The spillover effects of target interest rate news from the U.S. Fed and the European Central Bank on the Asia-Pacific stock markets

This paper provides comprehensive evidence on the spillover effects of the U.S. Fed's and the European Central Bank (ECB)’s target interest rate news on the market returns and return volatilities of 12 stock markets in the Asia-Pacific over the period 1999–2006. The news spillover effects on the returns are generally consistent with the literature where a majority of stock markets shows significant negative returns in response to unexpected rate rises. While the results of the speed of adjustment for the Fed's news are mixed across the markets, the ECB news was absorbed slowly, in general. The return volatilities were higher in response to the interest rate news from both sources. In addition, both the Fed and the ECB news elicited tardy or persisting volatility responses. These findings have important implications for all levels of market participants in the Asia-Pacific stock markets.     

Performance persistence in hedge funds: Australian evidence

Using the most comprehensive database on Australian hedge funds, we test the performance persistence for the period July 2000 to June 2005. We employ both parametric and nonparametric approaches to identify persistence. We report evidence of short-term persistence and no evidence of long-term winning persistence. Tests of multiperiod performance reveal weak evidence of losing persistence. We also do not find any evidence of persistence in both stock picking and market timing. We report evidence of mean reversion for both stock picking and market timing at the medium horizon.     

The effects of reputation and relationships on lead banks’ certification roles

We investigate the certification roles of lead bank retention in US syndicated loans with respect to interest rates, then explore how lead banks’ reputation and previous relationships with the borrower alter such certification effects. Our findings support the certification hypothesis. Loan spreads are found to decrease with a higher retention ratio, after controlling for the endogeneity of loan price and retention. The magnitude of certification effect is reduced when the lead bank is a more reputable lender and when there are prior bank–borrower relationships. Lead bank reputation and prior lending relationships can therefore substitute for the need to certify.     

"御"意象与《淮南子》

先秦两汉典籍多以“御”来说理言事，在《淮南子》的说理中，“御”作为一个包括车、马、术、人各方面在内的整体意象而被作者有意识地反复运用，从而使之成为一个具有艺术高度和自觉意义的文学意象。     

Leadership,Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship

Leaders in today’s world face the challenge of earning the trust and commitment of organizational members if they expect to guide their companies to success in a highly competitive global context. In this article, we present empirical results indicating that when leadership behaviors are perceived as trustworthy through the observer’s mediating lens, trust increases and leaders are more likely to be viewed as ethical stewards who honor a higher level of duties. This article contributes to the growing body of literature about the importance of ethical stewardship in the trust relationship.     

A Neural Network Analysis of Mortgage Choice

There exists today an unanswered question as to whether, and the degree to which, borrower characteristics impact the choice between fixed and adjustable rate mortgages. In this paper, we apply a neural network analysis to supply evidence that answers this question. We find evidence that the characteristics of a borrower's net worth, marital status and education level and whether a co-borrower is involved contribute in a significant way to the neural network's ability to determine mortgage choice. Further, we show how, because of the facility of neural networks in modeling intrasample differences, they achieve material and statistically significant accuracy gains over qualitative choice models in predicting whether a borrower will choose a fixed or adjustable rate mortgage.     

Injury prevention priority setting based on the National Injury Surveillance data in Korea

For the reduction of injury burden, injury prevention efforts are essential. However, financial, material and human resources are far from sufficient, and this situation necessitates setting priorities for effective injury prevention. Hence, the aim of this study is to prioritise 13 injury mechanisms for prevention of injury using four injury burden criteria. National death certificate, hospital discharge data and emergency data during 2004 were used. According to the 13 most frequent injury mechanisms (ICD-10), mortality priority score, years of potential life lost (YPLL) priority score, morbidity priority score and hospital charge priority score were calculated. Injury mechanisms which were ranked fourth or higher on at least three of the four criteria scores were arranged in rank orders. Traffic crashes ranked highest on all four of the priority criteria for injury prevention followed by fall and poisoning in second and third positions, respectively. Categorised by age groups, in 0-19 year olds, traffic crashes, suffocation and drowning; in 20-59 years, traffic crashes, suffocation and poisoning; and in 60 and over, traffic crashes and fall were shown to be significant injury prevention priority in rank orders. Injury prevention priorities identified from this study could be useful in strategically allocating limited resources and implementing more focused prevention policies in Korea.     

Factors related with unintentional injuries in children with newly diagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

The aim of the present study was to investigate the factors associated with unintentional injury in children newly diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). One thousand four hundred and thirty children between the ages of 6 and 18 who were diagnosed with ADHD for the first time in child psychiatry outpatient clinics were included in the present study. The socio-demographic information of the children, their developmental histories, chronic physical health conditions, comorbid psychiatric disorders, and information obtained via the Turgay DSM-IV-based Child and Adolescent Disorders Screening and Rating Scale were examined retrospectively. It was determined that 12.8% of the children (n = 183) experienced unintentional injury. It was established that age, male gender, disruptive behavioural problems, and low education levels among mothers were predictive of unintentional injuries. The results of the present study suggest that behavioural problems accompanying ADHD and comorbid psychiatric disorders are important in terms of unintentional injuries.