Rice University Statistical Consulting Lab

Experience

Transition and Movement of Rice University VM Computer Users to Unix

Client: Rice University

Description: Given the decision to shut down the VM operating environment at Rice University, the SCL's role focused on the training and transition elements required to move all university faculty, staff, and students using VM to the Unix operating environment. This effort included the transport of data and tapes across systems, Unix language training, the introduction of statistical packages on the VET system, and subsequent followup for computing questions in this area.

Analysts: Scott Baggett, Sean Bolks

Development of a Graphical Financial Database Access System

Client: Jones Graduate School of Business

Description: Rice University subscribes to Standard and Poor's CompuStat and the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Stock Prices financial datasets. In late 1997, the SCL was commissioned by the Jones School to pre and post process the data to where it can be quickly queried and to provide a graphical point-and-click front end that the Rice community can easily utilize in order to extract subsets of data from these widely used sources. The end result will be an easily accessible web based interface.

Analysts: Scott Baggett, William Wojciechowski

Development of New Rice Faculty Evaluation Reports

Client: Jim Williamson, Registrar, Rice University

Description: During the fall of 1996, the SCL was presented with the opportunity to design and develop a new method of presenting the results of course faculty evaluations completed by all Rice students each semester. The finished product is an easily understood graphical representation of the entire distribution of responses for a course and instructor. The new forms provide information far beyond those used in the past and in addition, contain more accurate and descriptive results.

Analyst: Scott Baggett

Individual Choice Modeling

Client: Dr. Randy Batsell, Jones Graduate School of Business

Description: Dr. Batsell has developed a general model for Individual choice problems that is shown to include other important models as special cases. SCL's role has been to develop software to implement and test the model via simulations.

Analyst: Roxy Cramer

The Role of The Firm in Corporate Political Activity

Client: Dr. Doug Schuler, Jones Graduate School of Business.

Description: The broad purpose of this project is to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of the firm and the type and degree of political activity in which the firm participates. SCL's role has been to help find statistical techniques that are appropriate for the kinds of questions being asked and for the available data.

Analyst: Roxy Cramer

Statistical Analysis of a Corporate Board of Directors

Client: Steven C. Currall, Jones Graduate School of Business.

Description The data are comprised of observations taken during attendance to 35 board meetings of the Rath Corporation between 1980 and 1985 when the corporation entered bankruptcy and subsequent dissolution. The observations taken include counts of 20 behavioral responses taken across 13 categories for each attending board member. Analyses include primarily log Poisson regression along with nonparametric trend and correlation techniques.

Analyst: Scott Baggett

Statistical Analysis of the Effect of the 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act on Foreign Trade associated with Corporate Stock Returns

Client: Karen E. Schneitz, Jones Graduate School of Business.

Description: Stock returns of 60 firms are analyzed for the effect of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934 (RTAA). Exploratory methods employed includespline smoothing of raw daily and weekly average returns, spline smoothing of raw daily and average weekly returns adjusted for Standard and Poor's Industrial 50 Index, and spline smoothing of raw daily and weekly average returns adjusted for Standard Poor's Industrial 50 Index and first order serial autocorrelation. Analytical methods include regression of the return variable on the RTAA indicator, Standard and Poor's market index, and a pth order autoregressive term. An additional technique known as segmented regression is used but was found to require further statistical application development in the area of variance sensitivity of the estimates in order for the minimized loss function to be more appropriate. The overall results suggest a response to RTAA of export oriented firms, although not overwhelming, and little or no response to RTAA by import competing firms.

Analyst: Scott Baggett

Statistical Analysis of the Effect of Trade Missions on Stock Returns

Clients: Karen E. Schneitz and Doug Schuler, Jones Graduate School of Business.

Description Corporations invited to participate in foreign trade missions were analyzed as a group to determine the effect as seen in averaged adjusted returns. The method is based upon analysis of raw returns adjusted for the equally weighted index from the files of the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago (CRSP). The adjusted returns are averaged by day to produce a collective measure of abnormal return for each day prior to and after a hypothesized event. These cumulative means are then analyzed to determine the effect of the event on the overall market response.

Analyst: Scott Baggett