An alternative functional form for estimating the Lorenz curve

We propose a simple single parameter functional form for the Lorenz curve. The new specification is fitted to existing data sets and is shown to provide a better fit than existing single parameter Lorenz curves for the given data.     

Network structure and robustness: lessons for research programme design

The information and communication technology (ICT) network of the last two European Research Framework Programmes (FPs) is deeply influenced by two distinct groups of organizations: a small group of hubs (3% of the participants) hold the key to keeping the network together and a second group of non-hub connectors large enough (39% of the participants) with a significant share of the overall networking activity provide a robust base for the network. The ICT network can survive the removal of single important funding instruments such as integrated projects or specific targeted research projects. Increasing policy rhetoric on innovative application in the new FP (Horizon 2020) should be reflected in a shift of core participants from largely public research and teaching organizations to private-sector companies.     

Investigation of the Greek – Turkish Military Spending Relation

In this paper, the relation between the Greek and Turkish military spending is investigated, examining first the identification of its exact statistical form, and second, a diachronically constant ratio between the two magnitudes. Using annual nominal data over the period from 1949 to 2008, the stationarity of the series is tested by performing a sequential Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and a Kwiatkowski?CPhillips?CSchmidt?CShin (KPSS) unit root test. Both the long?Crun equilibrium relation among the series of the Greek and Turkish military spending and their diachronically constant ratio are estimated following a Johansen cointegration analysis.     

A Macroeconomic Stabilization Game: Design,Development, and Testing

The author describes a computer game involving macroeconomic stabilization policy. Students are asked to take the part of government in manipulating tax rates, expenditures, monetary policy in an attempt to influence employment and inflation in an open economy.     

BlackBerry in red China: Research in motion navigates institutional barriers in an emerging market. Case comment: RIM in China

Research in Motion's (RIM's) entry into the Chinese market during a time when many distractions —principally a patent dispute with NTP—occupied management's attention was not a foregone conclusion. China remained a difficult market to crack. One holdup was an impasse with regard to RIM's use of encryption technology and the Chinese authorities' desire to monitor e‐mail traffic and content. Here the technical and political concerns were entangled. To further complicate things, the entirety of RIM had until recently been preoccupied with the legal settlement with NTP in the United States. Issues in this study highlight real‐world dilemmas in a thriving firm. The founders are still in charge, and new markets present themselves regularly. A very real challenge is divided attentions. The standstill over market entry calls for integrative thinking—bringing together disparate and contradictory elements for resolution. RIM's way out will invariably involve embracing complex relationships in order to find a resolution to the various conflicting institutional forces. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Attributes of a Costly Recall: Evidence from the Automotive Industry

While researchers have extensively documented the equity response to product recalls and subsequent shareholder losses, less attention in the literature has been given to examining the damaging recall attributes. Using 1973–1998 automotive safety recall data, this study identifies the kinds of recalls that cause significant shareholder losses. After constructing an equally-weighted automotive market index to control for industry effects and adjusting the abnormal returns to account for the degree of surprise in the recall announcement, the study estimates both percentage and real dollar abnormal returns. We find that the indirect costs of automotive recalls are likely larger than the direct costs.     

An alternative definition of individual bioequivalence

Several definitions of individual bioequivalence of two formulations of a medical treatment (drug) have been proposed recently. These definitions attempt to adapt the criterion of average bioequivalence, which would be deficient if substantive treatment heterogeneity were present. In some of the proposed definitions, relatively large differences of means can be compensated by differences in the measurement-error variances. We propose a definition based on a simple latent-variable model which overcomes this anomaly and need not involve the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 80/125 rule. Our approach is based on a moment-matching estimator of the discrepancy between the outcomes underlying the subjects' responses. The distribution of this estimator is a linear combination of independent χ² variates; asymptotically, it can be approximated by a normal distribution. Evidence of individual bioequivalence corresponds to rejecting the hypothesis that the discrepancy is greater than a specified threshold. The approach is illustrated by reanalysing two bioequivalence trials.     

Organizational ambidexterity and financial performance in the banking industry: evidence from a developing economy

Journal of Financial Services Marketing - The paper examined the relationship between organizational ambidexterity on the attitude of employees and the financial performance of the banking sector...     

Expected shortfall estimation for apparently infinite-mean models of operational risk

Statistical analyses on actual data depict operational risk as an extremely heavy-tailed phenomenon, able to generate losses so extreme as to suggest the use of infinite-mean models. But no loss can actually destroy more than the entire value of a bank or of a company, and this upper bound should be considered when dealing with tail-risk assessment. Introducing what we call the dual distribution, we show how to deal with heavy-tailed phenomena with a remote yet finite upper bound. We provide methods to compute relevant tail quantities such as the Expected Shortfall, which is not available under infinite-mean models, allowing adequate provisioning and capital allocation. This also permits a measurement of fragility. The main difference between our approach and a simple truncation is in the smoothness of the transformation between the original and the dual distribution. Our methodology is useful with apparently infinite-mean phenomena, as in the case of operational risk, but it can be applied in all those situations involving extreme fat tails and bounded support.     

The evolution of the January effect

This paper extends recent studies of the January effect by investigating the evolution of the daily pattern of the effect across size deciles. Our evidence documents a sizable mean reverting component beginning in the latter part of January and a shorter duration of the seasonal effect. Despite lower abnormal returns in the second part of January, higher abnormal returns in the first part of January keep the magnitude of the January effect unchanged. Further analysis of daily trading volumes suggests a stable trading volume intensity in the first part of January and a substantial decline in trading volume intensity in the second part of January.