Romer (1993) suggests that universities should undertake experiments that would test the value of mandatory attendance for economics courses. He presents evidence showing that those who attended his classes received higher grades on his exams and concluded that “an important part of the...

Asia and the Eastern European nations are in a state of economic turmoil. An important element for improvement is that Western nations open their markets to more trade. This is in fact what the West could have done after the fall of the Berlin Wall. But petty shortsightedness of the governing...

Like industrial development, agricultural growth also requires a leading sub-sector to generate dynamism in production, capital formation and technology. A predominantly cash crop like potato has the potential to play such a leading role in rural development in North East India. In terms of...

This essay applies a historical-institution approach to assess the impact of WTO membership on China’s economic, legal and political institutions. In each case historical and institutional trends are described, and the effects of WTO membership on these trends are examined. The topics include...

What evidence exists on the value of formal planning for strategic decision-making in marketing? This paper reviews the evidence. This includes two tests of face validity. First, we use the market test: Are formal procedures used for marketing planning? Next, we examine expert prescriptions:...

Intentional Changes is an important book. It suggests different approaches to the way in which we try to implement change. It provides, as do most important books, much that you will disagree with. Tough’s conclusions are based on studies that are likely to be unknown to you. The book is...

Concept of human development and its measurement as introduced by UNDP in the first Human Development Report 1990 is an approach to measure economic development. It is a composite measure of economic progress and a better substitute to Per Capita Income (measure) that could neither capture nor...

As Cicchetti indicates, agreement among reviewers is not high. This conclusion is empirically supported by Fiske and Fogg (1990), who reported that two independent reviews of the same papers typically had no critical point in common. Does this imply that journal editors should strive for a high...

Those making environmental decisions must not only characterize the present, they must also forecast the future. They must do so for at least two reasons. First, if a no-action alternative is pursued, they must consider whether current trends will be favorable or unfavorable in the future....

My review of empirical research on scientific publication led to the following conclusions. Three criteria are useful for identifying whether findings are important: replication, validity, and usefulness. A fourth criterion, surprise, applies in some situations. Based on these criteria,...