The Impact of Opt-In Privacy Rules on Retail Credit Markets: A Case Study of MBNA

U. S. privacy laws are increasingly moving from a presumption that consumers must object to ( opt out of) uses of personal data they wish to prohibit to a requirement that they must explicitly consent ( opt in ) to uses they wish to permit. Despite the growing reliance on opt-in rules, there has been little empirical research on their costs. This Article examines the impact of opt-in on MBNA Corporation, a diversified, multinational financial institution. The authors demonstrate that opt-in would raise account acquisition costs and lower profits, reduce the supply of credit and raise credit card prices, generate more offers to uninterested or unqualified consumers, raise the number of missed opportunities for qualified consumers, and impair efforts to prevent fraud. These costs would be incurred despite the fact that as of the end of 2000, only about two percent of MBNA\u27s customers had taken advantage of existing voluntary opportunities to opt out of receiving MBNA\u27s direct mail marketing offers. If Congress were to adopt opt-in laws applicable to financial information, the impact across the economy on consumers and businesses would be significant

Nebraska’s Community Airports: A Study of Organizational, Financial, and Management Practices

Rural and non-metropolitan public-use and general aviation airports play a critical role in the economic development of communities in agricultural states and states with dispersed populations. Not only do they serve as a vital link to markets and resources for both agricultural and non-agricultural businesses operating in the community, small airports provide needed transportation options for area residents. These airports also perform an important function in providing needed health and medical transport services in non-metropolitan locations. Airports can be described as critical “public assets” with needed services to the local community (Penney 2003)

Nebraska’s Community Airports: A Study of Organizational, Financial, and Management Practices: Summary report

Rural and non-metropolitan public-use and general aviation airports play a critical role in the economic development of communities in agricultural states and states with dispersed populations. Not only do they serve as a vital link to markets and resources for both agricultural and non-agricultural businesses operating in the community, small airports provide needed transportation options for area residents. These airports also perform an important function in providing needed health and medical transport services in non-metropolitan locations. Airports can be described as critical “public assets” with needed services to the local community (Penney 2003)

The emergence of mandatory continuing professional education at the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland

This paper explores the emergence of mandatory Continuing Professional Education (CPE) at The Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (hereafter CPA Ireland). While a relatively recent phenomenon within the accounting profession, mandatory CPE is an essential component of on-going education for accounting professionals. Mandatory CPE was not required of accountants until 1stJanuary 2006, following 2004 International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) guidance. However, bye-laws of accounting bodies in the United Kingdom and Ireland referred to CPE since the 1970s as a recommendation, not a mandatory requirement. CPA Ireland instigated such a mandatory CPE system effective 1st January 1993, many years before the 2004 IFAC guidance and nearly a decade before most other professional accounting bodies in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This paper explores the historical emergence of this mandatory CPE system through a neo-institutional approach. The evidence suggests that some institutional contradictions arose, mainly around misaligned interests (growth versus survival) and legitimacy (as a professional accounting body). From these contradictions, institutional change from within emerged – and a key component of this change was mandatory CPE

The Role of Opt-Outs and Objectors in Class Action Litigation: Theoretical and Empirical Issues

We study 236 cases in which we could ascertain quantitative in- formation about the number of objectors, 159 cases with quantitative information about the number of opt-outs, 205 cases with both the size of the class and the number of objectors, and 143 cases with both the size of the class and the number of opt-outs. Opt-outs from class participation and objections to class action resolution are rare: on average, less than 1 percent of class members opt-out, and about 1 percent of class members object to class-wide settlements. Opt-out-rates and objectorrates can be partly explained by observable factors in a particular case. Aside from variations across case types, the most significant factor explaining opt-out and objector rates is the recovery per class member. We do not find robust evidence that the rate of opt-out or objection is associated with the level of attorney fee or the fee\u27s proportion of the client\u27s recovery. Class dissent does not appear to increase when the fee is high, nor does dissent appear to exert a notable moderating effect on fees. The class\u27s recovery is the overwhelmingly dominant feature in shaping the fee level. As predicted by theory, rates of dissent decline as the number of class members increases. The rate of objection to a settlement is negatively correlated with the likelihood that the settlement will be approved. However, we find no evidence that the opt-out rate has any effect on settlement approval. Although dissent rates have never been high, they exhibit a noticeable decline between 1993 and 2003

Company Formations: Minimal Ownership Information Is Collected and Available

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Companies, which are the basis of most commercial activities in market-based economies, may be used for illicit as well as legitimate purposes. Because companies can be used to hide activities such as money laundering, some states have been criticized for requiring too little information about companies when they are formed, especially concerning owners. This testimony draws on GAO's April 2006 report Company Formations: Minimal Ownership Information Is Collected and Available (GAO-06-376), which addressed (1) the information states and other parties collect on companies, (2) law enforcement concerns about the role of companies in illicit activities and the information available on owners, and (3) the implications of collecting more ownership information. GAO surveyed all 50 states and the District of Columbia, reviewed state laws, and interviewed a variety of industry, law enforcement, and other government officials.

Foundation for Evaluating Injured Firefighters Returning to Work

The purpose of this study was to establish a foundation for developing an evidence-based assessment guideline to be used by nursing and medical personnel when evaluating a firefighter\u27s ability to return to work after a lower extremity injury. Two on-line survey instruments were used to record the opinions and beliefs of healthcare providers and firefighters. The final samples included 63 California healthcare providers (with and without professional work experience with firefighters) and 312 California firefighters. Most of the healthcare providers with professional work experience with firefighters use the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments as a guide when performing medical evaluations on firefighters returning to work after an injury (66.7% responded either sometimes, often, or always). Among the providers, physicians reported more frequent use of the NFPA 1582 firefighter essential job function list than did nurse practitioners. Overall, 33 of the 63 healthcare provider respondents agreed that an evidence-based guideline would always be useful when evaluating a firefighter returning to work after a lower extremity injury. Healthcare providers were less familiar with the NFPA 1582 standard than were firefighters (chi-square test, p \u3c .000). Among the firefighter respondents, 22.8% reported that their fire department had adopted NFPA 1582 in their fire agency. The job duties considered essential for a firefighter job varied among the firefighter respondents. Six job duties were believed to be essential by all the non-officers. There was no such agreement among the officers. Firefighter respondents who work in County fire departments differed in what job duties they believed to be essential from those in urban/city fire departments. This study provided information on testing and assessment modalities used by healthcare providers, the use of evidence-based guidelines by healthcare providers, the adoption and use of NFPA 1582, and the essential functions for a firefighter job from a firefighter\u27s perspective, with comparisons based on firefighter rank and the type of fire agency where the firefighter worked. Further research is recommended to develop the needed evidence-based guideline and for policy implementation at the State and local levels

An analysis of the satisfaction/dissatisfaction of United States female unionists with their local trade union organizations :

Findings from this dissertation yield a profile of the CLUW respondents to be older, more experienced, more educated, and more highly paid than the "average" working woman in 1978. CLUW respondents were also found to be less than satisfied but not dissatisfied with the efforts of their local union hierarchies.The findings revealed significant differences between the CLUW respondents' evaluation of their respective local unions' overall performance when compared to 30 specific areas of union performance. The respondents were found to be more satisfied with the specific activities of their local unions than they were with the overall performance of their local unions.Significant differences were found between the CLUW respondents' overall mean satisfaction with their local unions' performance and the following areas: job title, union position and title, union position of respondent at the international union level, and whether the respondents' local union presidents were male or female. Additional findings showing significant differences involved respondents perceptions of whether or not their employers or unions discriminate against females and minorities in promotion and seniority practices, whether or not the proportion of women who hold union officerships are proportionate to female membership in their union, whether or not greater opportunity to participate in the union decision-making process would make their unions more meaningful to them, and whether they think about their national or local union leaders in terms "we" or "they".The findings revealed no significant differences in the amount of satisfaction or dissatisfaction expressed by respondents when analyzed by demographic characteristics, hours and type of work, type of employer, or position held by the respondent at the local union level. Insignificant differences were also noted in the degree of respondent satisfaction when analyzed by whether or not the respondent was paid for union services, the number of union areas of interest to the respondent, how long the respondent had been a union member, or the number of union locals the respondent had belonged to. Additional factors found to yield insignificant differences in satisfaction included whether or not men are perceived to be recognized as a source of influence in local or national union elections, and whether respondents would rather work for man than a woman.This study concerned two questionnaires which were given to members of the Coalition of Labor Union Women in order to gather descriptive statistics about the respondents and to reveal the respondent's degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their local unions' performance.When compared with similar studied by Staines and Quinn, Click et al., and the National Commission on Working Women, many similarities emerged with the findings of this dissertation. The areas showing highest satisfaction were associated with traditional union issues such as improving wages and the handling of grievances. The areas showing least satisfaction by females tend generally to be lower than that expressed by males