Convergence of Real Capital Market Interest Rates—Evidence from Inflation Indexed Bonds

This paper investigates the convergence of long‐term ex ante real interest rates (RIRs) obtained from Canadian, French, UK, and U.S. inflation indexed government bonds. In contrast to previous research, our evidence suggests full convergence in the long run and, hence, capital market integration. For the same sample period, global convergence is rejected for RIRs measured in conventional terms. From these results, we conclude that previous tests of the long‐run real interest rate parity might have suffered from weak measurement of real capital market interest rates.     

Who Cares about Auditor Reputation?*

I provide evidence on the demand for auditor reputation by examining the defections of Arthur Andersen LLP's clients following the accounting scandals and criminal conviction marring the auditor's reputation in 2002. About 95 percent of clients in my sample did not switch auditors until after Andersen was indicted for criminal misconduct regarding its failed audit of Enron Corp. I test whether the timing of client defections and the choice of a new auditor are consistent with managers' incentives to mitigate potentially costly information and agency problems. I find that clients defected sooner, mostly to another Big 5 auditor, if they were more visible in the capital markets; such clients attracted more analysts and press coverage, had larger institutional ownership and share turnover, and raised more cash in recent security issues. However, my proxies for agency conflicts — managerial ownership and financial leverage — are not associated with the timing of defections or the choice of new auditor. Overall, my study suggests that firms more visible in the capital markets tend to be more concerned about engaging highly reputable auditors, consistent with such firms trying to build and preserve their own reputations for credible financial reporting.     

In Search of Distress Risk

This paper explores the determinants of corporate failure and the pricing of financially distressed stocks whose failure probability, estimated from a dynamic logit model using accounting and market variables, is high. Since 1981, financially distressed stocks have delivered anomalously low returns. They have lower returns but much higher standard deviations, market betas, and loadings on value and small‐cap risk factors than stocks with low failure risk. These patterns are more pronounced for stocks with possible informational or arbitrage‐related frictions. They are inconsistent with the conjecture that the value and size effects are compensation for the risk of financial distress.     

The jump‐start of the Holland economy during the late‐medieval crisis,c.1350–c.15001

By c.1500 the Holland economy had already acquired modern traits, as witnessed by the occupational structure and the urbanization rate. This article tries to explain the remarkable development of the Holland economy between 1350 and 1500, linking it to the specific occupation history of the region in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. The combination of high wages in this frontier economy with increasing difficulties in arable agriculture as a result of the subsidence of peat soils, and the absence of feudal restrictions in production and marketing, resulted in the rise of capital‐intensive industries, benefiting from converging wages and increasing market integration.     

Mid-life and older workers: job displacement and health care coverage

The purpose of this study was to explore factors influencing the likelihood that workers would have health care coverage following job displacement. The sample was drawn from the Current Population Survey: Displaced Worker Supplement (January 1988) and consisted of 840 workers aged 45 years and older. The workers lost jobs because of plant closings, relocations or because of slack work At the time of the survey, 567 displaced workers indicated that they had health care coverage. Logistic analysis revealed that prior health care coverage, new earnings of males and family incomes of $20,000 or more impacted the likelihood that these displaced workers would have health care coverage. However, workers subsequently re-employed in new jobs (over 35 hours a week) were less likely to have health care coverage.     

Consumer reasons for store ‘walkouts' and the impact on future store patronage

This study addresses ‘walkouts’, one of the major issues identified by the Skaggs Institute of Retail Management for 1990–1993. Walkouts are dissatisfaction responses of consumers who enter a store with the intention of making a purchase but who eventually leave without doing so. A more severe situation occurs when the consumer becomes a store defector, one not willing to patronize the store in the future. Results of this study indicated that customers walked out three times more often because of poor merchandise assortment than for lack of, or discourteous, service. However, the consequences of poor merchandise assortments were less detrimental to the retailer/consumer relationship than poor service. Findings revealed that half of the consumers who walked out because of poor service indicated they would not shop in the store in the future - store defectors.     

Liquidity in the Foreign Exchange Market: Measurement,Commonality, and Risk Premiums

We provide the first systematic study of liquidity in the foreign exchange market. We find significant variation in liquidity across exchange rates, substantial illiquidity costs, and strong commonality in liquidity across currencies and with equity and bond markets. Analyzing the impact of liquidity risk on carry trades, we show that funding (investment) currencies offer insurance against (exposure to) liquidity risk. A liquidity risk factor has a strong impact on carry trade returns from 2007 to 2009, suggesting that liquidity risk is priced. We present evidence that liquidity spirals may trigger these findings.     

BOOMING SECTOR AND WAGE EFFECTS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ON NORWEGIAN DATA

Within the framework of a segmented labour market model, andunder the assumption of market clearing wages in all sub-markets,this paper analyzes demand and cost-of-living effects whicha booming sector may create. The tests are based on data beforeand after the most intensive building-up period of the Norwegianpetroleum sector The empirical results indicate significantdemand effects for the most petroleum relevant occupations,and also positive cost-of-living effects in areas which areregionally close to this sector Overall there is evidence thatthe Norwegian petroleum sector has caused weak manufacturingperformance