Psychological Capital: Impacts on Asset Management

Drawing together the areas of behavioral finance and positive psychology, the present research sought to investigate whether the psychological capital of investment fund managers is associated with fund performance in a context of financial instability. The theoretical propositions were presented and evaluated empirically through primary data on investment fund manager profiles and secondary data on the cumulative stock fund returns. The results indicate that funds managed by managers with greater resilience and optimism obtained a higher return than the mean profitability in a period of market instability.     

Switching costs and implicit contracts

When firms can discriminate between old and new customers and when multiperiod binding commitments are too costly, the effects of switching costs may be mitigated thanks to implicit contracts offered (competitively) by firms in equilibrium and backed by reputation.     

Financial Market Imperfections and the Impact of Exchange Rate Movements on Exports*

This paper analyzes empirically the role of financial market imperfections in the way countries’ exports react to a currency depreciation. Using quarterly data for 27 developed and developing countries over the period 1990–2005, we find that the impact of a depreciation on exports will be less positive—or even negative—for a country if: (i) firms borrow in foreign currency; (ii) they are credit constrained; (iii) they are specialized in industries that require more external capital; (iv) the magnitude of depreciation or devaluation is large. This last result emphasizes the existence of a nonlinear relationship between an exchange rate depreciation and the reaction of a country's exports when financial imperfections are observed. This offers a new explanation for the consequences of recent currency crises in middle‐income countries.     

Adjustment Costs,Uncertainty, and the Level of Activity

What is the effect of adjustment costs on economic activity? This is an important question that is still debated either at the political or the academic level. We consider a simple model where basically two effects come into play: Adjustment costs decrease current activity but may help maintain future activity. We examine their relative strength, first in a model with uncertain prices and then in a model with demand uncertainty (newsboy problem).     

Co-movement of revenue: structural changes in the business cycle

The co-movement of revenue growth across different industries changes over the business cycle. Using a large sample of quarterly firm revenues, aggregated to industry data from 1969 to 2009, we demonstrate that the correlation is the highest during a crisis. Our findings of structural changes in correlation have implications for diversification decisions in portfolio analysis and risk management. The higher correlation in crisis periods increases the downside risk and bankruptcy probability of business portfolios. We test the hypothesis that average correlations are significantly different, by applying permutation and bootstrap techniques. As robustness checks, both correlations between industries and the aggregate market and correlations between earnings confirm our findings.     

Exchange rate pass-through and rivalry in the Swiss automobile market

Exchange Rate Pass-Through and Rivalry in the Swiss Automobile Market. —This paper investigates the pricing rivalry among foreign automobile producers in the Swiss market. The main results from the dynamic analysis of two categories of automobiles between 1977 and 1991 are: First, the degree of exchange rate pass-through differs among source-countries despite the absence of quantitative restrictions on imports and of domestic production facilities. However, for some countries, pricing strategies show remarkable consistency across product categories and time spans. Second, the degree of exchange rate pass-through is low, especially in the market for small-size automobiles. Third, this low degree of pass-through may be attributed to a low degree of competition among foreign sellers.     

Is there an economic system based on sovereignty of each consumer?

Conclusion One could add to these examples and show that systems based on consumer sovereignty can range from some historical realizations oflaissez-faire all the way to certain conceivable forms of (Lange) socialism. In every case an analysis of the individual incentive systems that fuel and of the welfare rationale that shapes the economic and political structures would be required before actual systems could be classified in a welfare relevant sense.Pareto optimality and actual or planner-simulated perfect competition certainly cannot be mandatory if systems based on consumer sovereignty are to exist. Freedom of consumers as a group regarding their choice of political and economic constitution and freedom of action for each individual who is protected by the Pareto criterion within some statistical confidence interval under each constitution suffice for consumer sovereignty. As long as the government remains demonstrably representative of the qualified majority in constitutional questions and respectful of all voters in its parliamentary processes, the consumer-predilected scope of government activities may differ from case to case, but the welfare basis is the same.In a second-best world, consumers and their representatives may even choose to delegate many or most allocative decisions to the executive branch of government, if they see no superior and feasible alternative. Extreme caution is justified if it is feared that such voluntary delegation of powers may prove irreversible; yet systems based on consumer sovereignty can take varying forms. In general, ideological labels, or terms based on characteristic details, institutional parameters, or formal organization are therefore insufficient for systems classification on the welfare basis which may well be regarded as the single most important respect in which economic systems can differ.     

Property rights,uncertainty and fertility: An analysis of the effect of land reform on fertility in rural Mexico

Zusammenfassung Eigentumsrechte, Unsicherheit und Fruchtbarkeit: Eine Analyse der Wirkung der Landreform auf die Fruchtbarkeit in den l?ndlichen Gebieten Mexikos. —In der Praxis k?nnen die Ziele der Bev?lkerungskontrolle und der Landreform miteinander in Konflikt geraten, wenn das Land auf der Basis der Nutznie\ung zugeteilt wird. In dem mexikanischen Ejido-System des Landbesitzes werden spezifische Anreize zu h?herer Fruchtbarkeit festgestellt; es wird hervorgehoben, da\ (mangels gut entwickelter Kapitalm?rkte aufgrund der fehlenden Verk?uflichkeit des Landes) Kinder als Mittel zur intertemporalen Verteilung des Familienkonsums benutzt werden. Ferner wird die Rolle betont, die Kinder für die Sicherung von Rechtstiteln auf Land spielen. Ein Pr?ferenzmodell wird verwendet, um die Risiken zu analysieren, denen sich Ejido-Familien gegenübersehen, und es wird gezeigt, da\ die Struktur des Landbesitzes ein bestimmender Faktor für die erwünschte Familiengr?\e ist. Eine Querschnittsanalyse mit Daten von 48 l?ndlichen Gemeinden im Staat Mexiko stützt die Hypothese, da\ Ejido-Familien mehr Geburten und gr?\ere Kinderzahlen haben, auch wenn alle anderen (verfügbaren) Faktoren berücksichtigt werden.

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Résumé Les droits de propriété, l’incertitude et la fertilité: Une analyse d’effet de la réforme de campagne sur la fertilité en Mexique rural. -En pratique les buts du contr?le de population et de la réforme de campagne peuvent entrer en conflit si la campagne soit assignée sur une base d’usufruit. Les incitations à une fertilité plus haute sont identifiées en système d'ejido d'affermage de campagne pratiqué en Mexique; nous soulignons l’usage des enfants comme instrument d'effectuer l’allocation intertemporale de la consommation familiale (à défaut des marchés des capitaux assez développés qui existent à cause de la vendabilité manquante de la campagne) et le r?le des enfants en assurant les droits à la campagne. Nous utilisons un modèle de préférence d'analyser les risques avec lesquels les familles d’ejido sont confrontés et nous démontrons que la structure d’affermage de campagne est un facteur déterminant de la magnitude désirée de famille. Une analyse statistique transversale des données des 48 municipalités rurales dans l’état de Mexique supporte la hypothèse que les familles d’ ejido auront plus des naissances et plus des stocks d’enfants même si tous les autres facteurs (disponibles) soient considérés.

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Resumen Derechos de propiedad, inseguridad y fertilidad: Un análisis del efecto de la reforma agraria sobre la fertilidad en el Mexico rural. —En práctica, las metas de un control de la población y de una reforma agraria pueden ser conflictivas si la tierra es asignada sobre la basis de usufructo. Los incentivos para una mayor fertilidad son identificados con el sistema de ejidos como control de la tierra practicada en México; se da importancia al hecho de usar a los ni?os como instrumentos para realizar una alocación intertemporal del consumo de la familia (en ausencia de mercados de capital bien desarrollados que existen debido a la ausencia de estabilidad de la tierra) y el rol de los ninos para asegurar los derechos sobre la tierra. Se utiliza un modelo de preferencia para analizar los riesgos que enfrentan las familias de los ejidos y se muestra que la estructura de tenencia de la tierra es un factor determinante para el tama?o deseado de la familia. Un análisis estadistico de corte transversal de datos para 48 municipalidades rurales en el estado de México apoya la hipótesis que las familias de los ejidos tendrán más nacimientos y mayores stocks de ni?os incluso si se toman en cuenta todos los otros factores a disposición.