Training and the application of computer- based technology : The Case of Ontario Manufacturing

The reality of global market has challenged Canadian manufacturing companies to improve their competitiveness, primarily through the introduction of computer-based technologies. It is our contention that, in order to benefit from the use of technology, consistent attention is required to employee skills and training. Focusing on the Ontario manufacturing sector, this article explores, within an organizational context, the role of employee skills and training in relation to technology, product, and market changes. It concludes with a discussion of the contextual pressures on management and the likely future developments.     

K?rperschaftsteuers?tze, Verlustverrechnung und Steuerwettbewerb in der EU

This article describes the developments in corporate tax rates and loss-offset provisions in the EU countries and addresses the question of whether the new member states of the EU are applying lower tax rates and therefore boosting their loss-offset restrictions. Such a harmful tax competition has been feared with regard to the case law of the European Court of Justice that considers the cross-border loss offset. This study shows the opposite is true. In recent years, especially the new EU member states have extended the loss carry-forward period.     

Measuring Basis Risk in Longevity Hedges

Abstract

In examining basis risk in index longevity hedges, it is important not to ignore the dependence between the population underlying the hedging instrument and the population being hedged. We consider four extensions to the Lee-Carter model that incorporate such dependence: Both populations are jointly driven by the same single time-varying index, the two populations are cointegrated, the populations depend on a common age factor, and there is an augmented common factor model in which a population-specific time-varying index is added to the common factor model with the property that it will tend toward a certain constant level over time. Using data from the female populations of Canada and the United States, we show the augmented common factor model is preferred in terms of both goodness-of-fit and ex post forecasting performance. This model is then used to quantify the basis risk in a longevity hedge of 65-year old Canadian females structured using a portfolio of q-forward contracts predicated on U.S. female population mortality. The hedge effectiveness is estimated at 56% on the basis of longevity value-at-risk and 81.61% on the basis of longevity risk reduction.