Clifford Nowell

The influence of gender on the provision of a public good

Previous researchers have obtained contradictory results concerning the influence of gender on behavior in the experimental setting. One study finds women significantly less cooperative than men (Rapoport and Chammah 1965), while another study finds women and men equally cooperative, after frequent repetitions of a game (Mason, Phillips and Redington 1991). We examine the influence of gender on public good provision in a four-person game using all-female, all-male and mixed gender groups of undergraduates. We find some evidence that all-female groups are more cooperative than either all-male or mixed gender groups.

Undergraduate Student Cheating in the Fields of Business and Economics

A rich literature exists that examines student cheating in higher education, including two recent articles in this journal (Bunn, Caudill, and Gropper 1992; Kerkvliet 1994). This interest in the subject is hardly surprising given that the American Council on Higher Education reported in 1990 that cheating at colleges is on the rise. In addition, Stevens and Stevens (1987) reported a heightened concern about cheating. A major problem in analyzing cheating behavior stems from the difficulty in measuring cheating. Typically, researchers use self-reported information to measure cheating behavior (Barnett and Dalton 1981; Laufer 1985; Haines et al. 1986; Bunn et al. 1992), although other innovative approaches have been attempted. The percentage of students who admit to cheating under these circumstances varies widely from survey to survey. Because of the difficulty in measuring cheating, results obtained from self-reported surveys and questionnaires are difficult to generalize. Accordingly, it is difficult to gain much insight into demographic influences on cheating behavior from self-reported responses. Despite the difficulties in directly measuring cheating, some attempts have been made to analyze cheating behavior without using self-reported information. Craig (1956) let students grade their own exams, after he copied their completed exams, and analyzed the difference between the reported and actual scores. He

I Thought I Got an A! Overconfidence Across the Economics Curriculum

Students often exhibit overconfident grade expectations and tend to overestimate the actual course grade at the completion of a course. Current theories of student motivation suggest such overconfidence may lead students to study less than if they had accurate grade perceptions. The authors report the findings of a survey of students enrolled in economics and quantitative courses at a large public university. They analyze the difference between a students expected and actual grade and how teacher pedagogies can influence student overconfidence. They find male students and those with lower GPAs exhibit greater overconfidence. Students in lower division classes have a greater tendency to be overconfident than do those in upper division classes. The findings also indicate that grading practices influence overconfidence.

Tools for recreation management in parks: the case of the greater Yellowstone's blue-ribbon fishery

Abstract The recreationists who visit and enjoy the planet’s protected natural areas cause serious ecological damage to the very lands they enjoy. To maintain ecosystem integrity, park managers must increasingly focus on recreation management as a vital part of their jobs. Managers agree on the importance of pursuing objectives using the least cost mix of tools. To make this choice wisely, the efficacy of various tools in influencing recreationists’ behavior must be assessed. Recreation management is especially salient in many US National Parks. For example, wild Yellowstone River cutthroat trout inside Yellowstone National Park are caught an average of 9.7 times during the summer fishing season. Although managed as a catch and release fishery, up to 30% of these fish die each season at the hands of fly anglers. Anglers also cause streambank erosion, generate air, water and litter pollution, interact with wildlife and, for some, degrade the park’s scenic quality. In this paper we examine the extent to which the behavior of anglers in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) is influenced by various management tools, including general and site-specific access fees, catch rates and regulations regarding the type and size of fish that can be killed. We also inquire whether anglers are likely to be self-regulating in that they self-select away from crowded fishing sites. Using survey data from anglers at five popular fishing sites in the GYE, we estimate a two-part model of total site visitation. The two parts involve a discrete choice site selection decision for any given day and the choice of how many days to visit the GYE in a season. The product of the two decisions is total visitation to a site. We use the estimates to measure the impact of management tools on total anglers’ behavior. Our results indicate that anglers are averse to complicated regulations that target certain species and/or size of fish for releases, and prefer catch and release managed fisheries or those where all fish can be kept. We find that the total number of anglers’ visits is most strongly influenced by catch rates, followed by congestion levels and the cost of site-specific access. Increases in costs not specific to a site have little effect on anglers’ behavior. These results suggest that increases in the cost of season fishing permits or park entrance fees are not likely to reduce fishing pressure, but can be used to pursue revenue goals. In contrast, requiring anglers to pay a site-specific daily fee may be effective in managing anglers’ ecological impacts, but may be inconsistent with equity goals.

Assessing Faculty Performance Using Student Evaluations of Teaching in an Uncontrolled Setting.

This paper provides new evidence on the disparity between student evaluation of teaching (SET) ratings when evaluations are conducted online versus in‐class. Using a multiple regression analysis, we show that after controlling for many of the class and student characteristics not under the direct control of the instructor, average SET ratings from evaluations conducted online are significantly lower than average SET ratings conducted in‐class. Further, we demonstrate the importance of controlling for the factors not under the instructor’s control when using SET ratings to evaluate faculty performance in the classroom. We do not suggest that moving to online evaluation is overly problematic, only that it is difficult to compare evaluations done online with evaluations done in‐class. While we do not suppose that one method is ‘more accurate’ than another, we do believe that institutions would benefit from either moving all evaluations online or by continuing to do all evaluations in‐class.

Economics and ecology: a comparison of experimental methodologies and philosophies

Abstract Views of the proper role of experiments in (environmental) economics and ecology have developed quite differently. Economics has devoted the majority of effort to abstract theory, with experimentation coming in a distant second. Kagel quotes a colleague who illustrates a common perception among economists: “I am a ‘true believer’ in microeconomic theory, and as a result I am perfectly willing to accept mathematical proofs without experimental evidence”. In contrast, ecology has focused on observation-based experiments as the primary mechanism of research, almost separate from the development of abstract theoretical ecology. Kareiva notes that “sad truth is that ecological theory exists largely in a world of its own, unnoticed by mainstream ecology”. We explore why this divergence has developed and persisted. The main reason is that economists and ecologists differ in their assumptions regarding the objective function of a model. Economists generally assume the objective function is well-defined, ecologists view the function as unknown. We higlight recent research in environmental economics to illustrate the economists approach to experimentation.

The Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act and Regulatory Behavior

The 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act set energy conservation and efficient, equitable electricity rates as national goals. The decision on whether to implement innovative rates to meet these goals was turned over to state public service commissions, but not all states implemented the rates. This paper uses economic and political variables to explain state decisions regarding implementation. The results suggest that state commissions were influenced by concerns for economic efficiency, but were also swayed by political pressures.

The Economic Value of the Greater Yellowstone's Blue-Ribbon Fishery

Abstract The U.S. National Park Service must find a balance in an inherently conflicting mandate that calls for preserving and protecting ecological systems while providing for the publics enjoyment of natural resources through recreation. This conflict is especially intense in the case of fisheries management. Although most of the waters in Yellowstone National Park are managed as catch-and-release fisheries, some individuals still hold that fishing (like hunting) in the park is in fundamental conflict with the goal of preservation. An important element in the National Park Services balancing act is the economic value of recreation activities. This paper uses the results of a 1993 survey of anglers at five blue-ribbon fishing sites in and near Yellowstone National Park to estimate the economic value that anglers attach to their fishing experiences. We estimate that fishermen place a value of between US

Challenging the enforcement of environmental regulation

172 and

Testing theories of regulatory behavior

977 on a day of fishing. For Yellowstone National Park, these estimates translate into a tot...