A New Data Base on State-Owned Enterprises

Privatization of state-owned assets was a central economic reformof the 1980s and 1990s. Lack of data has made it impossibleto judge the extent to which privatization has diminished theimportance of state ownership in the economy or changed theperformance of state-owned enterprises. This article introducesa new data base on state-owned enterprises, the first sincethe mid-1980s, which partly fills this information gap. TheBureaucrats in Business data base provides time-series datafor up to 88 countries on the share of state enterprises inthe overall economy, investment, employment, and internal andexternal credit as well as their overall surplus or deficitand the size of transfers to and from national treasuries. Thearticle presents the rationale for the data base, describesits seven measures of state enterprise size and performance,and explores possible uses of the information.     

Commentary: U.S. banking in an increasingly integrated and competitive world economy

Commentary: U.S. banking in an increasingly integrated and competitive world economy     

The use of modelling in an economic appraisal of a new technology

This paper deals with the problem of identifying the major economic sensitivities of an unusual mineral extraction project when the project is based on a radically new technology which is still at the research and development phase. On the timescale for development of the technology major external uncertainties such as the future level of metal prices are critical, as well as internal uncertainties such as cost and time. The possible outcomes are explored using CASPAR, a computer-based network program with integral financial analysis features which allow use from pre-feasibility phases right through to eventual project management.     

The recreational value of coral reefs: A meta-analysis

Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that provide a variety of valuable goods and services, including recreational opportunities. The open-access nature and public good characteristics of coral reefs often result in them being undervalued in decision making related to their use and conservation. In response to this, there now exists a substantial economic valuation literature on coral reefs. For the purposes of conducting a meta-analysis of this literature, we collected 166 coral reef valuation studies, 52 of which provided sufficient information for a statistical meta-analysis, yielding 100 separate value observations in total. Focusing on recreational values, we use US$ per visit as the dependent variable in our meta-analysis. The meta-regression results reveal a number of important factors in explaining variation in coral reef recreational values, notably the area of dive sites and the number of visitors. Different valuation methods are shown to produce widely different values, with the contingent valuation method producing significantly lower value estimates. Using a multi-level modelling approach we also control for authorship effects, which proves to be highly significant in explaining variation in value estimates. We assess the prospects for using this analysis for out-of-sample value transfer, and find average transfer errors of 186%. We conclude that there is a need for further high-quality valuation research on coral reefs.     

The Effect of Ethical Fund Portfolio Inclusion on Executive Compensation

This paper divides firms in the Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) into two groups based on inclusion in or exclusion from the Domini Social Index (DSI). Inclusion in the DSI is interpreted as a positive indicator of ethical status. Using data for the 1992–2003 period, I provide evidence that chief executive officer (CEO) compensation, other executive compensation, and director compensation tend to be lower in DSI firms than in other firms in the S&P 500. This applies to the unconditional group averages (and medians) and is particularly striking given that DSI firms as a group had better financial performance than the other firms. This finding is also true in a regression framework that controls for other influences on compensation, including firm size and financial performance. In a regression context, the estimated discount for CEOs of DSI firms is approximately 12% for both current compensation (salary and bonuses) and total compensation (including the value of options). These results are consistent with the expectation that some senior executives require a “compensating differential” to accept positions in firms with less attractive ethical status. It is also consistent with the expectation that some firms with positive ethical status might use more restraint in setting executive compensation.James Brander is the Asia-Pacific Professor of International Business in the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. An economist, his research areas include international trade, industrial organization and finance. He is a former editor of the Canadian Journal of Economics and has published widely, including the textbook “Government Policy Toward Business”.     

Filtration enlargement-based time series forecast in view of insider trading

This survey reviews filtration enlargement models in view of insider trading. Although filtration enlargement aptly models insiders' informational advantage, the theoretical results have not attracted the attention of the empiricists, owing mainly to the lack of a bridge transforming the results to testable hypotheses, and/or the absence of econometrics method linking the hypotheses and the data. This survey provides a feasible avenue to estimate insider information and to detect trading from a relatively sophisticated theoretical model, where the dynamics of publicly available data (e.g., stock price) implies insider information before the information is completely digested. We complete the survey with an empirical illustration based on simulated data.     

Market Power,Productivity and Sectoral Labour Shares in Europe

Open Economies Review - The stability of the labour share of income is a fundamental feature of many macroeconomic models. Empirically however, the labour share varies considerably across countries...     

Developing pre-service primary teachers’ understanding of engineering through engineering habits of mind and engagement with engineers

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - This paper explores how primary teachers might be prepared through their pre-service training to feel more confident to include...     

Do uninformed traders move prices? Evidence from the Bank of Japan's ETF purchasing program

Using the Bank of Japan (BoJ) ETF purchasing program as an exogenous shock to stock demand, we find that stocks with a higher BoJ demand experience higher positive abnormal returns on BoJ ETF purchase dates, which only partially revert in the long term. Our findings support the hypothesis that stocks have a downward-sloping demand curve, implying that uninformed traders can cause a permanent shift in price.