Even though I'm extremely busy right now (facing the GRE AWA test in 24 hours), I've just got to post this one.

picture from ipezone

I was going through some regular IR, IPE blogs a few minutes ago, and I came up with this article, "Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang and Taiwan's Int'l Pol Econ." As a Taiwanese baseball fan who happens to study IPE, I would feel guilty if I don't stop and record it on my own blog. Here are some excerpts:

This fellow is far more popular than any Taiwanese politician. When he takes to the mound, the country practically stops to watch. Newspaper advertising rates soar as well on days when he pitches. Plus, a study claims that the Taiwanese Stock Exchange performs better when Wang pitches well. Why it's WangMania! Add that virtually every product imaginable bears his likeness in the ROC and you've got Chien-Ming Wang, Inc.

...

Now Taiwan's major newspapers charge a higher advertising rate for issues published on a day that Wang pitches, as well as the day after each start. The country's largest circulation daily, Apple Daily, estimates that it sells as many as 300,000 extra papers on days that carry reports of another Wang victory. Endorsements that have come Wang's way include McDonald's, Ford, E Sun Bank (one of the largest in Taiwan) and computer-maker Acer, which claims that Wang's name alone has increased its product sales by 10% and lowered the average age of its consumer by almost four years.

...

Last year a study in a Taiwanese business journal, Money Weekly, found a correlation between Wang's pitching performances and the fluctuations of the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The report attributed a 25% index rise last summer to Wang's strong June and July. "We absolutely believe it to be true," Shao says of the relationship between Wang's performance and last summer's bull market. "Psychologically, how [Wang] does has a huge effect on the Taiwanese people. If he does well, people are in a good mood, and they go out and spend money. If he doesn't, you walk around and you can see people depressed. It's a very personal matter to the Taiwanese people." (For the record, the country's stock index was up roughly 6%, through Monday, since Wang's first start this season, on April 1.)

btw, Chien-Ming Wang is the fastest pitcher in the MLB to reach 50 wins since Dwight Gooden in 1986, requiring only 85 starts.

I'm preparing for the GRE AWA test on 4/25, which is important for my future grad school applications. I also have a mid-term coming up next week. Therefore, with all the studies piling up on me, I may only be able to post 1~2 articles per week.

Yesterday, in Electoral Study class, I learned that the most important way of campaigning was by personal contact: door-to-door canvassing, hand-shaking, etc.. Today, coincidentally, I saw an article on Freakonomics talking about the insignificance of e-mailing regarding its get-out-the-vote effect.

If an e-mail message from a campaign or non-profit group were to pop up in your inbox on election day asking you to please go down to your polling place and cast your vote, would you do it?

Probably not, if the results of a study by Notre Dame political scientist David Nickerson are any indication. Nickerson conducted 13 field experiments during elections between 2002 and 2004, and found that aggressive e-mail get-out-the-vote campaigns have virtually no effect on voter turnout.

I find David's results quite consistent with both of my election observation experiences (legislative elections and presidential elections).

A friend of mine works at Fridays. He got a few coupons that offer free dinner for the weekend (4/5~4/6). If you are interested, click here so I can estimate the total amount needed.