Multi‐period hedge ratios for a multi‐asset portfolio when accounting for returns co‐movement

This study presents a model to select the optimal hedge ratios of a portfolio composed of an arbitrary number of commodities. In particular, returns dependency and heterogeneous investment horizons are accounted for by copulas and wavelets, respectively. A portfolio of London Metal Exchange metals is analyzed for the period July 1993–December 2005, and it is concluded that neglecting cross correlations leads to biased estimates of the optimal hedge ratios and the degree of hedge effectiveness. Furthermore, when compared with a multivariate‐GARCH specification, our methodology yields higher hedge effectiveness for the raw returns and their short‐term components. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:182–207, 2008     

Understanding the Innovation Behavior of Family Firms

This paper examines innovation behavior in family firms, analyzing their innovation efforts, sources, and results. Its underlying premise is that innovation behavior depends on the firm's resource endowment and the level of risk inherent in the decision to innovate, factors that make family involvement an influential characteristic in innovation processes. Using a large sample of Spanish firms, the findings show that family firms perform fewer innovation efforts and are less inclined to turn to external sources of innovation—such as technological collaboration—than nonfamily firms. Finally, family firms are more likely to achieve incremental innovations than radical innovations.     

Sources and management of tension in co-opetition case evidence from telecommunications satellites manufacturing in Europe

Co-opetition is filled with tension due to inherent contradictory and opposing forces. In this research, we develop a multi-level conceptual framework that helps to understand key drivers of tension in co-opetition and key approaches to managing the tension. We combine literature-based conceptual arguments and insights from in-depth study of one exemplar case of co-opetition between Astrium (EADS group) and Thales Alenia Space (Thales group) within the sector of telecommunications satellites manufacturing in Europe. Our findings highlight multiple sources of co-opetitive tension at different levels. Further, our research shows that a mixed organization based on both separation and integration of competition and cooperation is helpful to understand and effectively manage tension in co-opetition. This paper offers case-based rich insights on the sources and management of tension and has important implications for the design and conduct of future empirical research.     

Optimal Border Policies for Invasive Species Under Asymmetric Information

This paper analyzes the problem faced by a border protection agency if endogenous exporter abatement activities affect invasive species risk, allowing for unobservable differences in abatement cost. We show how the optimal inspection/penalty regime differs from the symmetric information case. Departing from previous literature, we allow for technical assistance, a policy instrument specifically permitted and commonly employed under Article 9 of the World Trade Organization Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. We find the information asymmetry can make it optimal for the importing country to provide technical assistance grants for exporter risk abatement, even if it would otherwise be inefficient. Further, we show that fungibility of technical assistance with inputs in other sectors of the exporting economy affects the qualitative nature of optimal policy. If technical assistance has no outside value in the exporter’s country, optimal policy is characterized by a menu of contracts balancing higher tariffs with lower penalties for being caught with an invasive. If technical assistance can be used in other sectors of the exporter’s economy, it can introduce countervailing incentives making a uniform tariff/penalty combination optimal.     

Measuring the Effects of Film and Television on Tourism to Screen Locations: A Theoretical and Empirical Perspective

It is generally believed that consumption of film and television products can induce tourism to destinations featured. We review the literature relating to this, examine it from the perspective of mass communications theory and develop a general causal model to measure the influence of screen products on visitor numbers. The model is quantified by way of a survey at two popular UK destinations. Our conclusions are that the contributions of screen products to visitor numbers are fractional, diffuse and substantial. We further find that the magnitude of the effect differs greatly between destinations and that this is related to background causes independent of screen effects.     

Improving Leadership Skills in Physicians: A 6‐Month Retrospective Study

The complex medical environment of today calls for physicians to have an array of leadership skills in addition to a thorough knowledge of their specific practice areas. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) Robert C. Cefalo National Leadership Institute is a 3.5‐day intensive leadership development course targeted to physician leaders. A group of 37 physicians completed the ACOG National Leadership Institute in spring of 2013. At course completion and 6‐month postcourse, participants were asked to complete a retrospective pre‐ and posttest of perceived skill levels in 10 targeted competency areas. Course completion and 6‐month postcourse scores indicated statistically significant improvements in scores on all 10 competency areas, which was supported by a Wilcoxon signed‐rank test of median score difference. Qualitative data gathered at the 6‐month postcourse survey provide examples of how participants had applied their skills. The data presented in the current study suggested that intensive, “short‐burst,” experiential leadership training is an effective approach for leadership skills development in physicians.     

Why has wage inequality increased more in the USA than in Europe? An empirical investigation of the demand and supply of skill

During the past two decades the wage gap between high and low skill labour has increased more in the USA than in many European countries. In this paper, the correspondence between occupation and education is used to construct aggregates of skill supply, skill demand and unemployment by skill group that are comparable across countries. Using individual data for years 1983–1994, it is found that the relative demand for skilled labour has increased to a similar extent in the USA and in Europe and that wage inequality remained low in Europe partly because the European relative supply of skill increased much faster than in the USA, and partly because European relative wages were rigid, which caused an increase in unemployment among the low-skilled.     

The impact of the financial crisis on the long-range memory of European corporate bond and stock markets

This paper investigates the presence of long memory in corporate bond and stock indices of six European Union countries from July 1998 to February 2015. We compute the Hurst exponent by means of the DFA method and using a sliding window in order to measure long range dependence. We detect that Hurst exponents behave differently in the stock and bond markets, being smoother in the stock indices than in the bond indices. We verify that the level of informational efficiency is time-varying. Moreover we find an asymmetric impact of the 2008 financial crisis in the fixed income and the stock markets, affecting the former but not the latter. Similar results are obtained using the R/S method.     

Sustainable development and hospitality education: employers’ perspectives on the relevance for graduate employability

This paper examines hospitality employers’ perspectives of sustainable development (SD) and the implications for hospitality education, particularly graduate employability. An exploratory approach is used in this research where semi-structured interviews were conducted with employers of hospitality graduates. The results established that respondents had mixed understandings of the meaning and relevance of SD. These employers are, however, gradually recognising the value of sustainability for their business. Though it is not currently a priority in terms of a critical employability skill specifically for the hotel sector, related industries seem more mindful of the implications of sustainability credentials. Thus, hospitality educators need to take appropriate actions in subject-specific areas where SD is critical to employment opportunities, creating more industry-ready graduates who are also globally aware citizens.