Using Student Performance Data to Identify Effective Classroom Practices by John H. Tyler, Eric S. Taylor, Thomas J. Kane and Amy L. Wooten. Published in volume 100, issue 2, pages 256-60 of American Economic Review, May 2010

We examine the risky choices of contestants in the popular TV game show "Deal or No Deal" and related classroom experiments. Contrary to the traditional view of expected utility theory, the choices can be explained in large part by previous outcomes experienced during the game. Risk aversion decreases after earlier expectations have been shattered by unfavorable outcomes or surpassed by favorable outcomes. Our results point to reference-dependent choice theories such as prospect theory, and suggest that path-dependence is relevant, even when the choice problems are simple and well defined, and when large real monetary amounts are at stake.

The Winner's Curse and Public Information in Common Value Auctions: Reply by Colin M. Campbell, John H. Kagel and Dan Levin. Published in volume 89, issue 1, pages 325-334 of American Economic Review, March 1999

Fifty Years of U.S. Income Data from the Current Population Survey: Alternatives, Trends, and Quality by Daniel H. Weinberg, Charles T. Nelson, Marc I. Roemer and Edward J. Welniak. Published in volume 89, issue 2, pages 18-22 of American Economic Review, May 1999

We examine whether public financial statement information is incrementally useful in forecasting confidential taxable income. More precise firm-level taxable income forecasts can improve policymakers' modeling of the tax system and the analysis of proposed changes in corporate tax law, while more accurate macro-level forecasts of corporate taxable income can improve estimates of corporate tax revenues, a significant component of the federal budget. We find the addition of financial statement information improves firm- and industry-level estimates of future taxable income by primarily providing more timely information, but also through accruals. Our results suggest that macroeconomic forecasts of taxable income may be further improved by the aggregation of firm-level forecasts that are generated using financial statement information. Importantly, our results are driven primarily by tax information in financial statements. We also contribute to the research on the information content of financial statement information for forecasting economic activity.

As part of a federal government initiative to increase efficiency and quality, in 1996 the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) radically restructured its organizational design and management processes. This study uses 1992–1998 clinical, workload, and financial data to examine the effect of this reform on performance. Several previous government attempts to introduce private sector management practices, such as management by objectives (MBO) or program planning and budgeting system (PPBS), have been largely unsuccessful. In contrast to prior reforms, the current restructuring introduced coordinated changes in the VHA organizational structure, performance measurement, and reward systems. Our results document that, following the reorganization, the VHA cost per patient declined significantly and various quality measures improved. Our analysis suggests that reduction in excess capacity and the more intense use of remaining capacity are among the primary explanations for the VHA achieving the observed cost reductions. These findings suggest that coordinated changes in organizational structure, performance measures, and incentives can create value for public enterprises even though control mechanisms are generally more limited in these environments than in the private sector.

This study reports the results of three experiments that examine how preferences for wealth and honesty affect managerial reporting. We find that subjects often sacrifice wealth to make honest or partially honest reports, and they generally do not lie more as the payoff to lying increases. We also find less honesty under a contract that provides a smaller share of the total surplus to the manager than under one that provides a larger share, suggesting that the extent of honesty may depend on how the surplus is divided between the manager and the firm. The optimal agency contract yields more firm profit than a contract that relies exclusively on honest reporting. However, a modified version of the optimal agency contract, which makes use of subjects' preferences for honest reporting, yields the highest firm profit. These results suggest that firms may be able to design more profitable employment contracts than those identified by conventional economic analysis.

This article presents the findings of the report of the committee, appointed by President Charles J. Gaa as a task committee operating under the Joint Committee on Education, to receive and review the Ford and Carnegie reports for the American Accounting Association. The two reports--"Higher Education for Business" by Gordon and Howell, and "The Education of American Businessmen" by Pierson were financed and sponsored by The Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York respectively. The authors of Ford and Carnegie reports, in their extensive surveys found glaring examples of bachelor's degrees given for programs of study, overloaded with business in general or with accounting in particular. The Committee urges that the faculty of each school should read the entire reports so that by carefully trying on each shoe of criticism they may find those, which fit their particular situations. It is also expected that the Ford and Carnegie reports will have an impact on collegiate education for business.

The article presents information about a Committee appointed by the American Accounting Association. The work of the Committee on Monographs during the year, 1943, has been devoted primarily to two projects. The first consisted of preparing a compilation of the releases and pronouncements on accounting matters issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Committee on Accounting Procedure and the Committee on Auditing Procedure of the American Institute of Accountants. The second project was the preparation of a monograph on the principles of consolidated statements. This monograph was written by Dr. Maurice Moonitz of Stanford University, and was reviewed and approved for publication by the Committee. The Committee has also given some attention to two or three other projects and manuscripts. The president of the Committee said that the educational institutions and programs are all being subjected to special stresses and difficult restrictions during the war. The programs of most colleges and universities in fields customarily followed by men have had to be materially curtailed or completely eliminated.