Alternative unit root testing strategies using the Fourier approximation

Two alternatives to  and  Fourier unit root testing strategy, which incorporates pretesting for nonlinearity, are considered. One is based on the union of rejection (UR) approach, and the other is a hybrid strategy that combines the UR approach with the use of extra information from nonlinearity pretesting. Simulation results show that the two proposed strategies, especially the hybrid, frequently outperform the original pretesting strategy.     

Assessing the price and output effects of monetary policy in Vietnam: evidence from a VAR analysis

Using monthly data, we perform a vector-autoregressive analysis to measure the effects of monetary policy on the Vietnamese economy. We concentrate our attention on the period following the introduction of the Law on Central Bank in January 1998 (which brought the national monetary policy and its objectives in line with international practices). Contrary to previous studies on Vietnam, we find evidence suggesting that monetary policy (through the manipulation of interest rates) is an effective policy tool in stabilizing prices. However, credit growth tends to induce inflationary pressures. In addition, we find that an expansion of broad money supply leads to an increase in industrial production.     

Does it pay for firms in Asia's emerging markets to be market oriented? Evidence from Vietnam

The positive effects of market orientation (MO) on firm performance are empirically supported much more strongly by studies conducted in developed than in emerging markets. One commonly cited reason for this differential effect is that MO is affected by the cultural, economic and institutional characteristics of the economies in which it is applied. This study aims to determine whether or not MO is relevant in an Asian emerging market such as Vietnam and if so, how a firm in such countries can become more market oriented. Based on a survey of 300 firms and using structural equation modeling, the present study finds that MO has a significant effect on firm performance and that its adoption is driven by both internal organizational and external market forces. The study identifies these specific internal and external forces, including those that are unique to the emerging economies in Asia.     

Did China avoid the ‘Asian flu’? The contagion effect test with dynamic correlation coefficients

Many economists believe that China avoided the so-called Asian flu due to its strong balance of payments position and substantial foreign reserves. This study introduces an improved method for testing financial-crisis contagion and shows that crisis-contagion effects were significant among Thailand and the Chinese economic area (i.e. China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) stock markets during the Asian financial crisis. The main contribution of this study is its use of a two-step procedure to identify the crisis dates for testing for contagion and data pertaining to a growing triangular economic area during the Asian financial crisis. This result suggests that if investors ignore the economic and financial information within regional markets, they will face an increase in uncertainty vis-à-vis investment returns.     

Transaction costs in an illiquid order‐driven market

Transaction costs in many international equity markets are much larger than those in the USA. This raises questions such as what trade size these reported trading costs relate to and whether investors can reduce trading costs by timing their trades. We show, using data from the order‐driven New Zealand market, that transaction costs are frequently lower for larger trades, particularly in small stocks, and investors are able to reduce costs by timing their transactions. While investors who require immediate execution incur transaction costs that are much higher than reported average costs, patient investors can trade at much better rates.     

The role of the seller’s stock performance in the market reaction to divestiture announcements

Divestitures have the potential to create shareholder value. However, the extent of the market reaction should depend on the likelihood of finding more valuable uses for the divested assets or the ability on the part of the seller to eliminate negative synergies. We hypothesize that strong performers have less scope to achieve substantial improvements compared to poorly performing firms. Using the seller’s stock return in excess of the market return in the 1-year and 2-year periods preceding the divestiture announcement to expose the divesting firm’s inefficient use of its assets, we show that the market reaction to divestiture announcements is significantly higher for underperforming firms. The difference in abnormal returns can be as high as 4 %. In contrast, none of the accounting-based variables that have been used in previous studies are found to be significantly related to the announcement returns. These results suggest that the firm’s stock performance is a more useful indicator of the wealth effect associated with divestitures.     

Is foreign direct investment productive? A case study of the regions of Vietnam

By making use of a recently released dataset that covers a large number of manufacturing firms over the period 2000–2005, this paper examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and FDI generated spillovers on total factor productivity (TFP) in eight regions of Vietnam. Unlike most existing studies, this paper focuses on the impact of spillovers that take place through both horizontal and vertical linkages. The results presented in this paper suggest that the impact of FDI spillovers on TFP varies considerably across regions. FDI spillovers generate a strong positive impact on TFP through backward linkages only in Red River Delta, South Central Coast, South East and Mekong River Delta while in other regions the impact is negative and mostly insignificant. The paper also examines the impact of the absorptive capacity on TFP growth in each of the eight geographical regions.     

The value impact of name changes evidence from Chinese firms during the technology boom

For a sample of US stocks in the period 1998–1999, Cooper, Dimitrov, and Rau (2001) report dramatic value increases in the 10 days around the announcement of dotcom name changes. We find much smaller value changes for a sample of Chinese listed firms with changes to internet-related dotcom names for the 1998 to 2002 period. This result is surprising given the high proportion of retail trading in China and the prohibition to short sell Chinese stocks. Also in contrast to Cooper, Dimitrov, and Rau (2001), we find that most of the value increase for our sample firms is realized gradually prior to the announcement. Further investigation reveals that our sample firms experience more frequent CEO-turnover, significant increase in return-on-assets, and involve more restructure activities around the name change event. These results suggest that the value increases for firms with name changes are the consequence of substantial and successful operational changes, and that the name change is simply part of that process, instead of the cosmetic effects of name change or investor mania suggested by previous studies.