Portfolio analysis of asset and liability management in small-, medium- and large-sized banks

The paper presents an analysis of the commercial banking firm based on Markowitz portfolio analysis. A bank is treated as a portfolio of five banking assets and three banking liabilities. The average rate of return and risk of each asset and liability is estimated empirically for groups of banks categorized by size — small, medium and large. Banks' rates return on equity are defined as the weighted average of the assets' rates of return less the liabilities' rates of return. Quadratic programming is used to delineate the set of banking portfolios which have the maximum rate of return on equity at each level of risk.     

Presenting hypothesis testing by analogy

Auditing students often have difficulty with hypothesis testing. In this article, a concise approach for presenting hypothesis testing is discussed. Specifically, the author shows that the construction of an hypothesis test for the mean per-unit estimator is analogous to the formulation of such a test for auxiliary estimators. Because these tests are comparable, the approach encompasses a logical progression from the mean per-unit estimator to the auxiliary estimators. This approach enables students to perceive the similarities among these estimators and to better understand and assimilate the subject matter.     

The crazy economics of air freight

Measured by value of goods transported, about one third of all international trade today is moved by air. Severe cyclical fluctuations around the generally strong growth trend of the last decade have meant considerable problems for air freight companies, however. How have they attempted to deal with these problems? How would they be advised to behave in future?     

Beneficial changes in random variables under multiple sources of risk and their comparative statics

The consequences of a change in a random parameter are determined for a decision model with more than one source of randomness. The two cases of independent and stochastically dependent sources of risk are discussed. Four comparative static theorems are given. These state the effect of first degree stochastically dominant shifts or risk decreases for one random variable while the other random variable is held fixed. Deterministic transformations are used to represent random parameter changes. The results are presented in the context of the coinsurance demand model with a risky insurable asset and background risk.     

The comparative statics of cumulative distribution function changes for the class of risk averse agents

We examine the connection between Walrasian equilibria of a limit economy (with infinitesimal firms) and the noncooperative (Cournot) equilibria of approximating finite economies (with significant firms). Following earlier work of Novshek and Sonnenschein we allow for set-up cost and permit a minimal form of mixed strategies. We depart from them by requiring that the aggregate production set exhibits some degree (however small) of decreasing returns. Contrasting with their results, it is shown that a (regular) Walrasian equilibrium of a limit economy can always be approximated by a sequence of noncooperative equilibria for the tail of the approximating (finite) economies. Thus, there is a surprising qualitative discontinuity when one passes from the Novshek-Sonnenschein case of aggregate constant returns to scale of the decreasing returns case of this paper.     

Public-private wage comparison: A case study of Taiwan

This paper rigorously examines the public-private wage differential. Two novelties: it deals with a newly industrialized economy-Taiwan, and an attempt is made to isolate out any alleged “favorable” industry/occupation job distribution that may exist for the public sector.Significant wage advantages were found to exists for both genders in the public sector. Both the absolute magnitude of this advantage premium and the relative size between genders were comparable to the estimates for the U.S and for Canada. The often alleged superior industry/occupation distribution of public sector jobs were verified and found to account for a significant portion of the observed sectoral wage differential.     

莫让生活危机毁了事业

肯·斯科特正在华盛顿跟客户洽谈业务,妻子卡伦从休斯敦家中打来电话。原来,例行的X光检查表明,她的胸部出现了可疑的肿块。39岁的斯科特是一家公关事务所的负责人,他此时还不知道,从这个电话开始,他即将陷入长达八个月的家庭危机,而这一切都是由于妻子患上了霍金氏症造成的。"我接到电话后,立刻乘当天头班飞机赶回家。"斯科特回忆说,"遇上危机时,亲人自然是最重要的。然而,一旦发现这不是一周或一个月内能解决的问题,我就意识到自己还