Exchange-listing effects on a firm's cost of equity capital

Matched pairs (based on asset size and industry) of a sample of exchange-listed and over-the-counter (OTC) firms are utilized to test for the existence of a statistically significant difference between them with respect to their cost of equity capital. It is found that exchange-listed firm's cost of equity capital (alternatively measured by the systematic risk and the total risk associated with a firm's rate of return) is significantly less than that of comparable OTC firms.     

Free trade's intertemporal Pareto-optimality

Emmanuel's thesis of ‘unequal exchange’ — that free trade at equalized profit rates and unequal wage rates (1) involves deadweight loss to the world, and (2) explains a one-way trend toward deterioration of poor country's wellbeing and double-factoral terms of trade — is found on analysis to be incorrect. Careful time-period analysis shows that such free trade is actually intertemporally Pareto optimal, despite misleading steady-state comparisons.     

Firms' acquisition decisions and Tobin's q ratio

We develop the hypothesis that Tobin's q ratio signals favorable opportunities for a firm to make acquisitions and then undertake an empirical test of this hypothesis within the context of a more general “multicausal” model. The results of this test support our hypothesis. The empirical study is also notable in that our data consists of a representative sample of large manufacturing firms (selection to the sample is not conditional upon merger activity) and the time period covered (1971–1978) postdates the conglomerate merger boom era of the 1960s.     

The entrepreneur's search for capital

The popular media have been inundated with stories of the spectacular success of start-up companies whose very existence, let alone their meteoric growth, would not have been possible without the infusion of venture capital. By comparison, there is a dearth of scientific research on the topic of venture capital. In this article we take a systematic look at entrepreneurs in search of risk capital. This inquiry is based upon five data bases including surveys of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. We have tracked 193 ventures which were denied venture capital, surveyed 179 new high-technology companies in Northern California, and reviewed the Dun & Bradstreet credit reports of 145 new ventures in California in SIC codes related to the high tech sector with follow-up interviews of 86 of these 145 start-ups.     

浅谈建筑工程造价的预结算审核

预结算审核是合理确定工程造价的重要手段.通过对工程预、结算进行全面、系统的审核,能及时找到存在的问题,使之更加合理的确定工程造价,达到有效控制工程造价的目的.本文通过分析工程造价预结算审核的意义,针对建筑工程造价预结算审核的主要内容及审核过程中发现问题的技巧进行探讨,以期通过本文的阐述提高工程造价管理人员的专业技能和综合管理能力,使建筑工程项目预结算审核尽可能达到科学真实和客观.     

浅谈建筑工程造价的预结算审核

预结算审核是合理确定工程造价的重要手段.通过对工程预、结算进行全面、系统的审核,能及时找到存在的问题,使之更加合理的确定工程造价,达到有效控制工程造价的目的.本文通过分析工程造价预结算审核的意义,针对建筑工程造价预结算审核的主要内容及审核过程中发现问题的技巧进行探讨,以期通过本文的阐述提高工程造价管理人员的专业技能和综合管理能力,使建筑工程项目预结算审核尽可能达到科学真实和客观.     

On Rybczynski's theorem in a setting of growth

This note re-examines earlier work by Petith on a two-sector economy in steady state growth facing constant world prices. It is shown that a steady state with higher saving propensities out of wages or profits has a higher output of the capital good per head, and greater exports of it compared to the no-trade equilibrium, if and only if the capital good is more capital-intensive. Petith's example yielding counterintuitive results is shown to be in error.     

A note on Mill's theory of international values

This note provides an algebraic formulation of the analysis contained in section 7 of John Stuart Mill's chapter on international values. It is shown that Mill's results can be obtained as the solution to a pair of nonlinear programming problems. In addition, an error in Mill's analysis regarding the post-trade terms of exchange is pointed out.     

The assumptions of Jacob Viner's theory of customs unions

The paper starts by presenting a method for the decomposition of the impact of a customs union into the familiar trade-diversion, trade-creation and consumption effects. This is used as a framework within which Viner's original customs-union analysis is investigated. The issues examined are whether Viner's analysis indeed makes the assumptions about production and consumption which are attributed to it by conventional wisdom; whether the assumptions Viner did make were consistent; and the possible explanations of Viner's analytical course. The investigation is supported by references to Viner's analytic contributions beyond the sphere of customs unions.     

Testing the addition hypothesis in Vroom's force model

Although Vroom's force model hypothesized that the products of multiplying expectancy E_ij and valence V_j combine additively, no methodologically adequate test of the addition hypothesis has existed. This research reports initial graphic and statistical tests of the validity of the addition hypothesis. Eleven of 22 subjects met both a statistical and graphic criterion for rejection of the addition hypothesis. An alternative hypotheses should be considered by expectancy theorists.     

What's in a change in an industrial bond rating?

Bond quality rating changes (BQRC) for industrial bonds are analyzed using both univariate statistical methods and discriminant analysis to find significant variables and their relationship with the changes. The single most important explanatory variable is found to be the rate of return on assets (ROA), followed by the trend in the return on assets (ROATREND). The univariate analysis found six of the seven proposed explanatory variables significant beyond the 0.01 level. The two-group discriminant analysis model achieved a correct classification rate of over 77%. The paper shows how the results of the two-group discriminant analysis can be used for a three-way prediction (upgrade, downgrade, or no change of bond ratings). The results of this study show that models based on financial statement data can predict rating changes with good accuracy and therefore may be a useful tool for rating agencies, at least as an initial screening device.