Tourist trains with steam traction in Chile

Steam locomotives for tourist trains have been introduced in Chile, Ian Thomson, President of the Railroad Conservation Association of Chile (ACCPF), recounts how the project was shown to be feasible both economically and practically; and how, with the cooperation of the national railway companies, ACCPF succeeded in running several successful tourist steamhauled services, culminating in the Centenary train.     

Characteristics of the order flow through an electronic open limit order book

We estimate and examine certain characteristics of the order flow through an electronic open limit order book, using order (not trade) data. In doing this, we bring out new evidence on order flow from a market with microstructure different from that of the NYSE. We find that the proportion of informed orders is less than 10%, lower than previous estimates. Informed traders choose smaller orders than uninformed traders, but do not materially differ in their choice of limit or market orders. The proportion of informed investors is similar between good and bad news days. Finally, there are U-shaped intraday patterns in order arrival, and the information content of the order flow appears to follow this pattern across the day.     

The influence of the forecast horizon on judgemental probability forecasts of exchange rate movements

An experiment is reported which compares directional forecasting performance of experts, novices and simple statistical models over three time horizons on a task involving probabilistic forecasts of exchange rate movements. Probability-judgement accuracy analyses illustrated no clear overall performance differences between experts and novices, but significant differences between the groups on various important components of judgement suggested that the groups obtained their similar overall scores using different cognitive strategies. Striking horizon effects and expertize–horizon interactions were also observed. The subjects performed better than a random walk forecaster, but worse than the random walk with constant drift and first-order autoregressive models. Composite human judgement, however, not only improved on individual judgement but, also, surpassed the simple statistical models in many instances. Possible explanations are offered for these results, suggestions are made for future research, and practical implications are emphasized.     

Successful change programs begin with results

Most corporate improvement programs have a negligible impact on operational and financial performance because management focuses on the activities, not the results. By initiating activities-centered programs, such as seven-step problem solving, statistical process control, and total quality management training, managers falsely assume that one day results will materialize. But because there is no explicit connection between action and outcome, improvements seldom do materialize. The authors argue for an alternative approach: results-driven improvement programs that focus on achieving specific, measurable operational improvements within a few months. While both activity-centered and results-driven programs aim to strengthen fundamental corporate competitiveness, the approaches differ dramatically. Activity-centered programs rely on broad-based policies and are more concerned with time-consuming preparations than with measurable gains. Results-driven programs, on the other hand, rely on an incremental approach to change, building on what works and discarding what doesn't. As a result, successes come quickly, and managers build their skills and gain the support of their employees for future changes. Because results-driven improvements require minimal investment, there is no excuse for postponing action. Indeed, there is always an abundance of underexploited capability and dissipated resources within the organization that management can tap into to get the program off the ground. The authors give a few pointers for how to get started: translate the long-term vision into doable but ambitious short-term goals; periodically review strategy, learning from both successes and failures; and institutionalize the changes that work and get rid of the rest.     

Accountants' Attitudes and Environmentally-sensitive Accounting

Accounting for the environment (ICAEW, 1992) is receiving increasing attention. A series of initial interviews, visits and other contacts with a wide range of organisations and accountants on three continents left us with the impression that accountants and accounting do not appear to be involved in corporate responses to the environmental agenda. This paper is an exploration and examination of that impression. A mail questionnaire survey confirmed that accountants have low levels of involvement in their company's environmental activities and, from responses to personal opinion questions, appear to experience a conflict between their awareness of environmental issues and an inability to translate this into action within their corporate life. These attitudes are explored in the paper and would be a sufficient explanation for the absence of environmental accounting in practice.     

Managing Scottish higher and further education

Abstract

This article outlines the traditional gendered nature of further and higher education and how this has been challenged by long term developments. The focus on managerialism and competition provides a context for a re-invigorated ‘agentic’ (associated with masculinity) gendering. Non-executive management in further and higher education is deeply unbalanced in gender terms. Senior management in universities is male dominated but significantly more balanced in colleges. Furthermore, in universities, the career dynamic which privileges research and the gendering of this in favour of males, more than outweighs some new career spaces open to women. In colleges, the 1990s evacuation of many male managers created openings for women but in a particularly tough economic and business environment in which some have suggested that women have been used to bolster an ‘agentic’ male styled approach to management; others that a more adaptive less stereotypical approach is emerging.     

Economies with Public Goods: An Elementary Geometric Exposition

This paper explains how to represent economies with one private good, one public good, and two agents when the public good is produced from the private good by operating a linear technology, by means of the so-called "Kolm triangle." It also shows the usefulness of this representation in analyzing this class of economies.     

Optimal Stopping and Losses on Subprime Mortgages

Lender losses on mortgage loans arise from a two-stage process. In the first stage, the borrower stops making payments if and when default is optimal. The second stage is a lengthy and costly period during which the lender employs legal remedies to obtain possession and execute a sale of the collateral. This research uses data on subprime mortgage losses to explore the role of borrower and collateral characteristics, and local legal requirements, as well as traditional option variables in the decisions of borrowers and lenders. Although subprime borrowers default earlier, which should reduce lender losses, these borrowers, nevertheless, impose greater realized losses on mortgage lenders.