Stakeholder Theory, Corporate Governance and Public Management: What can the History of State-Run Enterprises Teach us in the Post-Enron era?

This paper raises a challenge for those who assume that corporate social responsibility and good corporate governance naturally go hand-in-hand. The recent spate of corporate scandals in the United States and elsewhere has dramatized, once again, the severity of the agency problems that may arise between managers and shareholders. These scandals remind us that even if we adopt an extremely narrow concept of managerial responsibility – such that we recognize no social responsibility beyond the obligation to maximize shareholder value – there may still be very serious difficulties associated with the effective institutionalization of this obligation. It also suggests that if we broaden managerial responsibility, in order to include extensive responsibilities to various other stakeholder groups, we may seriously exacerbate these agency problems, making it even more difficult to impose effective discipline upon managers. Hence, our central question: is a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility institutionally feasible? In searching for an answer, we revisit the history of public management, and in particular, the experience of social-democratic governments during the 1960s and 1970s, and their attempts to impose social responsibility upon the managers of nationalized industries. The results of this inquiry are less than encouraging for proponents of corporate social responsibility. In fact, the history of public-sector management presents a number of stark warnings, which we would do well to heed if we wish to reconcile robust social responsibility with effective corporate governance.     

Consistent pricing and hedging for a modified constant elasticity of variance model

Abstract

This paper considers a modification of the well known constant elasticity of variance model where it is used to model the growth optimal portfolio (GOP). It is shown that, for this application, there is no equivalent risk neutral pricing measure and therefore the classical risk neutral pricing methodology fails. However, a consistent pricing and hedging framework can be established by application of the benchmark approach.

Perfect hedging strategies can be constructed for European style contingent claims, where the underlying risky asset is the GOP. In this framework, fair prices for contingent claims are the minimal prices that permit perfect replication of the claims. Numerical examples show that these prices may differ significantly from the corresponding ‘risk neutral’ prices.     

Volatility timing in mutual funds: evidence from daily returns

I use daily mutual fund returns to shed new light on the questionof whether or not mutual fund managers are successful markettimers. Previous studies find that funds are unable to timethe market return. I study the funds' ability to time marketvolatility. I show that volatility timing is an important factorin the returns of mutual funds and has led to higher risk-adjustedreturns. The returns of surviving funds are especially sensitiveto market volatility; those of nonsurvivors are not.     

‘Blame it on marketing’: consumers' views on unsustainable consumption

This paper addresses consumers' attitudes towards consumption, the extent to which excessive consumption is perceived as an environmental problem and what consumers perceive as their personal responsibility vs. that of marketing for this consumption. Findings from a focus group and a survey administered to lecturers of a university in Portugal are reported. A critical reflection upon the findings reveals that participants view consumption as excessive and mostly due to marketing, but do not associate high levels of consumption with environmental damage. The consumers surveyed did not accept personal responsibility for excessive consumption, and many of them do not perceive their actions to have a significant impact on the environment. The high educational level of our sample makes these findings of particular concern. This paper feeds the debate on sustainable marketing and expresses the need to address consumers', as well as marketing's, place in sustainability. Implications of this study are drawn and directions for future research are suggested.     

Obstacles to Small Farm Development in the Commonwealth Caribbean

Abstract . Small farms now form the locus of attempts to develop agriculture in the English-speaking Caribbean. Attempts to boost extra regional export need to be coupled with closer cooperation among the 12 nations to substitute food imports from outside the region. A series of macroeconomic and sectoral constraints are working to insure that export agriculture is accorded higher priority than production of staples for the domestic market. In this way the needs of the region's poorest farmers tend to be overlooked.¹     

APPROXIMATE COMPLETENESS WITH MULTIPLE MARTINGALE MEASURES

We construct a financial market with countably many securities for which there are two equivalent martingale measures under which the market is approximately complete. Thus, approximate completeness does not in general guarantee unique consistent prices for nonmarketed claims. the construction also produces an economy with two agents and infinitely many traded goods which is in equilibrium but has no equilibrium when a new good (recognized by all as redundant) is tentatively traded.     

Valuation of FX barrier options under stochastic volatility

This paper describes European-style valuation and hedging procedures for a class of knockout barrier options under stochastic volatility. A pricing framework is established by applying mean self-financing arguments and the minimal equivalent martingale measure. Using appropriate combinations of stochastic numerical and variance reduction procedures we demonstrate that fast and accurate valuations can be obtained for down-and-out call options for the Heston model.     

Action at the exhibit face: video and the analysis of social interaction in museums and galleries

ABSTRACT

Whilst we can observe a considerable increase in importance of arts and museum marketing, research of people’s engagement with art in exhibitions is relatively rare. This neglect of people’s action and interaction in exhibitions is somewhat surprising considering that it is in exhibitions where museums are in direct contact with their audience. This article begins with a review of the emergence of video-based research in the social sciences before turning to the use of video for the study of visitor behaviour in exhibitions. It contributes to recent debates on experiential and sensory marketing by examining three video-recorded fragments of interactions at exhibits in museums. The analysis of the fragments suggests that people’s experience of exhibits arises in social interaction with others. The article ends with a discussion of the theoretical and methodological contribution of video-based research in museums and of implications of such research for those involved in the management and design of museums and other experiential environments.