An examination of the impact of India's performance in one-day cricket internationals on the Indian stock market

This study examines the impact of the Indian cricket team's performance in one day international cricket matches on returns on the Indian stock market. The main conclusion of the study is that there exists an asymmetric relationship between the performance of the Indian cricket team and stock returns on the Indian stock market. While a win by the Indian cricket team has no statistically significant upward impact on stock market returns, a loss generates a significant downward movement in the stock market. When Sachin Tendulker, India's most popular cricketer, plays the size of the downward movement in returns is larger.     

Evaluating sustainable intensification and diversification options for agriculture-based livelihoods within an aquatic biodiversity conservation context in Buxa,West Bengal,India

Potential impacts of sustainable intensification and diversification options for agriculture-based livelihoods in Buxa, West Bengal, India, were evaluated using bioeconomic modelling. The baseline scenario involved multiple cropping seasons and a combination of crops on 0.9 ha land-holdings, livestock husbandry, and exploitation of common property resources. With capital costs of Rs.128,180 (US$2293) and annual operating costs of Rs.37,290 (US$667), the net benefit generated (excluding depreciation) was Rs.70,250 (US$1257) annually. The pay-back period was 1.8 years, and the internal rate of return (IRR) was 53.7% over 10 years. Allocation of 20 days annually to fishing increased the net benefit to Rs.75,030 (US$1342) and IRR to 56.5% with minimal added costs and risks. Adopting the system of rice intensification (SRI) for paddy cultivation on 0.35?ha increased the IRR to 61.1%, while reducing agrochemical and inorganic fertilizer use. Including small-scale fish culture in a 0.1 ha pond integrated in the irrigation scheme for SRI cultivation resulted in an IRR of 77.3% and reduced the pay-back period to 1.3 years. Some risks to biodiversity are apparent with each scenario; however, with appropriate safeguards, sustainable agricultural intensification and livelihoods diversification could bolster agrobiodiversity and social-ecological resilience of highland communities, while alleviating pressure on biodiversity.     

Conceptualising market orientation in non-profit organisations: definition,performance, and preliminary construction of a scale

Abstract

This paper applies Narver and Slater's (1990 Narver, J. and Slater, S. 1990. The effect of a market orientation on business profitability. Journal of Marketing, 54(2): 20[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) conceptualisation of market orientation to non-profit organisations. The study constructs a reliable and valid scale of the market orientation in non-profits in order to test the relationship between non-profits' market orientation and their performance outcomes in the context of a developing country. We surveyed 211 Indian non-profits and received 102 usable responses. We used principal axis factoring with oblique rotation to analyse the data. The scale was tested for its dimensionality, reliability, and various validities. The findings show a positive link between non-profits' market orientation and their performance in the context of a developing country. Market-oriented non-profits were found to be more effective in achieving their organisational mission, beneficiary satisfaction, and peer reputation than those that were less market oriented.     

Where Do Australians Invest?

In this article, we analyse the geography of Australia's international portfolio investment using the International Monetary Fund's Co‐ordinated Portfolio Investment Survey dataset. Preliminary results suggest that Australia's external holdings of equity and debt as a percentage of national income almost doubled between 1997 and 2001. However, Australia's international investment position as a percentage of national income is one of the lowest amongst the major OECD countries. In 2001 approximately two‐thirds of Australia's total investments were in the United States and the United Kingdom. By contrast Australia's trade share (exports plus imports as a percentage of Australia's total world trade) with these countries was approximately 20 per cent in the same year. The major determinants of Australia's geographical allocation of portfolio investment indicate a broad correspondence between stock market capitalisation of destination countries and the allocation of Australian financial investments but with some deviations from that baseline, where the deviations are correlated with Australian trade patterns.     

Credibility of corporate announcements and market reaction: evidence from Canadian share repurchase programs

Do market participants evaluate the credibility of a firm's share repurchase announcement based on the firm's share repurchase history? Using a sample of 1,507 share repurchase programs for firms listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange from 1994 to 2005, we find that 69% of firms fail to acquire the target number of shares specified at announcement and many firms fail to repurchase any shares. We develop credibility indices and find a positive relationship between current announcement abnormal returns and completion credibility of previous announcements. We conclude that the market prices completion credibility of past share repurchase announcements in reacting to current repurchase announcements. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oil prices and accounting profits of oil and gas companies

This paper investigates the relationship between commodity prices of crude oil, capital structure, firm size and accounting measures of firm performance using a sample of oil and gas firms from 1990 to 2008. We employ estimates based on panel least squares, a fixed effects model and a random effects model. We also use generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators by Arellano and Bond (1991) and Blundell and Bond (1998, 2000). Our findings show that crude oil prices positively and significantly impact the performance of oil and gas firms in North America using accounting measures of performance. The recent financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 negatively influenced oil prices and the financial performance of oil and gas firms. On the other hand, the earlier global crises (Asian financial crisis and 9/11) did not have a significant impact on the return on equity of oil and gas companies. Our primary contribution to the literature is a comprehensive and econometric analysis of the relation between commodity prices and accounting measures of performance oil and gas companies.     

Business cycle and aggregate industry mergers

This paper tests the relationship between industry-level mergers and business cycle using panel tests that allow us to control for macro-economic and industry-level determinants of merger activity. We find robust evidence that both related and unrelated industry-level mergers are pro-cyclical. However, the evidence is asymmetric between related and unrelated mergers. We also find strong evidence in support of two major theories of merger activity that have been proposed and tested in the existing literature, namely, neoclassical theory and behavioral theory. The proxies of both neoclassical and behavioral theories explain merger activity in general; however, the pro-cyclicality of mergers is not fully captured by any of these proxies, individually or collectively.     

Of poisoners, tanners and the British Raj: redefining Chamar identity in colonial North India, 1850–90

This article explores colonial representations of the crime of cattle poisoning and uses it as a starting point to investigate questions related to the formation of Chamar identity. Starting from the 1850s, it looks at the process whereby the caste group was imbued with certain undesirable traits of character. Simultaneously, it also explores the larger trend towards fixing the caste with certain occupational traits, so that it began to be identified completely with leather work by late nineteenth century. The role of new specialisms such as ethnography, toxicology and medical jurisprudence in the formation of new definitions about Chamars is also highlighted. The overall aim of the article is to reveal the complexities involved in the formation of colonial discourse about caste and caste groups.