Representations of slavery

Adopting collective memory as the conceptual framework, this study sought to explore dominant narratives of a publicly owned former slave plantation opened to tourists. Textual analysis of promotional material revealed prominent frames through which tourists are invited to perceive the contemporary rearticulation of the plantation. The findings revealed a process of textual semantic prosody wherein the dominant narratives enacted a rhetoric of distance from the institution of slavery and achieved a discourse of proximity to a progressive account. The plantation is viewed as a mnemonic device endowed with political dimensions that reinforce hegemonic ideologies and engender remembering while concurrently inducing forgetting.     

The Role of Information Precision in Determining the Cost of Equity Capital

We examine the association between the cost of equity capital and the quality of public and private information. We find an inverse relationship between the cost of capital and the precision of public information, but the effect is more than offset by a positive relationship between the cost of equity capital and the precision of private information. Public and private information precisions are positively correlated, and a model that fails to include both is vulnerable to a correlated omitted variable bias. The association between public and private information combined with their opposing effects on the cost of capital implies mangers should consider the relationship between public and private information when assessing their reporting strategy.     

Small firms and e-business: cautiousness, contingency and cost-benefit

This paper examines how e-business affects small firms in supply chains. Research in four UK supply chain cases, assistive/medical technology, construction, computer consumables and apparel, indicate widening gaps between large and small firm investment and strategy for exploitation of e-business. Existing models of e-business operationalisation are critically evaluated; and their appropriateness in providing insight and guidance is reflected on. While each model individually provides some useful insights, none are appropriate for examining small firm take up of e-business. Therefore a new framework is developed based on three key issues—cautiousness, contingency and cost-benefit.     

A robust version of the KPSS test based on indicators

This paper proposes a test of the null hypothesis of stationarity that is robust to the presence of fat-tailed errors. The test statistic is a modified version of the so-called KPSS statistic. The modified statistic uses the “sign” of the data minus the sample median, whereas KPSS used deviations from means. This “indicator” KPSS statistic has the same limit distribution as the standard KPSS statistic under the null, without relying on assumptions about moments, but a different limit distribution under unit root alternatives. The indicator test has lower power than standard KPSS when tails are thin, but higher power when tails are fat.     

Do credit unions use their tax advantage to benefit members? Evidence from a cost function

This paper examines whether the credit union income tax subsidy is passed along to members or consumed by managers. To that end, we estimate a translog cost function for credit unions and mutual thrifts that is tailored to the unique objectives of mutually owned depository institutions. We find that credit unions with residential common bonds have higher costs than mutual thrifts, but single common bond occupational and associational credit unions are more cost efficient. Thus, it appears that residential credit unions engage in expense preference behavior and hence redirect some portion of their tax benefit away from members.     

Does taking vacations make people happy? A regional disparity perspective

This study examines happiness determinants from a regional disparity perspective. Data from a national leisure survey conducted in South Korea was used. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was performed. Findings indicate that leisure satisfaction, vacationing, participation in club activities, participation in volunteer activities, gender, marital status, household income, and education level were significantly related to respondents’ happiness. These determinants were further investigated by regional segmentation. In tests to determine the strength of vacationing and self-rating of leisure satisfaction on happiness, leisure satisfaction was found to be significantly and positively related to happiness levels after controlling for respondents’ characteristics.     

Spatial integration at multiple scales: rice markets in Madagascar

The dramatic increase in the price of rice and other commodities over the past year has generated new interest in how these markets work and how they can be improved. This article uses an exceptionally rich data set to test the extent to which markets in Madagascar are integrated across space at different scales of analysis and to explain some of the factors that limit spatial arbitrage and price equalization within a single country. We use rice price data across four quarters of 2000–2001 along with data on transportation costs and infrastructure availability for nearly 1,400 communes in Madagascar to examine the extent of market integration at three different spatial scales—subregional, regional, and national—and to determine whether non-integration is due to high transfer costs or lack of competition. The results indicate that markets are fairly well integrated at the subregional level and that factors such as high crime rates, remoteness, and lack of information are among the factors limiting competition.     

Sparen in Zeiten niedriger Zinsen — wirtschaftspolitische Unterstützung nötig?

Critics of the low interest rate environment claim that German households have had difficult times generating positive returns from their savings since interest rates reached levels around zero. Therefore, direct public support is increasingly being called for. This article shows that, from a macroeconomic perspective, households have in fact generated positive real returns to date. However, portfolio returns may vary among households due to differences in portfolio structure and size. In addition, aggregate portfolio returns might decrease in the years to come if nominal interest rates remain low. Regarding policy responses, it is therefore proposed to undertake measures which increase total factor productivity and improve the financial literacy of households. Both approaches promise to be more effective than direct public support of savings.