Main Determinations of Female Entrepreneurs in the Construction Industry in Malaysia

This paper explores the determination of female entrepreneurs in the construction industry based on masculine and feminine characteristics in the Malaysian construction industry, using the Bem Sex‐Role Inventory (BSRI). The median split method determined that female construction entrepreneurs have masculine traits. The results are not robust because of the limited number of responses; nonetheless, the findings can be used as a platform for future research on female construction entrepreneurs in the construction industry in Malaysia. To enhance the findings’ contributions, this paper also discusses the industry characteristics, which are considered to have significantly contributed to the masculinity of female construction entrepreneurs.     

Contemporaneous Spillover Effects between the U.S. and the U.K. Equity Markets

We use high frequency data and the “identification through heteroskedasticity” approach of Rigobon (2003) to capture the contemporaneous volatility spillover effects between the U.S. and U.K. equity markets. We demonstrate the relevance of taking into account the information present during simultaneous trading hours by comparing the results generated by our structural vector autoregression with those of a traditional reduced-form vector autoregression. Our findings clearly demonstrate that contemporaneous relations matter and that ignoring them leads to inappropriate conclusions regarding the magnitude and direction of volatility spillover.     

Risk appetite,carry trade and exchange rates

Using exchange rate data from four different countries (time zones), we examine the relationship between the Yen exchange rate against major currencies (i.e. USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY) and measures of risk appetite (i.e. the S&P500 index, Dow Jones Industrial Average index and the VIX index). Our results show that the equity indexes, especially the Dow Jones Industrial Average, play a more important role in the determination of the Yen cross rates than VIX. The popular carry-trade currencies, i.e. NZD/JPY, AUD/JPY and GBP/JPY, are more affected by the US equity market than USD/JPY and EUR/JPY. While the long-term relationships are consistent across the four different time zones, the short-term dynamics are different. We find that the response of NZD/JPY, AUD/JPY and GBP/JPY to changes in the US stock market is much greater in the New Zealand and Australian zones than in the UK or US. Although the short-term relationship between exchange rates and the equity index is quite strong, the error correction speed is very sluggish. We also find evidence of asymmetric adjustment in the response of exchange rates to changes in global risk aversion. Carry trade currencies tend to appreciate gradually when conditions are favorable but fall sharply when market risk increases.     

Transfer price and equilibrium in multidivisional firms: an examination of divisional autonomy and central control

The problem faced by a firm that oversees two divisions, one of which produces and one of which uses an intermediate good, is considered. Since divisions have information that is not available to the centre, it is useful to allow the divisions some autonomy in their sales and procurement decisions. The analysis allows the centre to specify the transfer price that must be used in trades between divisions as well as placing restraints on their ability to trade with outside firms. In most of the models presented in this paper, the centre cannot observe the market price of the intermediate product, and in some models it cannot observe divisional costs. It is shown how the centre can obtain the full information solution in the simplest case by using a penalty factor that encourages internal trade. However, when divisional costs are not observable, the full information outcome is not obtainable. In this case, the optimal value of the penalty factor implies a tradeoff between the benefits of allowing divisions to act to take advantage of price opportunities in outside markets and savings in transactions costs of trades between divisions.     

Engineering consultants' perceptions of corporate branding: A case study of an international engineering consultancy

The corporate branding literature on B2B markets has developed fairly rapidly over the past decade. However, empirical support on employees' perception of corporate branding is very limited, particularly with respect to employees who fall outside the marketing/branding function within their organizations. This paper explores engineering consultants' views - as an under-researched context - on the implications of corporate branding. Findings reveal engineers' views about the significance of personal brands, the implications of incorporation, the ways in which corporate branding is carried out in their organizations, and associations of technical proficiency with the corporate brand. From the findings, four hypotheses have been developed for future research.     

RETURN INTERVAL,FIRM SIZE AND SYSTEMATIC RISK ON THE DUTCH STOCK MARKET

In this paper we investigate the behavior of betas of 50 Dutch firms as a function of the return measurement interval. We find beta estimates measured from different intervals differ significantly from each other. As the sample mainly contains stocks that are relatively thin compared to the index, beta estimates from short intervals are on average lower than those obtained from longer intervals. The results further indicate that there exists some variability in the beta coefficients for each interval length. Betas depend on the manner daily prices are juxtaposed to calculate the returns. A way to account for this variability is to average the different betas for each interval length. Asymptotic betas are also computed to show the appropriateness of this method. Finally we show that the size effect is reduced when the interval length is increased, although it remains statistically significant.     

Surprise and dispersion: informational impact of USDA announcements

We examine the role of information asymmetry on changes in bid‐ask spreads during major United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcements. Our analyses, using corn, wheat, and soybean futures, indicate that information asymmetry is significantly higher on USDA announcement days compared to nonannouncement days. We further observe that the increased information asymmetry prior to news announcements is mainly driven by the divergence in private information possessed by market participants. However, once the USDA news is released, not only the dispersion in investors’ private information but also the surprises in news announcements contribute to increased information asymmetry and widening of bid‐ask spreads.