Ownership Dynamics with Multiple Insiders: The Case of REITs

We study ownership dynamics of multiple strategic risk-averse insiders facing a moral hazard problem. We show that, when insiders cannot commit,  ex ante , to an ownership policy, the aggregate insider stake gradually declines toward the competitive market allocation. Both the speed of adjustment and the long-term equilibrium aggregate insider ownership level are greater for companies with a larger number of insiders,  ceteris paribus . Using data from U.S. real estate investment trusts, we then test the model and find that the predictions of the model are verified empirically.     

Income Level and Income Inequality in the Euro‐Mediterranean Region,C. 14–700

Was the Euro‐Mediterranean region at the time of the Roman Empire and its Western successor states more unequal than the European Union today? We use some scant evidence on personal income distribution within the Empire and differences in average regional incomes to conclude that the Empire was more homogeneous, in terms of regional incomes, than today's EU, and inter‐personal inequality was low. Moreover, income inequality was likely less around year 700 than in Augustus's time. The latter finding contrasts with a view of rising inequality as the Western Roman Empire dissolved.     

Does Libertè = Egalité? A Survey of the Empirical Links between Democracy and Inequality with Some Evidence on the Transition Economies

Abstract.  The effect of the distribution of political rights on income inequality has been studied both theoretically and empirically. This paper reviews the existing literature and, in particular, the available empirical evidence. Our reading of the literature suggests that formal exclusion from the political process through restrictions on the voting franchise appears to have caused a high degree of economic inequality, and democratization in the form of franchise expansion especially for women, has more often than not led to an expansion in redistribution, at least in the small sample of episodes studied. In a less pronounced way, albeit more emphatically compared to the ambiguous results of the earlier research, the recent evidence indicates an inverse relationship between other measures of democracy, based on civil liberties and political rights, and inequality. The transition experience of the East European countries, however, seems to some extent to go against these conclusions. This, in turn, opens possible new vistas for research, namely the need to incorporate the length of democratic experience and the role played by ideology and social values.     

Ownership Dynamics of REITs

This paper studies the effects that benefits of control and moral hazard have on the evolution of large stakes in REITs. A large risk-averse shareholder trades off the net benefits of REIT business monitoring and control with the cost of bearing risk beyond the level compensated by the REIT return premium. In equilibrium, the large shareholder gradually adjusts his ownership shares level (as long as his marginal benefits from holding shares increase in his REIT stake) towards the long-run competitive equilibrium in which his marginal share valuation coincides with that of the market. Because of the moral hazard, such level of ownership (and monitoring) is, in general, inefficient. The speed of adjustment is positively correlated with the agents risk aversion and company volatility, and negatively correlated with his marginal benefits of control and beneficial monitoring effects.     

Optimising communications for charity brand management

The paper presents recomendations on how to enhance communications planning through new integration and media neutral planning techniques (open planning) linked to Integrated Marketing practice. The paper is based on best practice research in charity and commercial sectors, including NSPCC and National Trust. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Welfare of the common man in various countries

If a consumer is to be able to consume ordinary goods and services, he must first be supplied with three basic goods. These are: life, education and health. They represent the basic welfare of a society. A special rank analysis is designed to measure basic welfare. It is found that the level of basic welfare is markedly correlated with the socioeconomic systems in the following sequence: etatist countries (highest welfare), welfare states, traditional capitalist countries (lowest welfare). Also a strong positive correlation was found between high levels of basic welfare and high rates of growth.     

Impact of the Safe Community program in Harstad on the incidence of injuries

Objectives Since 1987, the Harstad community in Norway has run an injury prevention program according to the Safe Community approach. The effectiveness of this approach in reducing injury rates is poorly documented. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Harstad program on the incidence of injuries. Methods We used data from the National Injury register of Norway and compared age-adjusted incidence rates and standardized rate ratios of injuries in Harstad and three control communities for the period 1992-1997. Results Harstad had the second highest rates for both all injuries and fractures. No reduction in the incidence of injuries in Harstad was observed from 1992-1997. The injury rates in 1992-1997 were similar to the rates recorded in 1985/86. Conclusions The injury prevention program in Harstad has not reduced overall injury rates. The Safe Community concept is an organizational strategy, but implementation of proven and targeted risk reduction measures will be needed if community-based programs are to result in risk reductions.     

Noise and aggregation of information in large markets

We study the relation between noise (liquidity traders, endowment shocks) and the aggregation of information in financial markets with large number of agents. We show that as long as noise increases with the number of agents, the limiting equilibrium is well-defined and leads to non-trivial information acquisition, even when per-capita noise tends to zero. In such equilibrium risk sharing and price revelation play different roles than in the standard limiting economy in which per-capita noise is finite. We apply our model to study information sales by a monopolist, and information acquisition in multi-asset markets, showing that it leads to qualitatively different results with respect to those in the existing literature. Our conditions on noise are shown to be necessary and sufficient to have limiting economies with perfectly competitive behavior consistent with endogenous information acquisition.     

Product involvement in do-it-yourself maintenance injury

Abstract

PROBLEM Numerous activities to promote bicycle safety have been implemented in Norway. The overall effect of these activities has not been evaluated.

method Information about cases of bicycle-related injuries occurring in 1990-1993 was obtained from prospective registration of all injuries treated by hospitals and emergency clinics in four urban centers in NORWAY. Incidence was calculated per number of cyclists, based on data obtained from the 1992 National Bicycle Survey. Temporal changes in injury severity and in age-specific incidence (per bicycle riders) of all injuries, upper-head injuries, other injuries, injuries due to bicycle-motor vehicle collision, and injuries leading to inpatient treatment were analyzed by logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS 3,893 injuries occurred in the study population in 1990-1993. The average annual incidence was 33.1 per 10,000 population aged 4 years and higher, or 47.9 per 10,000 bicyclists. No significant secular trends were found for any of the analyzed parameters.

CONCLUSIONS Bicycle safety promotion measures implemented during 1990-1993 did not significantly reduce the risk of bicycle-related injury in Norway. Effective bicycle safety programs should be implemented, based on the positive experiences from other countries. Injury surveillance systems appear to be a useful tool for evaluating injury prevention programs.     

Relative price shifts,economies of scale and poverty during economic transition1

Economic transition is associated with significant shifts in relative prices between private and public goods. If, as a result, public goods claim a larger share of total expenditures, economies of scale in consumption increase. We show how relative price changes might alter the welfare of different‐sized households in the short run and over time. We illustrate, for a selection of transition economies, that conventional poverty profiles are quite sensitive to assumptions made about economies of scale in consumption. In particular, the common view that large households with many children are poor relative to small households (such as those comprising the elderly) is shown to be highly non‐robust.