The Scout Report for Business & Economics - January 11, 2001

January 11, 2001

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Business & Economics is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in business and economics. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the field that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given area of study.

The Scout Report for Business & Economics is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.


In This Issue

Research

Learning Resources

General Interest

Current Awareness

New Data

In The News


Research

Conditions of Work -- ILO
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/condtrav/index.htm
The Conditions of Work Branch of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) strives to encourage and assist "governments, employers', and workers' organizations to adopt policies and practices aimed at the progressive improvement of conditions of work and respect for workers' dignity." Their site includes a great deal of new and historical documents concerning work conditions worldwide. The information on the site is divided into six main topics: Working Time and Working Organization, Maternity Protection, Work and Family, Sexual Harassment Violence and Stress, Unprotected Workers, and Personal Privacy. Each of these categories offers a large number of related documents, Websites, and resources. While a good number of these publications are free and online, many of them must be ordered for a fee. [EM]
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Beyond Agriculture: New Policies for Rural America [.pdf]
http://www.kc.frb.org/BS&S/PUBLICAT/PDF/beyond/beyondmain.htm
This online book contains the collected papers from the first conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Center for the Study of Rural America. The conference explored new economic policies that would help rural America enter the digital economy. The papers, which must be downloaded separately, fall into three main categories: Rural America at a Crossroad; Seizing New Opportunities in Rural America; and New Directions for Rural Policy. The book also contains a keynote address by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, the comments of several noted economists, and the transcripts of the closing discussion. [EM]
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Agricultural Market Access Database [Excel, .pdf]
http://www.amad.org/files/index.htm
Founded in early 1999, the Agricultural Market Access Database (AMAD) is a joint effort by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, EU Commission - Agriculture Directorate-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, The World Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and United States Department of Agriculture - Economic Research Service. AMAD was created in order to "provide a common data set on tariffs, TRQs and imports, as well as the tools for researchers, policymakers, and others to use in analyzing levels of tariff protection in agriculture among WTO Members." Users begin by selecting a region on a map; from there they can narrow their search by country, and the database will generate a data set on that country. AMAD also provides a 30-page User's Guide which helps explain the purpose and uses of the database, as well as helping to decipher some of the information contained in AMAD. At present, not all countries worldwide can be accessed through this database. AMAD, however, promises to continue to expand. [EM]
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Work-Family Researchers Electronic Network [.pdf]
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/csom/cwf/wfnetwork.html
The Work-Family Researchers Electronic Network is sponsored by the Alfred E. Sloan Foundations and is intended to aid work-family researchers by facilitating "access to information and literature on work-family issues." Featured on the Website is the Literature Database which contains over 2,500 entries with citations and some annotations of work-family-related journal articles, books, book chapters, reports, papers, and dissertations. The Literature Database is based on the book Work-Family Research: An Annotated Bibliography. The site also offers a quarterly newsletter about Network news, a collection of syllabi, and several online forums. Work-Family Links lists Websites of organizations related to work-family issues. [EM]
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World Bank Research Website
http://econ.worldbank.org/
The World Bank has collected its economic research so that users can access it through one easy-to-use Webpage. Research is organized into three main sections: Topics, Project Sites, and Key Outputs. These topics are further broken down into subcategories, which are accessible from the front page via pull-down menus or hyperlinked lists. The site also contains a What's New column, which lists the titles of new World Bank resources and classifies them by document type, such as working paper, evaluations of research, and project. Finally, the World Bank Research Website gives a short list of featured resources, which include research on hot topics such as poverty, civil war, and world development. [EM]
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Learning Resources

Case Studies in Economic Sanctions
http://www.iie.com/FOCUS/SANCTION/casestud.htm
From the Institute for International Economics, Case Studies in Economic Sanctions presents, at present, eight in-depth case studies of the effects of economic sanctions in countries including Cuba, Libya, Pakistan, Iran, India, and Myanmar. Each case study is presented in three compact pages beginning with a detailed timeline of the history of the sanctions. The second page offers more information, including the chronological goals of the sender country, response of the target country, attitude of other countries, and legal notes. The final page contains economic statistics, assessments by economists, and concise authors's summaries. Worthy of note are the lengthy bibliographies that accompany each case study. [EM]
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Between the Sheets [MS Excel]
Economics
http://www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/options/sheets/econ_index.htm
Accounting
http://www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/options/sheets/acc_index.htm
Business
http://www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/options/sheets/bus_index.htm
These three guides from the British Website BizEd help users understand the ways to use spreadsheets in economics, accounting, and business research. The tutorials all start with the same general information: introductions for both students and teachers, a guide to downloadable spreadsheets, a guide to using spreadsheets, and a glossary of important terms. However, each of the guides offers a different collection of spreadsheets, which require Microsoft Excel 97. The economics tutorial includes spreadsheets on cost analysis, elasticity of demand, and profit maximization. The business section provides spreadsheets on markups and margins, gearing, depreciation, and cost analysis. Finally, the accounting tutorial features an introduction to balance sheets and income statements, budgeting, and cost volume profit analysis. [EM]
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FirmBuilder.com
http://www.firmbuilder.com/
A service of Michael F. Corbett and Associates, Ltd., FirmBuilder.com is dedicated to providing tools and information to businesses interested in outsourcing. The site includes information for those just beginning to learn about outsourcing as well as for businesses currently using outsourcing. The Outsourcing Primer offers a series of articles by Michael F. Corbett and Associates covering basic reasons for outsourcing and techniques companies are currently using. After a quick free registration, users may look at Disciplines of Outsourcing, a twelve-lesson educational program to learn more about developing an outsourcing program from start to finish. The site also includes a Research Center of relevant articles written by the FirmBuilder.com staff, along with outside sources, a Newscenter of current issues in outsourcing, and outsourcing case studies. [EM]
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Asia Business Today
http://www.asiabusinesstoday.org/
Sponsored by the CitiGroup Foundation, Asia Business Today features "online resource developed by the Asia Society for information on US/ Asia economic and business relations, Asia's role in the international economy, and the costs and benefits of economic 'globalization.'" The site provide an impressive collection of reference materials on the nature of relations between the US and Asia on a host of subjects including Energy, Asia Management and Human Resource Issues, Media, and Telecommunications. Each of these categories offers related documents and Websites. Country Listings offers extensive information on Asian countries including economic statistics, Internet portals, company listings, and market information. The site also offers information on jobs and travel in Asia. [EM]
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Northern Light Special Edition: Banking Industry
http://special.northernlight.com/banking/index.html
Created and maintained by Northern Light, this portal offers a full range of valuable Internet resources. All links on the site can be accessed from the main page and are grouped into subjects including International Banking Associations, Complimentary Special Collection Documents, and Government Sites. Each of the categories offers slightly different information; only some of the categories provide annotations, while others include graphics from the linked sites. Still, this Northern Light Special Edition offers the best, most basic banking related Websites all on the same page. [EM]
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General Interest

Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920 (EAA)
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/
This new, collaborative, effort between the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History and Duke University's Digital Scriptorium contains images of over 9,000 advertising items and publications dating from 1850 to 1920. The site is designed to chronicle the rise of consumer culture in America in the late nineteenth century as well as the development of a professionalized advertising industry. The images are grouped into eleven collections, each of which offers background information and may be browsed or searched. Users may also search the entire database by keyword or illustration content. Each collection is browsed via a long list of subjects which expand into a list of items when selected, not unlike many American Memory collections. Each item is offered as a thumbnail with two choices of resolution size. Information provided includes title, year of publication, company, product, illustration type, and notes. A solid resource for historians or anyone interested in the history of American consumer culture. [MD]
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Libraries and the World Trade Organization
http://www.pitt.edu/~ttwiss/irtf/wto.html
Tom Twiss of the University of Pittsburgh has put together Libraries and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order for librarians to better understand the ways in which international trade treaties may affect libraries around the world. The information on the site mainly consists of documents from the American Library Association's International Responsibilities Task Force and includes the ALA Resolution on WTO Policies Affecting Libraries, The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Position on WTO Treaty Negotiations, and the Canadian Library Association Perspective on the WTO Meetings. Also included are a decent bibliography for further reading and a detailed collection of related Web resources. [EM]
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Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley
http://library.stanford.edu/mac/
Making the Macintosh, hosted by the Stanford University Library, documents the history of Apple's Macintosh computer. Displaying a great number of primary documents from Stanford University Library's special collections department, the project is organized into six basic chapters: Counterculture and Computing, The Early Macintosh, The Apple Mouse, Technical Documentation, and Marketing the Macintosh. Each of the chapters is a well-written historical treatment of the creation of the Mac, complete with hyperlinks to accompanying documents, interviews, and related articles. A menu bar across the top of the site allows users to access information by subject or by document type. All in all, this well-made site is a wonderful history of this important technological tool. [EM]
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Economic and Political Weekly
http://www.epw.org.in/
Published by the Sameeksha Trust since 1966, Economic and Political Weekly is a social science journal that features research articles in economics, sociology, political science, and other disciplines; book reviews; commentary; columns by social scientists; statistical updates; and other content. The full text of the journal is available online dating back to January 1999, and article summaries are available for 1998. Issues appear to be placed online one month after print publication, as the November 11-17 issue was featured at the time of review. [MD]
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Money Origami
http://www.umva.com/~clay/money/
For those of us with some extra time and cash, Money Origami, created by software engineer Sherwood Clay Randall Jr., offers a "true creative output." Following the step-by-step instructions, users will learn to fold dollar bills into the shapes of rings, gift boxes, and sailboats. Detailed photos and easy steps put creative money-folding in reach of almost anyone. As to why one would want to turn his or her hard-earned cash into fake eye glasses or a miniature pair of boots, we won't speculate. [EM]
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Current Awareness
(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the The Scout Report for Business & Economics Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/bus-econ/metapage/).

Working Papers

Federal Reserve Board of Governors Finance and Economics Discussion Series [.pdf]
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2000/index.html
Do the Rich Save More?
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2000/200052/200052abs.html

Federal Reserve System [.pdf]:
FRB Chicago Working Papers
http://research.frbchi.org/wpindex.html
Savings of Young Parents
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-23.html
An Empirical Examination of the Price-Dividend Relation with Dividend Management
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-22.html
Financial Signal Processing: A Self Calibrating Model
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-21.html
Financial-Intermediation Regime and Efficiency in a Boyd-Prescott Economy
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-19.html
Capital Requirements and Competition in the Banking Industry
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-18.html
The Double Play: Simultaneous Speculative Attacks on Currency and Equity Markets
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-17.html
Post-Resolution Treatment Of Depositors At Failed Banks: Implications For The Severity Of Banking Crises, Systemic Risk, And Too-Big-To-Fail
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-16.html
Idiosyncratic Risk and Aggregate Employment Dynamics
http://research.frbchi.org/WorkingPapers/A_WP-2000-15.html

FRB Cleveland Economic Research Working Papers
http://www.clev.frb.org/Research/workpaper/2000/index.htm
On the Welfare Gains of Reducing the Likelihood of Economic Crises
http://www.clev.frb.org/Research/workpaper/2000/Wp0015.pdf

FRB Dallas Working Papers
http://www.dallasfed.org/htm/pubs/working.html
Early Warning Models in Real Time
http://www.dallasfed.org/htm/pubs/abstracts/fis/fis_1_00.html

FRB Minneapolis Discussion Papers
http://research.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/dp/
Does the Progressivity of Taxes Matter for Economic Growth?
http://research.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/dp/dp138.html

FRB Richmond Working Papers
http://www.rich.frb.org/wpapers/wpfind.cfm
Incentives, Communication, and Payment Instruments
http://www.rich.frb.org/wpapers/abstracts.cfm?absn=251

FRB St. Louis Working Papers
http://www.stls.frb.org/research/wp/
The Dynamic Relationship Between the Federal Funds Rate and the Treasury Bill Rate: An Empirical Investigation
http://www.stls.frb.org/research/wp/2000-032.html

Other Institutions:
Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy -- BRIE Working Papers [.pdf]
http://brie.berkeley.edu/~briewww/pubs/wp/
Governance and Politics of the Internet Economy -- Historical Transformation or Ordinary Politics with a New Vocabulary?
http://brie.berkeley.edu/~briewww/pubs/wp/wp141.pdf
The Political Economy of Open Source Software
http://brie.berkeley.edu/~briewww/pubs/wp/wp140.pdf
International Cooperation and the Logic of Networks: Europe and the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
http://brie.berkeley.edu/~briewww/pubs/wp/wp139.pdf

Institute for International Economics Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.iie.com/CATALOG/WP/2000/wp00.htm
On Currency Crises and Contagion
http://www.iie.com/CATALOG/WP/2000/00-9.pdf

Bank of International Settlements Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.bis.org/publ/pub_list.htm#WP
The real-time predictive content of money for output
http://www.bis.org/publ/work96.htm

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.oecd.org/eco/wp/onlinewp.htm#2000
A post-mortem on Economic Outlook projections
http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2000doc.nsf/c5ce8ffa41835d64c125685d005300b0/c125692700623b74c12569ba0046529d/$FILE/00085238.PDF
Fixed cost, imperfect competition and bias in technology measurement: Japan and the United States
http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2000doc.nsf/c5ce8ffa41835d64c125685d005300b0/c125692700623b74c12569b40051383d/$FILE/00087375.PDF
Entry, exit, and aggregate productivity growth: micro evidence on Korean manufacturing
http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2000doc.nsf/c5ce8ffa41835d64c125685d005300b0/c125692700623b74c12569b400462495/$FILE/00087101.PDF

Institute for Development Policy and Management Finance and Development Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/idpm_dp.htm#F_DWP
The Implications of WTO and GATS for the Banking Sector in Africa
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp23abs.htm
The Importance of Human Capital and Financial Development in Economic Growth: New Evidence Using the Translog Production Function
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp22abs.htm
Compiling and Understanding the Flow of Funds in Developing Countries
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp21abs.htm
Finance in Conflict and Reconstruction
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp20abs.htm
Prudential Regulation of Banks in Less Developed Economies
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp19abs.htm
Support Mechanisms for Interfirm Linkages Among SMEs: Impact and Assessment
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp18abs.htm
The IMF after the Asia Crisis: Merits and Limitations of the "Long Term Development Partner" Role
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp17abs.htm
Key Microstructure and Policy Issues for Emerging Stock Markets: What Have We Learned?
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp16abs.htm
The Policy Environment for Promoting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ghana and Malawi
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp15abs.htm
Finance and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp14abs.htm
The Prediction and Diagnosis of Bank Failures in Zambia
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp13abs.htm
Financial Regulation in Developing Countries
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp12abs.htm
Some Lessons for Regulation from Recent Bank Crises http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp11abs.htm
Financial Sector Development and Savings Mobilisation: An Assessment
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp10abs.htm
Financial Services for the Poor and Poorest: Deepening Understanding to Improve Provision
http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/fdwp9abs.htm

National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.nber.org/new.html#latest
Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old Age Pension and Intra-household Allocation in South Africa
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8061
Balance Sheet Effects, Bailout Guarantees and Financial Crises
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8060
Risks for the Long Run: A Potential Resolution of Asset Pricing Puzzles
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8059
Wages Around the World: Pay Across Occupations and Countries
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8058
Monetary Policy
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8057
Understanding Child Support Trends: Economic, Demographic, and Political Contributions
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8056
School Choice and the Distributional Effects of Ability Tracking: Does Separation Increase Equality?
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8055
Longer Term Effects of Head Start
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8054
Non-Market Interactions
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8053
Stock Options for Undiversified Executives
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8052
The Incentive for Working Hard: Explaining Hours Worked Differences in the U.S. and Germany
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8051
The Anatomy of Employee Involvement and Its Effects on Firms and Workers
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8050
Environmental Tax Interactions When Pollution Affects Health or Productivity
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8049
Health Effects in a Model of Second-Best Environmental Taxation or Reconsidering "Reconsidering the Tax-Interaction Effect"
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8048
The Role of Interest Rates in Federal Reserve Policymaking
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8047
Industrial Groupings and Strategic FDI: Theory and Evidence
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8046
Adverse Selection in Insurance Markets: Policyholder Evidence from the U.K. Annuity Market
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8045
European Financial Markets After EMU: A First Assessment
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8044
Closed and Open Economy Models of Business Cycles with Marked up and Sticky Prices
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8043
Consequences of Imbalanced Sex Ratios: Evidence from America's Second Generation
http://papers.nber.org/papers/W8042
The Conventional Treatment of Seasonality in Business Cycle Analysis: Does it Create Distortions?
http://papers.nber.org/papers/T0266

Wharton Financial Institutions Center Working Papers [.pdf]
http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/wfic/papers/00.html
The Interdependence between Mutual Fund Managers and Investors in Setting Fees
http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/wfic/papers/00/p0043.html
Foreign Banks in the United States Since World War II: A Useful Fringe
http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/wfic/papers/00/p0042.html
Scenario Optimization Asset and Liability Modeling for Endowments with Guarantees
http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/wfic/papers/00/p0041.html

Stockholm School of Economics Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance [.pdf]
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/
On the construction of finite dimensional realizations for nonlinear forward rate models
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0420.htm
A Geometric View of Interest Rate Theory
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0419.htm
On seasonal error correction when the processes include different numbers of roots
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/abs/hastef0418.htm
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Periodicals

Federal Reserve Board of Governors [.pdf]
Federal Reserve Bulletin
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/default.htm
December 2000
Federal Reserve Bulletin is a monthly publication written and compiled by staff members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, reporting and analyzing economic developments, data, and bank regulatory issues. The December 2000 issue includes articles on mutual funds and Federal Reserve foreign exchange operations. [EM]

Federal Reserve System:
FRB Boston
Regional Review
http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/nerr/regrev.htm
Third Quarter 2000
This quarterly publication from FRB Boston covers current economic issues, including this issue's articles on work-site daycare, data mining, and financial planning tools. [EM]

FRB Chicago [.pdf]
AgLetter
http://www.frbchi.org/pubs-speech/publications/periodicals/aglet/agnov2000.pdf
November 2000
Information in the November 2000 issue of FRB Chicago's AgLetter includes farmland values, credit conditions, and a selection of agricultural indicators. [EM]

FRB Cleveland
Economic Trends [.pdf]
http://www.clev.frb.org/research/Et2000/1200/index.htm
December 2000
The December 2000 issue of Economic Trends includes updates on real-time data, interests rates, and labor markets. [EM]

FRB Dallas [.pdf]
Houston Business
http://www.dallasfed.org/htm/pubs/houston.html
December 2000
The article "High Oil Prices Boost Houston's Job Growth, Improve Local Outlook" is featured in the December 2000 edition of Houston Business from FRB Dallas. [EM]

FRB Minneapolis [.pdf]
The Region
http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/pubs/region/index.html
December 2000
The Region from FRB Minneapolis includes an interview with Nancy L. Stokey, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago; the interview covers a range of topics including NAFTA, women in economics, and the New Economy. [EM]

FRB St. Louis [.pdf]
National Economic Trends
http://www.stls.frb.org/docs/publications/net/netpub.pdf
December 2000
According to the current issue of National Economic Trends, the 1990 US account deficit was $77.0 billion, but by 1999 it had skyrocketed to $331.5 billion. [EM]

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Regional Outlook
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/regional/index.html
Fourth Quarter 2000
Regional Outlook, a quarterly publication from the FDIC, provides analysis of national and regional trends affecting the risk exposure of insured depository institutions. Along with the national edition, eight regional issues are also included. [EM]

International Monetary Fund
IMF Staff Papers
http://www.imf.org/external/Pubs/FT/staffp/2000/00-02/index.htm
December 2000 (Vol 47, No 2)
A quarterly journal written by the staff of the IMF, this publication's collection of articles includes "Portfolio Diversification, Leverage, and Financial Contagion," "How Persistent Are Shocks to World Commodity Prices?" and "Ratchet Effects in Currency Substitution: An Application to the Kyrgyz Republic." [EM]
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Books and Journals

Call for papers: Managerial and Decision Economics
Special Issue: Price Flexibility: Theories and Evidence
http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/0143-6570/call.html#price
Papers due: June 30, 2001

BakerBooks -- Harvard Business School
http://www.library.hbs.edu/bakerbooks/
The latest issues of New Books at Baker Library and New Books from HBS Press are now available from Harvard University's BakerBooks site. These updates are posted by the fifteenth of each month and cover new additions for the preceding month. [EM]

National Bureau of Economic Research Books
http://www.nber.org/books.html
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) presents its collection of books published in 2000, complete with tables of contents and ordering information. The site also offers chapters from books-in-progress. [EM]

Econbase -- Elsevier
http://www.elsevier.nl/homepage/sae/econbase/menu.sht
The abstracts, tables of contents, and in some cases full-text, for over 60 journals are now available online, including the following: Journal of Accounting and Economics (Vol 29, No 2), Energy Economics (Vol 22, No 6), Food Policy (Vol 26, No 1), Emerging Markets Review (Vol 1, No 3), Research Policy (Vol 30, No 2), and China Economic Review (Vol 11, No 1). [EM]
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Conferences

Inomics Conference Calls:
Email Conference Alert
http://www.inomics.com/query/alert
Conference Search
http://www.inomics.com/query/conf_search
The economics research service Inomics (described in the June 18, 1998 Scout Report for Business & Economics) includes a conference alert service. Interested parties may specify their interests and receive email notifications of up-coming events, or they may search the Inomics conference database by date, geographic location, or JEL classification. [EM]

Conferences with Econometric Interest
http://www.econ.vu.nl/econometriclinks/#conferences
The Royal Economics Society's Econometrics Journal site lists conferences in econometrics at this Econometric Links section. [EM]

Society for Computational Economics
http://gemini.econ.yale.edu/jrust/SCE2001.html
New Haven, Connecticut
June 28-30, 2001

European Society for Population Economics
http://www.aueb.gr/espe2001/
Athens, Greece
June 14-16, 2001
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Jobs

Job Openings from The Chronicle of Higher Education
Job Openings in Economics
http://jobs.chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/sscience/econ/links.htm
Job Openings in Business and Management
http://jobs.chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/professional/business/links.htm

Job Openings for Economists (JOE)
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/joe/joe/

Inomics: Job Openings for Economists
http://www.inomics.com/query/job_search
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New Data

New One-Family Houses Sold -- Census Bureau [.pdf]
http://www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/c25-0010.pdf
According to this report, from the series Current Construction Reports, the median price for new houses sold in October in the United States was $174,900. [EM]
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Personal Income and Outlays, November 2000 -- Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/rels.htm
Released on December 22, 2000, the newest data for Personal Income and Outlays shows that personal income increased by 0.4 percent, or $30.0 billion in November 2000. In the previous month, personal income decreased $10.3 billion, or 0.1 percent. [EM]
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United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
2000 Agency Reports/ Schedule
http://www.usda.gov/news/calindex.htm
USDA summarizes its report releases from various sources (the Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and the World Agricultural Outlook Board) at this calendar site. Notable data for January 2001 include the weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin and the Export Sales Report. [EM]
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Status of State Electric Industry Restructuring Activity as of January 2001 -- Energy Information Administration (EIA)
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_str/regmap.html
Click on any state on this map of the United States to learn more about that state's electric industry restructuring activity. Information provided includes regulatory orders, legislation, and investigative studies. [EM]
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In The News

Airline Mega-Deal: American Acquires Bankrupt TWA
1. "TWA Approves Buyout by AMR"
http://www.msnbc.com/news/513959.asp?cp1=1
2. TWA Press Release
http://www.twa.com/announce/press_release.html
3. American Airlines News Release
http://www.amrcorp.com/news/jan1001.htm
4. AMRcorp.com [Windows Media Player]
http://www.amrcorp.com/aadeals.htm
5. "TWA Marked Many Firsts in Airline History"
http://news.excite.com/news/r/010108/17/airlines-twa-history
6. "AMR Rejects Icahn"
http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/01/10/deals/wires/icahn_wg/
7. "Post Merger Airfares: Up, Up and Away?"
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,94198,00.html
8. Sector Snapshot: Transportation
http://cnnfn.cnn.com/markets/snapshots/Transportation.html
The Fort-Worth-based AMR Corporation, parent company of American Airlines, has initiated a $500 million buyout of Trans World Airlines (TWA), the nation's longest flying carrier. TWA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, citing high fuel prices as a major factor in its financial decline. In addition to the merger with TWA, American is also acquiring certain US Airways assets and stakes in the new Washington-based carrier, DC Air. After the merger and acquisitions, only two airlines -- American and United -- will control about half of the nation's air travel market. Another notable aspect of the TWA-American story is AMR Corporation's refusal to honor corporate raider Carl Icahn's's contract with TWA. The contract had allowed Icahn to buy heavily discounted tickets to sell on his Website, Lowestfare.com.

This week's In the News begins with a Wall Street Journal article (1) giving an overview of the buyout and highlighting the remaining hurdles for American. The next two sites are press releases from the corporations themselves. TWA (2) stresses that St. Louis would remain a hub and that customer service would be uninterrupted. American (3) states that the merger would expand customer choice and provide ". . . exciting growth and transfer opportunities for American's employees." The next site (4), from AMRcorp, covers the key elements of the transactions and contains links to press conference Webcasts (Media Player). Links to the homepages of TWA and American are also provided. To learn about TWA's place in the history of aviation, visit (5). The next site (6), from the CNN financial network (CNNfn), details the Icahn story. Time magazine online (7) predicts the economic impacts of the TWA-American deal as well as the recently proposed United-USAirways deal. Finally, you can take a look at the latest in airline and other transportation stocks from CNNfn at the final site (8). [HCS]
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