The purpose of this manuscript is to quantify exactly how much information and/or predictive content is contained in business sentiment surveys. This paper uses techniques drawn from information theory econometrics, and more specifically the theory of information entropy, to characterize the...

Purpose – The purpose of this manuscript is to quantify exactly how much information and/or predictive content is contained in business sentiment surveys. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses techniques drawn from information theory econometrics, and more specifically the theory of...

Purpose: Community asset mapping (CAM) is an evidence-based activity commonly used in local socioeconomic development initiatives. Residents and other stakeholders collaboratively identify the resources that they deem most important to the vitality of their community. Results are depicted...

The State of New York recently enacted business tax reforms. The first legislative act launched the START-UP NY program in 2014. It created tax free enterprise zones throughout the state to incentivize business incubation within, or relocation of existing firms to, the State of New York. In that...

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is among the most popular empirical tools for measuring cost and productive efficiency. Because DEA is a linear programming technique, establishing formal statistical properties for outcomes is difficult. We show that the incidence of inefficiency within a...

An extensive literature relating patients' expectations to treatment outcomes has not addressed the determinants of these expectations. We argue that treatment history is part of a reference point that influences the patients' expectations of how effective further treatment might be, thus...

As economic conditions decline, U.S. households continue to be pushed towards the brink of financial insolvency. Unfortunately, current legal and market protection policies are largely ex post, and do little to alleviate financial distress until after insolvency occurs. This paper argues that...