Who is responsible for rehabilitating the poor? The case for church-based financial services for the poor

This article is a qualitative study, the first part of an ongoing empirical study on the role of churches in providing financial access to the poor. It begins with the question of whether Christian Churches should be involved in providing financial services for the poor. Drawing on the teachings of the Bible, Catholic Social Teachings (CSTs), it concludes that providing such a service is consistent with Christian principles. It then uses the theory of people's psychological sense of a community, the Bible, CST and the extant literature to develop a number of propositions that could form a framework for church-based micro-finance institutions (MFIs).     

Bid Invitation for Legal Persons for Four Olympic Concourses Construction Projects

The four Olympic concourses include: the national tennis center, the national hockey course, Fengtai baseball course and Changping Xiaotangshan Softball course. The detailed information about legal person bid shall be released at the meeting.     

How Does the Market for Corporate Control Function for Property Companies?

We investigate 95 takeovers of property companies all over the world and find that only two of those are hostile. To determine the effectiveness of the market for corporate control, we first study characteristics of targets and acquirers compared to a control sample, using the complete global universe of listed property companies during the most recent takeover wave (1999–2004). We find that the inefficient management hypothesis holds for both REITs and non-REITs, as targets exhibit significant underperformance before takeovers. In the second part of this study, we investigate shareholder wealth effects following takeovers and confirm previous findings that abnormal returns for targets and bidders are distinctly different for the real estate sector. Moreover, we show that this difference not only holds for REIT-to-REIT mergers, but also for mergers of real estate firms without a REIT-status.

Ethical Profit: An Agenda for Consolidation or for Radical Change?

The article considers that conceptual frameworks exist not to portray truth as an absolute, but rather to provide order and guidance to actions and behavior. From such perspective, the article considers that ethical frameworks assist in our attempt to balance the instinct that we have to look out for our own individual welfare with the conscience of obligation that we have to care for a wider community. In this light, the development of ethical frameworks may be interpreted in terms of a process of natural selection with regard to the mutual interdependence of the individual and the community. Thereby, the article argues that corporate and financial ethics do not exist ``to do good'', but rather to act reflexively to *I$Lconsolidate$L and *I$Lsanction$L internal activity, with the consequence that the employee is called on to be ethical not on the individual's own terms, but on the profit- motivated terms of the institution. The net outcome is that institutionalized activity may be co-ordinated to function under the banner of ethical codes of practice, while broader ethical issues for the institution as a whole remain suppressed. We illustrate these arguments with reference to the financial ethics of the Grameen Bank of Professor Muhammad Yunus. Notwithstanding, the example holds out the possibility that ethical concerns for the whole of society might ultimately be compatible with the profit motives of our institutionalised society.     

Correction note for ��The large-maturity smile for the Heston model��

The papers (Forde and Jacquier in Finance Stoch. 15:755?C780, 2011; Forde et al. in Finance Stoch. 15:781?C784, 2011) study large-time behaviour of the price process in the Heston model. This note corrects typos in Forde and Jacquier (Finance Stoch. 15:755?C780, 2011), Forde et al. (Finance Stoch. 15:781?C784, 2011) and clarifies the proof of Forde et al. (Finance Stoch. 15:781?C784, 2011, Proposition 2.3).     

Settling for efficiency – A framework for the European securities transaction industry

Despite a lot of restructuring and many innovations in recent years, the securities transaction industry in the European Union is still a highly inefficient and inconsistently configured system for cross-border transactions. This paper analyzes the functions performed, the institutions involved and the parameters concerned that shape market and ownership structure in the industry. Of particular interest are microeconomic incentives of the main players that can be in contradiction to social welfare. We develop a framework and analyze three consistent systems for the securities transaction industry in the EU that offer superior efficiency than the current, inefficient arrangement. Some policy advice is given to select the ‘best’ system for the Single European Financial Market.     

New development: Information for localism? Policy sense-making for local governance

Recent policy changes in the UK emphasising localism, as opposed to centrally-driven performance management, have potentially significant implications for the use of information in local policy-shaping. This article explores the challenges that this implies for framing the problem and in terms of the current and future uses of information for local governance.     

Is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Ready for China?

Abstract:

The re-emergence of China as a global economic power has intensified calls for the urgent reform of Western-dominated international organizations. We evaluate efforts by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to adapt to the challenge of China. From the first decade of the 2000s, the OECD has undertaken reforms to boost its significance as a key policy actor in the global economy. Part of this effort involves bringing China closer to the organization. To date, only limited progress has been made. We set out three bold policy reforms the OECD could implement that would deepen the OECD’s relationship with China as well as with other emerging economies.     

Opportunities for Cleantech in China

China and cleantech, when mentioned together, are receiving ever increasing attention and excitement from investors, industry, professional services, government bodies, and nongovernment/non-profit organizations. Whether as an investment destination, as a solution for making industrial processes more efficient, re-cycling waste, or cutting carbon footprints,cleantech is one the fastest growing sectors worldwide, and increasingly attracting government support and investment in China.     

What's a business for?

In the wake of the recent corporate scandals, it's time to reconsider the assumptions underlying American-style stock-market capitalism. That heady doctrine--in which the market is king, success is measured in terms of shareholder value, and profits are an end in themselves--enraptured America for a generation, spread to Britain during the 1980s, and recently began to gain acceptance in Continental Europe. But now, many wonder if the American model is corrupt. The American scandals are not just a matter of dubious personal ethics or of rogue companies fudging the odd billion. And the cure for the problems will not come solely from tougher regulations. We must also ask more fundamental questions: Whom and what is a business for? And are traditional ownership and governance structures suited to the knowledge economy? According to corporate law, a company's financiers are its owners, and employees are treated as property and recorded as costs. But while that may have been true in the early days of industry, it does not reflect today's reality. Now a company's assets are increasingly found in the employees who contribute their time and talents rather than in the stockholders who temporarily contribute their money. The language and measures of business must be reversed. In a knowledge economy, a good business is a community with a purpose, not a piece of property. If, like many European companies, a business considers itself a wealth-creating community consisting of members who have certain rights, those members will be more likely to treat one another as valued partners and take responsibility for telling the truth. Such a community can also help repair the image of business by insisting that its purpose is not just to make a profit but to make a profit in order to do something better.     

Socially responsible investing: Is it for real or just for show?

Many mutual funds declare themselves as socially responsible investment (SRI) funds. However, it is unclear whether this rhetoric is simply window-dressing to attract capital inflows or reflects genuine concern. We show that companies with better environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance are more attractive to SRI mutual funds. More importantly, SRI mutual funds positively affect their investee firms' ESG performance after controlling for firm characteristics, possible endogeneity issues, and omitted variables. Furthermore, ownership structure, board members' international experience, and social media attention are important channels through which SRI mutual funds influence their investee firms' ESG performance.     

Paulson deserves praise for move

In July, explaining his contingency plan for emergency support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, told the Senate banking committee: "If you have a bazooka in your pocket and people     

All for Nothing? Accounting for Land under Roads by Australian Local Governments

Accounting for land under roads by local governments has been one of the most controversial and protracted episodes in the setting of Australian accounting standards. However, after more than two decades of exposure drafts, regulation, transitional provisions and re‐regulation, most land under roads has not been recognised in local government balance sheets. Australian Accounting Standard AAS 27 Financial Reporting by Local Governments was first issued in 1991 and, among other significant reforms, proposed that local governments report land under roads as an asset in their financial reports. However, persistent opposition to this requirement and practical difficulties associated with its implementation gave rise to a succession of transitional provisions deferring its mandatory application. Finally, in 2007 – 16 years after AAS 27 was first promulgated – the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) sought to bring closure to this issue with the release of AASB 1051 Land Under Roads. However, in the interim some state governments had pursued their own resolutions, forbidding the recognition of land under roads. This research reports the results of a survey of the impact of land under roads on local government financial reports. After two decades of debate and regulation, diversity is found to persist in the extent and manner of recognition of this ‘asset’. However, recognition remains the exception rather than the norm and is typically confined to recent acquisitions that comprise only a very small portion of total assets. These circumstances are suggestive of an episode of regulatory failure.     

Bid Invitation for Purchasing Equipment and Materials for Weeklong Culture & Sports Center

I. Introduction to the ProjectBeijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center Co., Ltd. is the owner of the project of Wukesong Culture & Sports Center, responsible for the investment, construction and operation thereof.     

爱代购 电子商务for模式

“爱代购”百分之百“以销定采”，它提供的服务不是基于自己库存的传统销售模式，而是基于客户需求的完全中立、客观的专业意见。从某种意义上说，“爱代购”就是非生产型的戴尔。[编者按]     

The Next Hot Field for Investment

Recently, global investment hotspot focuses on four economic areas-China, India, Russia and Brazil which is called BRICs. Being the most shining star among those four countries in recent 5 years, China holds the biggest consumption market. The Chinese IT and electronics manufacturing industry has became the biggest industry, ranked third in world market. Where will be the next hot field for investment, China, India, Russia or any other region？     

What is science good for?

A nonbusiness discipline can provide a useful framework for thinking about old problems in new ways. People who study management, for instance, freely borrow from many fields of science to theorize about organizational behavior and business strategy. Evolutionary psychology and biology are especially popular sources of inspiration. But should they be? Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has spent much of his career explaining science to the public. More than 20 years ago, his book The Selfish Gene shattered the popular belief that evolution necessarily favors altruism and self-sacrifice. In a conversation with HBR senior editor Diane Coutu, Dawkins discusses the role of science in our lives and identifies some of the more glaring public misperceptions of scientific theories. In particular, he disentangles the current notion that certain behaviors are in some way preprogrammed and explodes some contemporary myths about the Human Genome Project. Dawkins says much of the popular fear surrounding genetic manipulation is unfounded. "Humans have been practicing it for thousands of years, to no obvious ill effect," he says. Modern foot-long corncobs, the result of more than 1,000 years of artificial selection, are "quite Frankenstein-like" compared to their half-inch-long progenitors, he points out. He also touches on agriculture giant Monsanto and the media: "Part of the reason for Monsanto's troubles is that the company came up against an extraordinary amount of unfortunate, even malevolent, media hype," he says. "And people were more or less misled, by one scare story after another, into stampeding." A staunch defender of science as a haven of rational thought, Dawkins counsels businesspeople to recognize the limitations--as well as the beauty--of science.     

Lean Trees—A General Approach for Improving Performance of Lattice Models for Option Pricing

The well-known binomial and trinomial tree models for option pricing are examined from the point of view of numerical efficiency. Common lattices use a large part of time resources for calculations which are almost irrelevant for the solution. To avoid this waste of resources, the tree is reduced to a lean form which yields the same order of convergence, but with a reduction of numerical effort. In numerical tests it is shown that the proposed method leads to a significant improvement in real calculation time without loss of accuracy for a broad class of derivatives.     

Do directors perform for pay?

Many corporations reward their outside directors with a modest fee for each board meeting they attend. Using a large panel data set on director attendance behavior in publicly-listed firms for the period 1996–2003, we provide robust evidence that directors are less likely to have attendance problems at board meetings when board meeting fees are higher. This is surprising since meeting fees, on average roughly $1,000, represent an arguably small fraction of the total wealth of a representative director in our sample. Thus, corporate directors appear to perform for even very small financial rewards.     

Is ERM Legally Required? Yes for Financial and Governmental Institutions,No for Private Enterprises

We examine whether enterprise risk management (ERM) is legally required for financial institutions (e.g., banks, securities brokerage firms, insurance, hedge funds and mutual funds), government entities, publicly traded companies, and private enterprises. We find that ERM is legally required for U.S. financial institutions and for some government‐sponsored enterprises. Legally required means required by U.S. statutes, federal case law, or U.S. regulatory agencies (e.g., Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]). ERM is an important factor for rating organizations (e.g., Standard & Poor's [S&P]), but not legally required. We found no U.S. statutes or federal court cases requiring an ERM framework for private enterprises, although ERM is accepted as a value‐contributing best practice, and elements of ERM are practiced by some private enterprises. For publically traded companies, elements of ERM are required by federal statute, by the SEC, and by S&P. We suggest that if a private enterprise is sued in U.S. federal court alleging breach of a legal duty to practice ERM, the suit will likely be dismissed. We trace the development of ERM from a traditional risk management (TRM) base. Fortunately, ERM is recognized as a value‐contributing best practice in corporate governance even when legal standards do not require it.