The Free Cash Flow Anomaly Revisited: Finnish Evidence

Abstract:  This paper examines the performance of an investment strategy based on free cash flows using financial statement data of Finnish companies during the period 1992-2002. The analysis in this paper is motivated by the so-called free cash flow anomaly previously documented e.g. in Hackel, Livnat and Rai (2000) . Using annual financial statement information, we identify large-capitalization companies with positive free cash flows, low free cash flow multiples, and low financial leverage. Since a portfolio of these companies is found to consistently outperform the market index, our results suggest that the free cash flow anomaly also exists in the Finnish stock market.     

劳动时间观念与马克思三大社会形态理论的历史生成

回溯马克思关于三大社会形态理论的历史生成,可以发现马克思三大社会形态的本质差别在于对劳动时间的关心程度不同.中国现代化运动的终极理想就是实现社会中现实的个人对劳动时间的关注,以及通过占有自由劳动时间而达到个人的全面自由发展.显然,这不仅仅是一个中国现代化运动过程中的理论视域内的问题,更是一个实践问题.     

Corporate Rights to Free Speech?

Although the courts have ruled that companies are legal persons, they have not yet made clear the extent to which political free speech for corporations is limited by the strictures legitimately placed upon corporate commercial speech. I explore the question of whether or not companies can properly be said to have the right to civil free speech or whether corporate speech is always de facto commercial speech not subject to the same sorts of legal protections as is the right to civil free speech. In the absence of clearly defined legal precedent, I emphasize moral reasons for determining the appropriate limits of corporate civil free speech. Appealing to arguments typically used to justify individual rights to civil free speech, I examine the extent to which this sort of justification may or may not be legitimately extended to corporations. I conclude that corporate rights to civil free speech must be restricted because granting rights of free speech to institutions may, in practice, undermine the moral rationale and practical feasibility of guaranteeing rights of civil free speech to individuals. Furthermore, I argue that granting corporations full rights to civil free speech will undercut attempts to develop good moral character in corporate institutions by undermining the efforts of watchdog organizations.     

Pricing Barrier Options with Time–Dependent Coefficients

We consider the problem of pricing derivative securities which involve a barrier clause. We give general techniques to calculate, or estimate accurately, barrier option prices, using methods for estimating diffusion process boundary hitting times. The solution gives a simple, easy–to–use, method for calculating barrier option prices.     

OPTIMAL INVESTMENT OF A LIFE INTEREST

We consider the problem of a trustee faced with investing a sum of money, the interest from which will be received by one party (the life-tenant) during his lifetime while the capital will go to another party (the survivor) on the death of the life-tenant. We assume mat there are n + 1 assets in which the trustee may invest— n risky assets of geometric Brownian motion type and one nonrisky asset. Under assumptions as to the utility functions of the two parties, we find the collection of Pareto optimal investment strategies for the trustee together with the corresponding payoffs. We do this by optimizing the payoff of the Lagrangian for the problem. We go on to present the Nash optimal solution for the trustee.     

When a Loser Gains: Free Riding in the Innovation of Network Goods

We consider duopolists innovating and producing a good subject to network externalities. If successful in R&D, a firm sells both the old product and the new one. The new product increases the utility of its user; it also generates a higher network externality than does the old product. A firm which fails to innovate nevertheless profits from the success of the rival: the network effect raises the value of the old product it still produces. A firm free-rides on the innovative efforts of another firm, reducing the incentives of any firm to innovate.     

绿色壁垒的滥用与缺失——发达国家和发展中国家的博弈

绿色壁垒出现的间接原因是为了保护环境,维持可持续发展的需要,直接原因则是贸易保护主义所采取的新的贸易保护手段;基于该手段对于其运用主体有一定的要求,发达国家因此受益。但是基于该壁垒将是发展的大势,发展中国家要加快自身的改革发展,积极应对,将其带来的负面影响降到最低限度。     

边界管理人员特征对企业间两层次信任的影响--来自中国家电分销渠道的实证分析

边界管理人员是企业间关系营销的界面,对企业间关系的发展具有重要影响。从施信方特征、受信方特征和双方的互动特征三个方面选取代表性变量,通过构建一个结构方程模型,以家电分销渠道中的分销商为样本,检验了边界管理人员特征对企业间人际信任和企业间信任的影响。     

MODELS OF BANKING INSTABILITY: A PARTIAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract. This paper critically examines the theoretical literature on banking instability that has followed Diamond and Dybvig (1983). It explores the extent to which it (a) explains banking instability within a theoretical context in which financial intermediaries improve on unintermediated markets, and (b) justifies government involvement in the financial intermediation industry. It suggests that the literature has yet to provide a satisfactory theoretical basis for banking instability as such since the intermediaries which arise from it are peculiar mutual funds that bear little resemblance to real-world banks. In addition, the paper challenges the widespread belief that this literature provides a sound foundation for government involvement in the industry. It suggests that arguments for government intervention are open to objection on various grounds, the most important one being that they are inconsistent with the existence of properly motivated financial intermediation in these models.