The Wealth Effects of Capital Investment Decisions: An Empirical Comparison of Korean Chaebol and Non‐Chaebol Firms

Abstract:   This paper investigates the capital investment decisions of Korean firms and their impact on shareholder wealth. Overall, we find positive abnormal returns surrounding the announcements of 697 cases of investment projects during the period 1992–1999. This paper also finds that the investment decisions of business group ( chaebol ‐affiliated) firms do not increase shareholder wealth, while the capital investment decisions of non‐ chaebol firms generate significantly positive abnormal returns. The multivariate tests provide consistent evidence that the announcement effects for chaebol firms are lower than for non‐ chaebol firms, after growth opportunities, investment size and firm size are controlled for. The findings support the view that the organizational structure of Korean chaebols creates an incentive for managers to make non‐value maximizing capital investment decisions.     

Shareholder Value Maximisation,Stock Market and New Technology: Should the US Corporate Model be the Universal Standard? 1

In 1992 a blue‐ribbon group of US economists led by Michael Porter concluded that the US stock market‐based corporate model was misallocating resources and jeopardising US competitiveness. The faster growth of US economy since then and the supposed US lead in the spread of information technology has brought new legitimacy to the stock market and the corporate model, which is being hailed as the universal standard. Two main conclusions of the analysis presented here are: (a) there is no warrant for revising the blue‐ribbon group’s conclusion; and (b) even US corporations let alone developing country ones would be better off not having stock market valuation as a corporate goal.     

Empirical Analysis of Wealth Distribution Disparity of Chinese Residents and Its Changes

I. Introduction The widening wealth gap between the rich and the poor is currently becoming a focus of attention in China. It has two implications: excessive income gap and huge wealth disparity.A number of research papers have appeared on the subject of Chinese people’s income gap. However, there has been limited research on the distribution of people’s wealth. The already published research papers show especially a lack of empirical study of the dramatic changes in wealth distribution in…     

Financial Modernization in US Banking Markets: A Local or Global Event?

Abstract:   We test the hypothesis that the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act (FSMA) of 1999 has spillover effects cross‐nationally, using a sample of US, non‐US transactional (Australian, Canadian, and UK), and relationship (German, Japanese, Dutch, and Swiss) banks. Our results suggest that financial modernization in the US has limited cross‐national effects. We find strong evidence that US banks were affected favorably. Although we detect some evidence of significant reactions by banks in certain countries, a closer examination reveals that the reaction is most likely attributable to events in the respective countries during the event period. We do find, however, that non‐US transactional banks have been more likely to elect financial holding company status compared to relationship banks, suggesting they are positioning themselves to exploit the expanded opportunity set created by the FSMA. Nonetheless, the majority of elections have been made by US banks. In general, the results suggest that the respective banking markets are efficient in filtering events that are largely country‐specific with only limited implications for other international banks.     

Till Death Do Us Part or I Get My Pension? Wives' Pension Holding and Marital Dissolution in the United States

Wives' financial independence gained from their pension may increase the risk of marital dissolution, especially when wives are approaching retirement age (the older wives' independence hypothesis). Applying single and simultaneous equations probit models to data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we investigate the effect of wives' pension holding in 1984 on the risk of subsequent marital dissolution. Results from the single equation model appear to support the older wives' independence hypothesis. However, results from the simultaneous equations model suggest that interpreting the single equation results as a sign of older wives' economic independence may be misleading.
JEL classification : C 33; D 31; J 12; J 32     

The Market's Assessment of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999

We examine the impact of the events leading up to and including the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act (FSMA) of 1999 on the stock returns of banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies. We find that the impact is positive for all institutions. Bank gains are positively related to size and capitalization. Brokerage firms gain regardless of size, but the gains are inversely related to capitalization and insurance companies gain regardless of size or capital position. The strong positive reaction suggests that the market expects the institutions to benefit from the new opportunities created by the FSMA's passage.     

独立董事能否为收购公司股东创造财富——来自中国上市公司并购的证据

国外的实证研究结果表明，独立董事在并购中能给收购公司的股东创造财富。我们依据Harford研究方法，对我国的独立董事进行进一步的划分，并利用沪深A股285家上市公司的并购数据进行实证研究。研究结果表明：在我国设立独立董事并不能有效地为收购公司股东创造财富；但有一些证据显示，在关联方并购交易中，独立董事为收购公司股东创造了财富，尽管统计结果并不显著；在并购交易过程中，收购公司管理层的股权激励效果并不理想。     

劳动价值论中的几个关系式释疑

深化对社会主义社会劳动和劳动价值理论的研究和认识不可不探讨劳动价值论中的几个关系式 ,需要对以下几个等式或不等式释疑 :劳动=价值释疑 ;劳动 /价值≠财富释疑 ;价值量=1/劳动生产力释疑 ;价格=价值、价格≠价值释疑。     

中国通货膨胀的内外因素与传导机制及解决方案分析

引致中国通货膨胀发生的国际因素主要有全球流动性过剩、世界主要经济体通胀、国际粮食供求矛盾加剧等,这些因素通过国际贸易、外来投资、汇率制度等介质传导到中国,并与中国多年来内部存在的过度投资、基础货币被动投放过度、全民炒股一夜暴富、雪灾与春节的并至等因素相撞击叠加,从而激活了国内潜在的物价上涨压力,引起物价连续上涨。应当完善经济结构、改变经济增长方式、人民币缓慢升值、慎用加息、阻止热钱流入。控制中国物价持续上扬。     

中国城镇住宅价格与消费关系的实证研究——基于生命周期假说的宏观消费函数

在生命周期假说的基础上,本文构造了一个城镇居民住宅资产与城镇居民人均消费关系的模型,并利用2000-2006年的季度数据,实证研究了中国城镇居民住宅资产对城镇居民人均消费的影响。实证结果表明,中国城镇住宅市场不具有财富效应。作者认为,住宅供给结构不合理和住宅市场信息不对称是造成我国城镇住宅市场不具有财富效应的重要原因。