Integrating standardization into engineering education: the case of forerunner Korea

The Republic of Korea is a forerunner in integrating the topic of standardization into engineering education at the academic level. This study investigates developments and evolutions in the planning and operating of the University Education Promotion on Standardization (UEPS) in Korea. This paper examines why the Korean government initiated the UEPS, how the UEPS has operated, and what the educational content of the UEPS program is. This study of the UEPS may serve as a benchmark of how to incorporate technical standards into science and technology education at both the national and individual university levels. Some implications and considerations for the future introduction of similar courses in other countries are discussed.     

The role of bank monitoring in corporate governance: Evidence from borrowers’ earnings management behavior

In this paper, we examine the corporate governance role of banks by investigating the effect of bank monitoring on the borrowers’ earnings management behavior. Our analyses suggest that a borrowing firm’s earnings management behavior generally decreases as the strength of bank monitoring increases. The strength of bank monitoring is measured as (1) the magnitude of a bank loan, (2) the reputation (rank) of a lead bank, (3) the length of a bank loan, and (4) the number of lenders. These results imply that bank monitoring plays an important role in the corporate governance of bank-dependent firms. We further examine other bank loan characteristics (collateral, refinancing, loan types, and loan purposes) and their effects on borrowers’ earnings management behavior. Our analyses show that collateral and loan types are significantly associated with borrowers’ earnings management behavior while refinancing and loan purposes have no association.     

The role of change agent as mediator in the relationship between HR competencies and organizational performance

Human resource (HR) practitioners, as change agents, are responsible for easing the impact of changes in their organization and to protect employees against the side effects of these inevitable changes. Sometimes, the change helps to produce a significant increase in performance and the company can boost sales and production without additional cost. Several vital competencies that are reviewed in this paper include business knowledge culture management, effective relationship and human resource development skills. Based on the findings of this study, not all competencies are related to the role of change agent. HR practitioners who are unable to function as change agents will inevitably create a barrier against their becoming a well-integrated strategic partner. Therefore, the role of change agent also mediates the relationship between certain HR competencies and organizational performance.     

An analytic approximation formula for pricing zero-coupon bonds

This paper presents an analytic approximation formula for pricing zero-coupon bonds, when the dynamics of the short-term interest rate are driven by a one-factor mean-reverting process in which changes in the volatility of the interest rate are a function of the level of the interest rate.     

Does Intra‐regional Trade Matter in Regional Stock Markets? New Evidence from the Asia‐Pacific Region

We provide new evidence on the relationship between bilateral trade and stock market returns across the Asia‐Pacific region. Using three country blocs in this region, including the Far Eastern bloc, the Chinese bloc and the Australian bloc, we examine whether trade linkages between countries affect their stock returns. Incorporating two distinct dynamic properties of regime shifting and cointegration in intra‐regional trade and stock market returns, we employ the newly suggested multivariable smooth transition autoregressive vector error correction model (STAR‐VECM). A series of estimations reveals evidence that bilateral trade significantly Granger‐causes stock returns in the Asia‐Pacific region, with effects that are asymmetric depending upon the stock market regime and the country pair. Among the three blocs, the Far Eastern bloc displays a more pronounced positive effect of bilateral trade growth on stock returns than do the other blocs.     

Inflation Targeting and Relative Price Variability: What Difference Does Inflation Targeting Make?

This article studies the effects of inflation targeting (IT) on relative price variability (RPV) using a data set of twenty countries comprising both targeters and nontargeters. We find that a decline in mean inflation after IT adoption is not necessarily associated with a similar fall in RPV and that what matters most for the structural changes in RPV is the initial inflation regime prior to the adoption of IT rather than IT adoption itself. IT adoption impacts the shape of the underlying relationship between inflation and RPV in countries with initially high inflation rates, moving it from monotonic to the U‐shaped profile observed consistently for countries with low‐inflation regimes. The minimum point of this U‐shaped curve is indicative of the public's expectations of inflation and is very close to the announced target for inflation in most of the countries we study.     

How is suicide different in Japan?

This study investigates suicide rates among OECD countries, with particular effort made to gain insight into how suicide in Japan is different from suicides in other OECD countries. Several findings emerged from fixed-effect panel regressions with country-specific time-trends. First, the impacts of socioeconomic variables vary across different gender–age groups. Second, in general, better economic conditions such as high levels of income and higher economic growth were found to reduce the suicide rate, while income inequality increases the suicide rate. Third, the suicide rate is more sensitive to economic factors captured by real GDP per capita, growth rate of real GDP per capita, and the Gini index than to social factors represented by divorce rate, birth rate, female labor force participation rate, and alcohol consumption. Fourth, female and elderly suicides are more difficult to be accounted for. Finally, in accordance with general beliefs, Japan's suicide problem is very different from those of other OECD countries. The impact of the socioeconomic variables on suicide is greater in Japan than in other OECD countries.     

公司控制权价值:来自中国企业控制权交易案例的证据

公司控制权溢价是否存在及其数量大小在文献中一直被广泛讨论,但很少有处理中国公司状况的文献。本文利用了1994--2004年的95起公司控股权转让数据分析了中国公司控制权的价值。我们发现中国存在着一个正的公司控制权溢价,在平均水平上,控制权股份的交易价格要比非控制权股份交易的价格高14％。回归分析显示,公司控制权价值变化与公司最大股东的控制力成正比;在治理相对糟糕的地方,拥有控制权股份的要价也相对更高。     

Morgan Stanley Perspectives on Sustainable Investing: Acceleration and Integration

The CEO of Morgan Stanley's Institute for Sustainable Investing discusses recent developments in the field since the founding of the Institute three years ago. The position of the Institute, which works across Morgan Stanley businesses as well as with external partners, provides a unique vantage point for assessing both the company's and the financial industry's progress in advancing the goals of sustainability. Since its inception, the Institute has focused on measuring investor interest and highlighting the performance realities of sustainable investing strategies, with the ultimate goal of helping to increase the adoption of such strategies by not only Morgan Stanley's clients, but throughout the industry. Drawing on its own survey data and on the research and views of the Institute's internal and external collaborators, the author describes not only the acceleration of investor interest and the emergence of new players, but also the progressive integration of sustainability with more traditional methods as ESG issues move from being peripheral to “material” and “strategic” considerations. Such integration is helping to ensure that sustainability concerns—and corporate efforts to deal with them—will prove more than just a temporary trend and assume a prominent, and permanent, position in the dialogue between companies and investors.     

OPTIMAL PORTFOLIO, CONSUMPTION-LEISURE AND RETIREMENT CHOICE PROBLEM WITH CES UTILITY

We study optimal portfolio, consumption-leisure and retirement choice of an infinitely lived economic agent whose instantaneous preference is characterized by a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) function of consumption and leisure. We integrate in one model the optimal consumption-leisure-work choice, the optimal portfolio selection, and the optimal stopping problem in which the agent chooses her retirement time. The economic agent derives utility from both consumption and leisure, and is able to adjust her supply of labor flexibly above a certain minimum work-hour, and also has a retirement option. We solve the problem analytically by considering a variational inequality arising from the dual functions of the optimal stopping problem. The optimal retirement time is characterized as the first time when her wealth exceeds a certain critical level. We provide the critical wealth level for retirement and characterize the optimal consumption-leisure and portfolio policies before and after retirement in closed forms. We also derive properties of the optimal policies. In particular, we show that consumption in general jumps around retirement.