The Scout Report for Business & Economics

May 7, 1998

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Business & Economics is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in business and economics. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the field that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given area of study.

The Scout Report for Business & Economics is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.

Research Current Awareness

Learning Resources New Data

General Interest In the News

AIDS Economics
http://www.worldbank.org/aids-econ/
UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) and the World Bank worked together to create the AIDS Economics site to help improve understanding of the economics of HIV/AIDS and to "help researchers and policymakers in developing countries to define and implement humane, cost-effective policies to fight the disease." The highlight of the site is the summary of the findings and statistical appendices from Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities in a Global Epidemic, a World Bank report. The full text of the report will be available shortly. The site also features a toolkit to assist consultants in assessing the implications of HIV/AIDS in the distribution of development assistance. Visitors to the site can also sign up for AIDS Economics, a free electronic newsletter. [THN]
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Regulatory Reform--OECD
http://www.oecd.org/publications/Pol_brief/9804_pol.htm
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released Policy Brief No.4 on regulatory reform. The brief explains the many forms that regulation can take, what regulatory reform involves, and a set of rules on regulatory reform. The impact of regulatory reform on the economy, the consumer, and employment is also covered. [THN]
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New Economics Papers
http://netec.mcc.ac.uk/NEP/
US Mirror
http://netec.wustl.edu/NEP/
New Economics Papers (NEP) is a working paper announcement service sponsored by RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) and the Electronic Library Programme. NEP aims to distribute, in the form of edited reports via email (to subscribers), up-to-date information on new releases of working papers. Conference announcements and professional information will also be disseminated through the reports. At the moment, users may subscribe to 15 different reports, each covering a different area of economics. Information about the various reports and subscription information is available at the site. [THN]
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Bureau of Economic Analysis [.pdf]
http://www.bea.doc.gov/
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), an agency of the US Department of Commerce, is the self-proclaimed "nation's accountant." BEA provides figures on the national, regional and international economic accounts. National accounts data include gross domestic product (GDP), input-output accounts, and gross product by industry. Regional accounts data include information on gross state product and state personal income, while international economic accounts include information on exports, imports and capital flows to and from the United States. The site also contains articles explaining how the accounts are calculated. [THN]
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Swedish Working Papers in Economics [.pdf]
http://swopec.hhs.se/
Operated by the Stockholm School of Economics Library, this site provides electronic access to working papers from Swedish universities and research institutes. Currently, working papers from Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm University, the Institute for International Economic Studies, Umea University, Lund University, Goteborg University and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics are archived. Users may search through the archived abstracts and text by author(s), keywords and subject codes. [THN]
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The International Economics Study Center
http://www.internationalecon.com/index.html
The International Economics Study Center was developed by Steve Suranovic, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University. The highlight of the site is an electronic textbook entitled "International Trade Theory and Policy Analysis," which targets intermediate undergraduate students. Also provided are short problem sets based on the textbook. In addition, the site features links to current international trade news stories, a forum on fair trade, and some preliminary notes on international macroeconomics. [THN]
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Microeconomic Analysis for Business Students
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~rramacha/TableofContents.pdf
Rama Ramachandran, Adjunct Professor of Economics at New York University, prepared these notes on microeconomic analysis for his MBA class. The course covers such topics as market economy, consumer choice, benefits from trading, market fluctuations and risk management, the modern corporation, comparative advantage, market structure, and the relationship between input market and international trade. [THN]
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Applied Management Science: Making Good Decisions
http://ubmail.ubalt.edu/~harsham/opre640/opre640.htm
Hossein Arsham, Professor of Management Science and Statistics at the University of Baltimore, developed this site for his Applied Management Science course. The intent of the course is "to provide decision makers and analysts with tools that provide a logical structure for understanding problems as well as mathematical techniques for solving the problems that have been formulated." The web site contains notes on the methodology of management science, implementation of management science projects, optimization, linear programming, and formulation of network problems. [THN]
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Marketing 305: Consumer Behavior
http://www.siu.edu/departments/coba/mktg/courses/mktg305/
The Marketing 305: Consumer Behavior web site was developed by Gordon Bruner, Associate Professor of Marketing at Southern Illinois University. The course aims to help students understand the variables that affect consumption and how consumer behavior affects the success of marketing. At the site, visitors will find the course syllabus, slides from the lectures, review questions and sample exam questions. [THN]
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1998 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group
http://www.imf.org/external/spring/98/index.htm
The 1998 Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group was held from April 13-17, 1998 in Washington DC. The site features the schedule of events, transcripts of press conferences and briefings, and various communiques. Topics discussed at the meeting include the current world economic outlook, Asian lessons for Latin America, and trends in development indicators. [THN]
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Year 2000 Kit for Small Businesses [.pdf]
http://www.prudential.com/corporate/techatpru/cotzz1004.html
The Prudential Insurance Company has developed a Year 2000 Kit for Small Businesses and made it available for download from this site. The kit provides an overview of the Year 2000 problem and explains how the Year 2000 problem might affect small businesses. A three-step plan to eliminate the Year 2000 problem is provided in the kit. To assist businesses in coping with the Year 2000 problem, the kit also provides a set of worksheets to facilitate organizing the Year 2000 project and tracking its progress. [THN]
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Second Summit of the Americas
http://www.summit-americas.org/
The Second Summit of the Americas was held in Santiago, Chile from April 18-19, 1998. Thirty-four countries from the American continent attended the summit to discuss democracy, poverty, education and economic integration, and free trade in the Americas. The web site contains press releases, opening and closing speeches, and the Final Declaration of the Summit. The Plan of Action adopted at the Summit, background information on the Free Trade Areas of the Americas, and projections for available resources for initiatives are also available at the site. Note that the site is available in Spanish or English. [THN]
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European Industrial Relations Observatory Online [.pdf]
http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/
The European Industrial Relations Observatory Online (EIROnline) was developed by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, an autonomous body created by the European Community. The aim of the site is to "initiate, collect, store, disseminate and provide access to information and analysis on developments in industrial relations" in the 15 European Union member states and Norway. Visitors will find the latest industrial relations news and feature articles arranged by country. There is also a bimonthly publication called the EIRObserver summarizing the news and items over the past two months. [THN]
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OptionSource.com
http://www.options-iri.com/
OptionSource.com was developed by Schaeffer's Investment Research to help educate investors about options trading. A large part of the site is devoted to familiarizing novice investors with options investing. To that end, a five-lesson series introduces investors to options trading. In addition, the site covers basic and more complex options trading strategies. Research on options trading, daily options market commentary, and an options glossary are also available. Investors may also obtain the latest stock and options quotes at the site. [THN]
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(For links to additional current awareness on periodicals, journals, working papers, new books, etc., visit the Business & Economics Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/metapage/).
Resources for Economists Update
http://rfe.org/
This legendary resource, provided by Professor Bill Goffe of the University of Southern Mississippi, has recently been updated (Vol. 3, No. 1). RFE now sports both a new design and a new domain name, as well as many new resources. It has long been an indispensible gateway to Internet economics information, and now contains over 700 annotated resources in 34 subject areas. [JS]
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Working Papers
International Monetary Fund Working Papers
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/CAT/wp.cfm
The International Monetary Fund has released thirteen new working papers (WP/98/41 to WP/98/53). These papers examine issues related to the European Monetary Union, South Mediterranean region, globalization, immigration flows, interest rate policy, Kazakhstan, the Italian labor market, virtual deficits, and the relationship of Eastern Europe to the European Community. [THN]

Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve Board of Governors Finance and Economic Discussion Series [.pdf], [.ps]
http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/pubs/feds/1998/index.html
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors has released seven new Finance and Economic Discussion Series papers (1998-12 to 1998-18). The papers examine the behavior of the Fed, part-time work, small business finance, divestitures, cash holdings and the effect of social security privatization on household saving. [THN]

Institute for International Economic Studies Seminar Papers [.pdf]
http://swopec.hhs.se/iiessp/
Two new Seminar Papers (No. 637 and No. 638) on policy rules for inflation targeting and open-economy inflation targeting are now available. [THN]

Stockholm School of Economics Working Papers Series in Economics and Finance [.pdf]
http://swopec.hhs.se/hastef/
Working papers No. 233-235, "Maximum likelihood estimation of the multivariate fractional cointegrating model," by Johan Lyhagen, "The design and analysis of stochastic cost-effectiveness studies for the evaluation of health care interventions," by Andrew Briggs and Magnus Tambour, and "Shareholder-Value Maximization and Tacit Collusion," by Giancarlo Spagnolo, are available. [THN]

OECD Economic Working Papers [.pdf]
http://www.oecd.org/eco/wp/onlinewp.htm
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released two new working papers (No. 194 and 195) on international competitiveness of OECD countries and the trade policies of the European Union. [THN]
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Periodicals
Federal Reserve System
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Ag Letter [.pdf]
http://www.frbchi.org/pubs-speech/publications/periodicals/aglet/welcome.html#1998
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Chicago Fed Letter [.pdf]
http://www.frbchi.org/pubs-speech/publications/periodicals/chilet/welcome.html
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Report [.pdf]
http://www.ny.frb.org/rmaghome/staff_rp/
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has released the April 1998 issue of Ag Letter with an article on the expansion of the hog industry, and the May 1998 issue of the Chicago Fed Letter which features a discussion of interstate trade among Midwest Economies. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has released the April 1998 issue of the Staff Report, entitled "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation in Probit Models with Autocorrelated Errors," by Artura Estrella and Anthony P. Rodrigues. [THN]

World Bank Poverty Lines [.pdf, .ps]
http://www.worldbank.org/html/prdph/lsms/research/povline/plhome.html
The World Bank has released the March 1998 issue of Poverty Lines with the theme of geographic targeting and its effects on poverty reduction. [THN]
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Books and Journals
Econbase--Elsevier
http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/econbase
The abstracts and table of contents are now available for Economic Letters (Vol. 58 No. 2-3), Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control (Vol. 22 No. 4), Japan and the World Economy (Vol. 10 No. 2), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (Vol. 33 No. 3-4 and Vol. 34 No.1), European Economic Review (Vol. 42 No.2), Journal of International Economics (Vol. 44 No.2), Journal of Mathematical Economics (Vol. 29 No.2), Journal of Public Economics (Vol. 67 No. 2-3), Journal of Corporate Finance (Vol. 4 No.1), Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control (Vol. 22 No.5), Journal of Financial Economics (Vol. 47 No. 2-3) and Journal of Monetary Economics (Vol. 41 No.2). [THN]

Baker & Taylor Latest Books in Business--May 1998
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M05/UBBS/ubbs17.html
Baker & Taylor Latest Books in Economics--May 1998
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M05/UBBS/ubbs16.html
Baker & Taylor has made available a list of forthcoming business and economics books to be published in June. [THN]
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Conferences
16th Annual International Conference of the Association of Management/International Association of Management (AoM/IAoM)
http://www.aom-iaom.com/dir2-ann.html
The Association of Management/International Association of Management (AoM/IAoM) will hold its 16th Annual Conference in Chicago from August 5-8, 1998. The theme of the conference will be "Global Reach for the 21st Century." [THN]

ITS 98 Biennial Conference
http://www.its98.org/
The Twelfth Biennial ITS (International Telecommunications Society) Conference will be held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 21-24, 1998. The conference will focus on what happens beyond the digital convergence of computing, communications and media. [THN]

International Conference on Computational Intelligence for Modelling Control and Automation (CIMCA '99)
http://www-gscit.fcit.monash.edu.au/conferences/cimca99/
The International Conference on Computational Intelligence for Modelling Control and Automation will be held in Vienna, Austria from February 17-19, 1999. Topics to be discussed at the conference include modern and advanced control strategies, hybrid systems, data analysis, and decision making and information retrieval. [THN]

Computational Methods in Decision-Making & Finance
http://iiun.unine.ch/Events/Conferences/Cmdmf.html
Universite de Neuchatel is organizing a conference on Computational Methods in Decision-Making & Finance. The conference will be held from June 22-23, 1998, in Neuchatel, Switzerland. The conference will examine "state-of-the-art applications of computational technology to solve financial and decision-making problems." [THN]
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Jobs
European Job Openings for Economists (E-JOE)
http://www.inomics.com/query/show?what=ejoe
The E-JOE site is hosted by the Department of Economics at the Technical University Berlin and the European Economic Association. It provides announcements of job openings for economists in Europe. The listings are searchable and there is also an email alert service providing weekly updates of new job openings. [THN]

Job Openings in Economics from the Chronicle of Higher Education
http://thisweek.chronicle.com/.ads/.ads-by-group/.faculty/.sscience/.econ/.links.html
Job Openings in Business and Management from the Chronicle of Higher Education
http://thisweek.chronicle.com/.ads/.ads-by-group/.faculty/.professional/.business/.links.html
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(For links to additional sources of new data see the Business & Economics Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/metapage/).
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment--March 1998
http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nws.htm
Employment Cost Index--March 1998
http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/eci.nws.htm
Productivity and Costs--First Quarter 1998
http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.nws.htm
The BLS has released the March 1998 figures for metropolitan area employment and unemployment. The data show that the metropolitan areas with the lowest unemployment rates were in the Midwest and the South. The Employment Cost Index (ECI) which measures compensation costs rose at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in March, 1998. Preliminary prodctivity measures for the first quarter of 1998 were released, indicating that business productivity (at seasonally-adjusted annual rates) grew by 0.8 percent in the business sector and 0.2 percent in the nonfarm business sector. [THN]
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Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
1997 State Per Capita Personal Income and State Personal Income
http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/newsrel/spi497.htm
Gross Domestic Product: First Quarter 1998 (Advance)
http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/newsrel/gdp198a.htm
Personal Income and Outlays: March 1998
http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/newsrel/pi0398.htm
1996 Local Area Personal Income
http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/newsrel/mpi96.htm
1996 LAPI Detailed County Data
http://www.bea.doc.gov/gsp/lapilist.htm
The BEA has released preliminary estimates of per capita income and state personal income in 1997. The data showed that per capita income for the nation increased from $24,436 to $25,598 between 1996 and 1997. Advance estimates showed that real gross domestic product increased by 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 1998 compared to an increase of 3.7 percent in the last quarter of 1997. Meanwhile, personal income increased by 0.3 percent in March compared to an increase of 0.6 percent in February. The BEA also released the 1996 Local Area Personal Income data, which provides estimates of personal income for counties and metropolitan areas. [THN]
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Federal Reserve Board of Governors
Foreign Exchange Rates--April 1998
http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/releases/G5/
Selected Interest Rates--April 1998 [.pdf]
http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/releases/G13/
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors has released the April 1998 data for foreign exchange rates and selected interest rates. [THN]
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Energy Information Administration (EIA)
International Energy Outlook 1998 [.pdf]
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo98/home.html
The EIA has released the International Energy Outlook 1998, which examines the outlook for international energy markets through the year 2020. The report provides a review of world trends in energy demand and projections of consumption of different energy sources for various regions of the world. [THN]
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Census Bureau
Current Population Survey
http://ferret.bls.census.gov/
Annual Survey of Manufactures - Geographic Area Statistics [.pdf]
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/m96as3.html
The Census Bureau has made available the January 1995 through December 1996 "Basic Monthly" and the October 1994-1996 "School Enrollment Supplements Current Population Survey" (CPS) microdata files. These files may be accessed through FERRET (Federal Electronic Research and Review Extraction Tool, discussed in the June 6, 1997 Scout Report). The 1996 Annual Survey of Manufactures - Geographic Area Statistics, which provides information on the manufacturing industry for each state, has also been released. [THN]
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A Single Currency for Europe
Euro 1999 [.pdf]
http://europa.eu.int/comm/off/rep/conver/index_en.htm
Financial Times Special Report on European Monetary Union
http://www.ft.com/specials98/emu.htm
BBC News Special Report on the Euro
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/single_currency/newsid_66000/66823.stm
Summary of Euro Debate
http://www.king.ac.uk/~en_s007/euro/eurosum.htm
The Euro -- One Currency for Europe
http://europa.eu.int/euro/
European Monetary Institute [.pdf]
http://www.ecb.int/
Association for the Monetary Union of Europe
http://amue.lf.net/
European EU-Sceptics
http://www.eusceptic.org/welcome.html
JP Morgan EMU Info Center [.pdf]
http://www.jpmorgan.com/emu/index.html
This week's In the News examines the introduction of a single currency for Europe. The nine resources above will provide details of the new European currency, the Euro, and the issues involved in the creation of the single currency. On March 25, 1998, the European Commission recommended that eleven countries (Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland) have met the conditions necessary for adopting the single currency, the Euro, on January 1, 1999. The introduction of the single currency is expected to bring the European nations closer together and to increase trade.
The Euro 1999 site hosts the Convergence Report and Recommendation, which lists the countries that have met the necessary conditions to adopt the Euro. The Financial Times Special Report on European Monetary Union site contains news on the latest developments of the Euro, including a timeline of events leading up to its introduction. Note that the site is free, but registration is required. The BBC News Special Report on the Euro includes archives of BBC News stories surrounding the development of the single currency for Europe. The Summary of Euro Debate site, provided by Kingston University (UK), contains a list of arguments for and against the Euro. The Euro -- One Currency for Europe is the official European Commission web site for the Euro. The site offers information on the introduction of the Euro and its impact on consumers, finance, and public administrators. The European Monetary Institute is the precursor to the European System of Central Banks; this site provides press releases, publications and speeches relating to the Euro. The Association for the Monetary Union of Europe (AMUE) is an organization of European industrialists working towards monetary stability, single currency and a single market in Europe. The AMUE site provides information on how companies can prepare for the introduction of the Euro, and other up-to-date information on the Euro. The European EU-Sceptics organization opposes the introduction of the Euro, and visitors can find arguments against the introduction of the Euro at the organization's website. The J.P. Morgan EMU Information Center was developed to provide information on EMU-related issues. It contains the EMU Bulletin (which discusses the transition to a single currency), the EMU fact sheet, a timetable of forthcoming events in the introduction of the Euro, and a glossary of EMU related terms. [THN]
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The Scout Report for Business & Economics
Brought to You by the Internet Scout Project

The Scout Report for Business & Economics is published every other Thursday by the Internet Scout Project, located in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Computer Sciences.

Susan Calcari
Jack Solock
Thiam Hee Ng
Jeannine Ramsey

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Managing Editor
Editor
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Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report for Business & Economics provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The Internet Scout Project provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material.

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