Competition, Market Structure, and Bid-Ask Spreads in Stock Option Markets

This paper examines the effects of competition and market structure on equity option bid-ask spreads from 1986 to 1997. Options listed on multiple exchanges have narrower spreads than those listed on a single exchange, but the difference diminishes as option volume increases. Option spreads become wider when a competing exchange delists the option. Options traded under a "Designated Primary Marketmaker" (DPM) have narrower quoted spreads than those traded in a traditional open outcry crowd. Effective spreads are found to be slightly narrower under the DPM than in the crowd, but only since 1992, and only on low-volume options.     

Sismondi's forgotten ethical critique of early capitalism

The purpose of this paper is to bring attention to Sismondi's forgotten ethical critique of laissez-faire capitalism. It is a forgotten critique because Sismondi has to a large extent been neglected in the literature. He has been too quickly labelled an economic romanticist. It is ethical because Sismondi questioned what he called chrematistics, which to him was becoming the chief end of economics. Chrematistics is the science of the increase of wealth conceived of abstractly and not in relation to man or society. This was opposed to the provisioning principle which Sismondi saw as the key principle of economics. To Sismondi the object of economics is man not wealth. His critique of laissez-faire capitalism was from this perspective. This led Sismondi to propose state containment of capitalism so that the well-being of the whole community was attained. This proposal is an alternative to Marx's complete liquidiation of capitalism. Sismondi's ethical critique is important not only from the point of view of the history of political economy but also for an insight into what values and principles should be given priority in our economic systems today. Ross E. Stewart is a Ph.D. Student at the Department of Accountancy, University of Glasgow. He was previously Lecturer at the Department of Management Studies, University of Waikato, New Zealand and is holder of the Thomson McLintock Post-Graduate Fellowship in Accounting at the University of Glasgow. The present paper was presented at an Ethics Seminar on property at Regent College, Vancouver, B.C. Other publications have been in the Financial Accounting and Auditing areas, e.g. Accounting for Goodwill, R-112, New Zealand and Society of Accountants, September, 1980, and Independence the Auditor's Cornerstone, The Accountant's Journal (October, 1977).     

Measurement: A Way Forward

Australia has a long tradition of using methods of valuation which depart from the traditional 'historical cost' model—and this has steadily been reflected in regulatory requirements and practices for different industries. However, while many forms of market value accounting have been introduced into a variety of accounting standards, the Australian Accounting Standards Board's conceptual framework (CF) has not led these changes, nor provided any substantive guidance on measurement issues. This article suggests criteria that can be used to select among accounting measurement alternatives.     

Patenting Strategy of Entrepreneurial Orientated Firms in New Zealand

Patenting is regarded as an important area for firms wanting to capture the strategic value of intellectual property. Further, patents are often used as a proxy for innovation— i.e., a firm with a large number of patents is said to be innovative. At the same time, a firm that is innovative is also said to have an entrepreneurial orientation (EO). In spite of this apparent linkage between an EO and patenting, little empirical evidence strategically links the two constructs. This paper addresses this gap by providing one of the first studies examining the relationship between an EO and patenting.     

Tariff Uniformity and Growth

Theoretical ambiguity exists regarding the potential benefits of adopting a uniform tariff schedule. In this paper, we investigate the empirical evidence on this question. From cross-country growth regressions over the period 1988-97 we find a nonlinear relationship between a country's standard deviation of tariffs and its growth rate. Specifically, we find that countries with either a large degree of tariff uniformity or very little tariff uniformity tended to grow faster over this time period, controlling for other factors.     

The Impact of Mandated Cash Flow Disclosure on Bid‐Ask Spreads

Abstract:   This study provides evidence that mandatory cash flow disclosure required by Approved Australian Accounting Standard AASB 1026, Statement of Cash Flows (June 1992) was associated with a decline in bid‐ask spreads following the introduction of the regulation, even after controlling for changes in trading volume and price volatility. More pronounced decreases in bid‐ask spreads were associated with firms having lower correlations between reported CFO and estimates of CFO using balance sheet reconstructions. We conclude that mandatory cash flow disclosure reduces information asymmetry across market participants.