Suggests that bankruptcy occurs when creditors withdraw their support from a firm's top management team. Five characteristics measuring the relative status of top teams tested on a sample of 57 large bankrupt firms and 57 matched firms revealed that membership in political elites and board connections were negatively associated with bankruptcy.…

In many states renewed attempts at school reorganization may be the sole policy response to solving the rural school improvement issue. Reorganization should be resisted because benefits of reorganization are mixed, good rural schools have many strengths, and the demise of rural schools will damage the infrastructure of rural America. (JHZ)

Notes that the proportion of the Russian state budget spent on education is less than one-third of that spent in the United States. Exacerbating this problem, educational facilities at all levels are inadequate and deteriorating. Describes ways through which the city of Riazan has attempted to address this problem. (MJP)