A VARIANCE DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS OF THE INFORMATION IN THE TERM STRUCTURE

Based on a market efficiency assumption, we use variance decomposition analysis to separate information in the term structure on expected future spot rates from information on time-varying term premia and to examine the market's ability to forecast both future rate changes and excess returns on long versus short securities. We find that fluctuations in the slope of the yield curve are due more to changing term premia than to fluctuations in expected future spot rates and that the market correctly predicts about 40 percent of the month-to-month changes in spot rates, a considerably higher percentage than that found by previous studies.     

The Technology Ladder in Development: the Singapore case

This paper by Singapore's former Deputy Prime Minister explains Singapore's industrial development in which the electronics industry was a major propellant. The growth of industry from the late 1960s cleared the backlog of unemployment, created demand for technical staff which transformed the education system and facilitated technology transfer to Singaporean companies. It also proved a developmental force as it moved into neighbouring countries when labour shortage in Singapore became a constraint. The article traces the role of multinational companies and of technical education in Singapore's ascent of the technology ladder and, more briefly, that of Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia.     

Urban Waterscapes: The Hydro‐Politics of Flooding in a Sinking City

The threat of flooding in cities is often compounded by political and economic decisions made on watershed management, land development and water infrastructure and provisioning. It has also become a point of conflict between cities’ objectives for development and modernization, and the struggles of marginalized residents living in low‐lying coastal and riverine areas to remain in place. Flooding takes on different forms depending on one's point of view. It is a biophysical issue, involving geology, geography, meteorology and ecology. It is one of urban governance, involving planning and maintenance of infrastructure and land use. And it is sociopolitical, involving historical social and spatial marginalization and contestation. This article, based on mixed‐methods research in Jakarta, Indonesia, traces the conceptual and physical contours of urban waterscapes across these conflicting ideas and narratives. It brings into dialogue theories of urban political ecology, landscape ecology and environmental ethnography to explore the interrelationships between biophysical and sociopolitical factors behind urban flooding. In the article the focus is on the varying materialities and scales involved, including the ecological scales of the watershed, the infrastructural scales associated with flood protection, and the urban scales of planning, governance and social activism. The article concludes with a proposition for a multidimensional approach to thinking and acting on problems of urban ecological change.     

A continuous time model for multiple yard crane scheduling with last minute job arrivals

Container terminal (CT) operations are often bottlenecked by slow YC (yard crane) movements. Efficient YC scheduling to reduce the PM waiting time is therefore critical in increasing a CT's throughput. This paper develops an efficient continuous time MILP model for YC scheduling. The model treats realistic operational constraints such as multiple inter-crane interference, fixed YC separation distances, simultaneous container storage/retrievals, realistic YC acceleration/deceleration stages and gantry time, and require far fewer integer variables than previous work. The model significantly improves the solution quality compared to the existing discrete time models and other heuristics found in the literature. Using heuristics and a rolling-horizon algorithm, our model can solve actual container yard (CY) problems quickly and robustly in polynomial time. Also, to cope with the last minute container arrivals which can disrupt routine CT operations, two methods for handling these last minute job insertions are discussed and compared.     

The Effect of Board Independence on Information Asymmetry

Boards have an important role in ensuring that investors’ interests are protected. Our paper first examines whether the independence of a firm's board affects information asymmetry among investors. We provide evidence that greater board independence leads to lower information asymmetry. Next, we provide evidence that more voluntary disclosure and greater analyst coverage are two underlying mechanisms via which greater board independence reduces information asymmetry. Of the two mechanisms, we find that analyst coverage is more significant in influencing how board independence affects information asymmetry. Overall, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the effect of board independence on information asymmetry.     

Learning by doing, trade in capital goods and growth

This paper aims at reconciling theoretical models of endogenous growth with the empirical evidence on trade and growth. In particular, we show that the conventional wisdom according to which trade is growth-impairing for a country with comparative advantage in goods with limited opportunities for learning fails to hold when the imported good is a capital good. The intuition is that the country gains access to cheaper capital goods, which raises investment, output per worker and learning by doing.     

A note on put-call parity and the market efficiency of the London traded options market

Put-call parity and the efficiency of the London traded options market are tested via the construction of long and short hedges which incorporate the effects of ‘known’ dividend payments. Examination of the resulting returns and their subsequent analysis via regression models yield findings which support the put-call parity theorem and market efficiency.     

Container port efficiency in emerging and more advanced markets

The literature on container port efficiency has typically centered on ports in advanced markets or comparisons within regions. This study compares the efficiency of port operations in emerging markets (BRIC and the Next-11) with the more advanced markets (G7). We use data envelopment analysis to evaluate the container ports based on the import and export cargo volumes in 2005. Our results suggest that none of the ports in the advanced markets are role models for the field. This study provides a first step towards gaining insights into port efficiency in emerging markets.     

An examination of food tourist’s behavior: Using the modified theory of reasoned action

A number of studies have been conducted to examine the behavior of tourists. However, there has been little research done on food tourism examining food tourist’s behavior. Food tourism is one of the fastest growing industries and areas of interest in the tourism industry today. The current study provides an integrated approach to understand the effect of food tourists’ behavior based on perceived value and satisfaction as it relates to their intention to revisit using the modified theory of reasoned action (TRA). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of perceived value on intention to revisit (H1) and satisfaction (H2), and satisfaction on intention to revisit (H3). Empirical findings indicated that H1, H2, and H3 were supported significantly in this study (p < 0.01). H1 was supported (β = 0.67) showing the perceived value is the antecedent of satisfaction. H2 and 3 suggested that attendees’ intention to revisit is predicted by the perceived value (β = 0.13) and satisfaction (β = 0.67) respectively. The most significant contribution of this study is a theoretical understanding with empirical results using the new factors (i.e., perceived value, satisfaction, and intention to revisit) in the context of the modified TRA rather than using the original factors. The implications will be very useful for food festival organizers as well as destination marketing organizations.