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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify three (maturity, agency, and information) effects that help explain the change in idiosyncratic volatility after a firm initiates a dividend. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a cross-sectional analysis where the standard errors are adjusted for heteroskedasticity. As for robustness check, the authors perform two-stage analysis to control for potential self-selection bias. The authors also control for 2003 Dividend Tax Cut effect, matching-firm volatility, and confounding events. Findings Using a sample of 688 dividend-initiating firms for a period of 1977 to 2010, the authors find evidence consistent with the hypotheses based on the maturity, agency, and information effects. The volatility changes upon the dividend initiation can be reliably explained by the changes in profit volatility and free cash flow per total assets, and whether the firm consummated a stock split prior to the dividend initiation. The information effect is also found to be economically significant. Originality/value By studying a firm’s decision to initiate a dividend and its impact on the change in its volatility, the research helps contribute to the payout policy and volatility literatures.

Using weekly data from January 3, 2003 to March 27, 2015, we examine the responses of U.S. stock returns (S&P 500, DJIA, and NASDAQ) to monetary policy, controlling for WTI oil prices and the value of the U.S. dollar (USD) against major currencies. Based on differences between the federal funds rate and inflation expectations, U.S. real interest rates have become continuously negative since January 28, 2009. Vector auto-regressions (VARs) suggest stronger linkages more recently and vine copula models identify the structure of dependence across these markets, which can help investors optimize portfolio diversification.

Wallace Huffman continued the tradition of research on Midwest rural labor markets at Iowa State University that was begun in the 1930s by his advisers T.W. Schultz and D. Gale Johnson. We review the lessons learned from this research about the wisdom of policies aimed at retaining population in rural areas in the face of market forces and technological changes that create incentives to migrate to urban areas. Professor Huffman's teaching and lessons learned from the Iowa State Human Resources Workshop continues to shape recent research on the roles of agglomeration economies, information technologies, and returns to human capital on the strength of rural labor markets and policies regarding rural economic development.

The often observed empirical divergence between WTA and WTP measures of welfare change continues to be a topic of interest to both theoretical and applied economists. The divergence has particularly important implications for environmental policy. In this article, we review behavioral and other explanations of the disparity, with a focus on their connections to neoclassical welfare theory, and evaluate the empirical evidence of these explanations through the same lens. Some explanations of the disparity are consistent with neoclassical models, and some are not. Likewise, some imply that the divergences are attributed to underlying preferences (neoclassical or not), whereas others suggest that the divergences are due to elicitation methods, cognitive limitations, or other non-preference-related reasons. We argue that the source of the divergence can inform the choice of which measure, WTP or WTA, to use in a given empirical application.

We test whether commonly used measures of agglomeration economies encourage new firm entry in both urban and rural markets. Using new firm location decisions in Iowa and North Carolina, we find that measured agglomeration economies increase the probability of new firm entry in both urban and rural areas. Firms are more likely to locate in markets with an existing cluster of firms in the same industry, with greater concentrations of upstream suppliers or downstream customers, and with a larger proportion of college-educated workers in the local labor supply. Firms are less likely to enter markets with no incumbent firms in the sector or where production is concentrated in relatively few sectors. The same factors encourage both stand-alone start-ups and establishments built by multiplant firms. Commuting decisions exhibit the same pattern as new firm entry with workers commuting from low to high agglomeration markets. Because agglomeration economies are important for rural firm entry also, policies encouraging new firm entry should focus on relatively few job centers rather than encouraging new firm entry in every small town.

Existing studies provide mixed evidence that the U.S. macroeconomic news impacts international stock prices. We believe this may be related to the fact that economic surprises may not capture how investors interpret macroeconomic releases in various economic conditions. Consequently, we follow Birz and Lott (2011) and use newspaper coverage of economic releases as a measure of news. We argue that in addition to capturing the surprise component of macroeconomic releases, newspaper coverage provide interpretation of these releases similarly to how investors may interpret them in various economic conditions. Out of 15 examined international stock markets, we find that the U.S. macroeconomic news impacts stock returns of 12 countries.

Enhance students' reading abilities with technology. Discover how technological resources can improve the effectiveness and breadth of reading instruction to build student knowledge. Read real-world accounts from literacy experts, and learn how their methods can be adapted for your classroom. Explore how to foster improvement in student learning using a variety of tools, including interactive whiteboards, tablets, and social media applications. Benefits:Gain insight into ways to incorporate technology into reading instruction.Obtain guidance on choosing progress-monitoring tools to best address your students' needs. Discover strategies to engage students in vocabulary instruction, and help students interpret informational texts. Learn how to use various tools to spark group discussions about literature. Determine how to continually assess students' connections with the assigned reading material. Contents: Part I: Reading Foundations Chapter 1: Foundational Reading Competencies Supported With Technology: Phonemic Awareness and Word Recognition Chapter 2: Rethinking Foundational Reading Skills: Making Room for the Complexities of Digital Texts Chapter 3: Using Tablets to Teach Foundational Skills: Matching Apps to Student NeedsPart II: Reading Fluency Chapter 4: Podcasts: Adding Power and New Possibilities to the Readers Theater Experience Chapter 5: Student-Produced Movies as Authentic Reading Fluency Instruction Chapter 6: Audio-Assisted Reading Builds Reading FluencyPart III: Reading Vocabulary Chapter 7: Post-Reading Vocabulary Development Through VSSPlus Chapter 8: Bringing Words to Life Through Student-Created Vocabulary Videos Chapter 9: Self-Regulated Vocabulary Learning on the InternetPart IV: Comprehension of Informational Texts Chapter 10: Using the Multimodal Explanatory Composition Strategy to Respond to Informational Texts Chapter 11: Annotation Apps: Supporting Middle School Students' Interpretation of Science Texts Chapter 12: Online Research and Media Skills: An Instructional Model for Online Informational TextsPart V: Comprehension of Literary Texts Chapter 13: Digging Deeper With Reader Response: Using Digital Tools to Support Comprehension of Literary Texts in Online Learning Environments Chapter 14: Coding and Connecting Complex Literature Chapter 15: Linking Through Literature: Exploring Complex Texts Through Hypertext Literary AnalysisPart VI: Reading Across Disciplines Chapter 16: Classroom Blogging to Develop Disciplinary Literacy Chapter 17: Using eReaders to Enhance Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas Chapter 18: Supporting Inquiry With Digital Texts in School DisciplinesPart VII: Motivation for Reading Chapter 19: "I Wanted to Film, So I Read the Book": Filmmaking in the English Classroom Chapter 20: eBooks and eReaders: Removing Obstacles, Improving Motivation Chapter 21: Using Literacy iPad Apps for Reading MotivationPart VIII: Reading Assessment Chapter 22: Literacy Assessments in the Digital Age Chapter 23: Developing and Assessing Fluency Through Web 2.0 Digital Tools Chapter 24: Using Blogs as Formative Assessment of Reading Comprehension

The purpose of this study was to examine hidden prejudice in two groups of adult students, international and American, against black compared to white teachers. Social desirability in the minds of participants may affect the result of a study involving racial bias (Mullins, 1982). For this reason, the researchers created a computer protocol using the standard Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure the implicit attitudes of participants. The IAT relies on the idea of automatic information process within the mind that is not impacted by social desirability. A clear concern in education is that the racial bias toward minority students will let those implicit biases affect the way they teach those students, creating a self-fulfilling prophesy of poor student performance. But the implicit bias can work both ways and can impact a teacher's effectiveness. Traditional racial prejudice theories usually looked at white's attitudes toward blacks and other groups. This study had a significant directional shift by focusing on the international students' racial attitudes toward black and white teachers. The implicit racial attitudes of international students were also compared to those of American students. The result and evaluation of this study may be a valuable tool to improve student services and teacher professional development in higher education. Suggestions for future research are also provided.[For full proceedings, see ED570489.]