Is provision for old-age the main saving motive of the future?—An empirical analysis for Germany

The demographic development is a big challenge for public and private pension schemes. In this context it is important to know if individuals recognize the problem and if this reflects on their attitude towards private pension schemes. The aim of our study is to analyze the general importance of the saving motive old-age provision as well as its impact on the ownership and the demand for old-age provision linked insurance products. We apply panel analysis techniques to show among others that old-age provision as a saving motive primarily impacts the ownership and the demand for annuities. On the contrary to this result, the state funding seems to be the dominant motivation behind the decision to buy state promoted annuities.     

Partnership with and without trade unions in the UK financial services: filling or fuelling the representation gap?

Partnership theory proposes that an appropriate integration of direct and indirect employee participation mutually benefits the workers and the company. This study explores the putative employee voice gains and the risks for union effectiveness by comparing employees' evaluation of partnership practices at two financial service companies with non‐union and union employee representation, respectively.     

The Cross Section of Expected REIT Returns

In this study, we examine the cross-sectional determinants of expected REIT returns. We examine both the pre- and post-1990 periods, since the structure of the REIT market changed substantially around 1990. The determinants of expected returns differ between the two subperiods. In the pre-1990 subperiod, momentum, size, turnover and analyst coverage predict REIT returns. In the post-1990 period, momentum is the dominant predictor of REIT returns. Given the strength of the momentum effect in the post-1990 period, we examine it in great detail. For the whole period, and for the post-1990 period where the momentum profit is strongest, our evidence is generally consistent with the studies on common stocks other than REITs. The only striking exception is that we find that momentum is stronger for the larger REITs rather than for the smaller REITs. In our multiple regressions that include the characteristics as well as interactions between past returns and firm characteristics, the turnover–momentum interaction effect provides the most significant results. More specifically, momentum effects are stronger for more liquid REITs.     

Inter‐industry Wage Differences and Individual Heterogeneity*

Two well‐established findings are apparent in the analyses of individual wage determination: cross‐section wage equations can account for less than half of the variance in earnings and there are large and persistent inter‐industry wage differentials. We explore these two empirical regularities using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). We show that around 90% of the variation in earnings can be explained by observed and unobserved individual characteristics. However, small – but statistically significant – industry wage premia do remain, and there is also a role for a rich set of job and workplace controls.     

Industrial restructuring, 'globalisation], and the trade union response: A study of MSF in thesouth west of England

This article examines the trade union response to industrial restructuring in two sectors highly exposed to international market competition in the south west of England. The authors have conducted interviews of MSF representatives in the insurance and aerospace industries and supplemented this qualitative data with data collected from a wide questionnaire distribution.     

巨额投资计划效果显现需等到2010年

【法国里昂证券11月10日】虽然对中国最新公布的巨额经济刺激计划的效果存在争议，但无可争议的是，4万亿元资金总额相当于中国今年GDP总量的14％。无论实施效果如何，Manop Sangiambut认为，遭受重创的中国股市无疑将会受到提振，尽管其对中国上市企业财务状况的影响要直到2010年才能显现，而建筑、工程机械和水泥等行业将成为直接受益者。     

CROSS-AUTOCORRELATION BETWEEN A SHARES AND B SHARES IN THE CHINESE STOCK MARKET

Listed companies in China, upon meeting certain requirements, can issue two types of shares: A shares and B shares. Local investors in China can only buy and sell A shares, while foreign investors can only buy and sell B shares. We argue that foreign investors may receive news about China faster than domestic Chinese investors because of information barriers in China. Since foreigners participate in the B-share market, the price movements of B shares should reflect the common information that the foreigners have. Rational A-share investors can therefore condition their trading decisions on the previous price movements of B shares. As a result, returns on B shares should lead the returns on A shares. Using daily prices of A and B shares, we demonstrate that returns of B shares are correlated with those of A shares and that this correlation depends on the information transmission mechanism at work. The pattern of the asymmetric cross-autocorrelation is robust to the inclusion of lagged realized returns and trading volumes.     

中国通胀治理依然任重道远

【美国彭博新闻社6月12日】本周，中国主要股指在出现单日暴跌8．1％的行情。这表明投资者们正在将他们的目光从趋稳的食品价格转向潜藏在表面之下的其他通胀之源。在中国股市创下16个月来最大单日跌幅的当天，媒体所披露的信息显示，中国政府将于今日公布的5月份消费者物价指数增速的降幅超过了我们所调查的19位经济学家中16位经济学家的预测水平。