Two mechanical betting rules were applied to games in the National Football League for the 2000-2008 seasons. Wagers of $11 (to win $10) on all NFL underdogs produced a net loss of $717. When bets were limited to visiting underdogs, only $395 (or $44 per year) was lost. The results suggest that...

The expanding legalization of sports betting will most assuredly swell the ranks of bettors nationwide and invariably attract some who would gamble less for financial gain than for entertainment value. While random betting can quickly end the fun for these "recreational bettors," we propose a...

We investigate the relation between seasoned equity issuers' stated intended use of proceeds and their subsequent long-run stock and operating performance. Stated intended uses of proceeds are: investment, recapitalization, and general corporate purposes. We find that issuers stating...

In 1994 the Government of South Australia initiated a process to contract out scheduled bus servicesin metropolitan Adelaide. The services, which currently involve use of about 760 buses that carry 47million passengers per year in a service area of 880 square kilometres, had been operated by...

The separation of purchaser and provider requires identification of the respective roles and responsibilities of the two parties. In the spirit of previous Thredbo conferences, we saw it as clear government should be responsible for strategy and operators for operations. That left, as always,...

A contract establishes a mutual relationship between an authority and an operator. From the point of view of the authority, it is a tactical level mechanism to achieve the strategic objectives of government. Management of contractors translate the requirements of contracts into operational...

Various models for competition and ownership of urban rail systems have been used in South East Asia cities since the early 1990s. The paper reviews and classifies the approaches used in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore. The planning, financing, procurement, implementation and...