Why Do Absolute Returns Predict Volatility So Well?

Our objective is volatility forecasting, which is core to manyrisk management problems. We provide theoretical explanationsfor (i) the empirical stylized fact recognized at least sinceTaylor (1986) and Ding, Granger, and Engle (1993) that absolutereturns show more persistence than squared returns and (ii)the empirical finding reported in recent work by Ghysels, Santa-Clara,and Valkanov (2006) showing that realized absolute values outperformsquare return-based volatility measures in predicting futureincrements in quadratic variation. We start from a continuoustime stochastic volatility model for asset returns suggestedby Barndorff-Nielsen and Shephard (2001) and study the persistenceand linear regression properties of various volatility-relatedprocesses either observed directly or with sampling error. Wealso allow for jumps in the asset return processes and investigatetheir impact on persistence and linear regression. Extensiveempirical results complement the theoretical analysis.     

The Information Content of Just-in-Time Inventory System Adoption Announcement

This paper examines the stock market reaction and analysts' earnings forecast revisions associated with just-in-time (JIT) inventory system adoption announcements. The stock market reaction is positive, however, analysts do not revise their earnings forecasts when firms announce a JIT adoption. The results of the paper show mixed support for the hypothesis that JIT is viewed by markets as a costly capital expenditure intended to increase the net cash flows of the firm and mixed support for the hypothesis that JIT is viewed by markets only as an accounting change.     

The boundaries of firms as information barriers

When contracts are incomplete, the property‐rights theory of firms suggests that ownership of physical assets provides better outside options, which in turn strengthen the owner's incentives to invest in the enterprise. This approach is less suitable for human capital firms such as management consulting that lack physical assets. This article develops an alternative theory for integration that sheds light on the boundaries of human capital firms. In particular, when a relationship between parties includes large potential externalities, reducing the outside option of each party will be beneficial. Integration provides this reduction by blurring the contribution of individual parties within the firm, and thus lowering their independent market valuation. Unlike some results in the property‐rights literature, the results here are robust to variations in ex post bargaining solution.     

The Moderating Effects of Virtuality on the Antecedents and Outcome of NPD Team Trust

The fundamental dynamics of virtual and traditional face-to-face teams may be very different. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine and assess the moderating effects of virtuality on the antecedents and outcome of trust, where virtuality is measured along a continuum from face to face (no virtuality) to fully virtual rather than the more common approach of dichotomizing teams into two groups (i.e., face to face and virtual). The sample includes 116 different new product development teams from a variety of industries. The antecedents of trust that are studied are familiarity, goal clarity, training, relationship conflict, and process conflict. The outcome of trust is analyzed by determining how the impact of trust on cooperation changes as the level of virtuality changes. Primary findings are as follows: (1) Relationship conflict can be more detrimental to virtual teams than face-to-face teams because it is very difficult for team members of virtual teams to resolve their interpersonal disputes; (2) goal clarity is more important for face-to-face teams and less important for virtual teams in creating trust among team members; and (3) the impact of trust on cooperation is less for virtual teams than face-to-face teams. The primary implication for researchers and practice of these findings is that the role and importance of trust in virtual teams needs to be reevaluated. Managers using virtual teams need to realize that interpersonal relationships in virtual teams do not evolve in the same manner as face-to-face teams and may require different management techniques to be successful.     

Implications of biotech traits with segregation costs and market segments: the case of Roundup Ready(R) Wheat

Roundup Ready^® Wheat (RRW) is one of the first geneticallymodified (GM) traits for the wheat sector. We develop a spatialpartial equilibrium model of the higher-protein hard wheat marketand assess the changes in the distribution of welfare associatedwith release and adoption of RRW. It incorporates segments forGM aversion in each market and segregation costs for each segment.In the most likely scenario, producer and consumer welfare increasesby $301 and $252 million, respectively. Producers of hard redspring wheat in the US and Canada gain. There are welfare lossesto hard red winter wheat growers in the US and to EU consumerswho have to import at a higher cost.     

Determinants of Income Growth in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Labor Markets

This article analyzes determinants of growth across labor markets in the United States, using a production function approach based on four inputs: labor, manufacturing investment, human capital investment, and public capital investment. We find little role for public capital investment in growth, but that manufacturing investment spurred growth in nonmetropolitan areas, in contrast to metropolitan areas. We also find that human capital investment mattered more for metropolitan areas than for nonmetropolitan areas. Further, the presence of more colleges and universities, more household amenities, and lower tax rates are all found to have encouraged human capital accumulation in U.S. labor markets.     

Wendy Gamber. The Boardinghouse in Nineteenth-Century America

In this sharp and revealing book, Wendy Gamber sheds new lighton a fascinating topic that historians generally overlook: thenineteenth-century American boardinghouse. Gamber begins byreminding us that although contemporary commentators celebratedprivately owned homes as domestic oases in the desert of marketcapitalism, boardinghouses remained ubiquitous institutionsthat shaped the experiences of countless city inhabitants before1900. In seven thematic chapters, she weaves a colorful tapestryof boardinghouse life. Early chapters focus on the challengesthat women     

Going-Private Decisions and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: A Cross-Country Analysis

This article investigates whether the passage and the implementationof the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) drove firms out of thepublic capital market. To control for other factors affectingexit decisions, we examine the post-SOX change in the propensityof American public targets to be bought by private acquirersrather than public ones with the corresponding change for foreignpublic targets, which were outside the purview of SOX. Our findingsare consistent with the hypothesis that SOX induced small firmsto exit the public capital market during the year followingits enactment. In contrast, SOX appears to have had little effecton the going-private propensities of larger firms. (JEL G30,G34, G38, K22)     

A Multivariate Evaluation of Ex ante Risks Associated with Fed Cattle Production

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate production risks faced by fed cattle producers. We do this by jointly modeling a group of cattle production yield risk factors using a multivariate dynamic regression model. The proposed econometric model estimates parameters that influence the mean and variance of production yield factors, as well as the covariance between variables, while accounting for a high degree of censoring through the use of a dynamic multivariate Tobit model. The model provides insights into the relationship between production yield factors in fed cattle production.