The issue of the Permanent Income Hypothesis (PIH) is revisited in this paper by examining the relationship between U.S. consumption and income through new statistical techniques based on fractional integration and cointegration. Using a procedure by Robinson [1994a] that permits the testing of I(d) statistical models, the results show that both individual series are I(1). However, the differences seem to be I(d), with d being smaller than 1 in some cases. Also, when performing different regressions of consumption on income, the estimated residuals from the cointegrating regressions appear to be mean reverting. This implies that consumption and income may be fractionally cointegrated, so that deviations from equilibrium are highly persistent. Thus, the results provide further evidence regarding the validity of the PIH for the U.S. (JEL C22); Int'l Advances in Econ. Res., 10(3): pp. 165-179, Aug. 04. ©All Rights Reserved

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This paper disaggregates unemployment into broadly defined sectors and occupations. It estimates the impact that a change in the Federal Funds rate (FFR) has on the magnitude and time path of unemployment in each of these sectors and occupations. It finds that there is a substantial differential impact. Specifically, the paper shows that an increase in the nominal Federal Funds rate affects unemployment much more severely in two sectors and in two broad occupational groupings than it does in the others. (JEL E24, E52); Int'l Advances in Econ. Res., 10(3): pp. 182-190, Aug. 04. ©All Rights Reserved

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This paper examines the relationship between long-run growth and business cycles in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The model in the paper specifically assumes that the business cycle influences growth through total factor productivity. Using unconditional volatility to measure the business cycle, this paper finds a negative relationship between the business cycle and long-run growth even after controlling for endogeneity. The result is robust to the inclusion of either period or country dummy variables, but not both. Therefore, the result is somewhat fragile. Finally, the assumption of constant returns to scale is consistent with the data. (JEL E30, O40); Int'l Advances in Econ. Res., 10(3): pp. 191-201, Aug. 04. ©All Rights Reserved

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This paper devises an endogenous growth model with human capital in the Uzawa-Lucas framework in which the average human capital has a positive external effect on the goods sector. Unlike previous works, this paper assumes that output is produced with a CES technology and analyzes the existence, uniqueness, and stability of equilibrium. Also, a fiscal policy is devised that is capable of providing the required incentives to optimize the competitive equilibrium. In order to correct the market failure caused by the externality, the authors introduce a subsidy to human capital and analyze how it can be financed in an optimal way. Some simulation results are presented.(JEL O41, E62); Int'l Advances in Econ. Res., 10(3): pp. 202-214, Aug. 04. ©All Rights Reserved

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This paper analyzes the efficiency of a Portuguese public--owned hotel chain, Enatur. It applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate total factor productivity (TFP) change, while breaking it down into technical efficiency and technological change. The benchmarking procedure used is an internal one, which compares hotels with each other. For the period 1999-2001, the hotels are ranked according to their total productivity change. It is concluded that some hotels experienced productivity growth, while others faced a decline. Some implications beneficial for managerial policies were drawn from this study.(JEL D24, L83, M21, O52); Int'l Advances in Econ. Res., 10(3): pp. 215-225, Aug. 04. ©All Rights Reserved

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Using a novel data set on new product introductions in U.S. manufacturing, the paper studies the relationship between new product introductions and the intensity of market competition as it is measured by industry-specific price-cost margins. New product introductions intensify market competition and depress price-cost margins. These results draw significant empirical support from a sample of five U.S. manufacturing industries. A 10 percent increase in the number of new product introductions causes price-cost margins to drop by approximately 0.5 percent. Although price-cost margins appear procyclical with respect to fluctuations in industry sales, new products make price-cost margins less procyclical and therefore, the intensity of market competition more procyclical. (JEL E32, L16); Int'l Advances in Econ. Res., 10(3): pp. 226-234, Aug. 04. ©All Rights Reserved

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This paper uses discriminate analysis to examine five years of MBA admission records in order to separate no-shows from the successful program graduates. The study used traditional numeric data such as age, length of time with current employer, undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores---as well as dummy variables for sex, full- or part-time status, race, the public or private nature of the undergraduate institution, and in-state tuition eligibility. The analysis correctly separated the no-shows with a 94.2 percent classification rate based entirely on the use of dummy variables. Unlike other studies, undergraduate GPAs, GMAT scores, and other numeric variables played no role in the final classification. The results suggest that more attention be given to the use of dummy variables when it comes to predicting the success of MBA program graduates. (JEL I21); Int'l Advances in Econ. Res., 10(3): pp. 235-243, Aug. 04. ©All Rights Reserved

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