Effects of frequent information disclosure: the case of daily net asset value reporting for closed-end investment companies

There are two competing hypotheses regarding the effects of increased financial disclosure. One states that increased disclosure leads to decreased information asymmetry and more efficient pricing resulting in reduced bid-ask spreads, volatility and illiquidity. The other says that increased disclosure places additional burdens on traders leading to increased transactions costs and volatility. This paper examines the effects of more-frequent reporting for the case of closed-end funds that voluntarily changed their net-asset-value reporting from weekly to daily beginning in 1998. Multivariate analyses indicate a decrease in asymmetric information following initiation of daily reporting as evidenced by lower spreads, greater transactions volume, reduced volatility and decreased illiquidity. We conclude that closed-end fund daily net-asset-value reporting provides an example of information disclosure that provides useful information to investors and reduces information asymmetry.     

The Aggregate Demand Curve and Its Proper Interpretation

Textbook authors, in their presentations of aggregate demand–aggregate supply, are admonished to set their houses in order. The writers suggest the continued usefulness of the traditional “Keynesian cross” model as a pedagogical device and present a version that they allege to be superior to the popular AD–AS models found in many contemporary texts.     

The Developmental Impact of Asian Drivers on Kenya with Emphasis on Textiles and Clothing Manufacturing

(1251) Paul Kamau with Dorothy McCormick and Nicolas Pinaud Kenya has enjoyed a relatively diversified economy (at least by SSA standards), with light manufacturing industries in particular playing a significant growing role. The rise of Asian competition (locally, regionally and on third‐country markets), partly due to the erosion of trade preferences for clothing and footwear, has raised fresh policy challenges. The specific relevance of the clothing industry in the analysis of China’s and India’s impact on Africa is manifold: this is a low‐skilled labour‐intensive industry, and hence an avenue for African economies’ diversification; the competition from Asian producers vis‐à‐vis the SSA clothing industry is felt at the local, regional and global level (on third‐country markets): it is therefore direct and indirect; also, the Asian Drivers’ impact on African clothing industries has both a trade and investment dimension while being competitive and complementary.     

When Paradigms Meet: Interacting Perspectives on Evaluation in the Non‐Profit Sector

This study examines a public debate in Australia, arising from a national government report, around how social contribution in the nonprofit sector should be assessed. Guided by several meta‐perspectives on evaluation, we identify connections between foundational assumptions and normative positions on evaluation espoused by non‐profit organizations (NPOs), and examine the ways in which the inter‐paradigmatic context of the non‐profit sector contributes to the emergence of NPOs’ different normative positions on evaluation. We conclude that particular paradigmatic orientations of NPOs (positivism, interpretivism, constructivism) lead to particular perspectives on how NPOs should engage with alternative paradigms (monism, impartial pluralism, radical pluralism).     

A multiperiod theory of forward exchange

The purpose of this paper is to extend the theory of forward exchange developed by S.C. Tsiang and Egon Sohmen by adding to it an important relationship between the speculative demands for foreign exchange. With this extended theory of forward exchange it is relatively easy to clearly and carefully analyze complex problems involving the interaction of spot and forward markets in different time periods. To illustrate this point the theory is used to analyze the same problem that Tsiang attacked unsuccessfully – determining the deferred effect of government intervention in the forward exchange market.     

"Proxy Power" and Corporate Democracy:

A bstract . Separation of corporate ownership from control has permitted the rise of a self perpetuating managerial elite , which operates businesses in its own self interest. The attempt of the corporate democracy and corporate responsibility movements to curb unbridled management power through stockholder proxy proposals has been highly publicized. Analysis of stockholder initiated resolutions contained in the proxy statements of 626 corporations indicates that relatively few companies receive even one resolution, that proposers are usually small shareholders operating independently or in loose coalitions with limited resources and divergent interests, that managements use massive resources to oppose virtually all proposals and defeat most overwhelmingly, and that the handful of management concessions to stockholder activists is actually cosmetic mollification. We conclude the proxy power is structurally weak and is not a realistic agent of corporate change, in that management structure and policy-making power remain intact.