Segmentation of Rural Labour Contracts: Some Further Evidence

The paper offers an explanation of labour tying commonly observed in seasonally agricultural economies. Employers may either hire regular labourers in the slack season to satisfy all or most of the labour demand in the high season but have underutilised labour in the low–demand season or rely on casual labourers only. Thus farmers hiring regular labour may also hire some casual labour as and when needed to minimise the hoarding costs of regular labour. Secondly, daily regular wages are usually lower than daily casual wages, but regular labourers usually get some wage–advance as well. Thus asset–poor workers have incentives to choose regular labour with interest–free wage advance because they face high marginal costs of credit in the segmented credit markets. The optimum hoarding costs decrease with increase in farm size, but increase with increase in spot market wages. However with improved availability of alternative employment opportunities and/or cheaper credit facilities to the asset–poor labourers, the supply of regular labour is likely to decline. Empirical evidence from the ICRISAT villages in south India seems to be consistent with the primary propositions of the model.     

From post-Keynesian to historical price theory,part I: facts,theory and empirically grounded pricing model ∗

The paper develops an empirically grounded pricing model by first examining the business enterprise pricing equation and its empirical features, and then secondly examining the empirical properties of the prices set by the pricing equations. The third part of the paper is devoted to laying out the empirically grounded pricing model and then delineating its empirical and theoretical properties. The paper concludes that, since the pricing model is embedded in an empirical, historical context, it provides the basis for developing a historical theory of prices.     

The German Unemployment Compensation System: Effects On Aggregate Savings And Wealth Distribution

The effects of the German unemployment compensation system on aggregate savings and the distribution of wealth are studied in a general equilibrium 60–period OLG model. The distribution of wealth is derived as an endogenous function of the parameters characterizing the unemployment compensation system, which comprises unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosengeld), unemployment assistance (Arbeitslosenhilfe), and welfare payments (Sozialhilfe), the latter two being subject to a means test. As our main results: (i) both aggregate savings and wealth equality are a monotone decreasing function of unemployment benefits; (ii) optimal unemployment compensation declines over the spell of unemployment; (iii) asset–based means tests are shown to reduce welfare if the allowable wealth level is below the average wealth in the economy.     

Pricing currency options in a fractional Brownian motion with jumps

A new framework for pricing the European currency option is developed in the case where the spot exchange rate fellows a fractional Brownian motion with jumps. An analytic formula for pricing European foreign currency options is proposed using the equivalent martingale measure and the estimation method of parameters in the pricing model is given, enabling option prices to be computed efficiently and accurately. For the purpose of understanding the pricing model, some properties of this pricing model are discussed in the latter part of this paper. Finally, the numerical simulations illustrate that our model is flexible and easy to implement.     

A characterization of the coskewness–cokurtosis pricing model

The coskewness–cokurtosis pricing model is equivalent to absence of any positive-alpha return for which the residual risk has positive coskewness and negative cokurtosis with the market. This parallels the CAPM and also the fundamental theorem of asset pricing.     

Decentralized pricing in minimum cost spanning trees

In the minimum cost spanning tree model we consider decentralized pricing rules, i.e., rules that cover at least the efficient cost while the price charged to each user only depends upon his own connection costs. We define a canonical pricing rule and provide two axiomatic characterizations. First, the canonical pricing rule is the smallest among those that improve upon the Stand Alone bound, and are either superadditive or piece-wise linear in connection costs. Our second, direct characterization relies on two simple properties highlighting the special role of the source cost.     

Using stochastic frontier models to mitigate omitted variable bias in hedonic pricing models: A case study for air quality in Bogotá, Colombia

Hedonic pricing models use property value differentials to value changes in environmental quality. If unmeasured quality attributes of residential properties are correlated with an environmental quality measure of interest, conventional methods for estimating implicit prices will be biased. Because many unmeasured quality measures tend to be asymmetrically distributed across properties, it may be possible to mitigate this bias by estimating a heteroskedastic frontier regression model. This approach is demonstrated for a hedonic price function that values air quality in Bogotá, Colombia.     

PORTFOLIO BEHAVIOUR AND ASSET PRICING IN A CHARACTERISTICS FRAMEWORK

We have applied the characteristics model to the problem of portfolio behaviour and asset pricing. By defining assets in terms of characteristics, we generated individual demands for assets which depended on the prices of assets, the technological relationship between assets and asset characteristics, and the individual's preferences for different characteristics. In general, the characteristics model cannot be readily aggregated across individuals. However, when we assumed that the assets-characteristics technology had a simple form which was common to all individuals, market-clearing conditions could be used to derive an asset pricing model. Finally, we showed that the characteristics model provides a unified approach to the problem of preference-based portfolio behaviour and asset pricing. A number of existing models can be interpreted as characteristics models: the state-preference model, the parameter-preference model, the capital asset pricing model and the inter-temporal capital asset pricing model.     

To Trade Or Not To Trade: Economies With A Variable Number Of Tradeables*

We present a general equilibrium model that encompasses the endogenous selection and shadow‐pricing of a set of tradeable commodities, with home‐based and social production activities. In the model, a market system is a set of costly social institutions which embody the trade and production technologies available in the economy. Our equilibrium concept describes the pricing of market institutions, thus pricing the tradeability of a commodity. We obtain the existence and the decentralization of Pareto‐efficient allocations. We discuss an example regarding the transition of a guild‐based economy into a market‐based economy.     

A mark-up pricing model for price simulations

This paper develops an input/output model of pricing using a mark-up pricing formula. The connection between mark-up pricing and competitive pricing is analyzed through the determination of sectoral equilibrium profit mark-up rates as a function of the profit rate and the capital intensity of each sector. The model is used to analyze the effects on relative prices and the aggregate price level of exogenous changes in the nominal wage rate, tax rates, the exchange rate and world prices. Exogenous changes in the prices of domestically produced commodities are modelled via the imposition of ad valorem tax rates, which yield a measure of the net effect of the exogenous changes. Simulations are carried out under passive price adjustment as well as adjustment with price ceilings. In this last instance the model calculates the endogenously determined reduction in profit mark-ups. Lastly, empirical results of various simulations are presented using data from the Mexican economy.     

行为资产定价理论综述

如何刻画投资者行为是资产定价理论 50年来发展的主要脉络。在消费资本资产定价模型基础上 ,通过修正投资者的效用函数而发展起来的行为资产定价理论 ,对投资者行为的认识达到了新的高度。本文构造了行为资产定价的一般均衡研究框架 ,指出了此框架与行为金融理论的区别 ,并在此框架下 ,综述了当前流行的行为资产定价模型。文章最后分析了行为资产定价理论的下一步发展方向。     

THE PROPERTY VALUE PREMIUM OF A PLACE OF WORSHIP

Using a unique data set of residential housing values, we improve on previous hedonic pricing and event studies literature to estimate the amenity effects of a new religious structure on local property values. We improve on previous research by extending our analysis with a pre‐ and post‐treatment model. Using a pre‐ and post‐treatment model, we do not find that the religious structure that we examined influenced the value of surrounding properties in the period after its completion. The results suggest that previous research using only post‐completion data may mischaracterize the amenity effects of religious structures. (JEL R3)     

A semiparametric estimation of liquidity effects on option pricing

Abstract. This paper proposes a semiparametric option pricing model with liquidity, as proxied by the relative bid-ask spread. A nonparametric volatility function with liquidity costs as an explanatory variable is estimated using the Symmetrized Nearest Neighbors (SNN) estimator rather than the traditional kernel estimator. The SNN estimator is particularly suitable for the characteristics of option data in financial markets. Moreover, we propose a natural extension of the univariate bandwidth parameter optimal estimation to the multivariate case. A statistical design to test competing option pricing models which takes into account the lack of independence between them is also presented. The in-sample performance of the model turns out to be statistically favorable relative to the competing model without liquidity. Also, an additional experiment is performed within sample, but with just a subsample of options not employed in the nonparametric estimation of the implied volatility function being priced. The results are also favorable to our semiparametic theoretical option pricing model with liquidity. However, the out-of-sample performance is quite disappointing regardless of what option pricing model is employed in the estimation. Eva Ferreira and Gonzalo Rubio acknowledge the financial support provided by Dirección Interministerial Científica y Técnica (DGICYT) grants PB98-0149 and PB97-0621 respectively. All three authors aknowledge the financial support provided by Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU) grant UPV 038.321-HA129/99, and the BSI Gamma Foundation. We appreciate the helpful comments of two anonymous referees, ángel León, José M. Campa, Fernando Tusell and Javier Fernández Navas, seminar participants at the Bank of Spain and the European Financial Management Association (Athens), and the computational assistance of Gregorio Serna. We thank Juan Ayuso and MEFF for providing the data used in this article. The contents of this paper are the sole responsability of the authors.     

Asset pricing theory and the valuation of Canadian paintings

Abstract.  The valuation of Canadian paintings is analysed empirically. Using a sample of auction prices for major Canadian painters for the period 1968–2001, we run hedonic regressions to analyse the influence of various factors, including painter identity, on auction prices, as well as to construct a market price index. This index is used in a second‐stage analysis in which we analyse the properties of Canadian art viewed as an investment asset. We apply standard asset pricing theory, as incorporated in the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), to the analysis of price movements in the market for Canadian paintings.     

A unified beta pricing theory

This paper derives Ross's mutual fund separation theory and a new, equilibrium version of Ross's arbitrage pricing theory as special cases of a general theory. The paper also reveals that the two theories are identical in their predictions of asset prices and portfolio returns. The capital asset pricing model (a restricted case of the mutual fund separation theory) receives special treatment.     

A note on dynamic monopoly pricing under consumption externalities

We analyze dynamic monopoly pricing under consumption externalities, focusing on pricing under negative externalities. We also attempt to generalize models in the previous literature, which encompass both negative and positive externalities, by incorporating a consumer’s discount factor for past sales as a parameter. Analyzing our model reveals oscillation as the optimal price path in the presence of negative externalities.     

不同控股比例下的国际转移定价模型

转移价格在跨国企业的国际经营活动中起着重要的作用。本文从企业税负驱动机制的微观层面上,扩展国际转移定价的理论模型,深入分析在不同控股比例和红利分配率情况下转移价格的理性选择;并且运用模拟方法,揭示不同变量条件下的最优转移价格策略。     

Incentive Regulation and The Cost Structure of The Local Telephone Exchange Network

This paper combines an engineering process model of the cost of local exchange telecommunications firms with an analytical model of optimal incentive regulation (with ex post cost observability), to study empirically the properties of the optimal regulatory mechanism. Relying on detailed properties of the cost function, we examine three issues: (i) the extent of natural monopoly when informational rents associated with regulation are taken into account; (ii) the extent of incentive correction, which expresses the divergence of pricing under the optimal mechanism from optimal pricing under complete information; (iii) the implementation of optimal regulation through a menu of linear contracts. Our findings are that, for fixed territory, strong economies of scale allow local exchange telecommunications to retain monopoly characteristics even when the (informational) costs of regulation are properly accounted for, the incentive correction term is small in magnitude, and that optimal regulation can be well approximated through relatively simple linear contracts.     

供应驱动链中供应商主导的一种定价模型

供应链的定价尤其是供应驱动链的定价是供应链管理中的难点之一。本文针对这一问题,首先分析了供应驱动链的运作特点和供应商角色,并将供应驱动链中的供应商与需求驱动链中的供应商进行了比较,分析了供应驱动链中供应商的驱动作用和用户需求对价格变化的敏感性,从利润与需求的主从博弈行为的角度描述供应商定价问题,建立了一种供应驱动链中供应商主导的定价模型,并通过均衡求解引导供应驱动链积极响应用户需求及实现总体利润最大化。     

浮动佣金制下客户交易行为的实证研究

在浮动佣金制下 ,券商经纪业务的核心实际上就是佣金定价问题 ,而客户交易行为是营业部确定佣金价格水平的重要依据。在借鉴行为金融学的有关研究基础上 ,本文构造了合适的佣金定价模型 ,并通过大量样本营业部客户交易数据对降低佣金后客户交易行为变化及其特征进行实证分析 ,提出了券商经纪业务管理模式创新的政策建议。