An examination of the relation between asymmetric risk measures,prior returns and expected daily stock returns

We use a sample of individual firm stock returns over the 1988–2009 time period to determine whether: (1) expected daily returns are related to asymmetric risk measures, (2) expected daily returns are related to the directional change of the prior day's price, and (3) our results are robust to the addition of firm size, book-to-market equity and liquidity. We find that investors are compensated for asymmetric risk; however, the positive risk–return relation is present only for our smallest firm quintile. We find a short-term return reversal present in all subgroups, except for the largest firms in our sample. We also document that the low volatility anomaly may be related to firm size and liquidity.     

Gulf Views: Toward a Better Understanding of Viewshed Scope in Hedonic Property Models

This study examines the influence of Gulf of Mexico views on residential home sales prices in Pinellas County, Florida. We utilize Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) data to construct four continuous measures of Gulf of Mexico views—the total view, the maximum view segment, the mean view segment, and proximity to view content. Our results illustrate that residential property owners have a higher marginal willingness-to-pay for larger total views and larger continuous view segments. Results also indicate that the proximity of homes to the view content influences view valuations.     

Estimation of stochastic frontier models based on multimodel inference

In most empirical studies, once the best model has been selected according to a certain criterion, subsequent analysis is conducted conditionally on the chosen model. In other words, the uncertainty of model selection is ignored once the best model has been chosen. However, the true data-generating process is in general unknown and may not be consistent with the chosen model. In the analysis of productivity and technical efficiencies in the stochastic frontier settings, if the estimated parameters or the predicted efficiencies differ across competing models, then it is risky to base the prediction on the selected model. Buckland et al. (Biometrics 53:603?C618, 1997) have shown that if model selection uncertainty is ignored, the precision of the estimate is likely to be overestimated, the estimated confidence intervals of the parameters are often below the nominal level, and consequently, the prediction may be less accurate than expected. In this paper, we suggest using the model-averaged estimator based on the multimodel inference to estimate stochastic frontier models. The potential advantages of the proposed approach are twofold: incorporating the model selection uncertainty into statistical inference; reducing the model selection bias and variance of the frontier and technical efficiency estimators. The approach is demonstrated empirically via the estimation of an Indian farm data set.     

Heredity or Environment: Why is Automobile Longevity Increasing?

Over the past 25 years the longevity of automobiles has increased dramatically. We disentangle the rise in longevity into an embodied or inherent-durability effect and a disembodied effect (driven by the external environment, such as reduced accident rates or reductions in the prices of auto repair parts) and estimate these effects by year from 1950 through 1991. We find that the entire rise in auto longevity is due to some force disembodied from the cars themselves and offer some speculation about the nature of this external environment.     

IT jobs: opportunities for all?

This paper examines the opportunities for the unemployed to access information technology jobs. Based on original research, it indicates that, despite initial expectations about an expanding sector of high skill, high wage jobs, recent developments indicate a tight labour market, which has created barriers to these jobs for the unemployed.     

Revisiting the cost of the Stockholm congestion charging system

In January 2006, a system for congestion charging was introduced in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. The charging scheme was run in the form of a full-scale trial for seven months, after which it was deactivated, awaiting its evaluation and an advisory public referendum. Several parties, including representatives of the scientific community as well as media and special interest groups, have analysed and evaluated the system. A recurring theme in several of these analyses is that the cost to build and operate the system was excessive, compared to costs for other road charging installations.This study revisits some of the key project participants and archive data, to provide a deeper understanding of what were the major cost drivers and whether lower cost can be achieved in future installations. The approach taken is to emphasise understanding of the particular circumstances rather than comparing aggregates with other seemingly similar systems. The main conclusions include the identification of a rational actor paying an insurance against unacceptable risk, the importance of the election cycle, and the interplay between risk, acceptance, performance, and cost. A conceptual model for this interaction is suggested.     

Educating young consumers – a food choice model

It has been acknowledged that it is only by obtaining a more detailed understanding of food choice that people’s diets can be improved. In Northern Ireland, research into food choice has been limited yet the Province has the second highest rate of heart disease in the world, indicating the need for change. This study investigated the food choices of 9‐ to 17‐year‐olds in Northern Ireland and the influential factors. A range of research techniques were employed incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, namely observations, focus groups, picture associations, dietary case studies and questionnaires. The research indicated that the dietary patterns adopted by this group are characterized by a high consumption of fat, yet the reduction of fat tends to dominate the overall strategy for the prevention of obesity and lowering the risk of coronary heart disease. In addition, a high consumption of sugar products was evidenced along with a distinct dislike for healthier alternatives such as fruit and vegetables. The ‘skipping’ of meals, especially breakfast and a high prevalence of snacking was also apparent. However, these eating habits were found to be affected by various factors such as age and gender, emphasizing the complex nature of food choice. The findings from this research enabled the development of a model relating to the food choices of 9‐ to 17‐year‐olds in Northern Ireland, highlighting the influential factors and subsequent health implications.     

Rivalry in Price and Variety among Supermarket Retailers

Recent theoretical models of retail competition suggest that product heterogeneity is critical to retail price and variety strategies. This article provides empirical evidence on supermarket retailers' price and variety strategies using a nested constant elasticity of substitution (NCES) modeling framework. The model is estimated using chain-level scanner data for four major grocery chains in a large, urban West Coast market. The results show that retailers compete for market share using both price and variety. While they all tend to follow moderately cooperative pricing strategies, the extent to which they follow cooperative strategies in variety is less homogeneous.