A note on globalization and urban residential rents

We present evidence on the impact of international economic openness upon residential real estate, consistent with the well-known Balassa–Samuelson effect, which suggests that increasing openness raises relative prices of non-tradable goods and services. Using a data set for 46 cities in different countries, we find that urban rents are positively affected by the openness of the economy and by city size.     

Gomulka on the soft budget constraint: A reply

Conclusion The preceding two sections of this note cover the main points at issue. There are some other, lesser matters, but these need not detain us here. To repeat: I have found Dr Gomulka's comments constructive and stimulating. They will, I am sure, be helpful both in my future research and in future expositions of my ideas.     

Economic rents and mutual fund performance: An empirical investigation

We investigate the monthly returns of 377 open-end mutual funds during the September 1981–1994 period to learn whether economic rents can be garnered through the judicious selection of the advertising and sales method in the mutual fund industry. Specifically, we seek to learn whether direct sales or mass marketing produces economic rents under the assumption that those rents would be passed on to consumers to build a “high quality” image to differentiate the product line. Results suggest that no-load funds produce superior net returns except in the aggressive growth category.     

关于会计寻租主体的探讨

自寻租理论用于会计领域以来,已经取得了许多可喜的成果,如对会计寻租产生的原因、会计寻租的主要行为表现及会计寻租所采取的方式方法等。但会计学者们却没有对会计寻租的主体进行过系统的研究,本文从会计寻租行为可能发生的原因或动机出发,探讨了各类会计寻租的主体,即国家、机构投资者、经营者、所有者、IT人员、中介机构、地方政府、会计人员等。明确这些寻租主体对提高会计监管的有效性具有重要意义。     

创新发展 任重道远——“和谐文化企业行”天津代表座谈摘要

在当前全国上下贯彻落实党的十六届六中全会精神,把建设和谐文化作为构建社会主义和谐社会重要任务的形势下,本刊与战略支持者联手开展了“和谐文化企业行”活动,     

国际化 任重而道远

这个世界变化得真快,仿佛昨天我们还在中国的市场上“与狼共舞”呢,今天“国际化”就成了一批中国企业的实际行动。如同2004年12月8日联想集团收购了IBM全球PC业务一样,近年来,中国的企业频频出现在国际并购舞台上。对于中国企业走出国门的壮举,有人说,这是因为在国内增长饱和面临压力的情况下,在向外寻找出路;有人说,这是一批志存高远的企业不甘心在自家的市场上“称王称霸”,更希望在国际市场上“与狼共舞”。但不管怎么说,随着经济全球化的加快,随着中国市场经济的深入,随着中国企业的不断壮大,国际化已经是中国企业的历史选择,是不可…     

House prices and rents in Spain: Does the discount factor matter?

We estimate alternative price-to-rent ratios in the Spanish housing market by considering different stochastic discount factors in present value models similar to those used in the financial literature but where the higher rigidity that characterises this market is taken into account. We identify three robust across-model regularities: (i) the increase in the price-to-rent ratio since the late 1990s helped at first to restore equilibrium, (ii) further increases in house prices raised the ratio between 24% and 32% above equilibrium by 2004, although (iii) at that time the ratio was only around 2% above its short-term adjustment path towards a (new) long-run equilibrium.     

Spatial Cournot competition and economic welfare: a note

We investigated welfare implications in location-quantity models in a symmetric linear city. We found that when firms are not agglomerated in equilibrium, increasing the distance between firms raises (reduces) producer surplus and social welfare (consumer surplus). Moreover, central agglomeration is always optimal for consumers among symmetric locations, but not necessarily for producers. Central agglomeration can be inefficient even if it is the unique equilibrium outcome. In short, the firms are more likely to agglomerate or locate closer than what welfare maximizers would dictate, whereas they locate farther apart than what consumer surplus maximizers would recommend.     

A note on a noise process

Summary In this article we considered the system of stochastic differential equations …, wherex is a column vector of orderr, A is a square matrix of constant coefficients andε is a vector of random functions. The system is transformed to the corresponding system of the white noise process. A method of estimation of the elements of the matrixA has been introduced under certain conditions, the assurance of which has been also investigated.

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Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel wird das System der stochastischen Differentialgleichungen … betrachtet, worinx ein Spaltenvektor der Ordnungr, A eine quadratische Matrize der konstanten Elemente undε ein Vektor der zuf?lligen Funktionen ist. Dieses System wird umgeformt zum korrespondierenden System des wei?en Rauschens. Eine Methode der Sch?tzung der Elemente der MatrizeA ist unter bestimmten Bedingungen eingeführt, deren Sicherheit auch untersucht wird.

     

A note on a heteroscedastic model

In this article the author considers a regression model where the variance of the error term is a linear combination of certain independent variables and compares four different estimators of the coefficients of this linear combination, They are (1) the estimator proposed by Goldfeld and Quant and called the Modified Glejser Method, (2) the estimator proposed by Hildreth and Houck, (3) the generalized least squares method, and (4) the maximum likelihood estimator. It is shown that the first two are asymptotically not fully efficient whereas the last two are.     

EDAP at Ford: a research note

The Employee Development and Assistance Programme (EDAP) is a unique new initiative launched jointly by the management and unions at Ford. Here the author outlines the scheme which provides a significant ‘model’ for adult and continuing education within commercial enterprises. It is attracting widespread interest and imitators.     

Between a rock and a hard place: managing diversity in a shareholder society

This study examines whether the appointment of racial/ethnic minorities into top management positions has a different impact on share price than the appointment of Caucasians into equivalent positions. Our dependent variable is the degree of change in share price following the announcement of racial/ethnic minority and Caucasian men into senior management positions. Market reaction to the naming of racial/ethnic minorities into corporate leadership positions is significant and negative, while the market's reaction to the naming of Caucasians is significant and positive. However, the negative market reaction to the appointment of racial/ethnic minorities into top management positions is mitigated in those firms that have explicitly incorporated diversity into their strategic growth plan. Our findings suggest that to successfully introduce diversity into upper management, firm decision makers must first signal the importance of diversity to market actors.     

True and fair in the Czech Republic: a note on local perceptions

With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.With the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia’, and the subsequent desire of Czechoslovakia to join the European Union, in common with other countries in Central Europe, Czechoslovakia utilized the Fourth Directive as a ‘toolkit’ in designing part of its new accounting legislation. In incorporating the Fourth Directive, it has also included the requirement for financial statements to show a ‘true and fair’ view. Given the confusion over the exact meaning of ‘true and fair’ it is interesting to study how ‘true and fair’ has been introduced into the Czech Republic, and what it seems to signify for those who implemented it and for those who are preparing and using financial statements. Our initial findings indicate that ‘true and fair’ varies in its significance for the groups of individuals involved in preparing and using financial statements and that it may have particular significance for some groups of accountants who wish to secure specific advantage within the Czech economy.     

黄安南:引领金隅嘉业突围

对黄安南的访谈是从"金隅·山墅"开始的。北京城西,汽车穿过闹市区,转个弯就看到一栋栋赭红色联排别墅,依山错落排开。大部分房子都已售出,里面传出装修工人叮当的敲打声。院中几棵高大的杜仲树,位置处得恰到好处,让人难以相信这是地块开发前保留下来的"原生树"。抬起头来,依稀能看见几个用树皮拼搭的鸟窝放在树丫间,细微处的雕琢显见建设者的匠心。"金隅·山墅"是金隅嘉业开发的第一个别墅     

Hedonic theory, bid rents, and willingness-to-pay: Some extensions of Ellickson's results

An alternative to Ellickson's multinomial logit model of household bids for dwelling units is derived by making use of observable information on the price paid by the winning bidder. The alternative specification makes it possible to estimate willingness-to-pay for housing attributes, which cannot be obtained from Ellickson's model. Some methodological issues arising from Ellickson's method of grouping households are also examined.