Jessica Holmes

Charity auctions: a field experiment*

Auctions are a popular way to raise money for charities, but relatively little is known, either theoretically or empirically, about the properties of charity auctions. We conduct field experiments to see which sealed bid format, first price, second price or all-pay, raises the most money. Our experiment suggests that both the all-pay and second price formats are dominated by the first price auction. Our design also allows us to identify differential participation as the source of the difference between existing theory and the field.

Presentation of Pediatric Celiac Disease in the United States: Prominent Effect of Breastfeeding

Childhood celiac disease (CD) is considered rare in the United States. Consequently there are few data concerning its clinical presentation. A validated questionnaire was distributed to families of children with CD. One hundred forty-one children with biopsy-proven CD were included in the study. We found significant differences in the clinical spectrum of children based on their infant feeding history. Exclusively breastfed children were significantly less likely to report failure to thrive (69% vs 88%, p<0.05) and short stature (37% vs 62%, p<0.05), and had a higher rate of “atypical” symptoms (p<0.01). Breastfeeding alters the presentation and contributes to atypical presentations of CD and diagnostic delay. Pediatricians need to be aware of the diverse manifestations of celiac disease to reduce diagnostic delay.

Athletics and Alumni Giving: Evidence From a Highly Selective Liberal Arts College

Using data on annual giving (between 1990 and 2004) for more than 22,000 active alumni from a highly selective liberal arts college, the authors employ a probit framework to analyze the likelihood of giving and a tobit framework to analyze the determinants of alumni generosity. Both the micro-level analysis and the statistical methodology allow the authors to test for differential impacts (by gender, age, or undergraduate involvement) of sports participation or a winning season on the propensity to give as well as on the generosity of alumni contributions. The results indicate that athletes are more likely to give and that they are more generous than their nonathlete counterparts, especially younger alumni who participated in one of the colleges historically most successful high-profile sports. A winning season in this particular sports program also leads to greater alumni giving and more generous gifts.

Gender and graduate economics education in the US

Abstract This paper reports on the findings of a survey of top economics graduate schools as they relate to women and men. The results provide strong evidence that at these top graduate schools, women graduate students are less integrated in their economic disciplines than are male graduate students. In the second part of the paper, this paper relates those findings to alternative theories as to why this is the case. This paper concludes by suggesting that the emphasis on theoretical studies in the current core of the graduate economics program can be seen as a type of hazing process that seems to have a significant cost since many women (and men) with great creative promise are discouraged from continuing in economics and do not benefit nearly as much as they would have from more policy-driven core courses.

Prenatal Testosterone and the Earnings of Men and Women

Testosterone, which induces sexual differentiation of the male fetus, is believed to transfer from males to their littermates in placental mammals. Among humans, individuals with a male twin have been found to exhibit greater masculinization of sexually dimorphic attributes relative to those with a female twin. We therefore regard twinning as a plausible natural experiment to test the link between prenatal exposure to testosterone and labor market earnings. For men, the results suggest positive returns to testosterone exposure. For women, however, the results indicate that prenatal testosterone does not generate higher earnings and may even be associated with modest declines.

Charity auctions in the experimental lab

To transform donations “in kind” into cash, charities of all sizes use auctions and raffles. Despite this, neither the theory nor the practice of efficient fund-raising – and, in particular, charity auctions – has received sufficient attention from economists, especially the fact that participation in fund-raisers is endogenous. We describe, in detail, the design and implementation of an experiment to examine 15 charity auction mechanisms. While some of the mechanisms have already received attention from both theorists and empiricists, ours is the first comprehensive examination of all existing mechanisms and the first to explore the potential of a few new formats. Our analysis focuses on participation differences among the formats and how theory and supplemental survey data can help explain some of these differences.

“Bucket auctions” for charity

Donations in-kind can be a mixed blessing for charities, who are often more adept at solicitation than resale. Many organizations rely on raffles to turn donations into cash, but auctions are also common. Theory predicts that all-pay mechanisms should produce more revenue than winner-pay mechanisms, but the empirical literature is thin and inconclusive. Drawing on both theoretical insights and behavioral intuition, we examine another all-pay mechanism, the “bucket auction,” and show that it generates more revenue than other standard mechanisms, both in theory and in the lab. We hope, therefore, that this format, and others like it, will attract the interest of fundraisers.

A Guide for Submissions to the JEE Content Section

The authors provide a guide to the thinking of the editorial collective for the Content section of the Journal of Economic Education (JEE). They discuss the type of papers they are looking for, what in their view constitutes a good paper, and how their review process works. They also provide some examples of what works (and what does not). Although they focus specifically on Content articles for the JEE, many of the general issues discussed may carry over to other sections of the JEE and to journals more generally.

Is George Bailey Dead

As consolidation, deregulation, and technological advances transform the financial services industry, it is generally believed that community banks provide relationship-based banking services for small businesses, family farmers, and depositors of low to moderate wealth. Using data from actual loan applications to a rural community bank (not too dissimilar to Its A Wonderful Lifes ‘Bailey Building and Loan Company’ in Bedford Falls), the role of relationship lending in the market for home mortgages is examined for a financial institution with a long-perceived tradition of character lending. No evidence is found that prior account holders are given any advantage in the approval process for a home loan. Nearly all of the loan decisions are based on objective criteria such as personal wealth, debt obligations, and credit score. This has obvious implications for historically underserved consumers who are often rationed out of a credit market that allocates loan funds based solely on credit scoring techniques.