nonfinancial return on investment (ROI) of a liberal arts (LA) degree through surveys and interviews. Four prominent returns emerged through qualitative analysis of data: financial security, a credential, personal growth, and the promise of meaningful work. Results demonstrated the influence of anticipatory socialization on conceptions of meaningful work and the ROI of the LA degree. These findings detail a contemporary view of the value of a LA degree in the United States and are important for educators and administrators who seek to transition students from college to career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines if industries with higher economic policy uncertainty (EPU) sensitivity also respond differently to the evolution of COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, industries are allocated into decile portfolios according to their sensitivity to the US-EPU shocks, then portfolio returns are conditioned against changes in daily cases and deaths, respectively. After controlling for the standard risk-factors of equity returns, neither the cases nor deaths can load significantly against the returns of portfolio with the highest negative EPU exposure. However, industries which respond positively to the US-EPU shocks also respond positively to increases in cases and deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the status of public pension funding and issues facing legislatures in the United States. It looks at the two main decision matrices used to fund the pension plans, their evolution and the consequences of each. The paper analyzes state plans, focusing on California's plan, CalPERS, the largest public pension fund in the United States. The paper examines the methodology of investing, the funding alternatives and trends and consequences of present and past decisions on the increasing funding gap presently facing California. The paper then suggests several specific changes that would reduce or eliminate that gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate how land tenure correlates with measures of profitability among young farmers and ranchers in the United States. The authors hypothesize that young producers who own a larger proportion of their operation face different incentives between short- and long-run returns than young producers who primarily rent their land. The authors analyze whether these differing incentives result in observable differences in various measures of profitability. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use state-level data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) from 2003 to 2018 to estimate fixed-effects panel models correlating land tenure with the value of farm production, expenditures on repairs and maintenance, net farm income, total operator household income from farming, rate of return on assets (ROA) and rate of return on equity (ROE). Findings: The authors find different correlations for crop farms and livestock farms, as well as different correlations for farms with the lowest and highest gross sales. For crop farms, renting land is associated with higher production, higher income, higher ROA and higher ROE. For livestock farms, renting land is associated with lower production. Originality/value: This study rigorously investigates the role of land tenure specifically among young farmers and ranchers in the United States. By better understanding how land ownership affects profitability among beginning farmers and ranchers, policymakers will be able to better target public resources to support the next generation of producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes trends in the income, net worth, and homeownership of non‐Hispanic African‐Americans and Hispanics relative to non‐Hispanic whites in the United States from 1989 to 2016 and the reasons for those trends using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances. The wealth gap between African‐American and white families was much the same in 2007 as in 1989 but it lessened considerably for Hispanics. The net worth of both minorities declined sharply relative to that of non‐Hispanic whites from 2007 to 2016 and that decline was due largely to the lower rate of return on wealth of these two groups during the 2007–2010 period and largely due to the larger dissaving of these two groups during the 2010–2016 period. The paper also finds that the wealth gap is much smaller if net worth is augmented by pension wealth and especially by Social Security wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing economic inequality in the United States has reduced social mobility, placing financial security farther out of reach for a growing number of Americans. During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. stock prices have grown simultaneously with unemployment and food insecurity, highlighting the fact that prosperity is unequally distributed in the U.S. economy. Many Americans do not benefit when the stock market soars because they do not have the means to invest. However, even ordinary American families who do have wealth to invest in the capital markets will face enormous obstacles in narrowing the wealth divide through investment. This is because ordinary American investors regularly earn a lower rate of return from investing than their wealthy counterparts. Wealthy investors are growing a larger mass of wealth at a faster rate of return, making it virtually impossible for ordinary investors to catch up. The disparity in rate of return is the result of both regulation and practicalities that limit the investment options of ordinary investors. Scholars have long acknowledged this disparity in investment opportunities, and many have proposed lifting regulatory barriers to expand investment access for ordinary investors. This Article offers a new perspective, focusing on the other side of the wealth divide. That is, perhaps wealthy investors have too many investment opportunities. Examining the regulation of short selling as a case study, this Article demonstrates how regulators have different motivations when regulating ordinary investments-like retirement savings-as opposed to exclusive investments-like short selling. This bifurcated regulation exacerbates the capital markets' contributions to economic inequality by favoring the expansion of the markets, and thereby facilitating disparities in rates of return. This Article argues that regulators should re-examine the "more is better" presumption in capital markets regulation in light of the fact that additional exclusive investment opportunities fuel the wealth divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We document a little-known source of information exploited by sophisticated institutional investors: the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a law that allows for the disclosure of previously unreleased information by the U.S. Government. Through FOIA requests, we identify several sophisticated institutional investors, chiefly hedge funds, that request information from the FDA. We explore the type of information commonly requested by funds and the types of firms that are targets of FDA-FOIA requests and show that FOIA requests allow these investors to generate abnormal returns. Thus, we illustrate a detailed mechanism through which costly information becomes incorporated into market prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When clients transfer their focus to the dividend stream instead of the daily changes in total portfolio value, they will trade much less and by doing so, do much better. This is because they will be letting investment returns stem from the long-term portfolio growth of the underlying investments' value as opposed to short-term valuation and subsequent trading decisions. Dividend investing can provide clients with a "noise filter" that rightly steers clients away from the daily headlines. It is a commitment device that keeps investors from selling prematurely. And it offers stability: Dividend payments are a less-volatile stream of returns compared to capital gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: Retrospective, observational -study.Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of the Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), and North America Spine Society (NASS) grants as quantified by the number of publications generated and federal grants obtained (National Institute of Health [NIH], Department of Defense [DOD]).Summary Of Background Data: The CSR, SRS, and NASS, have awarded numerous research grants over the past three decades.Methods: Through publicly available data we identified grants awarded by the Spine Societies. We collected the type of grant awarded, the Principal Investigator information, dollar amount of the grant, number of publications in PubMed from each grant, number of citations, and the publication journal. The NIH and DOD website were queried to determine which grantees subsequently received either NIH or DoD funding.Results: From 1989 to 2016: 81 (CSRS), 126 (SRS), and 93 (NASS) grants were awarded. From these grants 206 publications acknowledged receiving financial support from the spine societies. The SRS funded 100 papers, NASS 62 papers, and CSRS 44 papers. A total of 32 NIH grants and four DOD grants were subsequently awarded. The conversion rate to NIH grants was 15% (n = 12 CSRS), 7.9% (n = 10 SRS), and 11% (n = 10 NASS). The conversion rate to DOD grants was 3.7% (n = 3 CSRS), 0.8% (n = 1 SRS), and 0% (n = 0 NASS). ROI of spine society grant dollars per future NIH and DoD grants were the lowest for CSRS (Dollars Per NIH Grant: $207,434; Dollars Per DoD Grant: $829,734). Male investigators received 85% of CSRS grants, 75% of SRS grants, and 83% of NASS grants.Conclusion: CSRS grants appear to have the highest ROI of all spine society grants when evaluating subsequent NIH and DOD funding. However, the overall conversion rate to NIH and DOD grants remains low.Level of Evidence: 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health disparities are pervasive and are linked to economic losses in the United States of up to $135 billion per year. The Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions (FCHES) is a Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center for health disparities research funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic impact of the 5-year investment in FCHES in Genesee County, Michigan.Methods: The estimated impacts of FCHES were calculated using a U.S.-specific input/output (I/O) model, IMPLAN, from IMPLAN Group, LLC., which provides a software system to access geographic specific data regarding economic sector interactions from a variety of sources. This allowed us to model the cross-sector economic activity that occurred throughout Genesee County, Michigan, as a result of the FCHES investment. The overall economic impacts were estimated as the sum of three impact types: 1. Direct (the specific expenditures impact of FCHES and the Scientific Research and Development Services sector); 2. Indirect (the impact on suppliers to FCHES and the Scientific Research and Development Services sector); and 3. Induced (the additional economic impact of the spending of these suppliers and employees in the county economy).Results: The total FCHES investment amounted to approximately $11 million between 2016 and 2020. Overall, combined direct, indirect, and induced impacts of the total FCHES federal investment in Genesee County included over 161 job-years, over $7.6 million in personal income, and more than $19.2 million in economic output. In addition, this combined economic activity generated close to $2.3 million in state/local and federal tax revenue. The impact multipliers show the ripple effect of the FCHES investment. For example, the overall output of over $19.2 million led to an impact multiplier of 1.75 - every $1 of federal FCHES investment led to an additional $.75 of economic output in Genesee County.Conclusions: The FCHES research funding yields significant direct economic impacts above and beyond the direct NIH investment of $11 million. The economic impact estimation method may be relevant and generalizable to other large research centers such as FCHES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the benefits of corporate bond diversification for U.S. investors. Analysis of a newly compiled bond-level data set for 2000–2010 finds that diversification with corporate bonds can significantly reduce volatility and increase risk-adjusted returns for U.S. investors. Unlike diversification with equities, corporate bonds offer significant out-of-sample risk reduction, particularly during the recent financial crisis. Risk-reduction gains are large even when the benchmark includes international equities or when longer samples of equities and sovereign bonds are used to inform corporate bond returns. Finally, significant risk-reduction gains remain after accounting for bond characteristics, liquidity, and informational costs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Federal Reserve's influence on the economy and financial markets is substantial and well-recognized by market participants. Over the past few years, both the financial and popular media have been obsessed with Fed actions and speculation on potential Fed actions. While advisors and clients closely monitor monetary policy actions, there is confusion about the implications these actions have for stock market returns. This analysis documents the association between both general stock market returns and equity sector returns during expansive, indeterminate, and restrictive monetary policy conditions. Advisors can use the results to both condition clients' expectations and make portfolio adjustments to take advantage of historical patterns in equity sector returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, using data from 46 markets and a 34-year time period, we examine the impact of the illiquidity of U.S. Treasuries on global asset valuation. We find that it predicts equity returns in both developed and emerging markets. This predictive relation remains intact after controlling for various world- and country-level variables. Asset pricing tests further reveal that bond illiquidity is a priced factor even in the presence of other conventional risks. Since the illiquidity of Treasuries is known to reflect monetary and macroeconomic shocks, our results suggest that it can be considered a proxy for aggregate worldwide risks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

U.S. cities transform public housing. Black municipal leadership (BML) may influence the scale and character of public housing removal and redevelopment. Informed by the "Black urban regime" literature, this study assesses whether presence and duration of BML, coupled with other factors, explains variation in public housing transformation for a sample of large cities. Its findings suggest that, controlling for other factors, BML is associated with moderately greater scales of public housing removal in the 1990s and 2000s, but BML is not associated with the "rate of return" by former public housing residents or new residence by public housing eligible households in Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE VI) communities as of 2016. The findings invite further research on the intraracial dynamics and policy consequences of BML. They build, too, on public housing transformation scholarship, raising new questions about how municipal politics shape public housing and other sites of subsidized residence for low-income denizens of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pecan scab, caused by Venturia effusa, is the most economically damaging disease of pecan in the southeastern United States, and annual epidemics are most effectively managed through multiple fungicide applications. The fungicide applications can be the single greatest operating cost for commercial growers and the return on that investment is impacted by fungicide resistance. V. effusa produces multiple generations of conidia per season, exhibits substantial genetic diversity, overwinters as stromata in the tree, and is under immense selection from the applied fungicides, all of which lead to a high risk for developing fungicide resistance. Since the mid-1970s, resistance or reduced sensitivity has been observed in isolates of V effusa to the methyl benzimidazole carbamates, demethylation inhibitors, quinone outside inhibitors, organotin compounds, and the guanidines. Over the last 10 years, several studies have been conducted that have improved both scab management and fungicide resistance management in V. effusa. The aim of this review is to summarize recent developments in our understanding of fungicide resistance in V. effusa in the context of scab management in southeastern pecan orchards. The history, modes of action, general use of the labeled fungicides, and mechanisms and stability of fungicide resistance in V. effusa are discussed; conclusions and future research priorities are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides an empirical examination of the relationship between organizational investments directed toward the human resource (HR) function and a key performance outcome – labor productivity. Utilizing a multiple constituency perspective of the HR function, we proposed that organizational investments of financial resources into their HR functions will influence labor productivity; and that the availability of professional HR staff and implementation of high performance work systems will moderate this relationship. Utilizing a sample of 475 organizations drawn from multiple locations and sectors in the United States, we found that HR function investments predicted labor productivity, and the proportion of HR staff occupying professional/technical roles moderated (enhanced) the HR function investment-labor productivity relationship. However, the HR function investment-productivity relationship was found to be stronger in organizations with low (as opposed to high) levels of high performance work systems. We discuss these findings within the context of increasing demand on the HR function to demonstrate returns on investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although economic regulation is ubiquitous, little is known about the impact of different regulatory schemes, and changes in these schemes, on wages. The article evaluates the impact of changes in price regulation on average employee wages among the United States local exchange telecommunications companies using contemporary historical data between 1988 and 2001. Two primary approaches in price regulation have been the rate of return and price cap regulation schemes, with the latter assumed to possess important incentive properties. The results establish that firms regulated via rate of return or other hybrid regulatory approaches have paid significantly lower wages. These wages have been, on average, 5–10% lower than what firms regulated via price cap regulation have paid their employees. These results signify the importance of regulations possessing requisite incentive properties and of appropriate regulatory mechanism design in enhancing employees’ real wages in regulated firms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Th e United States incarcerates a large proportion of the citizenry. • Re cidivism rates remain high among incarcerated populations. • AD HD/ADHD symptomology is disproportionately high in these populations. • St imulant medications may supplement existing recidivism prevention efforts. • Re search is lacking, however, and more research is needed. Incarceration rates in the U.S. rank among the highest in the developed world. Large representative studies have revealed that approximately one third of individuals report having been arrested, or in some other way contacted by the justice system, at some point in their life. A natural outgrowth of this is the need to consider strategies aimed at preventing further CJ contact. Complicating the situation further is that incarcerated populations also report disproportionately high levels of both psychiatric disturbances in general, and ADHD symptomology in particular. Thus, much debate remains around the topic of preventing recidivism. We discuss the possibility of incorporating pharmacological interventions as adjuvant therapies directed toward preventing re-offending. In particular, we explore whether stimulant medications might provide additional return on investment on top of therapies already known to be effective. Given the virtual absence of evidence on this topic, we also endeavor to provide specific recommendations for designing studies that could yield convincing evidence either for, or against, the inclusion of stimulant medications in the recidivism prevention toolkit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the extent of corporate level implicit taxes, or the cross-sectional variations in pre-tax market returns which offset explicit tax variations and equalize the risk-adjusted, after-tax returns rate in the U.S., and also examines the effect of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) on implicit taxes. Topics discussed include a decline in implicit taxes after the tax reform law was implemented and prior research on implicit taxes at the corporate level. The article also mentions empirical studies in economics that focus on the incidence of corporate income tax.

This paper evaluates an editorial and seven invaluable and interesting review papers for the Journal of Risk and Financial Management (JRFM). The topics covered include the rising complexity of bank regulatory capital requirements from global guidelines to their United States (US) implementation, connections among big data, computational science, economics, finance, marketing, management and psychology, factors, outcome, and the solutions of supply chain finance, with a review and future directions, time-varying price-volume relationship, adaptive market efficiency, and a survey of the empirical literature, improved covariance matrix estimation for portfolio risk measurement, stock investment and excess returns, with a critical review in the light of the efficient market hypothesis, and a cross section analysis of country equity returns, and a review of the empirical literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much research has been carried out to examine various contextual issues and moderating factors for successful R&D investments, very little research has been conducted to explore the role of a firm's operational and process characteristics. In this study, we explore how firms could possibly enhance the financial returns of R&D investments through quality management, using Six Sigma implementation as an example, and efficiency improvement, using the stochastic frontier estimation of relative efficiency as a proxy. Based on data from 468 manufacturing firms in the United States over the period 2007–2014, we construct a dynamic panel data model to capture the effects of R&D investments on firms' financial returns in terms of Tobin's q. Using the system generalized method of moments estimator, our results indicate that the financial returns of R&D investments are significantly enhanced when firms adopt Six Sigma and improve efficiency in operations. Our additional analyses further suggest that such an enhancement effect through quality and efficiency improvements is more pronounced under high operational complexity as approximated by labor intensity and geographical diversity. Instead of considering innovation activities and process management as contradictory functions, we show that quality and efficiency improvements indeed support firms' R&D investments, leading to higher financial returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in the United States have grown extremely fast in terms of assets and market capitalization since the early 1990s. As with many industries, U.S. REITs began acquiring foreign properties as their size grew and they needed to seek new investment opportunities. This study investigates the role of holding foreign assets upon the total return of U.S.-based REITs from 1995 through 2016. We find that holding foreign properties is associated with negative relative performance when measured by return on average equity, an accounting-based measure. However, when excess return to shareholders is measured, increasing relative performance is found. Thus, it appears that investors are rewarding REITs with greater degrees of international holdings, while simultaneously accepting lower return on equity and potentially lower dividend and distribution yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the interplay of fiscal policy and asset price returns of the United States in a time-varying parameter vector autoregressive (VAR) model. Using annual data from 1890 to 2013, we study the effects of dynamic shocks to both fiscal policy on asset returns and asset returns on fiscal policy. Distinguishing between low-volatility (bull market) and high-volatility (bear market) regimes together with a time-varying parameter VAR model enables us to isolate the different sizes and signs of responses to shocks during different time periods. The results indicate that increases in the primary surplus-to-gross-domestic-product ratio decrease house returns over the entire sample and at each impulse horizon. Unlike the house return responses, stock returns only decrease in the first year after the fiscal shock but then increase for the following eight years. Furthermore, the findings show that asset return movements affect fiscal policy, whereby fiscal policy responds more to equity returns than to house returns. The response of fiscal policy to asset returns proves relatively stable and constant over time while controlling for various asset return regimes. Asset returns respond uniformly to fiscal policy shocks since the 1900s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to contribute to the existing critical debates on money and debt by advancing three main arguments. First, largely due to such debates' tendency for description, the article argues that in in the heterodox literature on money and debt there is no convincing critical theory of money creation. For this reason the authors introduce the theory of capital as power and how it can help us theorize the consequences of present money creation. Second, the authors demonstrate how the capitalization of money creation by a minority of investors not only leads to the political chase for unsustainable economic growth, but also how there is a differential distribution of interest upwards that helps generate greater economic inequality in the United States. Third, they argue that in an era of declining growth, dominant owners of capital seek to recapture their expected return on investments by extracting a greater share of the national income from the vast majority of citizens through a fiscal politics of austerity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the capital structure irrelevance proposition is the point of departure in corporate finance, it is unknown if debt‐or‐equity decisions matter to farm producer organizations. To inform decisions of capital acquisition, a panel study is conducted to estimate the relationships of different types of debt (current, long‐term) and equity (allocated, unallocated) to the financial performance of 707 farm producer organizations in the United States during the 2005–2011 period. Using 3,120 observations, the panel analysis indicates net sales in period t is increased by $1.97, $9.59, and $4.01 with an addition of $1 in current debt, allocated equity, or unallocated equity in period t‐1. Furthermore, the magnitude of the positive relationship of an additional dollar of allocated (unallocated) equity to net income is estimated at $0.32 ($0.14). We thus reject the notion managers and directors of farm producer organizations should decide to use debt or equity with a coin toss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article reviews the U.S. private retirement system and evaluates the extent to which it is successful. The Article includes recommendations for reform with respect to access to coverage, level of contributions, investment returns and fees, insufficient accumulations, portability, leakage, drawdown of benefits, and employer involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how U.S. monetary policy affects the pricing of dollar‐denominated sovereign debt. We document that yields on dollar‐denominated sovereign bonds are highly responsive to U.S. monetary policy surprises—during both the conventional and unconventional policy regimes—and that the passthrough of unconventional policy to foreign bond yields is, on balance, comparable to that of conventional policy. In addition, a conventional U.S. monetary easing (tightening) leads to a significant narrowing (widening) of credit spreads on sovereign bonds issued by countries with a speculative‐grade credit rating but has no effect on the corresponding weighted average of bilateral exchange rates for a basket of currencies from the same set of risky countries; this indicates that an unanticipated tightening of U.S. monetary policy widens credit spreads on risky sovereign debt directly through the financial channel, as opposed to indirectly through the exchange rate channel. During the unconventional policy regime, yields on both investment‐ and speculative‐grade sovereign bonds move one‐to‐one with policy‐induced fluctuations in yields on comparable U.S. Treasuries. We also examine whether the response of sovereign credit spreads to US monetary policy differs between policy easings and tightenings and find no evidence of such asymmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congress's repeal of the $100,000 adjusted gross income limitation for Roth IRA conversions allows taxpayers, regardless of income, to contribute indirectly to a Roth IRA by contributing to a traditional IRA and converting the contributed amount to a Roth IRA. This article presents a framework for analyzing whether this contribute-and-convert technique is better than a direct Roth IRA or traditional IRA contribution. The results show that the technique generally is a beneficial strategy for liquidity-constrained taxpayers who can deduct their traditional IRA contributions and taxpayers who are ineligible to contribute directly to Roth IRAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tests whether stock market investors appropriately distinguish between new and old information about firms. I define the staleness of a news story as its textual similarity to the previous ten stories about the same firm. I find that firms' stock returns respond less to stale news. Even so, a firm's return on the day of stale news negatively predicts its return in the following week. Individual investors trade more aggressively on news when news is stale. The subsequent return reversal is significantly larger in stocks with above-average individual investor trading activity. These results are consistent with the idea that individual investors overreact to stale information, leading to temporary movements in firms' stock prices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In any canonical Gaussian dynamic term structure model (GDTSM), the conditional forecasts of the pricing factors are invariant to the imposition of no-arbitrage restrictions. This invariance is maintained even in the presence of a variety of restrictions on the factor structure of bond yields. To establish these results, we develop a novel canonical GDTSM in which the pricing factors are observable portfolios of yields. For our normalization, standard maximum likelihood algorithms converge to the global optimum almost instantaneously. We present empirical estimates and out-of-sample forecasts for several GDTSMs using data on U.S. Treasury bond yields. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Commercial real estate expected returns and expected rent growth rates are time-varying. Relying on transactions data from a cross-section of U.S. metropolitan areas, we find that up to 30% of the variability of realized returns to commercial real estate can be accounted for by expected return variability, while expected rent growth rate variability explains up to 45% of the variability of realized rent growth rates. The cap rate—that is, the rent-price ratio in commercial real estate—captures fluctuations in expected returns for apartments and retail properties, as well as industrial properties. For offices, by contrast, cap rates do not forecast (in-sample) returns even though expected returns on offices are also time-varying. As implied by the present value relation, cap rates marginally forecast office rent growth but not rent growth of apartments, retail properties, and industrial properties. We link these differences in in-sample predictability to differences in the stochastic properties of the underlying commercial real estate data-generating processes. Also, rent growth predictability is observed mostly in locations characterized by higher population density and stringent land-use restrictions. The opposite is true for return predictability. The dynamic portfolio implications of time-varying commercial real estate returns are also explored in the context of a portfolio manager investing in the aggregate stock market and Treasury bills, as well as commercial real estate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a recently published paper, Edmans, García, and Norli (2007) reveal a strong association between results of soccer games and local stock returns. Inspired by their work, we propose a novel approach to exploit this effect on the aggregate international level with the following three unique features: i) The aggregate effect does not depend on the games' results; hence, the effect is an exploitable predictable effect. ii) The aggregate effect is based on many games; hence, it is very large and highly significant. We find that the average return on the U.S. market over the World Cup's effect period is -2.58%, compared to +1.21% for all-days average returns over the same period length. iii) Exploiting the aggregate effect is involved with trading in a single index for a relatively long period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the enormous size of projected federal budget deficits, it is likely that federal income tax rates will rise, and perhaps dramatically so, over the next several years in order to reduce or at least slow down the growth rate in U.S. debt. Many taxpayers may consequently find themselves paying a higher rate of tax on required minimum distributions (RMDs) from their tax-deferred retirement accounts (e.g., IRAs, 401(k)s, and 403(b)s) relative to the rate of tax savings generated when contributions were made to the accounts. This article addresses RMD payments in general and when, if ever, a prospective retiree should forgo tax deductible contributions to retirement plans in favor of placing after-tax savings in taxable accounts in order to reduce RMD payments and related tax liabilities. Effective tax rate comparisons are made under various rate-of-return and marginal tax rate scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eleven percent of the largest public U.S. firms are headed by the CEO who founded the firm. Founder-CEO firms differ systematically from successor-CEO firms with respect to firm valuation, investment behavior, and stock market performance. Founder-CEO firms invest more in research and development, have higher capital expenditures, and make more focused mergers and acquisitions. An equal-weighted investment strategy that had invested in founder-CEO firms from 1993 to 2002 would have earned a benchmark-adjusted return of 8.3% annually. The excess return is robust; after controlling for a wide variety of firm characteristics, CEO characteristics, and industry affiliation, the abnormal return is still 4.4% annually. The implications of the investment behavior and stock market performance of founder-CEO firms are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 40 years, the volatility of the average stock return has drastically outpaced total market volatility. Thus, idiosyncratic return volatility has dramatically increased. We estimate this increase to be 6% per year. Consistent with an efficient market, this result is mirrored by an increase in the idiosyncratic volatility of fundamental cash flows. We argue that these findings are attributable to the more intense economy-wide competition. Various cross-sectional and time-series tests support this idea. Economic competitiveness facilitates reinterpretation of the results from the cross-country R² literature, as well as the US idiosyncratic risk literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]