Conflicting preferences among tourists and residents

In this paper we present the results of a choice modelling (CM) experiment designed to estimate preferences of residents and tourists in Alghero, Sardinia (Italy). In 2004 Sardinia’s regional government introduced a set of reforms on coastal development and environmental protection that had important consequences for the tourism industry. The CM experiment took place in 2006, and aimed to study both resident’s and tourists’ preferences regarding the 2004 reform and other tourist development alternatives. We also assess the hypothesis that the perceived social and environmental effects of tourism differ among classes of respondents. The analysis indicates that there are conflicting preferences within the host community as well as between the host community and tourists. This creates a mismatch between residents’ supply and tourists’ demand of recreational services that needs to be addressed to promote the best tourist development strategy. It also shows that the 2004 reform is not such an effective strategy as it matches neither resident’s nor tourists’ preferences.     

Why do controls fail? Results of an Italian survey

This paper deals with the theme of the audit society and reasons for the recurrent control failures affecting organisations in different sectors. The theoretical structure stems from an analysis of managerial literature and pays particular attention to research carried out after the Enron crisis. This structure identifies six control failure factors that are used to conduct an empirical, comparative analysis of Italian organisations with an in-depth examination of the viewpoints of auditors and managers. The outcome of the survey affirms a basic theme in audit society; that is, that organisations with very different histories, institutional and structural features, aims and missions, differentiated rules, and norms of reference have similar problems that can be analysed by focusing on governance and conflicts of interest.     

Una nota sul metodo dei moltiplicatori

In questo lavoro viene presentata una modifica del metodo dei moltiplicatori. I risultati numerici ottenuti sono poi considerati.     

Generalized Symmetry Models for Hypercubic Concordance Tables

Frequency data obtained classifying a sample of 'units' by the same categorical variable repeatedly over 'components', can be arranged in a hypercubic concordance table (h.c.t.) . This kind of data naturally arises in a number of different areas such as longitudinal studies, studies using matched and clustered data, item-response analysis, agreement analysis. In spite of the substantial diversity of the mechanisms that can generate them, data arranged in a h.c.t. can all be analyzed via models of symmetry and quasi-symmetry, which exploit the special structure of the h.c.t. The paper extends the definition of such models to any dimension, introducing the class of generalized symmetry models , which provides a unified framework for inference on categorical data that can be represented in a h.c.t., Within this framework it is possible to derive the common structure which underlies these models and clarify their meaning; their usefulness in applied work is illustrated by a re-analysis of two real examples.     

Carry Trade Returns with Support Vector Machines

This paper proposes a novel approach to directional forecasts for carry trade strategies based on support vector machines (SVMs), a learning algorithm that delivers extremely promising results. Building on recent findings in the literature on carry trade, we condition the SVM on indicators of uncertainty and risk. We show that this provides a dramatic performance improvement in strategy, particularly during periods of financial distress such as the recent financial crises. Disentangling the measures of risk, we show that conditioning the SVM on measures of liquidity risk rather than on market volatility yields the best performance.     

Important overlooked IVs in spatial models

Spatial models often contain additional endogenous variables as regressors. The complete system determining these variables is typically not known to the researcher, and so maximum likelihood or Bayesian estimation methods are precluded. This leaves instrumental variable estimation. In all likelihood, the system may contain certain forms of nonlinearities. These nonlinearities might arise because of endogenous weighting matrices, functional form differences in the endogenous variables, etc. The existence of such nonlinearities strongly suggests the use of nonlinear forms of the instruments. Issues of this sort were pointed out in Kelejian and Piras (Spatial econometrics, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2017) and Kelejian (Lett Spat Resour Sci 9(1):113–136, 2016). However, thus far Monte Carlo results relating to efficiencies gained by the use of nonlinear instrumental variables are not available. This is unfortunate because these efficiencies can be quite extensive. The purpose of this paper is to fill this void.     

The Banking Relationship's Role in the Choice of the Target's Advisor in Mergers and Acquisitions

We analyse the factors influencing the target company's choice of bank advisor in mergers and acquisitions (M&As). We first examine the choice of hiring an advisor, which is nontrivial, since in one‐third of transactions our sample target companies did not hire one. We also analyse the choice to hire as advisor a bank with a strong prior relationship with the company (i.e., the main bank). Using data on 473 European M&A transactions completed in the period 1994–2003, we find evidence that the decision to hire an advisor depends on three main factors: (i) the intensity of the previous banking relationship, (ii) the reputation of the bidder company's advisor, and (iii) the complexity of the deal. We also investigate the impact of the bank advisor on shareholder wealth. We find that the abnormal returns of target company shareholders increase with the intensity of the previous banking relationship, thus indicating a ‘certification role’ on the part of investment banks.