David N. Sessions

Use of foreign language and models in print advertisements in East Asian countries

The need for cultural sensitivity in global marketing is recognized widely. Using content analysis of 543 advertisements from four East Asian countries, determines the marketing factors which lead to the use of two advertising strategies that might be perceived as culturally insensitive. Indicates that, while foreign languages are used widely, a substantial number of advertisements also employ western models. Shows the use of western models to be influenced by five factors: use of a foreign language, target audience, product′s country of origin, product type and customer country. Shows the use of foreign language words, on the other hand, to be influenced by just two factors: customer country and product type.

Assessment of Teachers’ Attitudes about Professional Development

This article reports three studies in which a scale for assessing teachers’ beliefs about professional-development initiatives was developed and its scores evaluated for reliability and validity. Results indicated that the Teachers’ Attitudes About Professional Development (TAP) scale produced scores with high reliability, a stable one-factor structure, and satisfactory construct and discriminant validity (relative to measures of need for social approval, need for cognition, authoritarianism, and teacher self-efficacy). The studies support the theoretical and practical utility of the construct and measure of teachers’ beliefs about professional development.

Investigating omitted variable bias in regression parameter estimation: A genetic algorithm approach

Bias in regression estimates resulting from the omission of a correlated relevant variable is a well-known phenomenon. In this study, we apply a genetic algorithm to estimate the missing variable and, using that estimated variable, demonstrate that significant bias in regression estimates can be substantially corrected with relatively high confidence in effective models. Our interest is restricted to the case of a missing binary indicator variable and the analytical properties of bias and MSE dominance of the resulting dependent error generated vector process. These findings are compared to prior results for the independent error proxy process. Simulations are run for medium sample sizes and the method is shown to produce substantial reduction in estimation bias and often renders useful estimates of the missing vector. Limited simulations for the continuous variable case are reported and indicate some potential for the method and future research.

The abortion decision: A qualitative choice approach

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey, Youth Cohort, logistic regression models are estimated to show the impact of various sociodemographic and economic factors on the abortion decision for 1867 pregnancies occurring between 1983 and 1985 in the data set. The results suggest a profile of a woman choosing the abortion decision as being White, unmarried, residing in the Northeast or West, relatively well-educated, and either in-school or working. Additionally, the female is likely to have a relatively high person income and, if present, a relatively low spousal income. Being Baptist or Catholic appears to have no significant influence on the abortion decision, and the same is true for Baptists and Catholics who are religious (attend church more than two times per month). The degree of religiosity is a predictor of abortion outcome, irrespective of religious affiliation. Finally, it is found that for low income women, access to Medicaid funding does significantly increase the probability of choosing the abortion option.

Minimum Wage Policy and Poverty in the United States

Recent studies have found that increasing the minimum wage is a useful antipoverty tool. In this analysis, we examine the influence of minimum wages and other important variables on US family poverty rates using state data over the years 1984-98 by estimating both a fixed effect and random coefficients regression model. Taking into account labor market influences, demographic factors, and differences in poverty rates across states, we find that expanding the minimum wage coverage and increasing labor force participation both have larger effects on poverty rates as compared to equivalent changes in the level of the minimum wage. It is further implied from the empirical results that the most effective means of lifting families out of poverty are policies that are directed toward increasing minimum wage coverage, encouraging increased labor force participation, raising the minimum wage, and subsidizing higher education, respectively.

Educators’ beliefs about appropriate pedagogical models for Spanish-speaking ELLs who differ in home-language and English-language literacy abilities in the United States

ABSTRACT Survey research (n = 366) examined educators’ beliefs about the efficacy of five pedagogical models (English as a second language (ESL) self-contained, ESL push-in, ESL pullout, bilingual, and dual language) for English language learners who differ in English literacy proficiency and home-language abilities (delimited to Spanish in this research). Dual language was preferred when students have high English proficiency; this effect was extremely strong for students who are also proficient in Spanish, and moderate when students’ Spanish skills are low. Bilingual education was moderately favored when English is low and Spanish is high. ESL self-contained was moderately favored when students lack literacy proficiency in both English and Spanish. Language proficiency was a consistent predictor of model preferences, with effects sufficiently strong to likely have meaningful impact on actual student placements. Future research should determine the extent to which this pattern in teachers’ beliefs comports with educational outcomes.

Speculation, Future Prices, and the U.S. Real Price of Crude Oil

In this study, we examine the relationship between the U.S. real price of oil and factors that affect its movement over time: futures prices, the value of the dollar, exploration, demand, and supply. All of these variables are treated as jointly endogenous and a reduced form vector error correction model, testing for cointegration amongst the variables, is estimated. We find that for model specifications with short-term futures contracts, supply does indeed dominate price movements in the crude oil market. However, for specifications including longer-term contracts that are inherently more speculative, the real price of oil appears to be determined predominantly by the futures price. Moreover, there is empirical evidence of hoarding in the crude oil market: both oil stocks/inventories and futures prices are found to be positively cointegrated/correlated with each other. From a policy perspective, the results of this analysis indicate that if regulators really wanted to limit speculation in the oil market, it should keep the shorter-term futures contracts and eliminate the more speculative six months futures contracts.

Simulating bias in the estimator of labor market discrimination

In this study, the statistical bias in the most widely used estimator of labor market discrimination is investigated. An algebraic expression for the bias is derived and then simulated for a selected set of explanatory variables and model parameters. The results for a large national dataset seem to indicate that when the variables years of schooling and labor market experience are used in earnings functions, the estimator tends to underestimate the actual or ‘true’ amount of labor market discrimination.