THE REGULATION OF MORTGAGE SERVICING: LESSONS FROM THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

Pivotal litigation against the largest subprime mortgage servicer in the United States provides lessons about the appropriate regulation of mortgage servicing and adds to research about the causes of the financial crisis. Mortgage servicing is essential to the functioning of the financial system so servicers must be held to a high standard. The litigation revealed egregious practices but was settled quickly for a nominal amount and provided the servicer a very broad release of liability, allowing it to expand without correcting serious problems, and created significant wealth gains for the parent firm. Regulatory authority should not be split between agencies. (JEL G28, G21, K40)     

A computational framework for analyzing dynamic auctions: The market impact of information sharing

This article develops a computational framework to analyze dynamic auctions and uses it to investigate the impact of information sharing among bidders. We show that allowing for the dynamics implicit in many auction environments enables the emergence of equilibrium states that can only be reached when firms are responding to dynamic incentives. The impact of information sharing depends on the extent of dynamics and provides support for the claim that information sharing, even of strategically important data, need not be welfare reducing. Our methodological contribution is to show how to adapt the experience-based equilibrium concept to a dynamic auction environment and to provide an implementable boundary-consistency condition that mitigates the extent of multiple equilibria.     

Labor–Management Partnership and Employee Voice: Evidence from the Healthcare Setting

This paper examines the relationship between labor–management partnership (LMP) and employee voice in the healthcare setting. We argue that the ability of LMP to deliver gains to employees is contingent on the quality of the procedural infrastructure on which it is established. We maintain that the quality of LMP processes influences employee trust in their employer and perceptions of union effectiveness and that these perceptions, in turn, are related to employee patient‐care voice.     

Introducing XBRL through a financial statement analysis project

In this project, we introduce business and accounting students to the application of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) through the use of interactive data. Students study the basic concepts and potential benefits of interactive data and XBRL. Students learn to extract the financial reports of two companies in the same industry. Then, using traditional financial analysis techniques (ratio analysis) students can compare the performance of these companies. Thus, the project accomplishes two important objectives: it introduces students to the benefits and features of XBRL-tagged financial reporting and interactive data, and it shows how this medium can be used to facilitate the analysis of financial statements. The project uses free, publicly available interactive data tools to accomplish these objectives.This project is appropriate for any level of financial accounting course in which students use public company financial statements to generate financial ratios and conduct analysis on them. We aim the project at MBA-type introductory accounting courses. In addition, we show how it can easily be expanded to be applied to higher level financial statement analysis courses, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The project provides some background into how XBRL-tagged financial reporting is generated, while the main focus is on application of interactive data and not the technology itself. Since XBRL is now mandated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for most reporting entities, it is critical for today’s business students to be familiar with this method of communicating financial information.     

The Latino Assumption: A Research Note

The Latino assumption refers to the presumption that individuals residing in the United States and its commonwealths who have descended from Latin American countries and Spain constitute a homogeneous panethnic social identity. Inappropriately studying individuals of Latin American and Spanish descent as a homogeneous group in leisure research may result in threats to internal validity, statistical conclusion, and external validity. This article examines these issues and the historical context of the Latino assumption.     

An unpleasant dilemma for contemporary general equilibrium theory

By examining the contributions of two prominent contemporary neoclassical economists, i.e. Lucas and Hahn, the article attempts to shed light on the problematic relationship between neoclassical theory and observation. It is argued that this approach must face the unpleasant dilemma of having to choose between endowing general equilibrium theory with an explanatory role that is marred by its illegitimate notion of capital as a single factor of variable form (Lucas); or alternatively, to consistently treat each capital good as a distinct factor of production, with the bitter implication that the theory must simply renounce to have a correspondence with observation (Hahn).     

Modeling exchange rate passthrough after large devaluations

Large devaluations are generally associated with large declines in real exchange rates. We develop a model which embodies two complementary forces that account for the large declines in the real exchange rate that occur in the aftermath of large devaluations. The first force is sticky nontradable-goods prices. The second force is the impact of real shocks that often accompany large devaluations. We argue that sticky nontradable goods prices generally play an important role in explaining post-devaluation movements in real exchange rates. However, real shocks can sometimes be primary drivers of real exchange-rate movements.     

The Exchange Rate and Inflation in Argentina: A Classical Critique of Orthodox and Heterodox Policy Prescriptions

In this paper we present an alternative framework to neoclassical theory of international trade and exchange rate determination. Our model, inspired in the classical tradition, provides support for the assertion that an exchange rate policy aiming to improve national competitiveness and to bring about a sustained trade surplus is a viable option. In fact, the success of this strategy does not depend on the effectiveness of monetary sterilization —as many argentinean heterodox authors claim— but on the ability to overcome the boundaries imposed by the evolution of the domestic wage rate and the potential emergence of competitive devaluations. In the particular case of Argentina, the introduction of export taxes on land-intensive commodities, in which the economy has absolute advantages, brings an additional policy tool that can make both the exchange rate target and the workers claims consistent.     

青岛炼化携手美利肯开发含Hyperform~成核剂的薄壁注塑专用聚丙烯树脂 填补国内薄壁注塑专用料系列产品市场的空白

正近年来,市场上消费者逐渐对价格实惠、成分安全、透明度高的包装产品的需求显著上升,中国石化青岛炼油化工有限责任公司(简称青岛炼化)推出的使用美利肯化工Hyperform?HPN 20E成核剂的薄壁注塑专用聚丙烯树脂PPH-MM45、PPH-MM50、PPH-MM60系列产品正是顺应了这种趋势。聚丙烯是一种极为适宜制造一次性食品包装的塑料,可完全回收,能够减少碳足迹,重量也远较许多其他塑料、玻璃轻。随着消费者对环境保护、食品安全问题的关注度日趋上升,采用聚丙烯作为食品包装材料日益成为中国业内的普遍做法。青岛炼化与美利肯化工于2013年3月份开始合作开     

Will African Agriculture Survive Climate Change?

Measurement of the likely magnitude of the economic impact ofclimate change on African agriculture has been a challenge.Using data from a survey of more than 9,000 farmers across 11African countries, a cross-sectional approach estimates howfarm net revenues are affected by climate change compared withcurrent mean temperature. Revenues fall with warming for drylandcrops (temperature elasticity of –1.9) and livestock (–5.4),whereas revenues rise for irrigated crops (elasticity of 0.5),which are located in relatively cool parts of Africa and arebuffered by irrigation from the effects of warming. At first,warming has little net aggregate effect as the gains for irrigatedcrops offset the losses for dryland crops and livestock. Warming,however, will likely reduce dryland farm income immedia-tely.The final effects will also depend on changes in precipitation,because revenues from all farm types increase with precipitation.Because irrigated farms are less sensitive to climate, wherewater is available, irrigation is a practical adaptation toclimate change in Africa.