Wealth-path dependent utility maximization in incomplete markets

Motivated by an optimal investment problem under time horizon uncertainty and when default may occur, we study a general structure for an incomplete semimartingale model extending the classical terminal wealth utility maximization problem. This modelling leads to the formulation of a wealth-path dependent utility maximization problem. Our main result is an extension of the well-known dual formulation to this context. In contrast with the usual duality approach, we work directly on the primal problem. Sufficient conditions for characterizing the optimal solution are also provided in the case of complete markets, and are illustrated by examples.Received: December 2003, Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 91B28, 91B16, 49N15, 49N30JEL Classification: G11The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their remarks and suggestions which greatly improved this paper. We also thank participants at the Oberwolfach workshop in 2003 for comments and discussions.     

In praise of middle managers

Middle managers have often been cast as dinosaurs. Has-beens. Mediocre managers and intermediaries who defend the status quo instead of supporting others' attempts to change organizations for the better. An INSEAD professor has examined this interesting breed of manager--in particular, middle managers' roles during periods of radical organizational change. His findings will surprise many. Middle managers, it turns out, make valuable contributions to the realization of radical change at companies--contributions that go largely unrecognized by most senior executives. Quy Nguyen Huy says these contributions occur in four major areas. First, middle managers often have good entrepreneurial ideas that they are able and willing to realize--if only they can get a hearing. Second, they're far better than most senior executives at leveraging the informal networks at companies that make substantive, lasting change. Because they've worked their way up the corporate ladder, middle managers' networks run deep. Third, they stay attuned to employees' emotional needs during organizational change, thereby maintaining the transformation's momentum. And finally, they manage the tension between continuity and change--they keep the organization from falling into extreme inertia or extreme chaos. The author examines each of these strengths, citing real-world examples culled from his research. Of course, not every middle manager in an organization is a paragon of entrepreneurial vigor and energy, Huy acknowledges. But cavalierly dismissing the roles that middle managers play--and carelessly reducing their ranks--will drastically diminish senior managers' chances of realizing radical change at their companies. Indeed, middle managers may be the most effective allies of corner office executives when it's time to make major changes in businesses.     

Tourist behavior analysis in gaming destinations based on venue check-in data

This research introduces the use of venue check-ins, which are available on mobile social media platforms, as an additional data source to study tourist behaviors in gaming destinations. The practical value of venue check-ins is demonstrated through a case study of Macau, a popular gaming and cultural destination. The analyses provide an overview of the travel patterns of tourists to gambling and non-gambling venues and highlight the differences between gambling and non-gambling tourists. The introduced approach is beneficial to tourism managers in understanding tourist behaviors and interests and, thus, improves the management and development of gaming destinations.     

Exploring the Vietnamese Environment Accounting With an Introduction About the Green Accounting Information System

Environment is one of the significant factors to the people and our life, because it is fundamentally joined to everything we require for human beings to subsist. Many fields in the society are influenced by the environment. For these reasons, the Vietnamese government issued the Law on Environmental Protection Tax in 2010 to prove this essential matter. Therefore, the organizations have utilized their tools to record the related transactions into the journals for taking an interest in the nature conditions for substantial development. Based on the accounting aspects, Vietnam has no theories about the environment accounting. Hence, this article will provide some basic information and a general picture of the green accounting information system in the environmental condition. Moreover, this paper will analyze the relationship between the environment and company＇s output by applying the environmental management system （EMS） in the accounting system. However, this paper only provides the overall contents about the environment accounting in Vietnam and this limitation will present this problem for further articles.     

The financial consequences of abolishing a carbon trading system

We investigate the impact of 61 announcements of environmental regulations on the equities listed on the Australian Stock Exchange over the period 2009–2015. In particular, our study focuses on how the stock market reacts to announcements of the abolishment of carbon trading/pricing system. Using event study methodology, we assess whether these announcements create or destroy wealth of equity investors. Furthermore, we estimate changes in systematic risk following the announcements. In general, we find that the abolishment of the carbon pricing system has a positive effect on 18 sectors and the process of removing the carbon pricing system appears to affect the systematic risk of businesses leading to diamond risk structures. We also document negative reactions of polluting sectors to the announcements of green policies.     

The value of informational arbitrage

Finance and Stochastics - In the context of a general semimartingale model, we aim at determining how much an investor is willing to pay to learn additional information that allows achieving...     

Changes in the liquidity of closed-end country funds after the introduction of World Equity Benchmarks

In 1996, the first exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed to track a subset of the Morgan Stanley Capital International country indices were approved under the name World Equity Benchmarks (acronym “WEBS”™). We examine the impact of early WEBS-trading on the liquidity of corresponding closed-end country funds (CECFs), previously one of the main avenues for retail investors to achieve country-specific equity exposure. We document a decline in both the trading volume and the trading frequency for CECFs, suggesting that some investors migrate to WEBS. At the same time, the market depth for CECFs increases and the bid-ask spread for CECFs decreases following the introduction of WEBS. Our results support the hypothesis that despite the decline in volume and trading frequency, the liquidity of CECFs is favorably affected by the advent of WEBS.