We develop an integrated model in which a risk-neutral informed trader optimally chooses any combination of a market buy, a market sell, a limit buy including the limit buy price, and a limit sell including the limit sell price. Limit orders undercut the market maker and generate transactions inside the bid-ask spread. The informed trader exploits limit orders by submitting market orders even when the terminal value is inside the spread. When the terminal value is above the bid, a combined market buy-limit sell is more profitable than a market buy only. We obtain an analytic solution. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D40, D82, G12, G14.

This article explores the measurement of labor force dynamics using longitudinal data, focusing in particular on the Canadian Labour Market Activity Survey (LMAS), which represents a potential advance in longitudinal data collection because it measures aspects of dynamics not available in existing panel data such as the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the National Longitudinal Survey. We examine the implications of the LMAS questionnaire structure-the LMAS filter-for the study of labor market dynamics and undertake simulations to provide a quantitative assessment of the importance of this filter for labor force spells and transitions between labor force states.

This paper reviews recent research on franchising and capital structure. Several key variables that affect capital costs and are common to franchised businesses are identified. The question whether or not franchising exists because franchisees provide capital that has no close substitutes for pioneering entrepreneurs is explored and criticized because alternatives to franchisees' funds are readily available and not used by franchisers. The role of franchisee financing is also examined as a key feature of capital structure in these types of industries.

A definition of extended memory is provided, generalizing the ideas of long memory and persistence, based on the properties of forecasts over long horizons. Specification of nonlinear models with variables having extended memory is considered in terms of the balance of an equation and it is suggested that many more types of misspecification can occur than with usual situations and could produce important specification errors. Tests of linearity and standard methods of nonlinear modeling are briefly considered and advice is given on circumstances in which they can be used. Copyright 1995 by The Econometric Society.

Abstract. Rent‐seeking by U.S. corporations, through tax accounting rules, is examined with respect to tax law changes in the 1980s. Results are supportive of theory. Campaign contributions by firms' Political Action Committees (and by their officers, directors, and employees) to tax‐writing members of Congress, prior to two tax law changes, are functions of industry concentration and anticipated (specific) tax accounting rule changes, the latter were drawn from footnotes of firms' financial statements. Other uses of the data for financial accounting research are discussed. Résumé. Les auteurs se penchent sur le cas des sociétés qui, aux États‐Unis, cherchent à promouvoir leurs propres intérêts, en s'efforçant d'influer sur le contenu des règles de comptabilité fiscale, relativement aux modifications qui ont été apportées à la loi fiscale dans les années 80. Les résultats obtenus confirment la théorie. Les contributions versées aux campagnes par les comités d'action politique des entreprises (et par leurs dirigeants, leurs administrateurs et leurs employés) aux membres du Congrès responsables de l'élaboration de la loi fiscale, avant les deux modifications apportées à cette loi, sont fonction de la concentration sectorielle et des changements anticipés dans l'apport de modifications (précises) des règles de comptabilité fiscale. Les mesures de cet apport ont été tirées des notes aux états financiers des entreprises. Les auteurs étudient d'autres usages possibles des données recueillies aux fins de la recherche en comptabilité financière.

This paper considers an alternative asymptotic framework to standard sequential asymptotics for nonlinear models with deterministically trending variables. The asymptotic distributions of generalized method of moments estimators and corresponding test statistics are derived using this framework. The asymptotic distributions are shown to be the same with deterministically trending variables as with non-trending variables. That is, the distributions are normal and chi-squared respectively. The asymptotic covariance matrices of the estimators, however, are found to depend on the form of the trends. These findings provide a justification for the use of standard asymptotic approximations in nonlinear models even when the variables have deterministic trends.

Su Han Chan, George W. Gau, Ko Wang, Stock Market Reaction to Capital Investment Decisions: Evidence from Business Relocations, The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Mar., 1995), pp. 81-100

[This paper examines the impact of product mix heterogeneity (PMH) on manufacturing overhead costs (MOHC) in three plants of a textile firm. An approach for measuring PMH is adapted from the group technology literature of operations. Factor analysis of product engineering specifications identifies seven forms of PMH for woven fabrics. Regression analysis indicates that two of the seven forms of heterogeneity are costly: differences in processing efficiency and in customer-specified quality requirements. The new measures of PMH perform better in estimating MOHC than the traditional measure of PMH, the number of products produced. Finally, the paper provides evidence that experience producing a heterogeneous mix of products mitigates costs of PMH.]

This study is concerned with the determinants of dominant language fluency, its effects on earnings, and its endogeneity with earnings among immigrants. Dominant language fluency is hypothesized to be a function of three fundamental variables: exposure to the language, efficiency in second language acquisition, and economic benefits from language fluency. Conceptual variables with empirical counterparts are developed. Earnings are hypothesized to be a function of language skills, among other variables. Ordinary least squares, instrumental variables, and sample selection bias techniques are used to estimate the equations for Australia. Comparisons are made with analyses for the United States, Canada, and Israel. Copyright 1995 by University of Chicago Press.