The dramatic decline in unionization over the last decade is investigated in the context of a supply/demand model of union status determination using data from surveys of workers conducted in 1977 and 1984 along with data from the National Labor Relations Board on representation elections. It is concluded that the decline in unionization since 1977 is accounted for largely by (1) an increase in employer resistance to unionization, probably due to increased product market competitiveness and (2) a decrease in demand for union representation by nonunion workers due to an increase in the satisfaction of nonunion workers with their jobs and a decline in nonunion workers' beliefs that unions are able to improve wages and working conditions.

Abstract. This paper discusses the decentralization of production and cost decisions in a multidivisional firm via divisional performance measurement systems based on accounting information. The model firm has a single producing division that supplies goods to several consuming divisions for further processing and sale on external markets. Production is assumed to be characterized, in the long run, by constant returns to scale, and, in the short run, by constant unit variable cost up to a fixed capacity, which imposes a short‐run fixed cost. It is also assumed that the final products sold on external markets face downward sloping demand. The firm's accounting information system transmits a comprehensive record of quantities, revenues, and costs resulting from realized transactions, including the classification of costs between fixed and variable, but transmits no information concerning unrealized production, cost, and revenue possibilities. The paper shows that such information is not sufficient to motivate short‐run profit maximization, which requires the optimal allocation of scarce producing division capacity among the competing demands of the consuming division. However, in the long run, a more positive result is obtained. A class of transfer price mechanisms, termed profit‐sharing systems , leads net‐income maximizing division managers to optimal production decisions and cost ‐efficient technology choices in the long run. Moreover, it is shown that the profit‐sharing transfer price is equal to the “arm's‐length” negotiated price determined by the Nash bargaining solution. Résumé. L'auteur traite de la décentralisation des décisions relatives à la fabrication et aux coûts dans une entreprise à divisions multiples, par l'intermédiaire de systèmes de mesure du rendement divisionnaire fondés sur l'information comptable. L'entreprise type possède une seule division de fabrication qui approvisionne plusieurs divisions consommatrices en produits intermédiaires qui sont retraités par elles et vendus sur les marchés extérieurs. L'auteur suppose que la fabrication se caractérise à long terme par des rendements d'échelle constants, et à court terme par des coûts variables unitaires constants au regard d'une capacité établie qui suppose un coût fixe à court terme. Il pose également l'hypothèse que la demande pour les produits finis vendus sur les marchés extérieurs connaît un déclin. Le système d'information comptable de l'entreprise comporte un registre complet des renseignements concernant les quantités fabriquées, les produits d'exploitation et les coûts relatifs aux opérations ainsi conclues, avec classification des coûts fixes et varibles, mais ne livre aucune information relative aux possibilités de fabrication, de coûts et de produits d'exploitation auxquelles l'entreprise a renoncé. L'auteur montre que cette information ne suffit pas à motiver la maximisation des bénéfices à court terme, qui exige l'affectation optimale des capacités de fabrication limitées de la division de fabrication entre les divisions consommatrices dont les demandes sont en concurrence. À long terme, l'on obtient cependant un résultat plus positif. En effet, un ensemble de mécanismes touchant l'établissement des prix de cession, qu l'on appelle les systèmes d'intéressement, amène les gestionnaires qui cherchent à maximiser le bénéfice net de leur division à des décisions optimales de fabrication et à des choix économiques rationnels en matière de technologie. On constate en outre que le prix de cession en système d'intéressement est équivalent au prix négocié « sans lien de dépendance » déterminé selon la solution de négociation de Nash.

Auditing, Audit quality, Audit performance, Time pressure

A formal model of occupational choice is developed that shows the extent to which the compensation for increased duration exceeds that for increased risk. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics linked to industry data on injuries and unemployment, we find nearly all the compensating wage differential for losses due to workplace injuries is for increases in the duration of loss and similarly for losses due to cyclical unemployment. The compensating differentials for risk of injury are larger for union than for nonunion workers, while those for cyclical unemployment are smaller for union workers.

This article is a reexamination of the clearing and settlement process in financial markets (particularly the futures market) and its performance during the 1987 stock market crash. It provides both some institutional background and some conceptual perspective on the problems faced by the system during the week of October 19. Much of the discussion is based on the useful analogies that can be drawn between the clearinghouse and other financial intermediaries, such as banks and insurance companies. A major conclusion is that the Federal Reserve played a vital role in protecting the integrity of the clearing and settlements system during the crash.

[This article is a reexamination of the clearing and settlement process in financial markets (particularly the futures market) and its performance during the 1987 stock market crash. It provides both some institutional background and some conceptual perspective on the problems faced by the system during the week of October 19. Much of the discussion is based on the useful analogies that can be drawn between the clearinghouse and other financial intermediaries, such as banks and insurance companies. A major conclusion is that the Federal Reserve played a vital role in protecting the integrity of the clearing and settlements system during the crash.]

The comparative ability of valuation rules using economy-weighted versus industry-weighted price indexes to estimate the unobserved economic value of a basket of assets in modelled. Industry-weighted indexes do not necessarily provide valuations of higher accuracy than economy-weighted indexes. Dominance depends on (1) the relative magnitude of the mean and variability of price changes and (2) the magnitude of errors of measurement in the current price data. Larger measurement errors favor economy-weighted indexes; larger mean and variability of prices changes favor industry-weighted indexes.

This paper provides empirical evidence on the information in the term structure for longer maturities about both future inflation and the term structure of real interest rates. The evidence indicates that there is substantial information in the longer maturity term structure about future inflation: the slope of the term structure does have a great deal of predictive power for future changes in inflation. On the other hand, at the longer maturities, the term structure of nominal interest rates contains very little information about the term structure of real interest rates. These results are strikingly different from those found for very short-term maturities, six months or less, in previous work. For maturities of six months or less, the term structure contains no information about the future path of inflation, but it does contain a great deal of information about the term structure of real interest rates. The evidence in this paper does indicate that, at longer maturities, the term structure of interest rates can be used to help assess future inflationary pressures: when the slope of the term structure steepens, it is an indication that the inflation rate will rise in the future and when the slope falls, it is an indication that the inflation rate will fall. However, we must still remain cautious about using the evidence presented here to advocate that the Federal Reserve should target on the term structure in conducting monetary policy. A change in Federal Reserve operating procedures which focuses on the term structure may well cause the relationship between the term structure and future inflation to shift, with the result that the term structure no longer remains an accurate guide to the path of future inflation. If this were to occur, Federal Reserve monetary policy could go far astray by focusing on the term structure of interest rates.