Real Estate in an ALM Framework: The Case of Fair Value Accounting

This study examines the liability hedging characteristics of both direct and indirect real estate with the advent of fair value accounting obligations for pension funds. We explicitly model pension obligations as being subject to interest and inflation risk to analyze the ability of real estate investments in hedging the fair value of pension liabilities and to quantify its role in an asset liability management (ALM) portfolio. We find that the portfolio composition differs depending on the definition of liability return. When liability returns solely follow actuarial changes, the mean‐variance efficient portfolio allocations toward direct real estate and fixed income decrease compared to the asset‐only optimization. When accounting for nominal liability obligations, real estate offers hedging benefits against interest rates for short holding periods but not for long‐term institutional portfolios. The inclusion of inflation risk renders a limited role for direct real estate in an ALM portfolio, while indirect real estate obtains no allocation. Inflation is at the heart of the discrepancy between reported and predicted pension plan allocations. Once accounting for inflation, the projected allocations come close to reported ones.     

'I can find my own Elder!' Cultural engagement as serious leisure for Aboriginal adults living in non-Aboriginal group homes

Leisure experiences for people with intellectual disabilities are often limited by influential dependency-laden assumptions found within disability service paradigms. Within a group home living environment, leisure can become even more constrained through the necessity to accommodate the desires, abilities, and needs of other residents as well as the time, duties, and available resources of the group home staff. For Canadian First Nations people with intellectual disabilities who may have been removed from their culture to be supported in a group living environment, cultural engagement needs to be purposeful and intentional as the desire to experience traditional activities is for more than simple pleasure, as explained by Stebbins’ concept of serious leisure. Using an ecological perspective, the purpose of the study was to (a) gain an understanding of the knowledge, experience, and meaning of Aboriginal culture to Aboriginal adults with intellectual disabilities living in a group home/supportive living setting, (b) become aware of the challenges experienced by the participants when connecting with their culture, and (c) develop strategies to address challenges presented so the participants can maintain/become further engaged in their culture. Using an Indigenist research framework to come to understand their experiences and ascribed meaning of Aboriginal culture, the participants were able to ‘Know’, ‘Be’, and ‘Do’ culture on their own terms. The strengths perspective may help to write a counter-story of possibility, hope, expectation and independence in response to a dominant grand narrative of inadequacy, hopelessness, underachievement and dependence which is typically the paradigmatic thinking associated with marginalised groups.     

“Look at Him ... He’s Failing”: Male Executives’ Experiences of Redundancy

Participation and success in paid work is a key element of identity for many men. The increased prevalence of downsizing and the associated discarding of individuals from their workplaces, then, has particular relevance for men. This paper shares qualitative findings from an exploratory phenomenological study investigating the experiences of Australian executives who had been made redundant. Three themes related to male identity are presented here: Failing as the breadwinner; Being less of a person; and, Losing success. The participants in this study shared feelings of anger, sadness, fear and embarrassment as a result of the assault to their identity that accompanied their involuntary redundancies. The impacts of redundancy were not only felt in relation to their job loss, but continued after returning to work. At a time when downsizing continues to feature as a routine part of organisational life—for some, an experience repeated throughout their careers—further exploration of the experience of redundancy and its implications is required.     

The roles of news and volatility in stock market correlations during the global financial crisis

The global financial crisis has again brought the interdependencies of international financial markets to the fore, particularly during times of financial crises. This paper explores the relative roles of news and volatility in explaining the changes in correlations between national stock markets during the global financial crisis. Our results show that the majority of the correlations are more strongly explained by volatility rather than news. However as the global financial crisis evolves the relative role of news grows in importance.     

Angel investor characteristics that determine whether perceived passion leads to higher evaluations of funding potential

Despite interest in understanding the role passion plays in investor decision making, little is known about the conditions under which perceived passion is likely to play a significant role in the funding decision process. We first establish a relationship between perceived passion and evaluations of funding potential, then use affective reactivity as a theoretical framework to explore how several individual characteristics of angel investors impact the relationship between perceived passion and evaluations of funding potential. The results indicate that the relationship is stronger for angel investors who are older, more intuitive, have a high openness personality, or those who are motivated to mentor. Surprisingly, the relationship weakens for angels who are extraverted and those who have a promotion-dominated regulatory focus.     

From Occupying Plazas to Recuperating Housing: Insurgent Practices in Spain

Urban insurgencies have spread across the globe like wildfire in recent years. The indignado plaza occupations in Spain are often cited as beacons of popular and widespread dissent. This article argues that urban insurgencies with the highest emancipatory potential in Spain today are found in the practices of the housing rights movement—the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH, or Platform for Mortgage‐affected People)—that mainly entail blocking evictions and occupying empty bank‐owned housing. I elaborate on the notion of insurgent practice by examining how insurgency has been considered in relationship to citizenship, planning and public space. I propose insurgent practice as a way of articulating how people attempt to enact equality in everyday life and engage explicitly with socio‐spatial and political questions related to an emancipatory democratic politics. Based on a detailed analysis of two of the PAH's insurgent housing practices, I posit that recuperating empty bank‐owned housing with and for evicted families has the highest and most significant emancipatory potential, as it disrupts the core dynamics of urban capital accumulation and enacts equality for evicted households by directly contesting financial rent‐extraction mechanisms at multiple levels. In closing, I outline some conclusions that emerge from the Spanish housing case and from the concept of insurgent practice and urban politicizing practice in general.     

Machismo in Organizations: Individual Predictors & Context-Dependent Outcomes

Two studies were conducted to examine possible predictors of machismo value endorsement and to test the possibility that machismo’s effects on job-related outcomes may be stronger in “family-oriented” than in “team-oriented” organizations. A total of 178 students were recruited from upper-level management and MBA classes at a large university in the Southwestern U.S. In Study 1, participant gender, familism values, and femininity predicted machismo values. Unexpectedly, ethnicity did not predict machismo values. Study 2 replicated results for predictors of machismo values, except that femininity did not emerge as a significant predictor. Additionally, Study 2 results indicated that machismo’s effects were dependent on the extent to which the company was viewed as family-oriented. Results suggest that machismo values: (a) may be relevant for both Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, (b) are related, yet somewhat distinct from theoretically related variables like gender role endorsement and familism, and (c) are especially likely to affect expectations and behaviors when the organization’s culture includes elements (e.g., family orientation) that evoke a connection to those values. One of the most prominent recent demographic trends to emerge in the U.S. workforce is the rapid increase in workers of Hispanic descent. Organizations should expect an accompanying wave of employee values, attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral expectations influenced by aspects of Hispanic culture. Further, it would be of considerable applied value to identify ways to strategically harness positive effects of machismo values while mitigating potentially negative effects.