Adam Smith on lotteries: an interpretation and formal restatement

The paper concerns a neglected aspect of the Wealth of Nations (with the notable exception of D. Levy 1999 Levy, D. M. 1999. “Adam Smith’s Katallactic Model of Gambling: Approbation from the Spectator.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 21 (1): 81–91. doi:10.1017/S1053837200002868.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), dealing directly with decision under risk. In a few pages from book I, chapter 10, Adam Smith explicitly named “lotteries” various objects of choice (possible occupations, or investment opportunities, for instance) and provided an analysis which standard expected utility glasses would hardly fit. Taking this into account allows a better understanding of the part played by typical characters like the “projector” or the “sober man”, in such matters as Smith’s conception of entrepreneurship or of the credit market. The use of some modern concepts in decision analysis (inverse stochastic dominance, rank dependent utility, prudence toward risk), is a means to show the existence, in Smith’s work, of an original theory from decision under risk, where his analysis of lotteries in the Wealth of Nations is consistent with statements from his moral philosophy on asymmetric sensitivity to gains and losses and to the regulating part played by the impartial spectator.     

Making sustainable sourcing decisions: practical evidence from the automotive industry

Achieving environmental and sustainable performance within an organisation’s supply chain and manufacturing operations will be feasible if upstream supply partners have the same commitments in performing their operations in a sustainable manner. Given the debate above, we propose a comprehensive framework to address the sustainable supplier selection and order allocation (SSS&OA) problem. The framework developed is practical, that starts by using an audition check-list specific for each sustainability dimension (environmental, economic and social), from which the weighted values of its comprised criteria are obtained. The weighted scores of the selected sustainable suppliers are utilised by a proposed bi-objective order allocation model in order to make sourcing decisions. The strength of the proposed framework is its practical applicability to provide a solution for SSS&OA problems which is validated through a real-world application. Finally, research findings, theoretical and managerial insights and also directions for additional research are presented.     

Non-compensation-related consultant service and CEO compensation

This study examines how consultants’ non-compensation-related consulting service (NCS) affects the contractual usefulness of accounting and stock information in executive compensation, as reflected in pay-performance sensitivity. The hypothesis is based on anecdotal evidence suggesting that consultants’ provision of NCS is likely to adversely affect the quality of CEO compensation plans. We investigate whether the consultants providing NCS are involved in potential conflicts of interest. The results show that CEO pay is higher in companies where consultants provide NCS and have a higher NCS fee ratio. The pay-performance sensitivity in CEO compensation decreases when consultants engage in NCS. The overall results are consistent with NCS representing a conflict of interest and compromising the quality of compensation committees.     

Corporate Cash Holding in Asia

In this paper, we analyze the determinants of corporate saving in the form of changes in cash holdings for 11 Asian economies using firm‐level data from the Oriana Database for the 2002–2011 period. We find some evidence that cash flow has a positive impact on the change in cash holdings (i.e. that the cash flow sensitivity of cash is positive) and that the positive impact of cash flow on the change in cash holdings is larger and more significant in the case of smaller and presumably more constrained firms than in the case of larger and presumably less constrained firms in both developed and developing economies. Both of these findings corroborate the importance of financial constraints in Asian firms. In addition, we find that the cash flow sensitivity of cash declined after the global financial crisis and that Tobin's q has a positive impact on the change in cash holdings, especially in the case of larger and presumably unconstrained firms.     

政府质量、市场化程度与现金—现金流敏感性——来自后金融危机时期的经验证据

在中国式经济增长进程中,政府作为"幕后推手"日益引发各界关注。政府的质量取决于政府所提出的制度安排,而企业行为是对政府所制定的制度的反应。本文以2009—2011年我国上市公司经验数据为样本,检验政府质量、市场化程度与现金—现金流敏感性间的关系。实证结果发现,随着政府质量的提升,企业运用内部现金流积累现金的倾向减弱,表现为现金—现金流敏感性降低。同时发现,这种变化在不同市场化程度地区的企业中会呈现不同的特征。具体而言,伴随政府质量的提升,市场化程度较低地区的企业受惠于制度环境的优化,其现金—现金流敏感性显著降低,而市场化程度较高地区的企业这一变化并不明显。本文为解释地方政府推出制度优化经济环境的微观机制提供了经验证据。     

滨海区域生态区划研究——以北戴河新区为例

滨海区域生态系统不稳定,沿海城市的生态环境问题已经成为全球关注的重点。滨海地区生态区划是根据滨海区域区位、自然资源、环境条件及开发利用要求,选取相应的生态环境指标对区域状态进行评价,并划分为不同类型的生态单元的过程。文章以北戴河新区为例,从生态敏感性、建设用地适宜性和景观格局安全性等3个生态要素中共选取14个指标建立生态区划指标体系,运用GIS技术进行生态要素的空间分析,最终将北戴河新区分为生态涵养、生态旅游、生态服务和生态农业等4个生态主区以及15个生态亚区,并针对4个区分别给出了未来发展方向和保护对策。     

基于风险中性路径概率的三叉树期权定价模型

树方法是给经典期权进行定价的非常实用的数值方法,目前最流行的是二叉树模型。三叉树定价模型作为二叉树的一个扩展,其同样是在风险中性概率的基础上给经典期权进行定价,并且可以通过MATLAB实现。相比于二叉树而言,三叉树模型的定价结果具有更好的收敛性。除此之外,用三叉树模型对影响期权价格的一些因素进行敏感性分析,可以验证该模型的合理性。     

Advertising effects on consumer welfare: Prices paid and liking for brands selected

The effect of advertising on consumer welfare has been the subject of dispute among economists, arising largely from disagreement among scholars regarding the persuasive versus the informative role of advertising. This paper reports two experiments that explore the welfare implications of advertising effects. Experiment 1 shows that the same advertisements can either increase or decrease prices paid for selected brands, depending on the degree to which the choice situation requires brands to be recalled in order to be considered. However, an increase in prices paid caused by advertising does not necessarily imply detrimental effects on consumer welfare. Experiment 2 shows that, even under circumstances in which differentiating advertising leads consumers to select brands with higher average prices, it can provide useful information to consumers that allows them to make purchases that are more in line with their personal tastes than are the choices of consumers not exposed to the advertisements.     

经济增长和人口集聚对城市环境空气质量的影响及区域分异——以第一阶段实施新空气质量标准的74个城市为例

为评估经济增长和人口集聚对城市环境空气质量的影响,寻求源头改善城市环境空气质量的可行路径,以第一阶段实施新空气质量标准的74个城市为例,基于输出导向的数据包络分析模型,以经济和人口指标为输入,以城市环境空气质量指数为输出,计算城市经济增长和人口集聚的整体效率,表征经济增长和人口集聚对城市环境空气质量的影响。结果表明:三大城市群中,京津冀的环境影响比长三角大26.0%,长三角比珠三角大11.2%;省会城市中,中部地区的环境影响最大,东北地区其次,西部地区第三,东部地区最小。快速推进的工业化和城镇化,投资拉动冶金、能源重化工产业和房地产业高速发展,土地财政助推人口密度不断提高,使得大气污染物在城市局地范围内、短时间、大量集中排放,远超城市大气环境容量,是造成城市环境空气质量明显下降的根本原因。改善城市环境空气质量,必须从环境影响源头入手,加快经济转型升级步伐,适度、有序推进人口城镇化。     

碳债券的估值及敏感性分析

论文以2014年5月13日中广核电附加碳收益中期票据的成功发行为背景,在假设核证碳减排量(CER)服从几何分形过程的情况下,结合分形过程的蒙特卡洛模拟,研究了中期碳债券的设计和估值问题,并分析了不同的期权条款设计带来的风险差异。研究认为相对较复杂的强路径依赖型亚式浮息碳债券,在碳现货价格波动性较大的情况下,简单的欧式浮息碳债券是更好的设计选择。