Earnings management and initial public offerings: Evidence from the Netherlands

This paper presents one of the first studies of earnings management by initial public offering (IPO) firms in a European country. Using a sample of 64 Dutch IPOs, we investigate the pattern of discretionary current accruals (DCA) over time. We find that managers manage their company's earnings in the first year as a public company but not in the years before the IPO. We also examine the impact of earnings management on the long-run stock price performance of IPOs. We find a negative relation between the size of the DCA in the first year as a public company and long-run stock price performance over the next 3 years. A number of additional tests support these findings.     

The minimum variance hedge and the bankruptcy risk of the firm

In this paper, we analyze the influence of hedging with forward contracts on the firm's probability of bankruptcy (POB). The minimization of this probability can serve as a substitute for the maximization of shareholders' wealth. It is shown that the popular minimum variance hedge is generally neither necessary nor sufficient for the minimization of the firm's POB. Moreover, our model suggests a correction of the widespread view that a reduction in the variance of the future value of the firm is inevitably accompanied by a reduction in its default risk. We derive an analytical solution for the variance-minimizing hedge ratio of a firm exposed to both input and output price uncertainty that takes into account the issue of correlation. Based on this solution, we provide a graphical analysis to prove our claim that there is a fundamental difference between hedging policies focused on bankruptcy risk and those following conventional wisdom even if positive correlation constitutes a “natural” hedge.     

The Global Determinants of Direct Office Real Estate Returns

We investigate the determinants of direct office real estate returns by analyzing rents, capital appraisals, and total returns. A recently compiled global database of major cities in Asia, Europe, and the United States provides a unique opportunity to give a macro-view on the effects of economic growth and supply and demand factors on nominal real estate returns. The global database provides quarterly observations from 1986 to 1999. To address the smoothness problem of appraisal-based price data and regulated rents, we employ the Generalized Method of Moments to estimate a dynamic panel-data model. The model allows us to combine the cross-sectional and time-series dimension in our quarterly data. We find that gross domestic product, inflation, unemployment, vacancy rate, and the available stock all have an effect on real estate returns.     

Designing sales force satisfying selling positions: a conjoint measurement approach

To design selling positions that appeal to both new and incumbent salespersons, management needs to understand salespersons' preferences for job characteristics. The study reported here exemplifies an effort to operationalize salespersons' preferences for job and task characteristics that takes account of both career stage and gender. Findings indicate that salespeople in the sample prefer salary-based compensation and that female salespeople prefer sales jobs that are fixed in location.     

Analysis of Credit Risks in Asset-Backed Securitization Transactions in Singapore

Asset-backed securitization (ABS) is a relatively new financial instrument in Singapore's capital market, which has been accepted by developers (originators) as an alternative source of financing. Credit assessment and rating requirements have not been imposed on the ABS bond issues. Default-risk evaluation has also been understated, if not omitted, in the process of structuring ABS deals. This is the first study that applies a theoretical default-risky swaps valuation model to evaluate credit risks in ABS bonds in Singapore. The Monte-Carlo simulation results, based on the Century Square shopping mall ABS case, show significant effects of the changes in rental volatility and default-free interest rate volatility on the default-risk premium of swap. More specifically, an increase in the rental volatility reduces the default-risky swap values significantly. However, an increase in the instantaneous default-free interest rate volatility increases the default-risk premium of swaps, and this effect is only observed in the high default-free interest rate volatility regime (above 20 percent). The results suggest that the rental dynamics of the securitized real estate are critical in determining the default risks of ABS deals. The fixed-rate (coupon yield) and floating-rate (rental cash flows) should therefore be adequately determined to reflect the default risks, which may be caused by the rental dynamics of the securitized real estate.     

Automatic balancing mechanisms for notional defined contribution accounts in the presence of uncertainty

The notional defined contribution model combines pay-as-you-go financing and a defined contribution pension formula. This paper aims to demonstrate the extent to which liquidity and solvency indicators are affected by fluctuations in economic and demographic conditions and to explore the introduction of an automatic balancing mechanism (ABM) into the pension scheme. We demonstrate that the introduction of an ABM reduces the volatility of the buffer fund and that, in most cases, the automatic mechanism that re-establishes solvency produces the highest value of the risk-adjusted notional factor.     

House Price and co-Residence with Older Parents: Evidence from China

Numerous Chinese families choose to reside together with their elderly parents due to the considerable impacts of conventional values such as filial duty in Chinese society. However, as house prices rocketed up in major Chinese cities over the past decade, this arrangement is facing a sizeable challenge, therefore also raising new research question about it. This paper attempts to investigate the phenomenon of co-residence of adult children with their elderly parents in China. Using the 2013 data of China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), we document that house price is indeed a significant determinant for the pattern of intergenerational co-residence. Our empirical results can provide interesting insights into the important implication of rising house price for household residential arrangements in this country.     

The 2015 Maastricht-NUS-MIT International Real Estate Finance &; Economics Symposium: Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue

We use an empirical model of commercial mortgage spreads to examine how tenant diversification impacts credit spreads for mortgages on retail properties. We find that mortgages on properties with a highly diversified tenant base have spreads that are up to 7.1 basis points higher than spreads on mortgages for single-tenant properties, but that mortgages on properties with moderate levels of tenant diversification have spreads that are up to 5.2 basis points lower than mortgages on single-tenant properties. The spread discount for mortgages on properties with moderate levels of tenant diversification disappears when the lease of the property’s largest tenant expires before the loan matures. Despite the spread discount that is given to properties with moderate levels of tenant diversification, we find that the likelihood with which a mortgage goes into default increases as tenant diversification increases.