Old stocks,new owners: Two cases of ownership change in China's stock market

During the 1990s, ownership of China's listed firms remained stable: state entities remained in control of restructured state-owned enterprises since only a minority of shares were allowed to trade publicly and to be owned privately. However, since 1999, the ownership of China's listed firms has become more fluid due to the development of an off-exchange market in ‘legal person’ shares. This paper examines two such cases of ownership change. The case of Taitai's take-over of Lizhu shows that transfer of control is now occurring on a commercial basis. However, the Baiwen case shows that buy-outs are still being organized by government entities to support failing state firms. The deals suggest that while the government is using all means to restructure listed firms, rather than de-list them, it is also moving to create a competitive market in control.     

On the effects of sterilized intervention: An analysis of weekly data

As the recent empirical studies surveyed here illustrate, it is very difficult to demonstrate that the exchange rate risk premium depends (through a portfolio balance channel) on the currency composition of outside assets. The existence of a ‘portfolio balance effect” is a necessary condition for sterilized intervention to be a genuinely independent tool of monetary policy. This paper studies U.S./Canadian data, and attempts to improve on earlier studies by using higher frequency (weekly) data and by implementing an appropriate instrumental variables technique (2S2SLS). However, we still fail to detect evidence of a portfolio balance effect.     

金融危机的后震荡波

对由二战以后暴发的历次重大金融危机而引起的经济衰退持续时间和深度进行研究发现,由危机引起的资产市场的跌落过程是漫长的,从经济周期峰值到谷底,房地产价格平均下降35%,需要花6年时间才能触底;证券跌到谷底的时间略短,约3年半,但市值将大幅缩水约55%。金融危机还会造成实体经济中产出的下降和失业率上升,失业率平均会上升7%,几乎花4年时间,产出下降幅度将超过9%。对过去金融危机余波的分析可以为预测本次金融危机的影响提供一些借鉴。     

The promise (and pitfalls) of ICT for agriculture initiatives

The widespread growth of information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs) in rural areas of developing countries offers new opportunities to provide more timely and low‐cost information services to farmers, as well as assist in coordinating agricultural agents. Over the past decade, the number of public and private sector initiatives in this space has increased substantially, with over 140 deployments worldwide in 2015. While there is substantial potential for such services to address farmers’ and traders’ information and credit market constraints, economic research suggests that the impacts of such services on agricultural adoption, behavior and welfare is mixed. While this can, in part, be explained by the degree of the information asymmetry and the presence of other market failures in different contexts, research from other disciplines provides additional insights into these findings. In particular, work in the domain of human–computer interaction (HCI) focuses heavily on users’ interaction and experience with a given technology, thus explaining why users may not fully engage with ICT‐based agricultural interfaces. Furthermore, sociological and anthropological approaches study the provision of information and trust and how these may be altered by ICT platforms. Drawing upon these disciplines, we suggest that future ICT for agriculture initiatives should first seek to better understand the information and complementary market failures in a given context, in order to better understand whether information is a binding constraint. Second, even if information is missing, the information services provided should be of high quality and from a trusted source, which can be a challenge with some ICT platforms. Finally, such services should be delivered via platforms that build upon local ICT access and usage, paying particular attention to the gender digital divide.     

The Use and Characteristics of Foreign Component Auditors in U.S. Multinational Audits: Insights from Form AP Disclosures*

This paper investigates the common, yet previously opaque, practice of using foreign audit firms (component auditors) to conduct portions of audit work for U.S. public companies. U.S. regulators have expressed concern for the transparency and quality of audits using component auditors. Employing data disclosed in the newly mandated PCAOB Form AP, we find that component auditor use is largely structural, determined by the size and complexity of clients' multinational operations. We do not find that the mere use of component auditors is detrimental to audit outcomes, but rather the amount of work conducted by component auditors is associated with lower audit quality (i.e., higher likelihood of misstatement), higher likelihood of nontimely reporting, and higher audit fees, which collectively suggest that component auditor engagements are associated with adverse outcomes. Furthermore, we find that only the work performed by less competent component auditors and those facing geographic and cultural/language barriers, including significant geographic and cultural distance, weak rule of law, and low English language proficiency, is associated with adverse audit outcomes. Overall, these findings provide initial archival evidence that the use of certain component auditors on U.S. multinational audits is associated with audit coordination issues, which suggests that PCAOB Form AP disclosures provide relevant information.     

Human resource management responsibilities in private clubs

ABSTRACT

Private clubs have long been considered a unique segment of the hospitality industry. Clubs are different than other types of hospitality enterprises in many respects, including their ownership, revenue sources, management, and specifically, in the management of human resources. This article focuses on how human resources are managed in one regional chapter of the national association of club managers (New England). First, a focus group of club managers in New England was conducted. Next, a survey was conducted of club managers belonging to the New England chapter of the Club Managers Association of America. Findings suggest that very few clubs have human resource directors; responsibilities tend to be delegated through the organization; clubs have certain human resource management challenges associated with not having a human resource director; and general managers are actively involved in the management of human resources.     

A literary human extinction scenario

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly's (MWS) novel, The Last Man, published in 1826, is an epic narrative about the destruction of the human race. This paper provides a synopsis of this book and assesses its relationships to contemporary future studies. The paper also delves into the history of apocalyptic writing and thinking, using this book an entry point to past literature.