Non-Governmental Organizations, Shareholder Activism, and Socially Responsible Investments: Ethical, Strategic, and Governance Implications

In this article, we document the growing influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the realm of socially responsible investing (SRI). Drawing from ethical and economic perspectives on stakeholder management and agency theory, we develop a framework to understand how and when NGOs will be most influential in shaping the ethical and social responsibility orientations of business using the emergence of SRI as the primary influencing vehicle. We find that NGOs have opportunities to influence corporate conduct via direct, indirect, and interactive influences on the investment community, and that the overall influence of NGOs as major actors in socially responsible investment is growing, with attendant consequences for corporate strategy, governance, and social performance.     

The Optimal Choice for Lenders Facing Defaults: Short Sale,Foreclose, or REO

When mortgage borrowers default and have no desire or ability to keep their property, then loss mitigation involves a sale of the property via one of the following options: (1) the lender allows pre-foreclosure “short sale” by the borrower, (2) the lender institutes the foreclosure process under a notice of default and the property is sold during the process by the borrower, and (3) the lender forecloses on the property, takes title, and sells the property in the market as real estate owned (REO). Sale of the property in the above three options is conducted by a motivated seller, either the owner or the lender, who desires to sell the property as quickly as possible. Thus, relative to a no-default sale, the house is most likely to be sold at a discounted price. It is generally expected that the discount would be lower in the case of a “short sale.” This option, however, may result in a longer marketing time, thus a higher total loss, than the other two options. We developed a model that allows simultaneous estimation of price and time-on-market effects of “short sales,” foreclosures, and REO options. We find that the short-sale option has the lowest-price discount, but significantly higher costs associated with marketing time. The pattern of price discount and marketing time reverses as we move to a sale while in the process of foreclosure and to a sale with an REO status.     

Automation, speed, and stock market quality: The NYSE's Hybrid

Automation and trading speed are increasingly important aspects of competition among financial markets. Yet we know little about how changing a market's automation and speed affects the cost of immediacy and price discovery, two key dimensions of market quality. At the end of 2006 the New York Stock Exchange introduced its Hybrid Market, increasing automation and reducing the execution time for market orders from 10 seconds to less than one second. We find that the change raises the cost of immediacy (bid-ask spreads) because of increased adverse selection and reduces the noise in prices, making prices more efficient.     

Non-fatal violence-related injuries in Kingston,Jamaica: a preventable drain on resources

Using data for a one-year period from the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) in Jamaica, we describe patterns of non-fatal violence-related injuries, and carry out simulation analysis to estimate rates of hospital admission under various injury reduction scenarios, and the potential savings that can be realized by reducing violent crimes. In this period there were 6107 registered violence-related visits to the KPH representing 11.5% of all recorded visits. Of these 16.6% (1001) were admitted. The most common methods of inflicting injury was by stabbing (52.1%), blunt injuries (37.9%) and gunshot wounds (7.3%). Multivariate analyses indicated that gunshot injuries, stab injuries, being male between the ages of 15 and 44 years, receiving the injury in November or December, and being injured by a stranger or unknown assailant, were significant correlates of a higher probability of admission. Simulation analysis with various injury reduction scenarios indicated decreases in the probability of admission ranging from 12% to 44%, with estimated savings of up to 31% of the annual supplies budget of KPH.     

Re‐gendering consumer agency in mid‐nineteenth‐century America: A visual understanding

The re‐gendering of consumer agency in the middle decades of the nineteenth century, from being a male to an increasingly female prerogative and responsibility, marked an important milestone in the history of American consumer culture. Art from this period can provide a visual understanding of this ideological and social transformation. Accordingly, this paper examines the lives and selected works of two intriguing genre painters, Francis W. Edmonds (1806–1863) and Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902), using concepts and methods from art history, visual culture, and postmodern theory. Implications for household consumption history and theory are also discussed.     

Marxism,Crypto-Marxism and the Political Economy of Capitalism

ABSTRACT

This article conducts groundwork for a discussion of Marx’s influence through examining the boundaries of the specifically Marxian school of economics. This Marxian school extends well beyond the bounds of the self-identified Marxian school. Marx’s influence, Marxian themes and effectively Marxian theory can be found in several important heterodox traditions of economics, though this is often unacknowledged. A consideration of the proper boundaries of the Marxian school of economics is essential for a full understanding of Marx’s legacy and could contribute to the emergence of a more unified heterodoxy in economics.     

The Chinese Enigma: Impacts of WTO Accession Upon Canadian and U.S. Exports and Imports

China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is an important milestone in the integration of this nation into the world economy. Substantial reduction in trade barriers by China, one of the world's largest and most rapidly growing economies, is expected to have a significant impact, both on China itself and on the global economy. In assessing likely impacts on trade between China and North America of China joining the WTO, a priori one might expect new opportunities for China in labor intensive activities/products, while for the United States and for Canada one might expect added export market opportunities, as China grows, in activities/products that require land, resources and capital. However, the extent to which China and its trading partners will benefit from China's increasing integration into the global economy will largely depend on the internal changes in policy and infrastructure that may be adopted by China. China has embarked on a process of economic reform, but the speed and extent to which this continues to be pursued will affect this nation's ability to capitalize on its comparative advantages and to meet new challenges that are associated with the opportunities of access to a larger market. The difficulty of forecasting such internal changes means that China continues to be a major source of uncertainty in projecting world markets and trade flows. This uncertainty is particularly evident for trade in agricultural products     

The business case of a network that serves both public safety and commercial subscribers

Deploying a single nationwide broadband wireless network to serve all public safety users would have great advantages over the existing fragmented public safety systems. A nationwide system could be created to serve both public safety and commercial subscribers, which would allow a provider to exploit important economies but force it to meet the more costly requirements of public safety. This paper analyzes the viability of a public-private partnership that serves public safety and commercial subscribers from a for-profit provider's perspective. A model is presented that estimates the net present value (NPV) of a wireless network by calculating costs based on the number of cell sites required and revenue based on the projected number of subscribers acquired. The model is applied to both a network that serves only commercial subscribers on 10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum and a public-private partnership that serves commercial subscribers and public safety personnel on 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum. It is found that NPV is greater for the public-private partnership than for the commercial-only network for any population density, which shows that the value of 10 MHz of spectrum exceeds the cost of meeting public safety requirements. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that NPV/cell increases with population density, so urban areas are profitable and rural areas are unprofitable. The paper demonstrates that a partnership covering 94% of the US population breaks even because the most urban 56% of population subsidizes coverage for the next 38%. If initial deployment is subsidized, a financially sustainable public-private partnership can serve much more than 94%. Additionally, it is shown that allowing urban municipalities to opt-out of the partnership can significantly increase the subsidies required.