GROUP EFFECTS AND BETA NONSTATIONARITY

Recent evidence indicates that while random diversification can lead to the elimination of the majority of systematic risk, the systematic selection of securities can result in significant group effects blocking this dissipation of unsystematic risk. The group effects associated with investment in growth, cyclical, stable and oil stocks found by Farrell and Martin and Klemkosky were reexamined while allowing for beta nonstationarity. It was found that the beta nonstationarity effect, while quite large for individual stocks and small portfolios tended diversify away quite quickly. It was further found that much of what has in the past been termed a group effect is actually the result of beta nonstationarity.     

Integer goal programming model for the implementation of multiple corporate objectives

The problem of long-range planning and investment project evaluation is complicated by the presence of multiple conflicting goals measured in incommensurable units, indivisibility of alternative projects, and the desire of management to consider mutually exclusive marketing-pricing strategies. The model proposed in this study attempts to allow for these complexities through the use of integer goal programming. It is the hope of the authors that this model will provide management with an additional decision-making tool for implementation of multiple corporate objectives.     

On the Possibility of Profitable Self-Selection Contracts in Competitive Insurance Markets

Several studies extend the Rothschild–Stiglitz model of competitive insurance contracting with adverse selection by incorporating additional dimensions of private information and conclude that some insurers may earn positive profit in a separating, self-selection equilibrium, provided each insurer is restricted to making a single contract offer. The main result of this article is that these profitable configurations are not sustainable when individual insurers can offer multiple contracts. It is also shown that the ability to offer multiple contracts overturns equilibria that have applicants from different risk classes pooled as well as those where profits are dissipated by a fixed entry cost.     

康涅狄格州纽海文大学商学院 “中国价格”源于补贴

很多人认为中国制造业的价格优势得益于低廉的劳动力成本。但我们对中国钢铁业的研究表明，其低价格和政府大量的能源补贴密切相关。     

'MONEY MEANS NOT MONEY'– REFLECTIONS ON THE MEANING OF MONEY 1909–2009

Hartley Withers' classic book, The Meaning of Money , sees its centenary this year. Although the financial landscape has substantially changed since 1909, Withers' book remains insightful, informative and readable. A symposium is being held in late 2009 to explore what echoes can be heard today.     

Did state antiquity matter for the size of the informal economy?

Economics of Governance - This study investigates how state history influences the size of the informal sector. The study employs a two-stage least squares estimation technique with data from 91...     

Procedures for revising management judgments forecasts

Forecast improvement is often approached by attempting to find the “best” model for a given situation. Less attention has been paid to the possibility of examining past prediction errors for patterns that may suggest forecast adjustments for the future. This empirical study involves one firm’s management judgment forecasts for product sales and the attempts made to improve their accuracy by removing certain types of bias. In three of the five series examined, error reduction averaging close to thirty percent occurs as a result of the adjustment procedure. The other two series proved to be relatively free from bias and were therefore not in need of the correction method described.     

Propaganda strategies of Korean war-era leaflets*

ABSTRACT

This study employs an interpretive historical analysis of the themes presented in the leaflets produced by South and North Korea during the Korean War. The themes are analysed into four categories: appeals of ideology, personal gratification, communal values, and information dissemination. The most prominent themes of the ideology appeal are those of toadyism, social system criticism, and attacks on the leader of the opponents. Of the personal gratification appeal, themes include persuading opponents to surrender for personal safety, health, and to gain a sense of belonging. Communal value appeal emphasized the Korea's unique characteristics of one blood, one nation, and one ethnicity mentality to promote the authenticity of each side. Information dissemination contained warnings of bomb attacks, claims of superiority in firepower, and assertions intended to disguise the real situation of the war.