Disentangling the Dividend Information in Splits: A Decomposition Using Conditional Event-Study Methods

While folklore in finance holds that split valuation effectsare due to dividend increases associated with splits, littleis known about magnitudes of dividend and nondividend componentsof split announcement effects. We find that splits and dividendsare indeed informational substitutes, a notion we characterizemore precisely, but a significant portion of split valuationeffects, 46% according to our estimates, cannot be attributedto dividend information in splits. Our techniques extend theliterature on conditional event-study methods and we illustratetheir practical value in testing hypotheses and analyzing datanot amenable to analysis by standard procedures.     

The perception of fire risk by older people and its impact on relevant fire safety education

Accidents due to ‘fire and flames’ are second only to “falls” as the most important cause of accidental death in the homes of elderly individuals throughout the United Kingdom. This study aims to ascertain whether older people are receiving fire accident advice appropriate to their needs. A questionnaire addressing the issues of risk perception, fire preventative action and access to fire safety information was distributed to 1100 randomly selected members of the ‘Thousand Elders’ (a nation-wide consumer group established by the Centre for Applied Gerontology at The University of Birmingham, comprising people above the age of 50 years). Eight hundred and four questionnaires were returned and were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Fire risk was perceived as far less of an immediate threat than the danger of a personal attack by an intruder in the home. Recognition of fire risk and the effectiveness of fire safety measures did not result directly in safety appliances being fitted. The majority of ‘Elders’ had received no fire-fighting training, yet more than half felt confident in tackling a small fire. Neither did experience of a fire in the home necessarily increase action towards safety precautions. The majority had not been exposed to a fire safety campaign in the past 12 months. On exposure to a campaign, the impact towards fire safety was positive. The educational process should aim to close the gap between the recognition of the need for fire safety precautions and the implementation of fire safety measures. The key to effective fire prevention amongst older people depends upon: Information, Training and Support, i.e., relevant information supported by practical help and subsequent practical training in-situ by trusted community figures.     

Impact of Karl Pearson's Work on Statistical Developments in India

Karl Pearson's work greatly inspired P. C. Mahalanobis's interest in statistics, who was at the centre of modern statistical developments in India. Mahalanobis learned statistics on his own, reading Pearson's articles and his journal, and encouraged others to study Pearson's papers. Pearson was a Honorary Fellow of the Indian Statistical Institute, which has been a leading statistical training and research center in India. The statistical revolution that Pearson brought also facilitated the training and research of many Indian statisticians.     

An analysis on the emotional approach to segmentation: A study of yoga tourism

The purpose of this study is to empirically identify the pattern of tourists’ emotional responses to profile tourists and investigate their relationships with destination image and behavioral intentions in yoga tourism. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 395 tourists visiting Rishikesh, India. Cluster analysis uncovers three distinct clusters based on the pattern of tourists’ emotions: ecstatic, passionate, and unemotional. Multiple discriminant analysis confirms the validity of three clusters solution. The three yoga tourist clusters differ by their perception of destination image and behavioral intentions. Findings offer important implications for scholars and marketers to better serve this niche market.     

Reinsuring Agricultural Risk

This paper develops a basic economic model for evaluating the critical factors affecting crop insurer risks and for computing reinsurance premiums. The model shows how insurer risks and returns are determined by the individual yield risks of insureds, loading factors, administrative costs, buffer accounts and, importantly, the distribution of insureds across crop types and crop growing regions. Based on these factors, an approach toward computing actuarial reinsurance premiums is presented, with examples.
Nous présentons un modèle économique de base pour évaluer les facteurs critiques agissant sur les risques du fournisseur d'assurance-récolte et pour calculer les primes de réassurance. Le modéle montre dans quelle mesure les risques et les profits de l'assureur sont déterminés par les risques de rendement particuliers de l'as suré, les facteurs de charge, les frais d'administration, les fonds de tampons et, surtout, la répartition des assurés par type de récolte et par région de culture. À partir de ces éléments, une démarche de calcul des primes actuarielles de réassurance est présentée, exemples à l'appui.     

On Invariant Post‐randomization for Statistical Disclosure Control

In this paper, we investigate certain operational and inferential aspects of invariant Post‐randomization Method (PRAM) as a tool for disclosure limitation of categorical data. Invariant PRAM preserves unbiasedness of certain estimators, but inflates their variances and distorts other attributes. We introduce the concept of strongly invariant PRAM, which does not affect data utility or the properties of any statistical method. However, the procedure seems feasible in limited situations. We review methods for constructing invariant PRAM matrices and prove that a conditional approach, which can preserve the original data on any subset of variables, yields invariant PRAM. For multinomial sampling, we derive expressions for variance inflation inflicted by invariant PRAM and variances of certain estimators of the cell probabilities and also their tight upper bounds. We discuss estimation of these quantities and thereby assessing statistical efficiency loss from applying invariant PRAM. We find a connection between invariant PRAM and creating partially synthetic data using a non‐parametric approach, and compare estimation variance under the two approaches. Finally, we discuss some aspects of invariant PRAM in a general survey context.     

Consumer Protection Act, 1986: Law and policy in India

India passed its new Consumer Protection Act in 1986. The author points out that the Act is a landmark in the history of the consumer protection movement in India. It concerns mainly the regulation of consumer disputes and creates specific redress agencies at district, state, and Union level. It also contains general provisions for consumer rights and for the organization of the consumer interest.

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Verbraucherschutzgesetz 1986: Recht und Politik in Indien

Zusammenfassung Nach Meinung des Autors handelt es sich bei dem neuen indischen Verbraucherschutzgesetz um einen Meilenstein in der Verbraucherschutzbewegung dieses Landes. Das Gesetz betrifft vor allem die Regelung von Konsumentenstreitigkeiten, für die es eigene Einrichtungen und verfahren auf Distrikt-, Provinz- und Unionsebene schafft. Das Gesetz enthält auch allgemeine Verbraucherrechte und einen organisatorischen Rahmen zur Verbrauchervertretung.

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Rajendra Kumar Nayak is an Associate Research Professor at the Indian Law Institute, Bhagwan Dass Road, New Delhi-110001, India, and Member, Central Consumer Protection Council, Government of India.     

Dynamic effects of idiosyncratic volatility and liquidity on corporate bond spreads

We study the dynamic impact of idiosyncratic volatility and bond liquidity on corporate bond spreads over time and empirically disentangle both effects. Using an extensive data set, we find that both idiosyncratic volatility and liquidity are critical mainly for the distress portfolios, i.e., low-rated and short-term bonds; for others only volatility matters. The effects of volatility and liquidity shocks on bond spreads were both exacerbated during the recent financial crisis. Liquidity shocks are quickly absorbed into bonds prices; however, volatility shocks are more persistent and have a long-term effect. Our results overall suggest significant differences between how volatility and liquidity dynamically impact bond spreads.