Corporate hedging and input price risk

Input price variability is an important source of risk for corporations that process raw commodities. Models of optimal input hedging are developed in this paper based on the maximization of managerial expected utility. The relationship between hedging strategies and output decisions is examined to assess the impact of the ability to set output prices on futures market participation. As a firm's ability to set output prices diminishes in the short run, input futures positions increase although the optimal hedge ratio may either increase or decrease. For a perfectly competitive firm, however, shifts in output price caused by input price changes provide a natural cash market hedge of input price risk and reduce the firm's optimal input futures position.     

The remuneration of CEOs and corporate financial performance in Norway

Economics and management literatures advocate that senior company executives should be remunerated on the basis of the financial performance of the firms they manage. This helps align the interests of management with those of stockholders. There are, however, problems in implementing pay for performance schemes and these, along with other factors, may lead to there being no empirical relationship between compensation and stockholder returns. This study set out to explore the determinants of chief executive compensation in Norwegian stock exchange listed firms. To date there have been very few studies on this topic using data from Norway; most previous research has employed American data. The results show a positive relationship between CEO pay and corporate size but there was no significant association between remuneration and corporate financial performance as measured by accounting profitability and as measured by stock returns. Estimates of the value added by companies were significantly related to chief executive pay. There was also a positive and significant relationship between a CEO's compensation and the average wage level of the company. This association may be due to the unique characteristics of Norway's social and economic structure.     

On the perceived usefulness of scaling techniques in market analysis

This study examines the perceived usefulness of alternative spatial and tree-based similarity scaling techniques in a market analysis task. These techniques are typically evaluated on their ability to fit or explain customer input data. The psychological reaction of individuals who use these techniques to analyze markets has been largely ignored. The study reveals that spatial representations are perceived as more useful than tree-based clustering techniques, even though the latter provide a better fit to customer perceptions. The results have implications for both the use and development of scaling techniques in psychology and marketing. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The impact of the internet upon fundraising

Through research on a sample of the top 2000 charities, the Voluntary Organisations Internet Server (VOIS) revealed the potential for a major initiative to provide the opportunity for voluntary organisations to create a quality brand of information on the Internet by coming together on a collective site. The Internet is an ideal medium for voluntary organisations to get their message across, build relationships and raise funds. VOIS has been designed specifically to facilitate these activities and provide the means to a collective presence. While it is mainly large organisations that are using it at the moment, the Internet represents the opportunity for smaller organisations to have a substantial presence because of its democratic nature. VOIS has utilised the principle of economies of scale in order that all organisations can afford to have a useful presence on the Internet. This paper will examine fundraising activities that are already occurring on the Internet, analyse the strengths of the Internet as a marketing tool, explain how marketers can utilise these strengths and explain how VOIS has tried to facilitate these strengths within the features of its standardised site.     

Semi-quantitative risk assessment method for product management

The workshop presented a semi-quantitative risk assessment technique that can be used to judge the total risk on all undesired consequences/events for a product manufacturing operation. The technique requires an experienced team to judge risk utilizing a numerical rating system that, although arbitrarily chosen, is self consistent and provides a relative assessment of product manufacturing risk. Once calculated, the risk is compared to the product's net income for making risk management and product planning decisions. The workshop included an exercise where all participants could try the technique.     

使比较研究可信

:人们在进行宏观社会现象的研究时,方法上有定性与定量之分。定量分析呈现U字形分布,对极少量的N进行研究有案例分析导向,对极大量的N进行研究不利于认识的深化,因此有必要寻找案例研究与变量导向研究之间的中间路线。组合式研究就有很多独特的优点。     

"带形容词"的民主:比较研究中的概念创新

近年来,世界各国民主化的趋势使得学者们必须面对两个具有潜在矛盾的目标:其一是建立一个能涵盖各个国家不同经验、具有多样性的民主概念;其二是在不扩大概念的基础上扩大对这一大类案例的分析。本文认为这种双重挑战导致了概念创新的加速,产生了几百种民主的亚类型———也就是“带形容词”的民主。本文对出现的三种重要创新类型的优势和弱点进行了探讨,这三种类型是:对民主定义的“精确化”;对与民主相关联的大概念进行转化;以及建立不同的亚类型。鉴于这些重新定义民主概念的策略所产生的含义具有复杂的结构,我们显得老生常谈式的结论其实具有新的紧迫含义:学者们必须通过对他们所使用的民主概念进行清楚的定义和说明来为自己的研究定位。