An examination of the equity market price linkage between Australia and the European Union using leveraged bootstrap method

The paper examines the equity market price interaction between Australia and the European Union – represented by the UK, Germany and France – based on the Toda–Yamamoto causality test, which is bootstrapped with leveraged adjustments. A new information criterion is used to choose the optimal lag order. Weekly MSCI data covering the period 1988 to 2001 is used, divided into two subperiods to allow for a structural break arising from the ERM crisis of 1992. Results show that, during the period before the ERM crisis, no significant causal links exist between Australia and any of three EU countries. During the period after the ERM crisis, Australia also had no causal links with Germany and France but it had with the UK, with causality running from the UK to Australia but not vice-versa. Thus, Australian investors may find the German and French, but not the UK, equity markets, attractive venues for their international diversification. German and French, but not British, investors may also obtain the same benefit from the Australian equity market.     

Determinants of GNMA Mortgage Prices

This paper contrasts three different arbitrage-based models for the pricing of GNMA securities, and analyzes the effect of different assumptions about the call policy pursued by the issuers of the underlying mortgages. Both the nature of the interest-rate uncertainty captured by the model and the assumed call policy have a major effect on the yield differentials predicted between GNMA securities and Treasury Bonds.     

The connectivity of infrastructure networks and the urban space of São Paulo in the 1990s

This article explores the strategic importance of information systems for social control of networked services on urban and regional scales, and the nature of the information required for that purpose. The standard indicators of infrastructure coverage – by and large based on the number and encompassment of connections – no longer respond to the real conditions of supply and consumption. The technological and managerial innovations in flow control and dispatch, along with the effects of combined access to multi‐mode networks, render the evaluation of services’ connectivity considerably more complex than it used to be in the past. Private domination over the supply structure of these services tends to make the political struggle for equitability more dependent on the technical reliability of information than it could have been under the model of state supply. Networked services’ management has evolved to a more demand‐oriented structure, but this structure has so far reproduced the structural inequalities of Brazilian society in favor of powerful stakeholders, e.g. large consumers. The potential for more democratic control associated with this new balance between supply and demand in networked services can only evolve if more vulnerable social groups have access to sound technological and managerial information. To support this idea the article shows the importance of connectivity indicators in determining the effective access to networked utilities in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo, in contrast to the traditional indicators of services’ coverage. Cet article explore l’importance stratégique des systémes d’information pour le contrôle social des services de réseaux au niveau urbain et régional, et la nature de l’information nécessaire pour cela. Les indicateurs habituels du niveau d’information sur l’infrastructure – généralement basés sur le nombre et la compréhension des relations – ne répondent plus aux conditions réelles de provision et de consommation. Les nouveautés de technologie et de gestion dans le contrôle du mouvement et dans les expéditions, ainsi que les effets de l’accés joint aux réseaux à modes multiples, rendent l’évaluation des liens entre les services beaucoup plus complexe que précédemment. La domination de la structure de provision de ces services par le domaine privé a tendance à rendre la lutte politique pour la justice plus dépendante de la fiabilité des informations qu’elle aurait pu l’? tre dans le modéle de provision par l’état. La gestion des services de réseaux a évolué vers une structure orientée vers la demande, mais jusqu’à présent cette structure a reproduit les inégalités structurelles de la société brésilienne qui favorise des détenteurs de pouvoir, par exemple les gros consommateurs. Les possibilités d’un contrôle plus démocratique associéà cet équilibre nouveau entre la provision et la demande dans les services de réseaux ne peut se développer que si les groupes sociaux les plus vulnérables ont accés à une information technologique et gestionnaire fiable. Pour soutenir cette opinion, l’article démontre l’importance des indicateurs de rapports pour déterminer des conditions d’accés efficaces aux entreprises de service de réseaux dans la région métropolitaine de Sao Paulo, au contraire des indicateurs traditionnels de l’information des services.     

Affective predictors of the effectiveness of training moderated by the cognitive complexity of expected competencies

Research in training, development and education (TD&E) in organizations has produced important results in the last two decades. Evaluation of TD&E has been a special focus of this research, which has resulted in the production of relevant predictive models. The present study has the aim of testing a model of effectiveness of training on work, with the trainee's motivation and satisfaction with training as the antecedent variables and the type of training as a moderator variable. Data collection with 600 participants in a Brazilian bank was conducted with measurement scales before training, at its end and three months later. The data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The results indicate that the motivation of the trainee and satisfaction with training are predictors of its effectiveness on work and that the type of training affects this predictive relationship. The key feature of the type of training was the cognitive complexity of expected competencies.     

Die Marktabgrenzung in der Elektrizitätswirtschaft

This article presents the current market definition in the electricity sector as applied by the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office). The main focus is on the definition of the relevant product and geographic markets at the end consumer level. Moreover, it considers implications of the market definition for competition policy. A central aspect of the electricity sector is the interdependence between the generation, distribution and end consumer levels. It follows that the generation level has a deterministic impact on the electricity sector in general and especially at the consumer level.     

The Informational Role of Product Trade‐Ins for Pricing Durable Goods

This research theorizes that sellers of durable goods can utilize inferences about the buyer's willingness to pay based not only on her decision to trade in the old good but also on its characteristics. We find empirical support for this theory using transaction data for new car purchases. The results support the notion that dealers infer a higher willingness to pay and charge higher prices to consumers who trade in a used vehicle than to those who do not. We also find that dealers charge even higher prices to those consumers who trade in used cars that are similar to the new one.     

Volunteerism,compassion and religiosity as drivers of donations practices

• The topic of donations is one of high relevance and has been widely covered in contemporary marketing literature. It is a topic of interest to both theoreticians and practitioners alike, particularly due to its implicit links to fundraising activities and research. The reality of what makes an individual donor ultimately part with his money and give it away to a nonprofit organization is a hot contemporary topic. This study looks into the role of religiosity as a predictor of donations practices. Also volunteerism and compassion, two acts of pro‐social behaviour are analysed as predictors of donations practices. Using data collected from a survey of 612 charity donors in Portugal, the results show unequivocally that religiosity does influence donations practices, and so being a predictor of donations practices. Moreover, pro‐social behaviour is a predictor of donations practices when in the case of volunteerism, but not in the form of compassion.
• The findings are particularly useful for nonprofit organizations that want to attract and retain individual charitable donors and may also help to increase donation regularity, to obtain higher amounts, and donations both to religious and to secular organizations. Finally, it can be stated that the understanding of religiosity sheds light on knowledge about donations practices, and that this study also makes an important contribution to academia, as it is the first study conducted in Portugal that assesses the drivers of donations practices.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The meta-crisis of secular capitalism

The current global economic crisis concerns the way in which contemporary capitalism has turned to financialisation as a double cure for both a falling rate of profit and a deficiency of demand. Although this turning is by no means unprecedented, policies of financialisation have depressed demand (in part as a result of the long-term stagnation of average wages) while at the same time not proving adequate to restore profits and growth. This paper argues that the current crisis is less the ‘normal’ one that has to do with a constitutive need to balance growth of abstract wealth with demand for concrete commodities. Rather, it marks a meta-crisis of capitalism that is to do with the difficulties of sustaining abstract growth as such. This meta-crisis is the tendency at once to abstract from the real economy of productive activities and to reduce everything to its bare materiality. By contrast with a market economy that binds material value to symbolic meaning, a capitalist economy tends to separate matter from symbol and reduce materiality to calculable numbers representing ‘wealth’. Such a conception of wealth rests on the aggregation of abstract numbers that cuts out all the relational goods and the ‘commons’ on which shared prosperity depends.     

Corporate Frauds as Criminal Business Models: An Exploratory Study

In this article, we report on the findings of an exploratory, interpretive study of a notorious corporate fraud that occurred in Brazil from 1989 to 2005. We examine the process by which this scheme was created as well as how it was maintained for all those years. Our analysis covers both the substantive aspects (the actions fraud agents effectively perform) and the symbolic aspects (the resources of impression management that they use). We suggest that under certain circumstances, corporate frauds may be understood as the result of implementation of a criminal business model that focuses on a niche market of risk takers or greed investors, uses aggressive commercial practices and offers exclusivity, promotes the organization's image and personality cult of the entrepreneur, operates a management model that combines centralized control with fragmented systems, and uses complex fraudulent practices. This perspective allows us to understand the phenomenon of corporate fraud from a systemic point of view. We also suggest directions for future research and theory development on corporate frauds. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Opportunities to Improve Entrepreneurship Education: Contributions Considering Brazilian Challenges

This paper identifies challenges and opportunities for enhancing higher education in entrepreneurship considering student perceptions concerning both their demand for entrepreneurship education and their entrepreneurial intention as well as previous studies that present the points of view of experts. The main focus is Brazilian higher education, but the results address challenges that cross borders, such as the need for a practical approach. The study analyzed the data from the Brazilian version of the 2011 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) obtained with an online questionnaire answered by 25,751 Brazilian students from 37 colleges and universities. To give a reference for a better understanding of Brazilian statistics, data were compared to those of the 2011 international GUESSS involving also 25 other countries and 64,079 responses from them. Three hypotheses were tested. The results show that entrepreneurship education has a significant negative effect on student entrepreneurial intention and also on self‐efficacy. The same occurs between entrepreneurial intention and students' demand for entrepreneurship education. Brazilian students present higher levels of entrepreneurial intention and are significantly more motivated to take courses and activities in entrepreneurship than those students in the international sample. Approximately 50 percent of Brazilian students are potential entrepreneurs. One of the opportunities identified is to take advantage of students' positive attitudes and their high demand. The opportunities could play an important role in overcoming the challenges recognized, among which are the need for a more practical approach and the need for larger and diversified educational offerings beyond business planning. The challenges make Neck and Greene's recommendations, presented in a 2011 issue of JSBM, particularly important for Brazil. The last three sections propose different explanations, suggestions for more research, and practical recommendations.