Market closure effects on return, volatility, and turnover patterns in the Hong Kong index futures market

This paper examines the market closure effect of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) on the intraday behaviour of the index futures contract which continues to trade for 5–15 min after the close of the SEHK. The behaviour of the index futures market in Hong Kong is consistent with the contagion model of King and Wadhwani (1990) in that the close of the SEHK leads to an immediate downturn in the return, volatility, and turnover in the index futures market. The long period of nontrading before the morning also leads to a higher morning volatility and turnover.     

Price discovery in the options markets: An application of put‐call parity

This study investigates the relative rate of price discovery in Taiwan between index futures and index options, proposing a put‐call parity (PCP) approach to recover the spot index embedded in the options premiums. The PCP approach offers the benefits of reducing model risk and alleviating the burden of volatility estimation. Consistent with the trading‐cost hypothesis, a dominant tendency is found for futures and a subordinate but non‐trivial price discovery from options. The relative weight of options price discovery is sensitive to the methodology employed as the means of inferring the option‐implicit spot price. The empirical evidence suggests that the information contained in the PCP‐implied spot encompasses that provided by the Black‐Scholes‐implied spot. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:354– 375, 2008     

On-the-job human capital investment and intertemporal substitution: New evidence on intertemporal substitution elasticity

This paper argues that estimates of intertemporal elasticity of substitution (IES) obtained from standard life-cycle models are subject to a downward bias because they neglect the life-cycle and demographic patterns of on-the-job human capital investment. Taking into account the fact that part of a worker's time at work goes to acquiring human capital in addition to his main task of producing goods, we extend the standard life-cycle model to include time spent on investing in on-the-job human capital and propose a new framework for identifying the IES. We obtain statistically significant evidence that conventional estimates of IES for total hours at work are biased downward about 20% at the intensive margin. The corresponding IES estimates for production hours are biased downward even more, which provides an explanation for why output fluctuation is greater than hours/employment fluctuation over the business cycle.     

Does Productivity Growth Appreciate the Real Exchange Rate?*

Revisiting the time‐honored link between productivity growth and the real exchange rate, we find that higher labor productivity tends to appreciate the real exchange rate, consistent with the traditional view. Contrary to the traditional view, however, we find that the positive productivity effect is transmitted through the relative price between tradable goods, rather than through the relative price between tradables and nontradables. Moreover, higher total factor productivity is found to often depreciate the real exchange rate. These latter two pieces of evidence, combined with the conceptual strength of total factor productivity over labor productivity as a productivity measure, call for further refinement of the conventional view regarding the effect of productivity on the real exchange rate.     

El indicador de normas del trabajo del Banco Mundial. Averiguaciones y críticas recientes

Los autores reseñan las últimas novedades acerca del estudio Doing Business del Banco Mundial, haciendo hincapié en el indicador de las normas del trabajo: la dificultad de contratación, la rigidez de la jornada de trabajo y la dificultad y costo del despido de trabajadores. Primero pasan revista a los estudios que inspiraron la concepción del indicador y a los que lo han usado o se han visto influidos por él. Analizan después las críticas vertidas contra el mismo, y ponen de relieve los problemas conceptuales y empíricos que plantea. Por último, proponen ideas alternativas y líneas de investigación para el futuro.     

The Effects of Youth Job Seeker Allowance in South Korea

The severity of youth unemployment in South Korea has prompted the government to implement various preventive measures such as employment services and vocational training. Local governments implemented a Youth Job Seeker Allowance in 2016 as a new form of support, which was adopted by the central government in 2017. This study examines the impact of the Youth Job Seeker Allowance in South Korea on employment. It finds that the allowance had a positive effect on employment; recipients of the allowance have a higher probability of being employed. However, recipients took longer to obtain employment than non-recipients, corroborating previous studies that unemployment benefits lengthen the duration of unemployment. But, recipients of the allowance have more time to look for quality work. Therefore, although the Youth Job Seeker Allowance has the effect of demotivating recipients from looking for employment, its limited duration of three months obliges them to engage in job search activities. The study has implications for the introduction of Youth Job Seeker Allowance systems to support job search activities.     

When Marketing Dare Not Speak Its Name: Understanding Market Orientation in Chinese NGOs

ABSTRACT

The market orientation construct has proven to be of value to profit-seeking firms. It ought to be of value to NGOs too. Some previous research has been done to facilitate understanding of market orientation in NGOs, but the methodologies used have mostly been quantitative, and nothing is known about the market orientation of Chinese NGOs. To address this research gap, a qualitative case study methodology was used to develop a deeper understanding of how market orientation is practiced among NGOs in Hong Kong (China). Mapping with previous studies, the research found that three factors together explained the varying degrees of market orientation in the NGOs studied: senior management factors, organizational and institutional factors, and structural and system factors. But more importantly, an NGO’s funding base was found to moderate the relationship between these antecedents and an organization’s market orientation. The more that the NGO relies on public funding or a small number of funders the weaker the influence of the antecedents on market orientation. The more that the NGO relies on private funders, a diversified group of funders, or self-funding, the stronger the influence of the antecedents on market orientation, and the closer its understanding of market orientation is likely to be to that of a commercial entity. The article finishes with a substantive theoretical model for market orientation in the Chinese NGO context.