The relation between municipal and government bond yields in an era of unconventional monetary policy

In this paper, we investigate how the 5‐year Swedish municipal bond yield has been related to the corresponding yield on government bonds during the period that the Riksbank has conducted unconventional monetary policy in terms of bond purchases. Using daily Swedish data on bond yields from February 2015 to January 2018, we first conduct an event study to assess the short‐run effects of the Riksbank's bond‐purchase announcements. We then estimate bivariate vector autoregressive models to study the dynamic relationship between the yields. Results from the event study suggest that the accumulated short‐run effect of the Riksbank's announcements was to lower the government bond yield by approximately 40 to 50 basis points and municipal bond yields by 30 to 35 basis points. Our vector autoregressive analysis indicates—in line with the event study—that an unexpected decrease in the government bond yield initially increases the municipal bond‐yield spread. However, after approximately 4 weeks, the effect has been reversed and the municipal bond‐yield spread is lower than it was initially. By conducting this analysis, we contribute to the understanding of the transmission of unconventional monetary policy.     

Modelling multiperiod patterns in stock-market reactions to events,with an application to serial acquisitions

In event studies, the now standard window of a few days may miss relevant price movements if the market’s reaction to the news announcement tends to be slow or if the initial reaction tends to be partially or wholly undone afterwards. We propose a parsimonious hybrid of splines and Almon lags to detect and classify various patterns of post-event reactions spread over many periods. The scheme can interact with one or more event characteristics (like deal size), and the resulting non-linear model can be estimated via maximum likelihood (ML).In our application, we study the returns pattern that follows takeover announcements by two leading serial acquirers, AB Inbev SA and Heineken. Our method confirms the presence of a drop-and-recovery pattern as reported in Doan and Sercu (2021), but the amplitude of the pattern shows no link with deal size. This last finding is not in line with the view that the pattern reflects a rise in uncertainty that is slowly resolved (Malatesta and Thomson, 1985).     

Does china income FSDs follow Benford? A comparison between Chinese income first significant digit distribution with Benford distribution

Since Benford’s law is an empirical phenomenon that occurs in a range of data sets, this raises the question as to whether or not the same thing might be true in terms of the Chinese income distribution data. We focus on the first significant digit (FSD) distribution of Chinese micro income data from the 2005 Inter-Census sample, which corresponds to 1% of Chinese population and other micro income data from the China family panel studies (CFPS) and Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). We use information theoretic-entropy based methods to investigate the degree to which Benford’s FSD law is consistent with the FSD of Chinese income data and our findings suggest consistency between the Chinese FSD income distribution and Benford’s distribution. The close connection between the two distributions has implications for the quality of the sample of Chinese micro data.     

Future perspectives on the role of extended producer responsibility within a circular economy: A Delphi study using the case of the Netherlands

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a proposed policy approach to promoting the circular economy (CE) within the European Union. This research used a policy Delphi to explore perspectives on improving EPR policies to further contribute to the CE goals of the Netherlands. Both the potential improvement and critical reflections discussed by CE and EPR experts and practitioners from this study contribute to a more detailed understanding of the future governance of CE practices. We present various activities to improve EPR and insights from Delphi participants that emerged from the study. This paper shows that whilst actors agree, in essence, that there is a need for modifying EPR, what the specific changes to the form are and to whom the new responsibilities apply is contested.     

Commemorating the 50‐Year Anniversary of Ball and Brown (1968): The Evolution of Capital Market Research over the Past 50 Years

We commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ball and Brown [1968] by chronicling its impact on capital market research in accounting. We trace the evolution of various research paths that post–Ball and Brown [1968] researchers took as they sought to build on the foundation laid by Ball and Brown [1968] to create a body of research on the usefulness, timeliness, and other properties of accounting numbers. We discuss how those paths often link back to the groundwork laid and questions originally posed in Ball and Brown [1968].     

Structures,strategizing, and contested territories: A structuration perspective on strategy development in employer branding

This study examines strategy development in employer branding based on structuration theory, focusing on the interplay between employer branding structures and the (inter)actions of employer branding strategists. To analyse this interplay, this paper draws upon a series of strategy meetings in an employer branding project of a multinational construction company. This study adds to the current debate on employer branding by advancing the understanding of the structural embeddedness of strategizing in employer branding. Furthermore, the study proposes that strategy development shifts employer branding engagements into contested territory due to various and contradictory structures strategists need to deal with.     

Intellectual capital reporting practices in an Islamic bank: A case study

Given the nature and importance of Islamic banks in recent times, we can expect them to have significant intellectual capital anchored in their Sharia‐based knowledge and expertise. However, we know very little or nothing about how and why intellectual capital‐related information is provided in their corporate reports. We fill this gap in our existing knowledge of the field with a view to enhance relevant literature. As far as we know, this article is one of the earliest exploratory attempts to examine intellectual capital reporting practices of an Islamic bank. We have undertaken a longitudinal (2001–2015) case study related to the intellectual capital reporting practices of an Islamic bank. Key results include significant rise of intellectual capital reporting over time, dominance of internal capital‐related items in intellectual capital reporting profile and the dynamics of changes in intellectual capital reporting practices over time. Through an institutional theory lens, we explain that this is due to the changes in the external institutional environment and various intra‐organisational factors such as strong ethical culture, unique knowledge base (Sharia), and corporate governance regime.     

海南岛休闲农业布局现状的实证分析

[目的]全面分析海南岛休闲农业布局现状,为海南岛休闲农业科学合理规划和均衡协调发展提供决策参考。[方法]文章利用海南岛259家休闲农业企业的地理数据,采用比较、缓冲、密度分析工具,从数量、类型、密度、距离衰减方面实证分析海南岛休闲农业的布局特征,并提出相应的优化对策。[结果](1)海南岛东部、中部和西部休闲农业数量分布比重分别为51%、29%和20%,其中国家级示范点数量分布比重分别为83%、17%和0%;(2)休闲农业主要类型有休闲农庄、观光农园、市民农园和农家乐,除休闲农庄在东部、中部、西部分布较均匀外,其他类型分布较不均衡;(3)距离市县中心越远,休闲农业分布密度越小,95%的休闲农业分布在距离市县中心30km以内,距离市县中心10~15km是休闲农业的高峰集聚区;(4)海南岛休闲农业已在海口、保亭、三亚、澄迈、琼中、琼海、定安、儋州形成8个高度集聚带。[结论]海南岛休闲农业无论在数量、类型和密度上都是东部地区最多,中部次之,西部最少。应积极推进具有农业发展优势的地区,因地制宜拓展产业休闲功能;休闲农业产品类型单一的地区,深度挖掘特色资源和文化内涵;加强休闲农业点与旅游景区、生活服务中心之间的跨区域联系,形成和谐发展的有机旅游整体,使休闲农业真正成为农业转型、农民增收的引擎。     

Finding good relationships – intended and realized relational governance of international fine wine exchanges

Changes in relational governance have mainly been documented in the form of relationship building, developments and repairs related to tensions, or break-ups of otherwise strong relationships. In this paper, we take a closer look at the relational governance of long-distance international exchanges between producers and importers of fine wine. We contribute by providing evidence for several novel relational governance changes, and we document portfolio effects on governance choices. Fine wine producers and importers intend on relational governance for most of their international exchanges, but they may end up being terminated, relegated to market governance, or settle as incomplete relationships.     

Market reactions to ECB policy innovations: A cross-country analysis

Regulators have been paying increasing attention to governing and steering market fluctuations, with their role in shaping the economic cycle being ever more crucial. The combined effect of the financial and sovereign debt crises, as well as the approach to the zero lower bound, has made actions even more pressing, forcing the European Central Bank to resort to unconventional instruments to revive the economies and counter deflationary pressures. By using a combined event study and panel regression methodology, we investigate whether European Monetary Union equity markets react heterogeneously to standard and non-standard European Central Bank policy innovations. Our results show that conventional policies unevenly affect financial indices in the Eurozone and, hence, are bound to generate asymmetries that reflect on real economies, while unconventional measures, albeit with different intensities, exercise a homogeneous pressure on all markets. Our evidence highlights the beneficial impact of unconventional measures and suggests that they can play a useful role even in non-crisis times.