Property Condition Disclosure Law: Does 'Seller Tell All' Matter in Property Values?

At the time when at least two-thirds of the US states have already mandated some form of seller's property condition disclosure statement and there is a movement in this direction nationally, this paper examines the impact of seller's property condition disclosure law on the residential real estate values, the information asymmetry in housing transactions and shift of risk from buyers and brokers to the sellers, and attempts to ascertain the factors that lead to adoption of the disclosur law. The analytical structure employs parametric panel data models, semi-parametric propensity score matching models, and an event study framework using a unique set of economic and institutional attributes for a quarterly panel of 291 US Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and 50 US States spanning 21 years from 1984 to 2004. Exploiting the MSA level variation in house prices, the study finds that the average seller may be able to fetch a higher price (about three to four percent) for the house if she furnishes a state-mandated seller's property condition disclosure statement to the buyer.

Association between glycemic index and glycemic load and the risk of incident coronary heart disease among whites and African Americans with and without type 2 diabetes: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study

Several studies have examined the association between high glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) diets and the risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, most of these studies were conducted primarily on white populations. The primary aim of this study was to examine whether high GI and GL diets are associated with increased risk for developing CHD in whites and African Americans, non-diabetics and diabetics, and within stratifications of body mass index (BMI) and hypertension (HTN). Baseline and 17-year follow-up data from ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study was used. The study population (13,051) consisted of 74% whites, 26% African Americans, 89% non-diabetics, 11% diabetics, 43% male, 57% female aged 44 to 66 years at baseline. Data from the ARIC food frequency questionnaire at baseline were analyzed to provide GI and GL indices for each subject. Increases of 25 and 30 units for GI and GL respectively were used to describe relationships on incident CHD risk. Adjusted hazard ratios for propensity score with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to assess associations. During 17 years of follow-up (1987 to 2004), 1,683 cases of CHD was recorded. Glycemic index was associated with 2.12 fold (95% CI: 1.05, 4.30) increased incident CHD risk for all African Americans and GL was associated with 1.14 fold (95% CI: 1.04, 1.25) increased CHD risk for all whites. In addition, GL was also an important CHD risk factor for white non-diabetics (HR=1.59; 95% CI: 1.33, 1.90). Furthermore, within stratum of BMI 23.0 to 29.9 in non-diabetics, GI was associated with an increased hazard ratio of 11.99 (95% CI: 2.31, 62.18) for CHD in African Americans, and GL was associated with 1.23 fold (1.08, 1.39) increased CHD risk in whites. Body mass index modified the effect of GI and GL on CHD risk in all whites and white non-diabetics. For HTN, both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure modified the effect on GI and GL on CHD risk in all whites and African Americans, white and African American non-diabetics, and white diabetics. Further studies should examine other factors that could influence the effects of GI and GL on CHD risk, including dietary factors, physical activity, and diet-gene interactions. ^

Long-term impact of a weight management summer camp on obese children

Background: interventions that focus on improving eating habits, increasing physical activity, and reducing sedentary behaviors on weight status and body mass index percentile and z-scores in youths have not been well documented. This study aimed to determine the short and long term effects of a 2-week residential weight management summer camp program for youths on weight, BMI, BMI percentile, and BMI z-score. ^ Methods: A sample of 73 obese multiethnic 10-14 years old youths (11.9 ± 1.4) attended a weight management camp called Kamp K'aana for two weeks and completed a 12-month follow-up on height and weight. As part of Kamp K'aana, participants received a series of nutrition, physical activity and behavioral lessons and were on an 1800 kcal per day meal plan. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight were taken to calculate participants' BMI percentiles and z-scores. Paired t-tests, chi square test and ANCOVA, adjusting for age, gender, and ethnicity were used to assess changes in body weight, BMI, BMI percentiles and BMI z-scores pre to two-weeks post-camp and 12 months post-camp. ^ Results: Significant reductions in body weight of 3.6 ± 1.4 (P = 0.0000), BMI of 1.4 ± 0.54 (P = 0.0000), BMI percentile of 0.45 ± 0.06 (P = 0.0000), and BMI z-score of 0.1 ± 0.06 (P = 0.0000) were observed at the end of the camp. Significant reductions in BMI z-scores (P < 0.001) and BMI percentile (P < 0.001) were observed at the 12-month reunion when compared to pre- and two-weeks post camp data. There was a significant increase in weight and BMI (P = 0.0000) at the 12-month reunion when compared to pre and post camp measurements. ^ Conclusion: Kamp K'aana has consistently shown short-term reductions in weight, BMI, BMI percentile, and BMI z-score. Results from analysis of long-term data suggest that this intervention had beneficial effects on body composition in an ethnically diverse population of obese children. Further research which includes a control group, larger sample size, and cost-analysis should be conducted.^

A two-dimensional analysis of the impact of outward FDI on performance at home: evidence from Japanese manufacturing firms

This paper empirically investigates two areas of changes in firm behavior and performance at home before and after investing abroad. The first change is dependent upon the type of foreign direct investment (FDI): horizontal FDI or vertical FDI. The second change is dependent upon the firm’s domestic activities: production activities or non-production activities. From a theoretical standpoint, the impact of outward FDIs differs not only by type, but according to the firm’s activities. By exploiting two types of firm-level data that enable us to distinguish between production and non-production activities, our paper provides a detailed picture of the intra-firm changes in behavior and performance that occur as a result of production globalization.

Impacts of FTA utilization on firm performance

The international export and investment activities of firms have been widely studied by scholars. In particular, prior studies have focused on two main hypotheses about firms engaged in international activities such as exporting and investing abroad; namely, self-selection of more productive firms into international activities and learning-by-doing international activities. This paper is the first study that explores these hypotheses in regard to firms’ use of free trade agreements (FTAs). We first estimate the propensity score for firms’ use of FTA schemes, and find that larger firms are more likely to participate. Then, by conducting matching analysis using the propensity scores, we find that the use of FTA schemes does not change employment in firms, but does result in more local inputs used and increased exports.

Measuring the effect of agricultural cooperatives on household income using PSM-DID : a case study of a rice-producing cooperative in China

Agricultural cooperatives in China, known as Farmers' Professional Cooperatives (FPCs), are becoming popular and have been intensely promoted by the Chinese government to improve the economic welfare of small farmers. However, very few studies on Chinese agricultural cooperatives have measured the benefits to farmers who participate in FPCs after controlling for time-invariant attributes of farmers. This paper investigates the treatment effect of participation in a rice-producing cooperative in suburban China using propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID) method. Estimated results show that no significant difference is observed between participants and non-participants of the cooperative in terms of net income from rice production when controlling for the difference in farmers' rice incomes before the treatment. In addition, there is no significant heterogeneity of the treatment effects between large and small farmers, although the probability of participation in the cooperative is significantly higher when the size of cultivated rice farmland is greater. These results indicate that the benefits of the cooperative appear to be overestimated considering the vigorous policy supports for FPCs from the Chinese government.

Participation in farmer's cooperatives and its effects on agricultural incomes : evidence from vegetable-producing areas in China

Chinese agricultural cooperatives, called Farmer's Professional Cooperatives (FPCs), are expected to become a major tool to facilitate agro-industrialization for small farmers through the diffusion of new technologies, the supply of high-quality agricultural inputs and the marketing of their products. This study compares FPC participants with vegetable-producing non-participants and grain farmers in vegetable-producing areas in rural China to investigate the treatment effect of participation in FPCs as well as implementation of vegetable cultivation. I adopt parametric and nonparametric approaches to precisely estimate the treatment effects. Estimated results indicate no significant difference between participants and non-participants of FPCs on agricultural net income in both parametric and non-parametric estimations. In contrast, the comparison between vegetable and grain farmers using propensity score matching (PSM) reveals that the treatment effect of vegetable cultivation is significantly positive for total and agricultural incomes, although vegetable cultivation involves more labor-intensive efforts. These results indicate that it is the implementation of vegetable cultivation rather than the participation in an FPC that enhances the economic welfare of farmers, due to the non-excludability of FPCs' services as well as the risks involved in vegetable cultivation.

Avaliação de impacto do Proagro Mais: um estudo de caso

Esta pesquisa avalia o impacto do \"Programa de Garantia da Atividade Agropecuária\" para agricultores familiares, conhecido como Proagro Mais. A relevância do trabalho fundamenta-se no considerável tamanho do Programa dentro do contexto das políticas de gestão de risco agrícola no Brasil. Além disso, é a primeira pesquisa desse tipo na literatura científica do país. A amostra é formada por produtores de milho do Estado do Paraná, tendo como linha base o ano de 2003, uma vez que é o ano anterior ao lançamento do Proagro Mais, e o ano de 2005 como ano de impacto. A base de dados utilizada neste estudo foi fornecida pelo Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), cujas variáveis relevantes incluem características da cultura e dos agricultores familiares, como área financiada, atividades agrícolas complementares, educação e rendimento esperado. Adicionalmente, a partir de outras fontes públicas, foram adicionadas variáveis meteorológicas e regionais para controlar a localização da fazenda. O objetivo da pesquisa é avaliar o impacto do Proagro Mais sobre o montante de crédito por hectare concedido aos beneficiários do Programa. As metodologias usadas incluem o Propensity Score Matching (PSM), a Diferença das Diferenças (DID) e dois estimadores condicionais do DID com PSM usando dados em painel e repeated cross-section. As estimativas econométricas mostram que o Efeito Médio do Tratamento nos Tratados (EMTT) teve sinal negativo na maioria dos modelos revelando que, após o período de perda de rendimento, o grupo de controle teve um valor médio mais elevado de crédito por hectare do que os beneficiários do Proagro Mais. Os resultados sugerem a existência de mecanismos que poderiam complementar ou substituir o Proagro Mais como instrumento de gestão de risco agrícola, mas também podem sugerir que o Programa avaliado não cubra todos os riscos do setor.

Efecto de las TIC en el rendimiento educativo: el Programa Conectar Igualdad en la Argentina

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en determinar cuál es el “premio”, en términos de rendimiento educativo, de los estudiantes beneficiados con el Programa Conectar Igualdad con respecto a aquellos que no participaron en él. Con este fin, se emplea la técnica de emparejamiento o método de psm (propensity score matching). Se describen los antecedentes del Programa, así como el marco teórico con que se definen los factores explicativos del rendimiento educativo y que posiblemente inciden en la probabilidad de participar en el Programa. La población bajo estudio son los estudiantes de 15 años de la Argentina. Se emplean datos del Programa Internacional de Evaluación de Estudiantes (PISA) correspondientes al año 2012. De acuerdo con los resultados obtenidos, existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el rendimiento educativo promedio derivadas de la participación en el Programa Conectar Igualdad.

Performance of small and medium enterprises and the impact of environmental variables: evidence from Vietnam

thesis is developed from a real life application of performance evaluation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. The thesis presents two main methodological developments on evaluation of dichotomous environment variable impacts on technical efficiency. Taking into account the selection bias the thesis proposes a revised frontier separation approach for the seminal Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model which was developed by Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes (1981). The revised frontier separation approach is based on a nearest neighbour propensity score matching pairing treated SMEs with their counterfactuals on the propensity score. The thesis develops order-m frontier conditioning on propensity score from the conditional order-m approach proposed by Cazals, Florens, and Simar (2002), advocated by Daraio and Simar (2005). By this development, the thesis allows the application of the conditional order-m approach with a dichotomous environment variable taking into account the existence of the self-selection problem of impact evaluation. Monte Carlo style simulations have been built to examine the effectiveness of the aforementioned developments. Methodological developments of the thesis are applied in empirical studies to evaluate the impact of training programmes on the performance of food processing SMEs and the impact of exporting on technical efficiency of textile and garment SMEs of Vietnam. The analysis shows that training programmes have no significant impact on the technical efficiency of food processing SMEs. Moreover, the analysis confirms the conclusion of the export literature that exporters are self selected into the sector. The thesis finds no significant impact from exporting activities on technical efficiency of textile and garment SMEs. However, large bias has been eliminated by the proposed approach. Results of empirical studies contribute to the understanding of the impact of different environmental variables on the performance of SMEs. It helps policy makers to design proper policy supporting the development of Vietnamese SMEs.

The effects of foreign acquisition on domestic and export markets dynamics in China

Using recent data from the Chinese manufacturing industry and the generalised propensity score, this paper establishes economically significant causal effects of foreign acquisition on domestic and export markets dynamics.

Employment effects of privatisation and foreign acquisition of Chinese state-owned enterprises

This paper investigates the effects of domestic privatisation or foreign acquisition of Chinese State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) on employment growth, using firm level data for China and a combination of propensity score matching and difference-in-differences in order to identify the causal effect. Our results suggest that, controlling for output growth there is some evidence that domestic privatisation leads to contemporaneous reductions in employment growth compared to firms that did not undergo an ownership change. By contrast, there is some evidence that foreign acquisitions show higher employment growth in the post acquisition period than non-acquired SOEs.

Full and partial privatization in China:the labor consequences

This paper is the first paper to present findings evaluating the consequences for employees of full and partial privatization using difference-in-differences combined with propensity score matching. We find: (1) partial privatization causes job creation in contrast to full privatization, which destroys jobs, (2) full privatization causes higher labor productivity improvement than partial privatization, (3) wage increases occur only in partially privatized firms and (4) there are small increases in labor quality investment in both cases. The results suggest partial privatization exploits market discipline to induce labor productivity whilst simultaneously providing welfare improvements for labor. This is the ‘win-win’ outcome predicted by the ‘helping hand’ theory of government. Our results suggest that governments are likely to gain wider support for a program of partial privatization rather than full privatization.

Consumer trial, continuous use, and economic benefits of a retail service innovation:the case of the personal shopping assistant

Service innovations in retailing have the potential to benefit consumers as well as retailers. This research models key factors associated with the trial and continuous use of a specific self-service technology (SST), the personal shopping assistant (PSA), and estimates retailer benefits from implementing that innovation. Based on theoretical insights from prior SST studies, diffusion of innovation literature, and the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study develops specific hypotheses and tests them on a sample of 104 actual users of the PSA and 345 nonusers who shopped at the retail store offering the PSA device. Results indicate that factors affecting initial trial are different from those affecting continuous use. More specifically, consumers' trust toward the retailer, novelty seeking, and market mavenism are positively related to trial, while technology anxiety hinders the likelihood of trying the PSA. Perceived ease of use of the device positively impacts continuous use while consumers' need for interaction in shopping environments reduces the likelihood of continuous use. Importantly, there is evidence on retailer benefits from introducing the innovation since consumers using the PSA tend to spend more during each shopping trip. However, given the high costs of technology, the payback period for recovery of investments in innovation depends largely upon continued use of the innovation by consumers. Important implications are provided for retailers considering investments in new in-store service innovations. Incorporation of technology within physical stores affords opportunities for the retailer to reduce costs, while enhancing service provided to consumers. Therefore, service innovations in retailing have the potential to benefit consumers as well as retailers. This research models key factors associated with the trial and continuous use of a specific SST in the retail context, the PSA, and estimates retailer benefits from implementing that innovation. In so doing, the study contributes to the nascent area of research on SSTs in the retail sector. Based on theoretical insights from prior SST studies, diffusion of innovation literature, and the TAM, this study develops specific hypotheses regarding the (1) antecedent effects of technological anxiety, novelty seeking, market mavenism, and trust in the retailer on trial of the service innovation; (2) the effects of ease of use, perceived waiting time, and need for interaction on continuous use of the innovation; and (3) the effect of use of innovation on consumer spending at the store. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 104 actual users of the PSA and 345 nonusers who shopped at the retail store offering the PSA device, one of the early adopters of PSA in Germany. Data were analyzed using logistic regression (antecedents of trial), multiple regression (antecedents of continuous use), and propensity score matching (assessing retailer benefits). Results indicate that factors affecting initial trial are different from those affecting continuous use. More specifically, consumers' trust toward the retailer, novelty seeking, and market mavenism are positively related to trial, while technology anxiety hinders the likelihood of trying the PSA. Perceived ease of use of the device positively impacts continuous use, while consumers' need for interaction in shopping environments reduces the likelihood of continuous use. Importantly, there is evidence on retailer benefits from introducing the innovation since consumers using the PSA tend to spend more during each shopping trip. However, given the high costs of technology, the payback period for recovery of investments in innovation depends largely upon continued use of the innovation by consumers. Important implications are provided for retailers considering investments in new in-store service innovations. The study contributes to the literature through its (1) simultaneous examination of antecedents of trial and continuous usage of a specific SST, (2) the demonstration of economic benefits of SST introduction for the retailer, and (3) contribution to the stream of research on service innovation, as against product innovation.

Do work placements improve final year academic performance or do high-calibre students choose to do work placements?

This study investigates whether the completion of an optional sandwich work placement enhances student performance in final year examinations. Using Propensity Score Matching, our analysis departs from the literature by controlling for self-selection. Previous studies may have overestimated the impact of sandwich work placements on performance because it might be the case that high-calibre students choose to go on placement. Our results, utilising a large student data set, indicate that self-selection is present, but the effects of a placement on student performance still have an impact. This robust finding is found to be of a remarkably similar magnitude across two UK universities.