Fortress Bethesda

Critics within and outside the National Institutes of Health say that NIH's central administration is hostile and defensive and needs to be shaken up. They hope a new director will do just that.     

Book Reviews

Rashid Amjad (ed.), The Development of Labour Intensive Industry in ASEAN Countries, Geneva: Asian Employment Programme, International Labour Office, 1981, pp. v + 337. US$10.00.

G. J. Viksnins, Financial Deepening in ASEAN Countries, Pacific Forum. University of Hawaii Press, 1980, pp. ix + 76.

C. Sosya, L-S. Chia, W. L. Collier (eds). Man, Land and Sea, Bangkok: Agricultural Development Council, 1982, pp. ix + 320.

Joachim K. Metzner, Agriculture and Population Pressure in Sikka, Isle of Flores, (A contribution to the study of the stability of agricultural systems in the wet and dry tropics). Development Studies Centre Monograph No. 28. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1982, pp. xxxii + 355. $A15.00.

Dwight Y. King, Interest Groups and Political Linkages in Indonesia 1800–1965. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies Special Report No. 20, pp. vii + 192, index.

Improving Access to Indonesian Collections in the Netherlands, Leiden: Intercontinenta No. 2, 1981, pp. 78. Dlf. l4.75.     

The economics of dying: A misapplication of tools

Conclusions Unlike McKenzie and Tullock, we do not know how personsshould treat their bodily organs or what is an ideal exit. That depends upon their utility goals, which are defined in output terms specific to the decision maker. We contend that the body is an input into the utility production process, and therefore, as with any input, it must be maintained and repaired at a level consistent with the output goals for maximization of utility. Thus, from this framework, it is quite consistent for a person to die with healthy organs without any thought of belief in reincarnation or the desire to bequeath one's bodily organs to others, or religious values. Self interest is all that must prevail.Also, the fact that there are interrelationships between the organs in the system, and at points these relationships take on fixed factor characteristics such that reduced levels of operation in one organ can create disorientation or coma or damage to other organs, means that the body cannot die as M-T suggest. Zero capacity for all organs at death is a technical impossibility as well as being inconsistent with the output goals of utility maximizers.     

Jackknifing Bond Option Prices

Prices of interest rate derivative securities depend cruciallyon the mean reversion parameters of the underlying diffusions.These parameters are subject to estimation bias when standardmethods are used. The estimation bias can be substantial evenin very large samples and much more serious than the discretizationbias, and it translates into a bias in pricing bond optionsand other derivative securities that is important in practicalwork. This article proposes a very general and computationallyinexpensive method of bias reduction that is based on Quenouille's(1956; Biometrika, 43, 353–360) jackknife. We show howthe method can be applied directly to the options price itselfas well as the coefficients in the models. We investigate itsperformance in a Monte Carlo study. Empirical applications toU.S. dollar swap rates highlight the differences between bondand option prices implied by the jackknife procedure and thoseimplied by the standard approach. These differences are largeand suggest that bias reduction in pricing options is importantin practical applications.     

Valuation of SGARAs IN THE Wine Industry: Time for Sober Reflection

The application of AASB 1037 Self Generating and Regenerating Assets provides little guidance to the commercial performance of winemakers. The valuation of grapevines essentially requires the valuation of a segment of a business (vineyards), from which is deducted the value of associated infrastructure. Grapevines are reported at a fictional "net market value" even though they cannot be bought or sold. The combination of recognising revaluation increments as distributable profits through the valuation of grapevines at "net market value", and the subsequent "amortisation" of those revaluation increments over the useful lives of the grapevines, creates a reporting maze which is more likely to confuse than inform.