Short sales,long sales,and the Lee–Ready trade classification algorithm revisited

Asquith et al. (2010) conclude that short sales are often misclassified by the Lee–Ready algorithm. The algorithm identifies most short sales as buyer-initiated, whereas the authors posit that short sales should be overwhelmingly seller-initiated. Using order data to identify true trade initiator, we document that short sales are, in fact, predominantly buyer-initiated and that the Lee–Ready algorithm correctly classifies most of them. Misclassification rates for short and long sales are near zero at the daily level. At the trade level, misclassification rates are 31% using contemporaneous quotes and trades and decline to 21% when quotes are lagged one second.     

Can Fraudulent Cues Be Transmitted by Innocent Participants?

The authors explore whether and how linguistic indicators of fraud make their way into the Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) section of financial reports. Although research has shown that word choice and tone can help identify fraudulent financial reports, it is as yet unclear how this occurs when these reports are written by many individuals, some of whom are unaware that financial misrepresentation is occurring. Through an examination of industry recommendations and interviews with individuals experienced in writing the MD&A section, the authors confirm that many hands are involved in drafting this portion of financial reports. The authors then structure an experiment, using a real fraud case, that asks participants to write an MD&A from truthful prior U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings and a memo from the CFO with suggestions of what to say in the current period MD&A. Unbeknownst to participants the CFO memo was created using phrases from financial statements subsequently identified to be fraudulent. The authors find that individuals do unwittingly write MD&A associated with fraudulent financial statements with relatively little suspicion and that linguistic cues contained in the CFO memo are transmitted to the ultimate MD&A through naive and innocent participants.     

Moral dividends: Freemasonry and finance capitalism in early-nineteenth-century America

Abstract

Using documents from the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana (USA), I show how the material practices and symbolic orientations of finance capitalism became transposed into Freemasonry in the early-nineteenth century. I briefly discuss why this happened and point to how these developments shaped the institutional trajectory of Freemasonry. Next, I observe that the symbolic moral standing of Freemasonry became transposed onto finance capitalism as undertaken by its members and other white men like them. After a brief explanation, I outline how these developments affected the institutionalisation of finance capitalism.     

The influence of proximity to market on bean producer prices in Nicaragua

Transport costs are an important determinant of smallholder welfare in developing countries. In particular, transport costs influence the prices that smallholders receive for their produce. We propose a simple way of quantifying this influence. Taking the example of bean producers in Nicaragua, we employ a hedonic price model to estimate the effects of a smallholder's proximity to markets on the prices that he/she receives, while controlling for other factors such as the volume and quality of beans sold. We find that on average each additional minute of travel time reduces farm gate prices by 2.5 cents per quintal. Based on these results, the annual income from bean sales of the average smallholder in our sample would increase by between 24 and 110 USD if travel time to markets were reduced by 25%. Estimates of this nature can make an important contribution to cost–benefit assessments of infrastructure investments.     

The Japanese at work: illusions of the ideal

Five aspects of Japanese organisational practice are commonly cited as factors in the Japanese ‘economic miracle’. While these are often used to illustrate the human-centred philosophy of Japanese management, closer scrutiny reveals that these ‘ideal’ working practices are rooted in various culturally-dependent, coercive techniques which may be unsuitable for Britain.     

The True And Fair View: A Study Of Australian Auditors' Application Of the Concept

A fundamental requirement of Australian corporate reporting is that financial statements be "true and fair". This paper describes the history of the true and fair requirement in Australia, considers various meanings which have been attributed to the concept and examines the merits of eliminating the qualitative standard of the true and fair view. Special attention is given to auditors' definitions of the term, and how they design their audit testing of truth and fairness, as distinct from compliance with applicable accounting standards and other statutory disclosure requirements.     

DUTCH AUCTION VERSUS FIXED-PRICE SELF-TENDER OFFERS: DO FIRMS OVERPAY IN FIXED-PRICE OFFERS?

We investigate differences in purchase premiums and returns of common stock the day following the offer expiration of firms conducting Dutch auction self-tender offers versus those conducting fixed-price self-tender offers to see whether firms overpay for shares in fixed-price offers. After controlling for the proportion of shares sought and firm size, no statistically significant differences in premiums or returns are found between the two types of offers.     

Modelling the dynamics of decision-making for emerging medical technologies

There has been considerable interest in systematic methods for technology assessment that can be used to evaluate the social impact of medical practices. Policy-makers have been attracted to these methods because they offer a capability to logically and systematically analyze a decision. Assessing newly "emerging" technologies proves most difficult because practitioners' perceptions of their clinical effectiveness are continually changing. We propose and illustrate a mathematical model framework which, when simulated by computer, could serve as a tool to help analyze future consequences of hypothetical alternative public policies for emerging medical technologies.