AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF MUTUAL FUND EXPENSES

Mutual fund investors are subjected to many fees and expenses related to both the management of the fund assets and the sale and distribution of the fund's shares. In recent years these expenses have increased as a percentage of assets. The preoccupation of mutual fund investors with using performance evaluation as a selection criterion is misguided because of the volatility of investment returns. Whether the fund's performance is due to superior management or just good luck is difficult to determine. On the other hand, mutual fund expenses are stable. As such, the mutual fund investor should pursue a policy of choosing funds with low expenses. In this paper we conduct an empirical analysis of these expenses. The results of our analysis of equity funds suggest that expense-conscious investors should look at the fund size, age, turnover ratio, cash ratio, and existence of a 12b-1 fee as key determinants of expenses. Our analysis of bond funds suggests that the key factors are the fund's sales charge, weighted average maturity, size, and existence of a 12b-1 fee.     

我国金融资产结构与经济增长关系的实证分析

金融资产按大类可分为银行金融资产和非银行金融资产.金融资产的快速增长及其结构的变化促进了一国国民经济的发展,但同时也存在一些问题.本文在对银行金融资产、非银行金融资产、国内生产总值进行定量分析的基础上,通过协整回归及误差修正模型的建立论证了中国金融资产结构与经济增长之间的关系.实证分析的结果表明,银行金融资产和非银行金融资产都与经济增长存在正向相关关系,但非银行金融资产较银行金融资产更有效率.因此,为推动经济增长,应积极发展非银行金融资产,注重改善金融资产结构,同时也要提高银行金融资产效率,以便全面提高金融对经济的贡献度.     

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF BANK STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT RISK

Bank exposure to off-balance sheet activities in general and Standby Letters of Credit (SLCs) in particular has become a major concern to regulators. The risk-exposure of SLCs has been re-examined by employing option pricing methodologies to calculate implied asset risk from bank equity and flat deposit insurance, and from risk-premia on bank subordinated debt. The results indicate that SLC reduce systematic risk, equity risk, and implied asset risk. It appears that Standby Letters of Credit contribute to the overall diversification of bank's assets.     

AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF THE EXISTENCE OF A SIGNALING VALUE FUNCTION FOR DIVIDENDS

The purpose of this study is to address the reliability of dividend signals. To determine if dividend signals are followed by changes in earnings in a direction consistent with the signal, the dividend-earning relationship is examined using both Granger tests of causality and nonparametric tests. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that dividend signals are followed by unanticipated changes in earnings in the subsequent two quarters.