Choice-based learning: lecture-based or team learning?

This study investigates choice-based learning as a choice between lecture-based or team learning in a large class at a large university in a European country. The study was designed as a between-subjects quasi-experiment where students were allocated their preferred learning approach. Data were collected for eight consecutive years (2008–2016). Based on quantitative and qualitative data, this study investigates the effect of choice-based learning on choice satisfaction, student selection and on student learning outcomes. The results show that team learning has a positive effect on learning outcomes. If students are faced with the choice, the majority select lecture-based learning. Additionally, both student groups are satisfied with their selected learning paths but selected them for specific reasons. Finally, choice-based learning provides job satisfaction for the instructors of both learning paths. These results can re-energize the ongoing discussion on why and how to engage students in learning activities.     

The Prestige disaster: risk or danger?

The sinking of the Prestige off the coast of Galicia in north-west Spain in November 2002 was an enormous environmental disaster and it had an immense media impact both nationally and internationally, lasting weeks as a social and political phenomenon. Five days before the ship sank, the captain had reported to the maritime authorities that the old tanker was damaged and in trouble. During these five days leading up to the shipwreck, a crucial decision had to be made: what should be done with this dangerous oil tanker? Temporality is a property of the hazardous events which, after being noticed, are evaluated as imminent or deferred. This temporality makes a clear difference between a risk and a danger. Whereas the risk has time to anticipate the events, danger has just a very short time or even has no time. At this point, the Prestige disaster turns to be paradigmatic. To tow away this damaged oil tanker was a risk decision which estimated that there was still a time to prevent its running aground what meant to follow the story repeatedly told by the narrative context of risk. However, the Prestige had been spilling out oil all the time and the damage was not a probability but a fait accompli. This accident has not a risk temporality; in fact, it had not temporality at all because it demanded an immediate intervention. My conclusion here is that this crisis was managed in terms of risk when it should have been treated as a danger situation.     

The expectations hypothesis: New hope or illusory support?

Recent studies of the expectations hypothesis of the term structure (EHTS) find evidence in favor of the EHTS using post 1980s US data. This has been attributed to the relative macro stability of this period and greater market efficiency. Using a panel of forecasts for 3-month interest rates for ten countries we test separately for EHTS and rational expectations. Assuming rational expectations holds we find support for the EHTS is illusory due to an off-setting time-varying term premia and non-rational expectations. Previous forecast-based studies suggest biased expectations tend to reinforce the effect of a time varying term premium. This change can be understood in the context of Fama’s (2006) argument that markets tend to underestimate future spot rates during periods of long-run increases and overestimate during declines.     

The futures of genetically-modified foods: Global threat or panacea?

Genetically-modified foods represent a potential solution of the world food crises, but they are also feared as potential dangers for human health, environment and biodiversity. Considering the history of genetically-modified foods and their present situation, this study develops and validates three complex scenarios regarding the future evolution of genetically-modified foods. The plausibility of these scenarios is tested using five food experts, as well as two demographically-representative groups of French and U.K. respondents. The present situation and potential evolution of genetically-modified foodsis also analyzed using the Innovation Diffusion Theory, as well as a Value-based Perspective.     

The zero-lower bound on interest rates: Myth or reality?

Unconventional monetary policy tools are based on the belief that there exists a zero-lower bound on interest rates. This paper argues, based on economic theory and the empirical evidence, that this belief is a myth and not a reality. It is shown that a negative default-free spot rate of interest is consistent with an arbitrage-free term structure evolution in a competitive and nearly frictionless market. It is not frictionless to the extent that consumers, firms, non-bank financial institutions, and banks have some realistic constraints imposed on their trading activities.     

The crisis alpha of managed futures: Myth or reality?

We examine whether commodity trading advisors (CTAs), or managed futures, provide investors with diversification benefits in times of crises, along with looking into the source of such a “crisis alpha”. We developed a systematic crisis identification methodology that takes into account both, the magnitude and the speed of price deterioration and apply it to a unique dataset, that includes realized returns and sector positions of CTAs on a daily basis. We find CTAs do acquire positive gains in most sectors during crises, which originate from two sources: Firstly, their diversification across multiple futures markets, i.e. positive yields in gaining markets can counterbalance low performance in the crisis market. Secondly, the fast reduction in CTAs' exposure to crisis markets (in less than 15 days for composite indices) allows them to stabilize their performance. Both factors together, quickly cutting losses in crisis sectors while staying profitable in the other ones, allow CTAs to generate crisis alpha.     

The Term Structure of Interest Rates: Bounded or Falling?

This short paper resolves an apparent contradiction betweenFeldman's (1989) and Riedel's (2000) equilibrium models of theterm structure of interest rates under incomplete information.Feldman (1989) showed that in an incomplete information versionof Cox, Ingersoll, and Ross (1985), where the stochastic productivityfactors are unobservable, equilibrium term structures are ‘interior’and bounded. Interestingly, Riedel (2000) showed that an incompleteinformation version of Lucas (1978), with an unobservable constantgrowth rate, induces a ‘corner’ unbounded equilibriumterm structure: it decreases to negative infinity. This paperdefines constant and stochastic asymptotic moments, clarifiesthe apparent conflict between Feldman's and Riedel's equilibria,and discusses implications. Because productivity and growthrates are not directly observable in the real world, the questionwe answer is of particular relevance. JEL Classification codes:E43, G12, D92, D80, D51.     

The Tourinho model: neglected nugget or a receding relic?

This article evaluates Tourinho's (1979b Tourinho, O. A.F. 1979b. “The valuation of reserves of natural resources: an option pricing approach”. Berkeley: University of California. PhD thesis [Google Scholar]) work as one of the earliest contributors to the real options literature. His model pioneered the application of risk neutrality to uncertain investments, but his originality of introducing an option-holding cost albeit to overcome the extraction paradox is rarely imitated. We claim that the combination of a convenience yield and an option-holding cost produces a more satisfying representation. Moreover, variations in the holding cost give rise to a host of investment decisions ranging from the standard real option solution for a zero-holding cost to a net present value solution for an infinite-holding cost. Not only does the holding cost mediate between these two poles, but it provides the option seller (usually a landowner or a government) with a policy instrument for influencing the extraction timing and thus the extraction profit of the option buyer. We derive the holding cost that optimizes the landowner's combined value of the option premium, holding costs and eventual royalties.     

The future of SETI: Finite effort or search without end?

For almost 50 years, astronomers have scanned the skies for evidence of an extraterrestrial civilization that has reached or surpassed our level of technological development. In the course of this search, technology has improved dramatically, and additional developments such as larger and more sensitive telescopes and increased computing power will accelerate the search and extend it into new areas. Speculative search strategies that are more firmly rooted in imagination and wish than present-day science may mature with the practical effect of further extending the search space. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), based on passive observation, has been joined by the controversial activity of messaging extraterrestrial intelligence (METI), the use of radio transmissions and space probes to proclaim our place in the universe. Potential “wild cards” that could fundamentally change the nature of the search include government intervention, the fruition of breakthrough technologies, and a confirmed detection. A rigorous search could confirm the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence tomorrow, within the lifetime of many people now alive, or in the distant future. All that is required for its continuation is a small number of scientists who have the skills and equipment to conduct a search that most scientists find credible. Since the search for life beyond Earth is motivated by cultural and psychological as well as scientific considerations, we may expect it to continue into the indefinite future.     

Innovation or imitation?: The role of intellectual property rights protections

We study how uncompensated research and development (R&D) spillovers – the leakage of proprietary information through imitation or theft – affect firms’ investment decisions. Using variation in property rights protections across different regions within China we find that (1) uncompensated spillovers are greater in regions with weaker property rights, (2) such spillovers are associated with lower R&D expenditures, and (3) the latter is exacerbated in low property rights regimes. In addition to identifying a specific channel through which legal protections affect incentives for innovation and R&D, our results support arguments in the literature that the enforcement of property rights affects firm investment and growth.     

The 2011 European short sale ban: A cure or a curse?

This paper examines whether the 2011 European short sale ban on financial stocks proved to be successful or had a negative impact on financial markets. We explicitly take an options market perspective and focus on market participants’ changes in beliefs and expectations. During the ban, short positions in banned stocks decreased, whereas they increased for non-banned stocks. Our results indicate that the ban increased implied jump risk levels, thereby negatively impacting the banned financial stocks. However, we also observe that after the announcement of the ban, financial contagion risk actually dropped for banned stocks. Instead of a substitution effect between regular short selling and synthetic shorting through single stock puts, we observe a migration out of single stock puts into the EuroStoxx 50 index options market. We conclude that this type of migration diversified selling pressure initially concentrated in financial stocks across a larger share of the stock market, thereby reducing systemic risks and enhancing overall financial stability.     

The maturity effect of stock index futures: Speculation or carry arbitrage?

Using the implementation of trading restrictions on CSI 300 index futures market as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper examines the maturity effect of stock index futures and its determinants. The results show that the maturity effect changes from weakly positive to significantly negative after trading restrictions are implemented. We find that the change in the maturity effect is rooted in the speculative effect, which is measured by the time pattern of price sensitivity to information, while there is a lack of support for the carry arbitrage effect on the maturity effect of index futures. Our findings provide an opportunity to better understand volatility dynamics in the equity futures market.     

The South Pacific Stock Exchange: Is it a Market or Status Symbol?

Listing on a stock exchange is one of the most significant events in a company's life cycle. Using a case study approach we examine why companies in Fiji list on a stock exchange. The various factors that have been found to motivate companies to list include enhancing their image and reputation, increasing the firm's value and introducing better financial and managerial practices. Importantly, the accessing of new sources of finance has not been a determinant of a company's listing decision. The findings imply that in emerging economies, stock exchange listing can be perceived as a status symbol .     

The Consequences of Issuing Convertible Bonds: Dilution and/or Financial Restructuring?

Historically, most convertible bond (CB) issues have been converted to equity sooner or later. The announcement of a CB issue will bring about a future dilution of the firm's capital, and is often followed by a drop in share price. However, a CB issue by itself creates future value for the shareholders if it enables the firm to make profitable investments. It can also issue a positive signal regarding the restructuring of the firm's financial liabilities and its attempts to optimise its financial structure. These positive effects, if they occur, will develop gradually after the issue, and cannot be identified by a simple short‐term event analysis of a CB issue announcement. In this paper, we test the significance of the dilution effect, coupled with a possible value creation effect, using data from the French stock market. We introduce a comparison between dilutive convertibles and non‐dilutive exchangeable bonds. By integrating different corrections and by selecting a window of analysis over a longer period after the announcement of the issue, we show that the negative cumulative average abnormal returns generally observed in previous studies become non‐significant. This absence of global incidence is indicative of large differences in individual behaviour by issuers of CBs, and leads us to take into account the strategic choices linked to the issue of a CB. Two goals, often described as ‘investment financing’ or ‘financial restructuring’, may exist when issuing, and may appear to explain the size of the abnormal returns.     

Doing more with less: productivity or starvation? The Intellectual Asset Health Check

The recent wave of savings in public service expenditure comes at the risk of creating starved workplaces, depleted of intellectual assets. This paper examines the perils of starved workplaces and how to avoid them. Organizations that nurture their intellectual assets were found to outperform their peers with 13.3% higher productivity. These organizations created a ‘win–win situation’, achieving both productivity targets while sustaining high stocks of emotional and human capital.     

The effect of major customer concentration on firm profitability: competitive or collaborative?

We test two potential hypotheses regarding the effects of major customer concentration on firm profitability. Under the collaboration hypothesis, customer power facilitates collaboration, and both the supplier firm and its major customers obtain benefits. Under the competition hypothesis, customer power results in rent extraction, and the major customers benefit at the expense of the supplier firm. We document that major customer concentration is negatively associated with the supplier firm’s profitability but positively associated with the major customers’ profitability. We demonstrate that these effects weaken as the supplier firm’s own power grows over its relationship with major customers, supporting the competition hypothesis. We carefully reconcile our results with prior studies’ findings that focus only on the supplier firm’s profitability and identify their research design and interpretation problems. We obtain similar inferences in a setting of major customers’ horizontal mergers and when we use an alternative measure of major customer power.

     

The nature of listed real estate companies: property or equity market?

This paper addresses the question of whether shares of public real estate companies should be treated as real estate or as equity investments. Because theoretical considerations do not suffice for making such a classification, we empirically investigate correlation structures and cointegration relationships of private and public real estate and equity markets for the United States and the United Kingdom. Our results suggest that public real estate stocks show similarities to the general stock market with regard to short-term return co-movements. For long-term investment horizons, the interdependence between direct and securitized real estate is much stronger. However, in the latter case, real estate stocks substantially lead the private property markets.

The growing role of informal controls: does organization learning empower or subjugate workers?

Several management theorists have called for organizations to incorporate organization learning, empowerment, open-book management, and similar initiatives to generate better value from an important strategic resource: employees. What does this mean for the controlled? Do extensions of the management control system’s ability to implement the strategy of the firm offer workers a more central role in creating their future? Or is this “progress\" just another means to extract extra effort from workers for the benefit of owners? This paper is developed in two parts. The first argues that seeking better value from workers is here to stay, and that the implications for management control system bear consideration. In particular, the five disciplines of Senge’s (1990) Organization Learning are introduced to illustrate growing ways informal controls enhance workers’ knowledge contributions. The second half of the paper examines implications of this increasing control. Some argue that it is naive to expect organization learning will lead managers to willingly realign existing lopsided rewards. However, as a natural response to change, these controls are themselves dynamic and evolutionary. This paper suggests that the growing dependence on employee’s superior knowledge recalibrates power arrangements. Further there is a growing awareness that many managers’ self-interest is mitigated by their sense of fairness. Consequently, an increasingly shared authority combined with the self-reflection and transparency of organization learning raises the possibility of an environment where those who perform the work share more equally in its rewards.