Income Inequality,Human Capital,and Income Growth: Evidence from a State-Level VAR Analysis

We use Granger causality and impulse response analysis to examine the relationship between income inequality, human capital attainment, and income growth using annual state-level data over the period 1929–2000. We find consistent evidence that the income share of the top decile Granger-causes income growth, but only weak evidence that income growth Granger-causes the top decile income share. Moreover, an impulse response analysis indicates that income growth responds negatively to permanent changes in the income share of the top decile. These findings appear to have important regional variations, however, with the more densely populated Eastern states showing the strongest associations. We also find evidence that years of schooling may Granger-cause income levels, but little evidence that years of schooling Granger-causes the top decile income share.

The change in information uncertainty and acquirer wealth losses

A large body of literature demonstrates that acquisitions are on average value destroying for the acquirer. We investigate whether the change in the acquirer??s information uncertainty contributes to acquirer wealth losses. Information uncertainty affects the discount rate (the cost of capital), which in turn influences stock price. Our results indicate that acquisitions lead to increases in information uncertainty, as proxied by analysts?? earnings forecast dispersion. We also find that the change in information uncertainty is negatively related to acquirer long-term stock performance, after controlling for the acquirer??s fundamentals. Taken together, this evidence is consistent with the conclusion that increases in information uncertainty resulting from acquisitions contribute to acquirer post-acquisition wealth losses     

Option pricing and hedging under a stochastic volatility Lévy process model

In this paper, we discuss a stochastic volatility model with a Lévy driving process and then apply the model to option pricing and hedging. The stochastic volatility in our model is defined by the continuous Markov chain. The risk-neutral measure is obtained by applying the Esscher transform. The option price using this model is computed by the Fourier transform method. We obtain the closed-form solution for the hedge ratio by applying locally risk-minimizing hedging.     

A decision-theoretic foundation for reward-to-risk performance measures

In this paper we prove that partial-moments-based performance measures (e.g., Omega, Kappa, upside-potential ratio, Sortino–Satchell ratio, Farinelli–Tibiletti ratio), value-at-risk-based performance measures (e.g., VaR ratio, CVaR ratio, Rachev ratio, generalized Rachev ratio), and other admissible performance measures are a strictly increasing function in the Sharpe ratio. The theoretical basis of this result is the location and scale property and two other plausible and mild conditions. Our result provides a decision-theoretic foundation for all these frequently used performance measures. Moreover, it might explain the empirical finding that all these measures typically lead to very similar rankings.     

The spatial component of R&D networks

We study the role of geography in R&D networks by means of a quantitative, micro-geographic approach. Using a large database that covers international R&D collaborations from 1984 to 2009, we localize each actor precisely in space through its latitude and longitude. This allows us to analyze the R&D network at all geographic scales simultaneously. Our empirical results show that despite the high importance of the city level, transnational R&D collaborations at large distances are much more frequent than expected from similar networks. This provides evidence for the ambiguity of distance in economic collaboration which is also suggested by the existing literature. In addition we test whether the hypothesis of local buzz and global pipelines applies to the observed R&D network by calculating well-defined metrics from network theory.     

General Equilibrium Effects of Green Technological Progress

This paper demonstrates that technological progress in production of renewable energy can influence the extraction path of fossil fuels indirectly by a change in the equilibrium interest rate. We show in a simple model that the indirect effect can be so strong that first-period or even aggregate extraction levels rise with green technological progress, contrary to popular expectations.     

University Students' Entrepreneurial Intentions: A Comparative Analysis of Hong Kong and Guangzhou

Based on original survey data, this paper analyses and compares the role of personal traits and networks in determining entrepreneurial intentions of students in Hong Kong and in Guangzhou. The two cities are culturally closely related but differ strongly with respect to their labor market conditions and the maturity of their legal and business environments. We find that the determinants of students' entrepreneurial intentions differ substantially between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, with the findings for Hong Kong showing much similarity with previous findings for Western economies. This suggests that differences in labor market prospects and in the maturity of their legal and business environments might be more important than cultural (dis‐)similarities in identifying key factors forming students' entrepreneurial intentions.     

The changing consumer in Ireland

The decade of the 1980s was a difficult time for companies marketing goods and services in Ireland. The business environment was dominated by high unemployment and economic recession, due to a combination of internal and external factors, which dampened consumer confidence and restrained spending. Fortunately, the economy is recovering rapidly in the 1990s, with low interest rates leading to greater confidence which, in turn, is promoting both increased investment and consumer spending. The prospects for the remainder of the 1990s look favourable assuming stability in the business environment.This paper describes key features of the Irish economy, demography and society which determine the nature of the consumer market, and examines the variables that affect its performance. It also outlines the structure of the macromarketing environment and highlights important trends. It concludes with a discussion of the future outlook for the market and examines some of the implications for marketing management.     

The Reconciliation of Inconsistent Economic Data: the Information Gain

This paper demonstrates that the posterior estimates given by two common formulations of ‘data reconciliation’ problems result in better quality data. ‘Better quality data’ is interpreted in terms of the closeness of the posterior estimates to the true but unknown values. It is also shown that more or improved information further improves the quality of the posterior estimates. These results provide a deterministic rationale for the reconciliation of inconsistent economic data.     

VEHICULAR EMISSIONS AND CONTROL POLICIES IN HONG KONG

This paper briefly analyzes the state of vehicular pollution and control measures in Hong Kong. Vehicular emissions contribute largely to Hong Kong's air pollution and will become more important as the vehicle fleet expands. Hong Kong is unique in that a large fraction of its vehicles use diesel engines. The analysis here explicitly accounts for the composition of emissions and quantifies the relative magnitude of emissions by each of the five main sources: private cars, taxis, light buses, heavy buses, and lorries. The paper analyzes alternative pollution control policies with respect to effectiveness and efficiency.