Determining returns to bidding firms’ shareholders using different benchmark methods: an Australian study

This article revisits the determinants of cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) for bidder firm shareholders around takeover bid announcements and in particular, if bidder CAR estimates differ significantly between conditional and unconditional models. The results indicate that CAR estimation is significantly different between the two models. The conditional model is theoretically superior to the traditional unconditional model due to the former controlling for unobservable factors surrounding the bid announcement. This study shows that it is important to account for unobservable factors in growth (organic versus takeover) strategies to infer the true effect of the bidder's characteristics on CAR.     

An assessment of the impact of tax incentives relative to socio-economic characteristics on charitable giving in Canada

This research examines the effectiveness of the Canadian tax incentive system for charitable giving while attempting to deal with two persistent methodological problems in past research. The Heckman selection model and the ordered probit model are used to examine the Canadian tax incentive system with 2010 survey data. The results imply that the effect of the tax credit systematically increases with an increase in donation expenditure suggesting that the higher tax credit for larger donations is more effective than the lower tax credit for smaller donations. While the results suggest that the current tax policy is effective, socio-economic characteristics, such as wealth, household income, and university education, appear to have a greater impact on donations.     

Meat and fish consumption patterns in Saudi Arabia

This study analyses the demand for meat (beef, chicken and lamb) and fish in Saudi Arabia in a system-wide framework using data for the period 1985–2010. A preliminary data analysis reveals that, in Saudi Arabia, the relative consumption of beef, chicken and fish has a positive growth, while lamb has a negative growth. The average relative price growth rates of beef, chicken and fish are negative, while that of lamb is positive. The expenditure shares of beef, chicken and fish have increased while that of lamb has fallen. The estimation results of the demand system reveal that there is an autonomous trend out of lamb into beef, chicken and fish. The implied income elasticities indicate that beef, lamb and fish are considered to be luxuries, while chicken is a necessity. The demand for all meat products and fish are price inelastic. These elasticities are key inputs for policy analysts in terms of devising policies in relation to meat production, meat imports, taxation and food security issues in Saudi Arabia. The usefulness of the implied elasticities is demonstrated by simulating the consumption of beef, chicken, lamb and fish under various policy scenarios.     

The power of bad: The negativity bias in Australian consumer sentiment announcements on stock returns

This paper examines the equity market reaction to the monthly release of Australian consumer sentiment news. Our results indicate that consumer sentiment has valuable information content. Further, we document a version of the “negativity effect” (from the psychology literature) in which, upon announcement of bad (good) sentiment news, the equity market experiences a significant negative (no) announcement day effect. Notably, we find that the market recovers from the bad news shock relatively quickly post-announcement. The results are robust to a broad range of additional tests.     

Environmental uncertainty and the market pricing of earnings smoothness

Environmental uncertainty induces variability in an organization's reported earnings, and accentuates the information asymmetry between its managers and outside stakeholders. Managers operating in an environment of high uncertainty, therefore, have an incentive to reduce such variability by smoothing income numbers. We investigate the stock market response to earnings smoothness for firms operating in an environment of high uncertainty. We measure income smoothing by the negative correlation of a firm's change in discretionary accruals with its change in pre-managed earnings as per Tucker and Zarowin (2006). Using future earnings response coefficient (FERC) methodology to measure the informativeness of smoothed earnings, and two measures of environmental uncertainty, this paper documents that current stock price incorporates more information about future earnings for firms operating in high uncertain environments, thus supporting the informational value view of income smoothing.     

Real wage determination in Bangladesh agriculture: An econometric investigation

Thsi paper develops and estimates a real wage model for the agricultural sector in Bangladesh for the period 1973:2–1985:4. The model is developed within the framework of the market theory of labour demand and labour supply. The empirical results are supportive of the market theory of wages.     

The cost-effectiveness of extended-release calcifediol versus paricalcitol for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in stage 3–4 CKD

Abstract

Aims: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not on dialysis frequently have vitamin D insufficiency (VDI) and secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT), which are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease, fracture, CKD progression, and death. This study estimated the cost-effectiveness of extended-release calcifediol (ERC) vs paricalcitol for the treatment of patients with CKD stages 3–4 that have SHPT and VDI.

Materials and methods: An economic analysis of SHPT treatments among a hypothetical cohort of 1,000 patients with CKD Stage 3 and 4 with SHPT and VDI was developed to estimate differences in the rates and costs of CV events, fractures, CKD stage progression, and mortality in patients treated with ERC and paricalcitol. A Markov model was developed with 1-year cycles and a 5-year time horizon from a US Medicare payer perspective with costs valued in 2017?US dollars.

Results: The outcomes of the model were rates of clinical events, total costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Across a 1,000-person cohort, ERC was the dominant (less costly, more effective) treatment strategy when compared with paricalcitol. Treatment with ERC resulted in cost savings of $14.8?M (95% CI = –$10.0?M–$45.2?M) and an incremental gain of 340 QALYs (95% CI = 200–496) compared to treatment with paricalcitol.

Limitations: Bridging biochemical levels to clinical outcomes may not represent real-world risk of the clinical events modeled. Future real-world outcomes of patients treated with ERC and paricalcitol may be used to evaluate the model results.

Conclusions: This model demonstrated favorable short- and long-term clinical benefits associated with the use of ERC in patients with CKD Stage 3 and 4 with SHPT and VDI, suggesting ERC may be cost-effective from the Medicare perspective compared to paricalcitol.