How Does Stock Market React to Dividend Surprises? Evidence from Emerging Markets of India and Russia

In this article the authors empirically investigate information content of dividends announcements and average reaction of emerging markets of India and Russia to dividend surprises on the postcrisis period 2010 to 2014. The study applies an analysts’ expectations-based approach rarely used in academic literature. The authors conclude that the Russian market on average reacts negatively to good and bad dividend surprises; good dividend surprises on average trigger positive abnormal returns on Indian stocks, whereas bad and no surprises are associated with negative reactions of the Indian market. Results of the study are discussed from the perspective of dividend signaling theory, market efficiency, and investor behavior.     

How much do online consumers really value free product returns? Evidence from eBay

Consumer return rates have been steadily rising in recent years, resulting in growing costs for retailers who must manage the returns process and the disposition of returned products. This cost pressure is driven in part by extremely generous return policies, such as giving consumers a full refund upon return. Interestingly, this common retail practice of full refunds is inconsistent with the recommendations of many analytical models of returns, which nearly always show that a partial refund is optimal. Such inconsistencies between theory and practice might arise when the decision drivers included in the analytical models do not match the decision drivers in practice. It might also be the case that retailers are overly optimistic about the value that consumers assign to a full refund, and thus assume that the value of such a policy outweighs its costs. In this paper, we use data collected from eBay, where identical products are sold with different return policies, to investigate these open questions in the literature. We analyze both the return policy drivers from the retailer's perspective and the return policy value from the consumer's perspective. Our results suggest that the value of a full refund policy to consumers may not be as large as one might expect, and it also exhibits a large heterogeneity across buyers with different levels of online purchase experience. In addition, we provide empirical evidence for what has long been suspected by online retailers – that a non-refundable forward shipping charge quickly erodes any value that consumers assign to return policies. The generality of our results is limited by the fact that eBay differs from traditional retail contexts in many respects, including the fact that eBay buyers may not be representative of the general buyer population. However, our study of how eBay consumers value free returns provides new insights into an understudied area, and it can serve as a starting point for future studies of the value of return policies in other retail contexts.     

The Cross‐Section of Expected Stock Returns: What Have We Learnt from the Past Twenty‐Five Years of Research?

I review the recent literature on cross-sectional predictors of stock returns. Predictive variables used emanate from informal arguments, alternative tests of risk-return models, behavioural biases, and frictions. More than fifty variables have been used to predict returns. The overall picture, however, remains murky, because more needs to be done to consider the correlational structure amongst the variables, use a comprehensive set of controls, and discern whether the results survive simple variations in methodology .     

Tactical Asset Allocation and Stock Issuance in the Korean Stock Market

Stock issuance predicts future stock returns in the Korean market. This creates profitable trading opportunities. Abnormal returns exist in the zero-cost portfolio that short the firms issuing large numbers of shares and longs those issuing small numbers of shares. Their average abnormal return is 12 percent per annum, which is highly significant even after controlling for market, size, value, and momentum factors as well as transaction costs. The authors suggest the possibility of fixed costs in equity market timing. Only the sizable benefit from market timing over fixed costs motivates firms to increase net equity shares.     

Comparing linear and nonlinear forecasts for stock returns

We compare the out-of-sample performance of monthly returns forecasts for two indices, namely the Dow Jones (DJ) and the Financial Times (FT) indices. A linear and a nonlinear artificial neural network (ANN) model are used to generate the out-of-sample competing forecasts for monthly returns. Stationary transformations of dividends and trading volume are considered as fundamental explanatory variables in the linear model and the input variables in the ANN model. The comparison of out-of-sample forecasts is done on the basis of forecast accuracy, using the Diebold and Mariano test [J. Bus. Econ. Stat. 13 (1995) 253.], and forecast encompassing, using the Clements and Hendry approach [J. Forecast. 5 (1998) 559.]. The results suggest that the out-of-sample ANN forecasts are significantly more accurate than linear forecasts of both indices. Furthermore, the ANN forecasts can explain the forecast errors of the linear model for both indices, while the linear model cannot explain the forecast errors of the ANN in either of the two indices. Overall, the results indicate that the inclusion of nonlinear terms in the relation between stock returns and fundamentals is important in out-of-sample forecasting. This conclusion is consistent with the view that the relation between stock returns and fundamentals is nonlinear.     

基于One-Class SVM的青鳉鱼异常行为识别方法

为了更准确地解析青鳉鱼在突发污染环境中的行为变化趋势,提出了一种基于One-Class SVM模型的青鳉鱼异常行为识别方法。以青鳉鱼的生理及行为特征作为观测指标,将采集到的暴露在不同类型和浓度特征污染物下的青鳉鱼行为强度信号作为经验数据,利用直方图统计和主成分分析（PCA）对行为强度数据进行降维,实现行为特征提取,基于One-Class SVM构建模型,并以五水合硫酸铜和三氯酚作为特征污染物进行暴露实验对算法进行验证。结果表明,One-Class SVM模型可以准确地识别正常行为和污染物暴露时发生的异常行为;对于有机污染物最快可在10 min内完成预警,重金属污染物可在1 h内完成预警,并且污染物浓度越高,模型的识别效果越好。识别方法可对水源突发性水质污染进行更有效的监测和预警,也可为水污染应急决策提供技术支撑。     

基于“交易圈”的异常利润汇出分析方法

异常利润汇出的方式主要有通过构造利润分配决议、虚构利润等方式实现超额利润汇出和利用跨部门监管薄弱环节违规汇出。对异常利润汇出排查的传统方式主要基于服务贸易外汇监管系统的定期预警指标,成本高企且效率低下。人民银行济南分行在分析异常的利润汇出行为特点及资金流动路径的基础上,提出了将指向性强的筛查指标和"交易圈"分析法相结合的创新性核查方法,有效提升了核查线索的精准度及发现异常违规行为效率。     

网络效应一定会导致技术锁定吗?

在网络产业中,往往存在替代技术之间的激烈竞争。传统的观点认为,由于网络效应的作用,技术之间的结果是一种技术成为了产业的主导标准,而该技术的用户则被锁定于该技术之中,从而无法导致最优的均衡结果。因此,政府有必要对技术竞争进行干预。然而,传统的观点忽略了技术赞助者的作用、用户之间自发的协调以及用户偏好的多样化等因素,这些因素在一定程度上能够解决网络效应导致的技术锁定问题。因此,政府不应该对网络产业中的技术竞争进行过多的干预,而是应该做好知识产权保护、提供更多的市场信息以及保障用户的自主选择权。     

企业碳交易的有效性——基于中国A股上市公司的实证研究

从上市公司的角度,分析了我国CDM项目交易的有效性,即将衡量碳交易有效性的标准设定为能够使企业股票产生价值溢价,实证检验了碳交易对我国A股上市公司股市表现的影响。检验结果显示,上市公司发布CDM项目注册公告当日,能给上市公司带来显著为正的异常收益率;对事件窗及事件发生后15个交易日的检验显示,公告没有使股市产生显著为正的累计异常收益率。对沪市和深市的对比检验表明,上市公司发布公告当日,两市的反应存在较大的差别。     

Investor Sentiment and Stock Returns: Evidence from Turkey

This paper investigates the relation between investor sentiment and stock returns on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, employing vector autoregressive (VAR) analysis and Granger causality tests. The sample period extends from July 1997 to June 2005. In the VAR models, stock portfolio returns and investor sentiment proxies are used as endogenous variables. Two dummy variables accounting for natural and economic crises are used as exogenous variables. The analysis results suggest that, excepting shares of equity issues in aggregate issues, stock portfolio returns seem to affect all investor sentiment proxies, namely closed-end fund discount, mutual fund flows, odd-lot sales-to-purchases ratio, and repo holdings of mutual funds. Investor sentiment does not appear to forecast future stock returns; only the turnover ratio of the stock market seems to have forecasting potential.