Intraday Empirical Regularities in Interest Rate and Equity Index Futures Markets, and the Effect of Macroeconomic Announcements

This paper focuses on the intraday behaviour of returns, volatility, volume and price reversals for the Short Sterling interest rate and FTSE100 stock index futures contracts traded on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE). It also examines the effect of scheduled macroeconomic announcements and interest rate changes on the intraday behaviour of the variables of interest. We find clear differences and similarities with US studies and between the interest rate and equity contracts, which have important theoretical implications. This new evidence helps discriminate between the theories seeking to explain these intraday patterns.     

Productivity and Policy in Higher Education

Understanding and improving the performance of public higher education institutions is a matter of growing interest to university and government leaders. To this end, this article surveys dimensions of recent approaches to productivity measurement in higher education, illustrating trends, limitations and developments, and exemplifies these with reference to Australian universities. The article closes by discussing policy considerations that would help augment the design of policy, making comment on the implications for performance‐incentivised funding of higher education.     

An Evaluation of ‘Work’ for People with a Severe Persistent Mental Illness

The idea of employment for people with a severe persistent mental illness (SPMI) has great merit and much research has been conducted which identifies the value of such initiatives. However, it seems that the success stories remain limited. This paper draws on the literature and research findings therein to suggest that the issue of employing someone with a SPMI is complex and that the reality of being able to achieve long-term satisfactory outcomes for all parties involved in employment relationships needs careful consideration. It contends that the idea of people with SPMI gaining meaningful work is important but that in doing so, there is a need to review the meaning of ‘work’ to one which incorporates a broader view of ‘occupation’ and inclusion of ‘daily activities’ as work. In addition, this paper emphasises the necessity to take an integrated approach which considers the needs and capabilities of the individual with SPMI and so, keep everyone well and safe, and improve individual’s quality of life. In light of this, this paper presents a diagram that articulates the various domains which need to be considered if someone with a SPMI is to engage with meaningful and sustained ‘work’.     

Size clustering in the FTSE100 index futures market

Recent literature has begun to explore size clustering in financial markets. If a market is perfectly liquid, traders should be able to trade the exact amount that they desire; however, the presence of size clustering may prevent them from achieving optimal trade sizes. This study is novel in its investigation of size clustering in a futures market. We find that trade sizes cluster in a manner that is similar to the pattern of price clustering found in many financial markets. Importantly, we identify a trade‐off between size resolution and price resolution. We also find that the number of distinct trade sizes increases with trade frequency and with intra‐day volatility, and increases at the end of each calendar quarter. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 30:432–443, 2010     

Heterogeneity of sovereign rating migrations in emerging countries

This is a unique study of the relationship between emerging sovereign rating migrations and the sources of rating heterogeneity. It employs data from six international rating agencies and 90 emerging countries. Rating momentum is present, and we are the first to document that multiple-notch rating changes have greater impact on the probability of subsequent rating actions. Watchlist status is influential on migration probabilities, and dominates rating momentum in some cases. Rating duration, existing rating and issuer's domicile region are useful determinants in modelling the migration process. Notably, considerable inter-agency differences are revealed, suggestive of different rating processes being employed.     

Market structure and microstructure, in international interest rate futures markets

We examine the role of market structure in identifying microstructure features of the NYSE.Euronext-LIFFE STIR futures market by comparing the ability of two bid-ask spread component models to explain bid-ask spreads. These two models differ only in their assumptions about whether or not market makers are present. The period we analyze includes data from pit-based trading alongside electronic market data. We explore how market structure affects the way private information influences bid-ask spreads and return volatility. A second part of our study employs intraday correlation to investigate these links in greater depth, while a third part looks at how private information and trading noise contribute to price evolution.     

The impact of sovereign rating actions on bank ratings in emerging markets

This paper analyses the effects of sovereign rating actions on the credit ratings of banks in emerging markets, using a sample from three global rating agencies across 54 countries for 1999–2009. Despite widespread attention to sovereign ratings and bank ratings, no previous study has investigated the link in this manner. We find that sovereign rating upgrades (downgrades) have strong effects on bank rating upgrades (downgrades). The impact of sovereign watch status on bank rating actions is much weaker and often insignificant. The sensitivity of banks’ ratings to sovereign rating actions is affected by the countries’ economic and financial freedom and by macroeconomic conditions. Ratings of banks with different ownership structures are all influenced strongly by the sovereign rating, with some variation depending on the countries’ characteristics. Emerging market bank ratings are less likely to follow sovereign rating downgrades during the recent financial crisis period.