Analyst forecasts, Analyst forecast errors, Correlated forecast errors, Private information

Studies by Vermaelen (1981) and others indicate that the positive excess stock returns around self-tender offer announcements are the result of a signal of future earnings improvements. Comment and Jarrell (1991), Lee, Mikkelson and Partch (1992) and Persons (1994) argue that the signal in fixed-price self-tender offers should be stronger than the signal in Dutch auction self-tender offers. This study tests whether the earnings improvement following fixed-price self-tender offers is greater than that following Dutch auction self-tender offers. We find some evidence that earnings improve following both types of self-tender offers. However, we find no difference in earnings improvement between the two types of offers.

Technological innovation has reduced the effect of diabetes. Diabetic behavioral modification in the face and expectation of medical improvement should lead to improved labor market outcomes. This article uses three cross‐sectional data sets, from 1976, 1989, and 1992, to document improvements in diabetic labor market performance. Women diabetics have significantly increased their labor force participation while male diabetics have slightly reduced their participation relative to nondiabetics.

This study quantifies the roles of national, region‐specific, and industry‐specific shocks in aggregate employment fluctuations in U.S. regions and industries. Variation among the growth rates of major regions and industries is decomposed into unobserved national, region‐, and industry‐specific components. The results reject the view that any heterogeneity in regional fluctuations is attributable to differences in industry composition. After controlling for industry mix effects, roughly 40% of the variance of the cyclical innovation in any region's growth rate is particular to that region. In addition, region‐specific shocks appear to propagate across regions over time.

Disclosures, Contingent liabilities, SFAS No. 52, Environmental liability

In 1990 Wisconsin began providing vouchers to a small number of low-income students to attend nonsectarian private schools. Controlling for individual fixedeffects, I compare the test scores of students selected to attend a participating private school with those of unsuccessful applicants and other students from the Milwaukee public schools. I find that students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program had faster math score gains than, but similar reading score gains to, the comparison groups. The results appear robust to data imputations and sample attrition, although these deficiencies of the data should be kept in mind when interpreting the results.

The authors propose models with an ascriptive characteristic generating earnings differentials and causing sectoral sorting, allowing them to distinguish among sources producing such differentials. They use longitudinal data on a large sample of graduates from one law school and measure beauty by rating matriculation photographs. Better-looking attorneys who graduated in the 1970s earned more than others after five years of practice, an effect that grew with experience. Attorneys in the private sector are better-looking than those in the public sector, differences that rise with age. These results support theories of dynamic sorting and customer behavior. Copyright 1998 by University of Chicago Press.