A multidimensional classification of market anomalies: Evidence from 76 price indices

This paper makes the first attempt to present explicit empirical evidence that market inefficiency can be multi-dimensional. Testing the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) over 76 stock indices using 17 best established indicators (e.g. runs test), we show that most indices exhibit some type(s) of anomaly and that indicators differ from each other in terms of statistical power and/or the type of anomaly detected. A principal components analysis (PCA) demonstrates that indicators group along orthogonal dimensions, and hence a market can exhibit short-term memory, long-term memory and/or calendar effects, which are all distinct sources of possible inefficiency. This research presents statistical evidence on the extent and nature of market inefficiency, offers possible explanations for conflicting previous findings, and provides new insights into studying market efficiency.     

On the Complementarity of Equilibrium Exchange‐Rate Approaches

Based on a simple, stock–flow adjustment framework, we show that existing concepts of equilibrium exchange rates can be viewed as realizations of the same model at different time horizons. We then compare fundamental and behavioral estimations of equilibrium exchange rates based on the same, econometric modeling of the net foreign asset position in the long run, for a panel of 15 countries over the 1980–2005 period. These estimations suggest that, although more robust to alternative assumptions, the BEER approach may rely on excessive confidence on past behaviors in terms of portfolio choices. Symmetrically, FEERs may underestimate the plasticity of international capital markets because they focus on the adjustment of the trade balance.     

Is Globalization Weakening the Inflation–Output Relationship?

This paper investigates whether trade and financial openness has weakened the inflation–output trade‐off and caused a shift in the preferences of monetary authorities. Based on the backward‐looking Phillips curve and a Taylor‐type interest rate rule, our results for France, the UK and the USA for the 1970–2012 period do not provide support for the relevance of globalization in making inflation less responsive to output expansions. Moreover, the change of preferences of Central Banks towards growth‐oriented objectives is neither due to higher trade nor to financial globalization.     

From Occupation to Recuperation: Property,Politics and Provincialization in Contemporary Madrid

Recent debates have once again engaged with the substance and meaning of urban politics within our increasingly complex and startling contemporary landscapes. Yet these debates, while giving nods in the direction of feminist and postcolonial scholarship, largely work through traditional lenses of class, labor and the dynamic workings of neoliberal capitalism. In this article, I focus on spaces of difference and their engagement with the urban to demonstrate how politics ‘happens' in locations often left off the map of both scholarship and popular imaginaries, and, crucially, how those locations can, in fact, illuminate shifting political arrangements elided by other methodologies. By juxtaposing European okupa debates with postcolonial discussions of urban informality, I trace what I argue is a new iteration of squatting within a city both ravaged by edicts of neoliberal austerity and buoyed by the efflorescence of social movements and alternative political projects. I then explicate the role of property in constituting the urban within Spain, using the concept of ‘provincialization'. In doing so, I think relationally between systems of property and emergent forms of insurgency to argue that we are witnessing an anticipatory politics that fundamentally challenges hegemonic relationships between everyday citizens and regimes of property ownership.     

Liberalisation of Utilities and Evolving European Regulation

In this article, David Coen and Chris Doyle provide an overview of recent liberalisation and regulatory developments affecting key utility sectors (electricity, gas, postal service, and telecommunications) in the European Union. They examine what kind of competition is suitable in the utilities, and discuss obstacles that lie in the path of competition. They address in detail the institutional design of sector specific regulation. National and supra-national regulatory structures are analysed and these are illustrated by examples drawn from several European countries. In institutional terms, they argue that it is important regulatory regimes have a high degree of flexibilityand speed to allow for the continued evolution of the EU utility sector.     

Editorial

The concept of an excellent company is complex and multidimensional. Most studies of “excellence” have focused on one, or sometimes two, dimensions with profitability and growth being the most common. Companies that have performed exceptionally well on such criteria have, however, proved far from robust. It is shown how the objectives of the firm partly conflict with one another and these conflicts are exacerbated when the firm seeks exceptional performance along one specific measure. Performance in the long run depends upon satisfying several stakeholder groups. A concept of a “tolerance zone” of performance is defined which is bounded by zones of disequilibrium. Within this tolerance zone the firm is likely to be in a position to satisfy its key stakeholder groups. Paradoxically, the financial performance of companies operating successfully within this tolerance zone will often be regarded as mediocre by students of “excellence” but in the long run such companies are more likely to prosper.     

Product Design: Preference for Rounded versus Angular Design Elements

Two experiments tested whether a general relative preference for objects with rounded rather than angular form (Bar & Neta, 2006, 2007) can be applied in the context of the design of consumer products. Images of product packaging—a chocolate product (Experiment 1) and water and bleach bottles (Experiment 2)—were manipulated with regard to the shape of both contour and graphics. There was a preference for rounded designs that extended to self‐report purchase likelihood—with additive effects of contour and graphics shape that could not be accounted for by design typicality or perceived ease of use.     

Challenges facing international projects for entrepreneurial development in South Africa

International development projects that support entrepreneurship face a number of challenges, not least because they need to integrate different paradigms. Based on the case study of a Canadian non-governmental organisation in South Africa, this paper provides an exploratory assessment of these challenges and highlights four major factors that affect the success of such international projects: transposing a northern business model to the south; developing local roots and adapting to the local context; balancing the allocation of resources between managing the project and providing services to entrepreneurs; and aligning the cultures of the private sector and international development agencies. In practical terms, the findings provide benchmarks for the success of these projects and could help improve interventions that encourage entrepreneurship in developing countries.