A Semiparametric Analysis of the Term Structure of the US Interest Rates*

The short end of the US$ term structure of interest rates is analysed allowing for the possibility of fractional integration and cointegration. This approach permits mean‐reverting dynamics for the data and the existence of a common long run stochastic trend to be maintained simultaneously. We estimate the model for the period 1963–2006 and find it compatible with this structure. The restriction that the data are I(1) and the errors are I(0) is rejected, mainly because the latter still display long memory. This result is consistent with a model of monetary policy in which the Central Bank operates affecting contracts with short term maturity, and the impulses are transmitted to contracts with longer maturities and then to the final goals. However, the transmission of the impulses along the term structure cannot be modelled using the Expectations Hypothesis.     

An integrated competency‐based approach to management education: an Italian MBA case study

Several studies have analysed the impact of competency‐based methodologies on human resource management, with special emphasis on their applications to management education and development. As concerns management education, however, these studies have usually focused on one or few separate aspects, never proposing a consistent application of competency‐based methodologies throughout the entire educational process. This paper shows how it is possible to design, deliver and monitor a management education programme that uses, in an integrated manner, a multiplicity of competency‐based tools in all the stages of the process, and discusses the application of such an integrated approach to an Italian MBA programme. This study provides a multiple constituency framework that integrates educational institutions, students and the companies that hire them in the design, implementation and control of effective, competency‐based, management education.     

ISA 570: Italian Auditors’ and Academics’ Perceptions of the Going Concern Opinion

This study aims to identify which of the indicators used to assess whether an entity may not be able to continue as a going concern are regarded by Italian partners in auditing firms and Italian accounting and finance academics as being the most important. The indicators and ratios are those pursuant to auditing standard ISA 570 Going Concern, the literature and professional practice. ISA 570 does not suggest a hierarchy of these indicators, because they are only examples of events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the entity's ability to continue as a going concern (GC), nor does it suggest specific ratios. To this end, an online survey was administered to partners in auditing firms and to the university faculty of Accounting and Finance. The paper contributes to enriching previous literature by providing insights into how Italian auditors and Italian financial reporting scholars prioritise GC indicators suggested by ISA 570. The results have the potential to help auditors and directors focus on the most relevant indicators in a GC assessment.     

Revisiting the European Monetary System Experience: Were Some Members More Equal than Others?

Difficulties in implementing effective liquidity support – to counter speculative attacks – may partly explain why regional exchange rate agreements crawl regional trade integration. Our novel analysis of the European Monetary System confirms that liquidity support was provided under the discretion of the anchor country (Germany), and was indeed asymmetric across member countries and/or periods. In particular, it was less forthcoming (i) to countries further away from Germany (less politically influential there), (ii) to larger countries (interfering more with the Bundesbank's monetary control) and (iii) during periods when German inflation accelerated (and the Bundesbank needed a firmer grip on liquidity).     

A Fuzzy Clustering Algorithm Based on the Analogy with Mechanical Physics: MeccFuz

This paper presents a new algorithm of fuzzy clustering, based on analogy withmechanics physics. The vectors x_i are compared with `material points' and the clusters can be looked on as material points clouds, that are characterized byspecific units. The choice is based on a study of potential energy. Once a specificunit is chosen, we calculated the membership of the other units whit respect it.A study of a sociology test is performed and the results are very encouraging,though an further deepening is needed like a thermodynamics analogy application.     

Determinants of systematic volatility of corporate bonds

This paper examines the association between betas of corporate bonds and their duration, coupon, maturity, agency rating, and other attributes. The data consist of monthly returns of 386 bonds, from January 1973 to June 1976. Betas are generated with the S&P 500 Index, a corporate bond index, and a U.S. bond index. The chief conclusions are the following: 1) Systematic volatility and its determinants differ according to the index; 2) betas formed with an equity or corporate bond index are negatively related to rating; and 3) duration is superior to coupon and term in explaining beta.     

The erosion of personal norms and cognitive dissonance

In this article, we study how personal norms and behaviour interact and evolve when agents try to reduce cognitive dissonance, and how this dynamic relates to Nash equilibrium. We find that in long run, agents play, and norms prescribe, Nash equilibrium in material payoffs (in the absence of norms). Our model captures two main facts: (i) norms erode along the play of the game; (ii) the erosion of norms depends on the set of possible economic choices, so that the policy maker can potentially influence them.     

What is the CSR’s Focus in Healthcare?

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been the subject of several academic contributions, but in the health sector the development of an interest in this subject is very recent. Although many practices in healthcare are already socially responsible, progressing from a series of socially responsible behaviours to a socially responsible organization entails a more consolidated awareness of the health sector’s mission and the needs of its participants. In this paper, we will review the different studies published that address the relationship between the healthcare sector’s corporate responsibility and society, with the aims of individuating the prevailing foci that are emerging and categorizing the proposed contributions according to these foci: social responsibility and organization; social responsibility and social impact; social responsibility and competitiveness. Finally, the paper finishes with a personal definition of CSR and its correlated ethical roots.