Stability, Asymmetry and Seasonality of Fund Performance: An Analysis of Australian Multi‐sector Managed Funds

Using a sample of Australian Multi-sector trusts we examine selectivity and market timing performance and extend the analysis to include the relatively new measure of volatility timing. This is of particular relevance to our data set, as high levels of volatility persistence are prevalent in Australia. In addition we consider the stability, asymmetry and seasonality of the various performance and risk measures. A survivorship adjustment procedure is also employed in order to assess the impact of survivorship on selectivity, market timing and volatility timing performance.     

Maquiladora industrialization of the Baja California peninsula: the coexistence of thick and thin globalization with economic regionalism

This article assesses the shape of industrial growth at the western end of the US‐Mexican border, analysing the degree to which globalization has diminished and/or restructured this international division. Baja California's connection to external economies is highly variable in tourism, agribusiness and export processing, with electronic maquiladoras clustering and garment production fragmenting. Most recently, dynamism has been driven by Asian investors meeting NAFTA deadlines, and impeded by recession and increased border security. The polarizing effect of globalization is demonstrated by the unprecedented emergence of a powerful group of Mexican‐state and private‐sector technocrats, at the expense of the majority of workers whose jobs remain poor. The state government has facilitated the development of capital intensive electronics industries, has neglected small and medium domestic suppliers, and been unable to provide public security. Low extensity, or the concentration of maquiladoras in an east‐west corridor adjacent to the border, and the location of most of their owners in Southern California, indicates the strongly regional character of the maquiladora economy. However, a small number of very large capital intensive plants originate in Asia, contributing to globalization via intercontinental linkages. The findings support transformationalist and sceptical models of globalization. L'article évalue la forme de croissance industrielle à l'extrémité occidentale de la frontière américano‐mexicaine, en analysant dans quelle mesure la mondialisation a atténué et/ou restructuré cette séparation internationale. La péninsule de Basse Californie est reliée de façon très variable aux économies extérieures, par le tourisme, l'agro‐industrie et la transformation à l'exportation, avec un regroupement de maquiladoras d'électronique et une fragmentation de la production vestimentaire. Plus récemment, si le dynamisme est venu d'investisseurs asiatiques en des échéances de l'ALENA, il a été entravé par la récession et une sécurité frontalière accrue. L'effet polarisant de la mondialisation est réävélé par l'émergence d'un puissant groupe de technocrates du secteur privé et de lÉtat mexicain, aux dépens de la majorité des salariés dont les emplois restent médiocres. Négligeant les petits et moyens fournisseurs nationaux, le gouvernement a facilité l'essor de secteurs capitalistiques de l'électronique, tout en se montrant incapable d'assurer la sécurité publique. La faible extensibilité ou la concentration des maquiladoras sur une bande Est‐Ouest longeant la frontière, ainsi que l'implantation de la plupart de leur propriétaire dans le sud de la Californie, marquent le caractère fortement régional de ce type d'économie. Toutefois, un petit nombre de très grosses usines capitalistiques viennent d'Asie, contribuant à la mondialisation via des liens intercontinentaux. Les résultats corroborent les modèles de transformation et sceptique de la mondialisation.     

THE EFFECTS OF LOTTO GAME CHANGES AND LARGE JACKPOTS ON INCOME ELASTICITIES AND SALES

Using daily lottery data from Washington State by zip code from January 2011 through mid‐March 2016, we estimate that Powerball income elasticities range from ?0.16 to 0.16 as the Powerball jackpot increases from its minimum to $1.5 billion, while Mega Millions income elasticities range from ?0.08 to 0.03 as the Mega Millions jackpot increases from its minimum to $640 million. Controlling for jackpot size, each of three major game changes during this time period has a significant effect on own‐game and cross‐game sales. Despite these significant game changes, however, these lotto games are a highly regressive source of revenue for Washington State. (JEL H22, H71, L83)     

Rural-urban migration and urban underemployment in Brazil

Policies to discourage rural-urban migration, in the interest of alleviating urban poverty, are often considered without regard to the migrant experience in cities. This paper examines the income gains associated with rural-urban migration in Brazil and the assimilation of migrants in the urban labor market. Earnings functions, estimated for a sample of individuals from the 1960 population census, are utilized. The analysis shows that migrants have derived significant income benefits from moving, and that within a short period of time, their income and employment pattern are virtually indistinguishable from those of the urban-born.     

Assessing Financial Performance of Malaysian Islamic and Conventional Commercial Banks Using Financial Ratios

A rapid growth of Islamic banking has led the Malaysian economy to gaining greater prosperity than before. Presently, there are more than 20 Islamic banks operating in Malaysia. Financial ratios calculated from the categories of liquidity, profitability, risk and solvency, and efficiency of banks can be used to gauge the overall financial performance of the banking industry. The objective is to assess the overall performance of Islamic banks as well as conventional banks in Malaysia using financial ratios. The findings indicated that conventional commercial banks in Malaysia do have better quality assets, are more liquid, and are more profitable than Islamic banks. Total expenses in conventional banks are much higher, which may affect profitability and the significant amount of non-performing loans （NPLs）, thus increasing solvency risk. The findings show positive insights of Islamic banks, whose confidence and trust are rising, over a short period with strong improvements in asset utilization, effective management, and expenditure control. This comparative study clearly identified that conventional banks are better financial performers compared to Islamic banks in Malaysia during the period of 2006-2010.     

Economic structure and factor payments

There is a growing body of evidence that the labour payment share in national income varies across countries and over time, suggesting that the popular aggregate Cobb–Douglas production function may not capture income share dynamics. There remains conflicting evidence on the importance of natural resource rents among low income economies and on estimates of the rate of return to produced capital. This paper focuses on the structural differences among countries, confirming the importance of the agriculture sector in estimates of labour and land’s share of factor income based on 81 countries at diverse levels of economic development in the year 2005. I find that cross-country data are best modelled by a CES production function with an elasticity of substitution of 0.8 and that many low income countries have a higher return to capital than the United States.     

Corruption and Tourism: An Empirical Investigation in a Non‐linear Framework

This article investigates the effect of corruption on tourism demand for a panel of countries during 1999–2009 by using panel least square and fixed effects regressions. Prior research has considered only the linear effects of corruption on tourism. We examine the relationship between corruption and tourism in a non‐linear framework after controlling for economic and heritage factors. The findings suggest that corruption has a significant effect on tourism demand and that this effect is non‐linear. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The 'Parent Shift' program: incentives for nurses, rewards for nursing teams

To create new opportunities for nurses to reenter the workforce, a RN p.r.n. program must meet the needs of nurses who wish to make dual commitments to home and work. The Parent Shift program provides an innovative model of attracting and retaining nurses in a hospital workforce. Many nurses who joined the program were away from the field of nursing for many years and were drawn to the program because of the promise of flexible shifts and minimal requirements for participation. In this study, flexible shifts not only encouraged program entry, they were also a powerful motivator for continued program participation over time. Parent Shift nurse presence was perceived by nurse managers to decrease stressors and improve time efficiency of full-shift staff.