The stability of interest rate processes

This paper presents a careful reexamination of Chan, Karolyi, Longstaff, and Sanders (CKLS 1992). By redefining the possible regime shift period in line with evidence from known policy changes and past empirical research, we find evidence that contradicts the major results in their paper. The widely cited conclusion of their paper is that the elasticity of interest rate volatility is 1.5. CKLS also concluded that there was no structural shift in the interest rate process after October 1979. When the structural shift period is defined to be temporary and coincident with the Federal Reserve Experiment of October 1979 through September 1982, we find that there is strong evidence of a structural break. Furthermore, we find evidence that, contrary to CKLS's claim, a moderately elastic interest rate process can capture the dependence of volatility on the level of interest rates, while highly elastic models cannot. In particular, this study finds support for the square-root CIR process. These results are robust to changes in the short-rate data used and the treatment of outliers.Econometric models ; Interest rates ; Money

Evaluating Actual Credibility Criteria of Internet-based Scientific Information of Adult Learners

Self-directed adult learners access and evaluate scientific information on the Internet. This paper will discuss methodologies proposed to identify credibility criteria employed during these online learning endeavors

Building the Foundation: Initiating Assessment Practices for North Carolina Housing Officers

Enrollment at institutions of higher education were tight markets with overlapping competition for the same customers in many areas. The typical undergraduate student market was an informed consumer who sought the amenities of home for their student housing. The shift for the student market placed residence hall programs in competition with one another, thus the need for timely assessment of the residence hall facilities, programs, staff, and customers to plan appropriately for the future is appropriate. North Carolina Housing Officers, also known as NCHO, served 57 institutions in North Carolina that have residence hall programs for the promotion of idea exchange and philosophies. The Executive Council is the governing body for the organization. The purpose of this project was to create an assessment resource for the organizations to identify areas of weaknesses and assist with data collection for programs based on best practices in the field of housing. The objectives addressed the creation of assessment, consultation on assessment, programming on assessment, and the improvement of relationships in the organization. The Executive Council placed an emphasis on how they worked together as a governing body with connection to the membership and assessment related areas. Outcomes of this project produced a stronger Executive Council who had a greater understanding of their membership population, ways to connect to membership population, and identified areas for strategic planning

An Intercomparison of Regional Atmospheric Circulation and the Melt Season Loss of Arctic Snow Cover and Sea Ice Extent Across the Land-Ocean Boundary

This study is designed to compare the monthly continental snow cover and sea ice extent loss in the Arctic with regional atmospheric conditions including: mean sea level pressure, 925 hPa air temperature, and mean wind direction among others during the melt season (March-August) over the 29-year study period 1979-2007. Little research has gone into studying the concurrent variations in the annual loss of continental snow cover and sea ice extent across the land-ocean boundary, since these data are largely stored in incompatible formats. However, the analysis of these data, averaged spatially over three autonomous study regions located in Siberia, North America, and Western Russia, reveals a distinct difference in the response of snow and sea ice to the atmospheric forcing. On average, sea ice extent is lost earlier in the year, in May, than snow cover, in June, although Arctic sea ice is located farther north than continental snow in all three study regions. Once the loss of snow and ice extent begins, snow cover is completely removed sooner than sea ice extent, even though ice loss begins earlier in the melt season. Further, the analysis of the atmospheric conditions surrounding loss of snow and ice cover over the independent study regions indicates that conditions of cool temperatures with strong northeasterly winds in the later melt season months are effective at removing sea ice cover, likely through ice divergence, as are warmer temperatures via southerly winds directly forcing melt. The results of this study set the framework for further analysis of the direct influence of snow cover loss on later melt season sea ice extents and the predictability of snow and sea ice extent responses to modeled future climate condition

Comparative advantages of small-scale forestry among emerging forest tenures

Forestland tenure institutions and patterns are in a period of rapid change in the USA. Historically dominant forestland tenures are disappearing, and new tenures are emerging. Traditional, vertically-integrated forest products firms have shed their forestland holdings to be picked up by Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), increasing numbers of private individuals and families are purchasing small rural tracts, and some communities are developing innovative means to gain control over nearby forestlands in order to protect these lands from commercial real estate development. Within this context of rapid ownership change, small-scale forest owners including families and communities find themselves at a competitive disadvantage, relative to large corporate owners, in wood commodity markets. This paper considers how small-scale forest tenures, relative to large corporate tenures, may be advantageous to society with regard to selected ecological, social, and economic factors. While the paper primarily draws upon illustrations from the United States Pacific Northwest, its themes are global in nature

Sub-Section of Anthropology and Psychology

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Sensory Aids Research

Contains reports on two research projects