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Construct truncation can be defined as the failure to capture variation along the entire continuum of a construct reliably. It can occur due to suboptimal person selection or due to suboptimal item selection. In this thesis, I used a series of simulation studies coupled with real data examples to characterise the consequences of construct truncation on the inferences made in empirical research. The analyses suggested that construct truncation has the potential to result in significant distortions of substantive conclusions. Based on these analyses I developed recommendations for anticipating the circumstances under which construct truncation is likely to be problematic, identifying it when it occurs, and mitigating its adverse effects on substantive conclusions drawn from affected data.

This dissertation analyzes the men's razor market to examine whether a monopolist can implement price discrimination for the complementary goods. I estimate a demand system for razors using the random coefficient logit model with market level sales data from the Nielsen Store Scanner dataset and individual demographic data from the March CPS. The estimated parameters are used to construct price-cost markups. By comparing the markups of different products, I find evidence that Gillette uses a two-part tariff strategy. This conclusion can be generalized as that of a monopolist setting the prices of tie-in products consistent with a two-part tariff.

This study considers the determination of the ex ante pay-performance relationship. A single-period partial equilibrium model is used to show that the executive income can be expressed as a function of the firm's return expressed in dollar terms. The executive income is jointly determined by the opening firm size and current return, which function as a managerial talent proxy and self-selection mechanism respectively. Comparing to Jensen and Murphy (1990) wealth-based Pay-Performance Sensitivity (PPS), this research presents an income-based PPS. The alternative PPS not only overcomes a misleading misspecification in Jensen and Murphy (1990), but also corrects Rosen's (1992) argument for only including return in the pay performance relationship. This research finds empirically that both the opening firm size and stock return play a significant role in determining executive income. This study provides supplementary evidence to Murphy's (1986) Learning Model. However, shareholder income may not be an ideal performance measure in capturing the multi-period pay-performance relationship.

Στην παρούσα εργασία διερευνήσαμε τον τρόπο με τον οποίο διαμορφώνεται το μισθολογικό πλεονέκτημα μεταξύ των εργαζομένων σε επιχειρήσεις διαφορετικού μεγέθους. Για τους σκοπούς της ανάλυσης χρησιμοποιήθηκαν διαστρωματικά στοιχεία από το ελληνικό τμήμα της European Community Household Panel (ECHP) για το έτος 2001 (κύμα 8) και εφαρμόστηκαν τυπικές συναρτήσεις αμοιβών τύπου Mincer. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα επιβεβαιώνεται και στην περίπτωση της ελληνικής αγοράς εργασίας η ύπαρξη μισθολογικού πλεονεκτήματος προς όφελος των εργαζομένων σε επιχειρήσεις μεγάλου μεγέθους. Επιπρόσθετα, εξετάστηκε η υπόθεση της συστηματικής επιλογής από την πλευρά των εργαζομένων ως προς το μέγεθος της επιχείρησης (μη τυχαία κατανομή) και με βάση τα αποτελέσματα η υπόθεση αυτή δεν απορρίφθηκε. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό επανεκτιμήθηκαν οι απλές συναρτήσεις αμοιβών διορθώνοντας για την μη τυχαία κατανομή. Επίσης, εφαρμόστηκαν τεχνικές διαχωρισμού των μισθολογικών διαφορών (Oaxaca) μεταξύ εργαζομένων σε επιχειρήσεις διαφορετικού μεγέθους. Με βάση τα αποτελέσματα βρέθηκε, ότι η διόρθρωση για την επιλογή του μεγέθους της επιχείρησης συμβάλλει στην αύξηση της ικανότητας ερμηνείας της παρατηρούμενης μισθολογικής διαφοράς μεταξύ εργαζομένων σε μικρές και μεγάλες επιχειρήσεις. / --

Dividend payments to shareholders can create conflicts between debt and equity investors as these payments can expropriate wealth from bondholders to shareholders. However, dividend payments can also serve as a signal regarding firms' future earnings. Utilizing both improved bond event study techniques as well as a conditional event study model to control for self-selection and the presence of confounding earnings announcements, I find that, on net, dividend increases represent a transfer of wealth from debtholders to shareholders. Nevertheless, bondholders react more favorably to larger dividend changes consistent with the presence of a positive signaling effect. The conditional event study approach also provides the ability to test whether managerial hesitancy in cutting dividends may represent an additional source of expropriation. My results indicate that while bondholders are clearly harmed by these implicit dividend increases, evidence in support of shareholders' gains is mixed.

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No description available.

There is a growing market for specialty poultry production using alternative genotypes and management systems. However, producers interested in specialty poultry production face several challenges. One challenge is that little published data exists regarding the growth and production parameters for alternative genotypes like slow-growing meat strains and heritage breeds. To address this challenge, research at the University of Kentucky examined the effect of feed strategies, alternative feedstuffs, and dietary enzymes on the growth and performance of heritage breeds of chicken used for either egg- or meat-production. The first trial documented the growth and nutrient intake of pullets from three heritage breeds (Rhode Island Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Black Australorp) and three egg-laying strains (Red Star, Black Star, and ISA Brown) on a self-selection feeding program through nineteen weeks of age. The second trial documented the growth and nutrient intake of males from those same three heritage breeds, a slow-growing meat-type strain (Red Ranger), and males and females from a fast-growing meat-type strain (Cornish Cross). Birds used a self-selection feeding program and were grown to a common weight of 2300 grams. Carcass characteristics of these birds were evaluated in the third trial. The fourth trial evaluated the partial replacement of corn and soybean meal with alternative feedstuffs (field peas, buckwheat, and flax seed) and dietary enzymes on the performance of straight-run commercial broilers and two alternative breeds of chickens: males from a Black Sex-Link cross and straight-run Rhode Island Reds. The fifth trial examined the use of sorghum and field peas to completely replace corn and soybean meal in formulated diets for two heritage breeds (Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rock). Results of these trials showed that heritage breed pullets had similar growth parameters and nutrient intake as commercial egg-laying strains. Heritage breed cockerels grew significantly slower and exhibited poorer feed efficiency than meat-type birds, but seemed to tolerate low nutrient density diets better. Overall, the findings of these studies could help producers interested in raising slow-growing meat-type chickens and heritage breeds create accurate business plans and determine if they can profitably produce meat and/or eggs for niche markets.

This thesis provides four contributions to the literature on the productivity- internationalization nexus by considering some recent developments in the literature. A well-established stylized fact is reported by this literature, which is that exporters are more productive and larger than non-exporters, and two hypotheses attempt to explain this finding. The first, often referred to as the self-selection hypothesis, suggests that more productive firms select themselves into export markets, while the learning-by-exporting hypothesis highlights the role of learning from exporting. In this thesis, first, the self-selection hypothesis is revisited, and it is shown that evidence against self-selection exists in some UK industries. Second, it is demon- strated that some UK firms experience rising marginal costs, although both tra- ditional and new trade theories assume constant marginal cost. It is then shown that the evidence against self-selection that we report can be best explained by the existence of increasing, rather than constant, marginal costs. Third, the learning by exporting hypothesis is tested empirically for UK firms. Highlighting the importance of the scale effect in total factor productivity growth, it is shown that any learning by exporting effects are predominantly attributable to a change in scale efficiency. Unlike Melitz (2003), some recent studies consider some other strategies to access foreign markets, such as foreign direct investment, and cross-border mergers. Finally, following this new branch of the literature, the productivity-internationalization nexus is examined by utilizing a two-country oligopolistic model. It is shown that more productive firm might prefer greenfield investment over cross-border merger, which contradicts the findings provided by the relevant literature.