Transportation conditions and access to services in a context of urban sprawl and deregulation. The case of Dar es Salaam

Major deficiencies in urbanisation and transportation systems are reinforcing patterns of social and urban segregation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city. Analysis of the 1993 Human Resources Development Survey shows that there are numerous obstacles to the daily travel of the city's inhabitants, notably the poor. These barriers weigh heavily on schedules, complicate access to services ever further, limit the use of urban space, and place considerable pressure on household budgets. Consequently, the poorest individuals tend to retreat into their neighbourhood where the low-quality urban facilities are unable to assist in the development of human and social capital and economic opportunities, the alleviation of poverty or the prevention of social exclusion.     

Aufgaben des Controllings im Rahmen des Risikomanagementprozesses

Ohne Zusammenfassung Dr. Pascal Nevries ist Gesch?ftsführer des Center for Controlling & Management (CCM). Daneben ist er Habilitand am Lehrstuhl von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Weber sowie Mitglied des Instituts für Management & Controlling (IMC). Dipl.-Kfm. Erik Strau? ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Center for Controlling & Management (CCM). Daneben ist er Doktorand am Lehrstuhl von Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Weber sowie Mitglied des Instituts für Management & Controlling (IMC).     

Consumption and Portfolio Choice over the Life Cycle

This article solves a realistically calibrated life cycle modelof consumption and portfolio choice with non-tradable laborincome and borrowing constraints. Since labor income substitutesfor riskless asset holdings, the optimal share invested in equitiesis roughly decreasing over life. We compute a measure of theimportance of human capital for investment behavior. We findthat ignoring labor income generates large utility costs, whilethe cost of ignoring only its risk is an order of magnitudesmaller, except when we allow for a disastrous labor incomeshock. Moreover, we study the implications of introducing endogenousborrowing constraints in this incomplete-markets setting.     

Predicting uncertainty: the impact of risk measurement on value of real estate portfolios

This paper presents a theoretical framework for an assessment and valuation of real estate assets and funds, based on modern stochastic discounted cash flow (DCF) models, which accurately captures the nature of related risks. We show that an accurate risk-adjusted valuation is particularly difficult for real estate investments, due to practical limits to diversification and difficulties in approximating total risk with systematic risk. We develop a risk assessment framework that includes idiosyncratic risk but focuses on insolvency risk related to a specific cash flow profile. We also present a methodology of rating this risk, using forecasts and simulations. We conclude that simulation techniques are a valuable tool in property risk assessment. Further, we show that cost of capital and value of assets depend on diversification of specific risks, investors can achieve in their portfolios.     

Corporate governance and risk-taking: Evidence from Japanese firms

This paper examines the influence of corporate governance on the risk taking of Japanese firms. We show that family control and ownership concentration are associated with higher idiosyncratic risk, whereas bank control has the opposite effect. Considering the link between idiosyncratic risk and firm performance, the results provide an economic rationale for the higher (lower) performance of family-controlled firms (bank-controlled firms). The results also explain the higher performance of firms with concentrated ownership by relating their governance structures to the risk-taking strategies that generate greater competitive advantages. Finally, we show that the impact of governance structures on risk taking is stronger after controlling for endogeneity.     

Institutional ownership,cross-shareholdings and corporate cash reserves in Japan

Cross-country studies document a negative relation between corporate governance and cash holdings. In contrast, this relation is found to be positive in the United States. In this paper, we examine the case of Japanese firms. Using institutional ownership and cross-shareholdings as the main governance variables, we show that better governance is associated with higher cash balances as in the United States. The reason is that better-governed firms make better investment decisions. Their investments are not driven by excess liquidity and result in higher profitability and higher firm valuation. Overall, our findings indicate that management profligacy is a bigger concern to shareholders than management propensity to hoard cash because of risk aversion.     

Accounting earnings and firm valuation: the French case

Considering that the level of the association between stock returns and accounting earnings provides a measure of the extent to which earnings summarize the information which is useful for firm valuation, this paper analyses the contemporaneous association between stock returns and earnings changes or earnings level of individual French stocks and portfolios for periods of one, two and five years between 1981 and 1990. The empirical findings are as follows. (a) Stock returns are more linked to earnings changes than to earnings levels indicating that earnings provide more information about changes in firm value than about firm value. (b) Earnings prepared in accordance with the French accounting principles are not less value-relevant than those prepared in accordance with US or UK GAAP. (c) A cross-sectionally and time-aggregated data procedure provides a large increase in the explanatory power of earnings for returns which is consistent with a noise-in-earnings effect probably induced by accounting measurement and valuation principles and with a recognition lag effect due to the fact that value-relevant events are not integrated into earnings exactly when they occur. These two effects are shown to be the major causes of the low association between earnings and returns generally observed in studies based on short period data for individual stocks.     

The Effects of NAFTA/CUSFTA on Agricultural Trade Flows: An Empirical Investigation

This paper examines the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its predecessor, the Canada‐United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), on agricultural trade flows at disaggregated product categories. The empirical analysis is implemented through gravity models using different econometric methods. It accounts for the baseline NAFTA/CUSFTA‐unrelated magnitudes of trade between member countries throughout the assessment of the NAFTA/CUSFTA trade effects. The benchmark estimates show considerable differences across agricultural product categories. The net post‐NAFTA/CUSFTA magnitudes of trade between member countries are found to be markedly low in some cases, underlining missed regional trade opportunities. The empirical analysis proceeds to estimate the NAFTA/CUSFTA trade effects by time period and by bilateral trading partnership, revealing important variations. Cet article examine les effets de l'Accord de Libre‐Échange Nord‐Américain (ALÉNA) et de son prédécesseur, l'Accord de Libre‐Échange entre le Canada et les États‐Unis (ALÉCÉU), sur les flux commerciaux agricoles au niveau des catégories ventilées. L'analyse empirique est mise en ?uvre grâce à des modèles de gravité en utilisant une variété de méthodes économétriques. Elle compte pour la ligne de base des magnitudes non‐reliées à l'ALÉNA/ALÉCÉU du commerce entre les pays membres à travers l′évaluation des effets de l'ALÉNA/ALÉCÉU sur le commerce. Les estimations de référence montrent des différences considérables entre les catégories de produits agricoles. Les magnitudes post‐ALÉNA/ALÉCÉU nettes du commerce entre les pays membres se trouvent d′être considérablement faibles dans certains cas. Ces résultats soulignent des opportunités commerciales régionales manquées. L'analyse empirique procède à estimer les effets de l'ALÉNA/ALÉCÉU sur le commerce par période et par partenariat commercial bilatéral, et elle montre des variations importantes.