Tests for structural change,aggregation, and homogeneity

Structural change can be considered by breaking up a sample into subsets and asking if these can be aggregated or pooled. Strategies for constructing tests for aggregation and structural change in this setting have not received sufficient attention in the literature. Our methodology for testing generalizes to multiple regimes a discussion of Pesaran et al. (1985) for the case of two regimes. This treatment permits a unified approach to a large number of testing problems discussed separately in the literature, as special cases or as parts of a test of homogeneity. We also provide a simple alternative to much more complex testing strategies currently being researched and developed in testing for structural change.     

Bank accounting conservatism and bank loan pricing

This paper studies the effects of bank accounting conservatism on the pricing of syndicated bank loans. We provide evidence that banks timelier in loss recognition charge higher spreads. We go onto consider what happens to the relationship between spreads and timeliness in loss recognition during the financial crisis. During the crisis, banks timelier in loss recognition increase their spreads to a lesser extent than banks less timely in loss recognition. These findings are broadly consistent with the argument that conditional accounting conservatism serves a governance role. The policy implication is that banks timelier in loss recognition exhibit more prudent and less pro-cyclical loan pricing behaviour.     

Option augmented density forecasts of market returns with monotone pricing kernel

Basic financial theory indicates that the ratio of the conditional density of the future value of a market index and the corresponding risk neutral density should be monotone, but a sizeable empirical literature finds otherwise. We therefore consider an option augmented density forecast of the market return obtained by transforming a baseline density forecast estimated from past excess returns so as to monotonize its ratio with a risk neutral density estimated from current option prices. To evaluate our procedure, we compare baseline and option augmented monthly density forecasts for the S&P 500 index over the period 1997–2013. We find that monotonizing the pricing kernel leads to a modest improvement in the calibration of density forecasts. Supplementary results supportive of this finding are given for market indices in France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the UK.     

Microfinance and Household Poverty Reduction: Empirical Evidence from Rural Pakistan

This study examines whether household access to microfinance reduces poverty in Pakistan and, if so, how and to what extent. It draws on primary empirical data gathered by interviewing 1132 households, including both borrower and non-borrower households, in 2008–2009. Sample selection biases have been partially controlled for by using propensity score matching. The study reveals that microfinance programmes had a positive impact on the participating households. Poverty-reducing effects were observed on a number of indicators, including expenditure on healthcare, clothing and household income, and on certain dwelling characteristics, such as water supply and the quality of roofing and walls.     

Relationship between employees’ beliefs regarding training benefits and employees’ organizational commitment in a petroleum company in the State of Qatar

The study examined the relationship between the beliefs of senior staff Qatari national employees regarding training benefits as measured by the benefits of employee training, and employees’ organizational commitment as measured by the three‐component model of organizational commitment. This relationship was assessed through a quantitative associational research design. From the study site, Qatar Petroleum, a total of 283 responses were analysed using stepwise regression analysis. The findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between employees’ beliefs regarding training benefits and employees’ organizational commitment.     

Exploring multiple eco-routing guidance strategies in a commuting corridor

The introduction of eco-routing systems has been suggested as a promising strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and criteria pollutants. The objective of this study is to scrutinize the impacts of an eco-routing guidance system on emissions through the use of a case study in a commuting corridor. This research aims at assessing the potential environmental benefits in terms of different pollutant emissions. Simultaneously, it addresses the extent of variations in system travel time (S_TT) that each eco-routing strategy implies. The methodology consists of three distinct phases. The first phase corresponds to the adjustment of a microsimulation platform of traffic and emissions with empirical data previously collected. Second, to volume-emission-functions (VEF), developed based on the integrated modeling structure. Final, to different scenarios of traffic flow optimization performed at the network level based on a simplified assignment procedure. The results show that if the traffic assignment is performed with the objective to minimize overall impacts, then the total system environmental damage costs can be reduced up to 9% with marginal oscillations in total S_TT. However, if drivers are advised based on their own emissions minimization, total system emissions may be higher than under the standard user equilibrium flow pattern. Specifically, environmentally friendly navigation algorithms focused on individual goals may tend to divert traffic to roads with less capacity affecting the performance of the remaining traffic. This case study brings new insights about the difficulties and potentials of implementing such systems.     

Negative accounting earnings and gross domestic product

Review of Accounting Studies - Konchitchki and Patatoukas Journal of Accounting and Economics 57 (1-2), 76–88, (2014a) show that aggregate accounting earnings growth predicts future nominal...     

Estimators without moments: The case of the reciprocal of a normal mean

The appropriateness of using an estimator which has no moments depends very much on the loss function. This is illustrated by an example. In this paper the properties of various estimates of the reciprocal of a normal mean are analyzed with respect to different kinds of loss functions.