One purpose of an accounting system, or any information system, is to provide a set of signals designed to communicate descriptions of certain past phenomena believed to be decision relevant in the future.' However, it is difficult to evaluate a given or proposed information system because of its complexity. This complexity arises in part because of the interrelated problems of which phenomena to describe and how best to describe them. Since complexity hinders information system evaluation, decomposition of the total interrelated system into a number of less complex subsystems for evaluation purposes is often desirable. Unfortunately, most decomposition will introduce errors into the analysis. But if we can predict the resultant errors, decomposition can still provide a useful surrogate evaluation method. The purpose of this paper is to explore the decomposition approach to information system evaluation, at the conceptual level, relying heavily on Feltham's recently proposed model for predicting the value of information in the single decision case.2

This paper applies a single measure of investment performance to mutual fund portfolios for the 20-year period 1948–1967. It criticizes the efficacy of market indices, at least for the purpose of evaluating aggregate results of managed portfolios; it tests the predictive value of past results in forecasting future performance; and finally, it identifies two factors that are positively related to fund performance during the time period studied.

Journal Article Corporate Taxation and Dividend Behaviour Get access M. S. Feldstein M. S. Feldstein Harvard University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 37, Issue 1, January 1970, Pages 57–72, https://doi.org/10.2307/2296498 Published: 01 January 1970 Article history Received: 01 January 1969 Accepted: 01 May 1969 Published: 01 January 1970

Journal Article The Class of Homothetic Isoquant Production Functions: Programming Revisited Get access Berkeley S. Clemhout Berkeley S. Clemhout University of California, Berkeley Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 37, Issue 2, April 1970, Pages 302–303, https://doi.org/10.2307/2296424 Published: 01 April 1970

Journal Article On Optimal Development in a Multi-Sectoral Economy: the Discounted Case Get access W. R. S. Sutherland W. R. S. Sutherland University of Toronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 37, Issue 4, October 1970, Pages 585–589, https://doi.org/10.2307/2296487 Published: 01 October 1970 Article history Received: 01 May 1969 Revision received: 01 January 1970 Published: 01 October 1970

I. Introduction, 347. — II. Production functions and producer equilibrium, 352. — III. Demand functions and supply of labor, 356. — IV. Equilibrium under laissez-faire, 358. — V. Ideal output, 362. — VI. Taxes, bounties, and optimality rules, 366. — VII. Analysis in terms of consumers' surplus, 373. — VIII. Dynamic stability of the adjustment process, 381.

In a recent issue of this Journal, Professor D. G. Luckett maintained that D. Meiselman's results cannot be considered as discriminating evidence in favor of the first variant of the expectations model, which is based on long-term expectations of future shortterm rates.' While his conclusion may be right, the demonstration he offers does not seem to be correct. The present comment falls into three sections. In Section I Luckett's arguments are briefly reviewed. In Section II it is formally shown why his analysis is not fully acceptable. The empirical relevance of the theoretical arguments put forward in the second section is examined in Section III, with reference to the Italian experience.