Dynamic Asset Allocation under Inflation

We develop a simple framework for analyzing a finite-horizon investor's asset allocation problem under inflation when only nominal assets are available. The investor's optimal investment strategy and indirect utility are given in simple closed form. Hedge demands depend on the investor's horizon and risk aversion and on the maturities of the bonds included in the portfolio. When short positions are precluded, the optimal strategy consists of investments in cash, equity, and a single nominal bond with optimally chosen maturity. Both the optimal stock–bond mix and the optimal bond maturity depend on the investor's horizon and risk aversion.     

Pictures and the bottom line: The television epistemology of U.S. annual reports

In this analysis, we argue that the striking visual design that has characterized U.S. annual reports since the 1960s, including brilliant color pictures, gloss, and novelty formats, is a manifestation of the television epistemology that informs wide ranges of contemporary public discourse in America. Correspondingly, we contend that visual design in U.S. annual reports constitutes a form of rhetoric asserting the “truth claims” of the reports. Such truth claims relate not only to the values expounded in the text or projected in the pictures, but to those residing in the accounts themselves.     

Do social product features have value to consumers?

The present paper utilizes a random utility theoretic experimental design to provide estimates of the relative value that selected consumers place on the social features of products. Experiments were conducted in Hong Kong and Australia using both university students and supporters of the human rights organization Amnesty International. The paper focuses on two classes of social features, “labor practices” and “animal rights and the environment”. The results show that the social features of products can, on average, affect an individuals' likelihood of purchasing a product. Also, this paper finds distinctive segments of ethically orientated consumers.     

Returns to Initial Shareholders in Savings Institution Conversions: Evidence and Regulatory Implications

In this paper, stock prices for savings institutions that have converted to the stock form of organization are examined. Event-study methodology is used to focus on the returns to initial shareholders in the period immediately following initial trading. The results of the study indicate significant positive returns in savings institution conversions in the first several trading days, suggesting a one-time wealth transfer from depositors not exercising their rights to initial shareholders. The results also provide support for the efficiency of the market as the market price adjusts quickly in the first two days of trading after the public offering. Given the FHLBB's objectives, there appears to be little cause for regulatory concern although initial returns are significant.     

Book reviews

Routledge Series in Analytical Management Series Editor: D.C. Wilson London and New York, Routledge.

Strategues fir Growth; Maturuity, Recovery and Internationalisation Peter McKiernan London and New York, Routledge, 1992, £35.00. (hbk), ISBN 0-415-07383-9.

Technology and Organisation: Power, Meaning and Design Harry Scarborough & F. Martin Corbett London and New York, Routledge, 1992, £35.000 (hbk), ISBN 0-415-07384-7.

A Strategy of Change; Concepts and Controversies in the Management of Change D. C. Wilson London and New York, Routledge, 1992, £10.99 (pbk), ISBN 0-415-09773-8.

Human Resource Strategies for International Growth Chris Hendry London and New York, Routledge, 1994, £35.00. (hbk), ISBN 0-415-09773-8.

What is Strategy and Does it Matter? Richard Whittington London and New York, Routledge, 1993, £35.00. (hbk), ISBN 0-415-07385-5.

Technological Collaboration in Industry Mark Dodgson London, Routledge, 1993, £40.00 (hbk), ISBN 0-415-08230-7.

Corporate Vision and Rapid Technological Change Peter Swann & Jas Gill London, Routledge, 1993, £37.50 (hbk), ISBN 0-415-09135-7.

Internal Merkets: Bringing the Power of Free Enterprise Inside your Organisation W.E. Halad, A. Germanmayeh and J. Pourdenhad (eds) New York, Wiley, 1993, 301 pp., US$ 34.95.

Strategic Management: A Methodological Approach, 4th edition A.J. Rowe, R.O. Mason, K.E. Dicker, R.B. Mann & R.J. Mocler New York, Addison-Wesley, 1994, ISBN 0-201-58638-X.

The Management of Scale (Big Organizations, Big Decisions, Big Mistakes) David Collingridge London, Routledge, 1992, £35.00 (hbk), £12.99 (pbk), ISBN 0-415-07856-3.

The Intelligent Enterprise James B. Quinn New York, Free Press, 1992, ISBN 0-02-925615-1.     

Computer interactive interviewing in survey research

Software packages for microcomputer interactive questionnaires are becoming readily available to researchers in marketing, psychology, sociology, political science, etc. Preliminary findings suggest that the advantages of computerizing survey questionnaires generally outweigh the disadvantages. In addition, computer interactive questionnaires provide a practical means for conducting programmatic research, which includes the gamut from controls for order effects to investigations of basic psychological and social behaviors. Future studies should investigate in greater depth and with appropriate controls the strengths, limitations and comparability of the new approaches vis-à-vis traditional techniques. In these studies the contribution of various branches of psychology can be substantial.