As researchers, recognizing and capturing once-in-a-lifetime events in real-time is essential. The researchers felt compelled to document the impacts of the natural disasters, pandemics, and bridge closures that directly affected the geographical area in which they lived. These sequential crises touched countless lives in the region. Most critically, disseminating and recording these rapid developments has been vital so that others may learn from this time when faced with similar situations. It is the duty of researchers immersed in such extraordinary circumstances to acknowledge and examine the implications in the moment, given the singularity of living through consecutive disasters of this nature. Drawing on the propositions of the social exchange theory SET), the purpose of this study is twofold, (a) evaluating the predictive power of natural disasters (i.e., Hurricane Sally, COVID-19 pandemic) and a related event (i.e., Pensacola Bay Bridge closure) toward the average stress felt, and (b) exploring the outcomes of these disasters and the related event on employees’ work lives and local economy. The data were gathered from a sample of 305 individuals via an online survey instrument. The respondents were those impacted by the closure of a critical bridge while commuting to and from their place of employment. Multiple regression, graphical, and descriptive analyses were conducted. The bridge closure was found to be the event associated with the highest level of stress. Findings provide valuable practical implications for global business in employee stress management, especially during natural disasters and corresponding events. Further practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Taxes such as the Florida Tourist Development Taxes are popular in the United States. Earlier research on rate increases for these bed taxes identified a surprising short-term decline in pre-tax lodging spending. We address the surprise with hotel data that include price and quantity measures. Results show that when Florida counties increase the rate, room rental quantity reductions can occur. As prices charged by operators generally do not change, the Florida lodging industry faces the risk of potential loss of revenue when rate increases are enacted. This risk partially explains why counties have not moved quickly to the statutory maximum.

Students often identify specific moments or specific individuals who changed the courses of their academic experience, choices of careers, or the paths of their careers. Business schools have attempted to frame these moments and experiences in the form of high-impact practices (HIP). This research examines a live case competition with business professionals as judges. We have incorporated survey results from student participants, comments from competition judges, and interviews with former participants. The former participants explain how this competition affected their careers and educational experiences. We incorporate the perceptions of students, industry judges, and former participants to give a unique view of this HIP. We also blend empirical analysis, using qualitative and quantitative methods. The research contributes to the marketing education literature in unusual if not unique ways because of the interviews with former participants who have advanced in their careers. This research also underscores the idea that live case competitions of this nature have substantial impacts on students’ academic experiences and their careers, so such case competitions have earned the designation of High Impact Practice.

One aspect of taxation in Florida is unique in that state policymakers have created several different tourist development taxes, generally allowing local governments to adopt up to four of these ad valorem levies (which can total 5%) on transient rentals. The rentals include, but are not limited to, hotel stays. In this article, we estimate the elasticity of this local tax base with respect to the rate for Florida counties with rate changes between 1998 and 2012. Results indicate several significant and large short-term declines from periodic county-level increases in the tax rate, but no significant long-term effects.

This paper presents a critical view of Florida's photovoltaic (PV) subsidy system and proposes an econometric model of PV system installation and generation costs. Using information on currently installed systems, average installation cost relations for residential and commercial systems are estimated and cost-efficient scales of installation panel wattage are identified. Productive efficiency in annual generating capacity is also examined under flexible panel efficiency assumptions. We identify potential gains in efficiency and suggest changes in subsidy system constraints, providing important guidance for the implementation of future incentive programs. Specifically, we find that the subsidy system discouraged residential applicants from installing at the cost-efficient scale but over-incentivized commercial applicants, resulting in inefficiently sized installations.

We use a frontier production function estimation technique to analyze whether elementary schools in Florida are operating at an efficient level and to explain any inefficiencies. A motivation for this analysis comes from recent state and federal level educational initiatives designed to improve school accountability and reduce class sizes. Results presented here indicate that while Florida elementary schools are not operating at efficient levels (with regional mean inefficiency estimates in the 4.1–5.1% range), they compare favorably to published results for other states. One factor associated with higher inefficiency is student promotion rates—something which does lie within the purview of school administrators and may have important policy implications. However, other factors associated with higher inefficiency (percent free-lunch eligible, higher crime and violence, higher suspension rates and not having a parent–teacher organization) are indicators of conditions that lie largely beyond the direct control of public schools, casting doubt on the effectiveness of recent accountability measures to improve efficiency.

Abstract Using a production function approach, we analyze the marginal effects of parent teacher groups (PTG's) on mathematical achievement of fifth graders in Florida. First, we hypothesize that there is a positive and significant effect on student achievement resulting from having any kind of PTG. Second, we hypothesize that there is no significant difference among types of PTG's on student achievement. Finally, we consider the effect of the extent of membership in PTG's on student achievement. We hypothesize that, controlling for student population, higher PTA membership is associated with higher student achievement. We find support for all three of our hypotheses and discuss relevant policy implications. Key words: student achievement, production function, parental involvement, parent teacher association, parent teacher group, parent teacher organization Introduction Parental involvement in the educational process has received a growing amount of attention since the publication of the famous "Coleman Report" (Coleman et al., 1966) in which family and peer effects were found to be more important than school effects in explaining educational outcomes. While this report spawned a host of subsequent investigations demonstrating that school effects (especially teachers) are also important (see Hanushek, 1986, for a summary), the importance of parental involvement in the educational achievement of students remains an important research question. In this current endeavor, we investigate a particular type of parental involvement-involvement in parent teacher groups (PTG's)-to test three different research hypotheses.1 First, we wish to test whether PTG's can have a positive influence on student achievement. Using a data set for elementary schools in Florida, we find support for our hypothesis that having any kind of PTG is associated with higher mathematics achievement scores of fifth graders in Florida. Next, we wish to investigate whether the type of PTG (PTA vs. PTO vs. Alternative) matters. We find no significant difference among PTG types on mathematical achievement. This is an important finding since (a) trends in PTG membership suggest a growing preference for PTO's vs. PTA's, and (b) the financial impact on local schools may differ significantly based on organizational type. Results presented here suggest that the trend toward (less expensive) PTO's and Alternative organizations may be justified. Finally, we test whether the extent of PTG membership is positively associated with student achievement. Due to data limitations, we are only able to estimate the effect of PTA membership on student achievement. We find that higher PTA membership is, in fact, associated with higher student achievement. Background Following Muller and Kerbow (1993), there are three main areas or "contexts" in which parental involvement takes place: (a) at home (Fehrmann et al., 1987; Lee, 1993; White, 1982; Yap & Enoki, 1995; Zellman & Waterman, 1998), (b) in the community (Coleman, 1987; Jaggia & Kelley-Hawke, 1999; Muller & Kerbow, 1993), and (c) in the school (Epstein, 1992, Epstein & Dauber, 1991; Muller & Kerbow, 1993; Stevenson & Baker, 1987). From a policy perspective, parental involvement in the school is perhaps the most important area for analysis since this can be controlled directly (as opposed to indirectly through parental involvement in the home) by educators and administrators (see Feuerstein, 2000). Parental involvement in schools can occur in a variety of ways. Among these are (a) volunteering directly in the classroom, (b) attending or participating in children's activities at school, and (c) participating in a PTG. Empirical support for the effect of parental involvement in these three areas is mixed. Stevenson and Baker (1987, p. 1350), using a sample of 179 teachers and children, test the effect of parental involvement in "activities of the school such as PTO and parent-teacher conferences" on student achievement. …

This study presents a latent variable framework to provide consistent and efficient estimates of market values of amenities. A model for property values of residential housing using different indicators for neighborhood quality and property value is estimated using data from the U.S. American Housing Survey. The estimated effect of neighborhood quality on property values is positive and more significant compared to the estimates obtained by ordinary least squares and instrumental variable methods. Variances of errors of measurement and variances of the latent structures are shown to be positive and significant without imposing nonnegativity restrictions.

This study undertakes the task of simplifying the complex problem of classifying workers as either an employee or an independent contractor for income tax withholding purposes. Historically, the Internal Revenue Service has relied on twenty common law factors to determine whether a worker in a given context is an employee or an independent contractor. Logistic regression is used to estimate the parameters of a model using data obtained from Private Letter Rulings from 1988 through a portion of 1993. The model is highly accurate in correctly classifying workers as either employee or independent contractor. The final model is successful relying on only five of the twenty common law factors. The most important variables are whether the employer has the right to require either oral or written reports, set the hours of work, and whether the worker can earn a profit or sustain a loss. These findings are robust for each of the years in the study. Using five independent variables, the model has an prediction accuracy rate of 98.5 percent using sample data. An out-of-sample test was performed and the overall accuracy rate was 94.7 percent. The model possesses excellent predictive abilities both within sample and without.

Multivariate vector autoregression analyses were undertaken to investigate whether or not aggregate consumer attitude and expectation measures such as the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment and Consumer Expectations and the Conference Board Index of Consumer Confidence and Consumer Expectations possessed a priori information not contained in certain economic variables which might be useful in anticipating changes in future aggregate consumer expenditures. The multivariate vector autoregression analyses indicated that the aggregate consumer expectation measures led the aggregate consumer expenditure measures more often than did the economic indicators. Thus, the aggregate consumer expectation measures appeared to provide predictive power not possessed by the economic indicators in the analyses.PsycINFO classification: SC 11470; SC 18460; SC 15915

Since 1987 the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has relied on twenty common law factors for guidance in determining whether a worker is an emplyoee or an independent contractor. This study presents new evidence on the task of simplifying that complex classification problem. Neural network methodology is used to classify workers using data obtained from Private Letter Rulings issued by the Internal Revenue Service from 1988 through a portion of 1993, a data set not previously used for this purpose. The model is highly accurate in correctly classifying workers as either employees or independent contractors. The overall prediction success rate using sample data was 97.2 percent and drops to 91.4 percent when a holdout sample was used. These findings are robust for each of the years in the study. For comparison purposes, classification results using logistic regression are also included. Results from both methodologies are identical.

In this paper we examine the relationship over time of the No. 11 (World) and the No. 14 (US) sugar futures contracts, traded on the New York Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange. Using daily price data for a 14 year period, we examine statistical linkages between domestic and world futures contracts. Our results suggest that the US and world markets exhibit strong linkages during periods when US imports are under tariff (1977–1982), but the US market is effectively insulated from world price changes by the operation of the quota program (1982–1990). The pattern of causality runs from the world to the US market during the tariff period. The US market does not appear to influence world market prices during either the tariff or the quota period.

In reaching an injury determination in U.S. antidumping and antisubsidy cases, the potentially injured domestic industry and thus scope of an investigation must be defined. However, a systematic process of market definition has yet to evolve in ITC decision making, leaving the question to instead be considered on a case by case basis. Cluster analysis of commuter aircraft cases suggests that current ITC practice may often lead to a definition of domestic industry which is too narrow.

This paper explores the possibility of using market data to identify consumer preferences. A utility function composed of 'homogeneous' characteristics and goods-specific effects is used as a basic link between the goods space and the characteristics space. The functional form for the hedonic price equation, the data requirements and issues of measurement errors for estimating demand and supply of characteristics are discussed. We illustrate the methodology by considering the US automobile demand using 1969-86 data compiled from Consumer Reports and Ward's Automotive Yearbook.

Some econometric issues associated with the characteristics approach to simplify complex market structures, where many differentiated products interact, to a smaller number of homogeneous attributes are considered. These include the choice of functional form for the hedonic price equation, the data requirement for the identification of market demand and supply of characteristics, and the practical method for selecting characteristics to represent differentiated products. The implicit market for U.S, automobile demand is analyzed to illustrate our approach.