HEDGING INTEREST RATE RISK UNDER TERM STRUCTURE EFFECTS: AN APPLICATION TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

In this paper we investigate the use of the structured full rank model for hedging the balance sheet of a financial institution. Simulation results suggest that the optimal hedge is insensitive to changes in parameter estimates. In addition, we hedge a portfolio of Treasury bills using both the full information covariance matrix and the structured covariance matrix. We then contrast these results with those obtained from a duration-based model. Empirical results suggest that the structured full rank model is generally more effective in hedging applications than either the full information model or duration-based model.     

AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF RELATIONSHIP MAGNITUDE

Based upon a review of the extant literature, it is proposed that the structure of an interorganizational relationship is composed of relationship type and the under‐researched construct of relationship magnitude. Specifically, it is hypothesized that relationship magnitude, a second order construct composed of trust, commitment, and dependence, affects relationship type, which affects the perception of value of the relationship. The results of a survey analyzed through structural equation modeling support these hypotheses.     

RELATIONSHIP MAGNITUDE AND ITS ROLE IN INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIP STRUCTURE

Close relationships between and among supply chain members are becoming more prevalent. However, there is lack of agreement in the literature and in practice concerning the characteristics of different interorganizational relationships. The resultant confusion is an obstacle to the progression of research and could cause problems among firms in a supply chain. Based on previous research and an exploratory study conducted with company executives responsible for supply chain management activities, this article seeks to introduce the concept of relationship magnitude (i.e., the extent or degree of closeness or strength of the relationship) and differentiate it from relationship type (i.e., classes of relationships that share common traits). Implications for managers and opportunities for future research are provided.     

The treatment of racial and sexual discrimination in economics journals and economics textbooks: 1972 to 1987

This article examines two decades of scholarly literature on discrimination and two decades of discussion of discrimination in economics textbooks. At first discrimination was taken seriously and policy responses adequate to the problem were advocated. Today this is a minority position. The article first traces the way thatJEL policies concerning indexing and abstracting have contributed to this change. Next textbooks are analyzed to show how this change is manifested in commonly used curricular materials. Finally, political preferences are shown to undergird crucial arguments like those concerning minimum wages. Conclusions linking ideology to research agendas are put forward.     

Technicity in nursing and the dispensation of thinking

While technology and health care delivery are inextricably and increasingly intertwined and technology has driven major advances in quality and efficiency in health care, technology does not replace the need for a thinking human being in care delivery. The term "technicity" refers to the tension created by the ability of humans to think versus their risk of being exploited as objects subservient to technologies. Drawing upon the philosophical works of Thoreau, Heidegger, and others, the authors pause on the conundrum created by expanding technology with the assumption that technological "improvements" should be evaluated with caution. Health care information systems are an example of tools that have improved our ability to collect and store information, but when systems "go down," staff can be rendered helpless. Similarly, technology can impose personal distance between the patient and provider in instances where staff are positioned as a mechanism for collecting data rather than a person interacting with another person. In some cases, health care providers function as navigators helping patients reach the correct pharmaceutical, rather than as teachers helping patients seek better health. Lastly, the tendency toward systems analysis in the context of the complex hospital environment leads solely toward uniform solutions rather than instances where a customized solution is warranted.     

基于可持续景观设计的园林植物需水量评估——以美国加州庭院景观为例

随着中国经济社会的不断发展和城市化进程的快速推进,为了满足市民对美丽环境日益增长的需求,国家设计并建造了越来越多的城市公园和街头绿地。而面对我国普遍缺水的现状,科学有效地评价、设计、管理景观用水显得十分重要,但国内却鲜有对此关注。特别是园林植物养护用水,即园林植物需水量,直接关系着可持续景观建设的实现。美国加州很早开始了相关领域的研究,并将园林植物需水量评估方法强制应用于实际景观设计中,可快速量化计算设计场地未来的用水量,具有现实的借鉴和指导意义。分析了国内对于可持续景观用水的相关现状和问题,依据WUCOLS项目的研究与实践,详细介绍了美国加州现行应用于景观设计中的园林植物需水量量化评估方法,并基于某加州庭院景观设计项目展示园林植物需水量估算的实际应用,讨论美国加州园林植物需水量估算的优劣与意义,进而分析其借鉴的可能性和方法。以期在未来建立一个符合中国特色的园林植物用水量评估体系,从而推进今后的可持续景观设计与建设。     

Men and women as managers: A significant case of no significant difference

What does it all mean? We've reviewed five studies involving almost 2,000 people compared on a total of 43 scales. We've studied matched pairs and controlled for level of managerial achievement. And after all is said and done, we have detected a total of two overall differences between male and female managers. One of these, involving managerial work motivation, favors females: Their work motivation profiles are more “achieving” than those of their male counter-parts. The other difference, pertaining to interpersonal competence, favors the male managers: They are more open and candid with their colleagues than are females. Add to these the more titillating than significant anomalies of differing back-up style preferences and we are left with one conclusion: Women, in general, do not differ from men, in general, in the ways in which they administer the management process.Managers themselves and their subordinates concur. It seems that the disproportionately low numbers of women in management can no longer be explained away by the contention that women practice a different brand of management from that practiced by men. Whereas this may amount to good news in some quarters, we ought not be prematurely elated by discovering that women manage just the way men do. Carolyn Sherif has pointedly called attention to the fact that all is not necessarily well in today's male-oriented management activities.We of course view management in its more global aspects: The important issue to us is how an individual manages in relation to achievement criteria. Individual achievement and organizational health ultimately depend on the way management is practiced. And we now see that the way management is practiced is not related to the sex of the manager — the issue is generic rather than gender-bound.     

New development: The conceptual underpinnings of international public sector accounting

The conceptual underpinnings of accounting standards are potentially very important for the future of public sector accounting internationally. The authors explain why and comment on the implications for public sector accounting.