RESEARCH Business 2000

TOPICS: Economy |Labor | Transportation |Urban Planning

ECONOMY

Corporate earnings: Executives of public companies are paying increasingly close attention to "managing" the forecasts of analysts so that the actual earnings exceed consensus forecasts, an economist says. (12/1/00)

Taxes: Filling out income-tax forms and filing them has become increasingly easy at the same time as tax planning for college and retirement has grown increasingly complex, a scholar says. (11/1/00)

Power Failures: Illinois needs to produce more electricity to avoid the kind of price hikes that shocked Californians during the summer, a University of Illinois energy expert says. (10/1/00)

Public Policy: Presidents' and presidential candidates' claims to the contrary, U.S. presidents have little impact on economic progress, according to a U. of I. scholar. (7/1/00)

Illinois Budget: The establishment of a "rainy day" fund by the Illinois Legislature is a valuable first step that will need fine-tuning in the future, according to a UI economist. (6/1/00)

Pension Plans: A recent study found 14 state pension systems to be in good shape, 18 in satisfactory shape and 16 at levels that potentially could cause serious problems, a scholar says. (5/1/00)

The Economics of Education: A student who receives a bachelor's degree at an Illinois college or university will make an average of $590,000 more in earnings than a high school graduate. (4/1/00)

Retirement Savings: Rules allowing some early withdrawal of funds from IRA accounts jeopardize "the very savings the IRA was meant to promote," a law professor says. (3/1/00)

Welfare Reform: Welfare rolls have shrunk, and state surveys show that most of those who have left the rolls have jobs, but the surveys may hide a lot of job instability, a study suggests. (2/1/00)

Economics: A UI economist predicts that Illinois will end fiscal year 2000 on June 30 with a general fund balance very close to last year's historic high of $1.35 billion. (2/1/00)

LABOR

Employee Training: The business world has embraced e-commerce as a valuable selling tool, but it has been slow to develop e-learning as a tool for training, a UI professor says. (11/1/00)

Women's Studies: There is a "feminist" spirit in the Czech Republic characterized by a mixture of strong family values with a firm attachment to the labor market, a scholar says. (11/1/00)

Workers' Rights: A victory by employees at Verizon Communications and a ruling that makes it easier to organize workers may help unions gain a foothold in high-tech companies. (10/1/00)

Farm Work: A survey of 13 Illinois counties found that farmers are twice as likely to continue working beyond age 65 as are similarly aged peers in other jobs. (9/1/00)

Strike Breaking: The Taft-Hartley Act, which lets a president seek an injunction ending strikes that "imperil the national health," has outlived its usefulness, two scholars say. (9/1/00)

Corporate Compensation: Women and men who hold like executive jobs in companies of similar size receive comparable pay, although few women hold top positions in large firms. (8/1/00)

Workforce: The use of "contingent" workers in the United States has increased labor productivity but not employer profits, according to a study by scholars at the University of Illinois and elsewhere. (6/1/00)

Wages Abroad: U.S. multinational companies pay higher wages than domestic firms overseas because of what a UI economist calls "technological competition." (6/1/00)

Work and Divorce: Conventional wisdom holds that working long hours contributes to divorce, but new research indicates the evidence is far from conclusive, an economics professor says. (3/1/00)

TRANSPORTATION

Air Fares: The trend toward global alliances among airlines has led to lower ticket fares for passengers traveling abroad, according to a study by a University of Illinois economist. (8/1/00)

Airports and the Economy: Building an airport at Peotone, Ill., rather than expanding O'Hare, could save travelers $500 million a year and spur economic growth, a scholar says. (7/1/00)

URBAN PLANNING

Green Space: People typically say they like the idea of having more green space in their community, but they're not quite so enthusiastic about paying for it, a new study found. (2/1/00)