The value of celebrity endorsements: A stock market perspective

Are celebrity endorsements worthwhile investments in advertising? To answer this question, we analyze a unique sample of 101 announcements made between 1996 and 2008 by firms listed in the USA. Internet is the main medium of communication for these announcements. We employ event study methodology and document statistically insignificant abnormal returns around the announcement dates. This finding is consistent with the notion that the incremental benefits from celebrity endorsements closely match the incremental costs due to such contracts. Further, we investigate if the announcement date return depends on a number of characteristics that are often used in the endorsement literature. As a result, we find that endorsements of technology industry products coincide with significant positive abnormal returns around the announcement dates. Finally, we find weak support for the match-up hypothesis between celebrities and endorsed products.     

论我国抗旱立法的完善

旱灾一直是我国的主要自然灾害之一,它影响粮食安全、饮用水安全、生态安全。面对大旱,我们必须深刻反思我国现有抗旱立法工作的不足之处,并通过加强防灾减灾与水资源管理方面立法,完善《森林法》的内容,加快制定农业保险法、农田水利法等农业立法,使我国抗旱工作有法可依,提高我国应对旱灾的能力。     

我国政府购买居家养老服务保障现状与问题思考

政府购买居家养老服务保障模式作为实现政府、市场和社会三位资源整合的新型养老方式是迎接人口老龄化到来的优势养老选择,在国外和港台地区已经获得迅速发展并建立了长效运行机制。相比而言,当前我国政府购买居家养老服务事业正处于起步阶段,虽然部分地区已进行了有益的实践探索和总结,但服务的购买方、供给方、需求方都还面临着诸多困境：服...     

从呼唤到运作:权利理论研究的中国演进

权利问题始终是法理学研究中的核心问题之一。特别是在近30年发展中,从最初"权利本位"与"义务本位"的学术争论中确定权利的地位开始,权利理论就成为了中国法学研究中的重要问题。在经历了对权利的呼唤、使得权利意识被整个社会接受之后,如何实现和保障权利,也就是权利的运作问题逐渐成为权利理论发展的重心。进入新世纪之后,权利运作中对社会权利的关注又成为权利理论中新的热点问题,这是对权利运作的深化和拓展。     

Measuring the cost of liquidity in agricultural futures markets: Conventional and Bayesian approaches

Estimating the cost of liquidity in agricultural futures markets is challenging because bid‐ask spreads are usually not observed. Based on an ability to reflect simulated data from Roll's spread model, we assess the effectiveness of conventional and Bayesian bid‐ask spread estimators under different market conditions. Conventional serial covariance and absolute price change spread estimators appear to be biased. Hasbrouck's Bayesian estimator generates small costs of liquidity whose values depend on the correlation and noise in the data. The absolute value Bayesian estimator is precise and works well under conditions of high levels of noise and correlation usually found in agricultural futures markets. Using data from live cattle (LC) and lean hog (LH) contracts, we find similar patterns of performance that produce economically meaningful cost of liquidity differences.     

林权确认的习惯法之立法完善与法理——以锦屏文书为例

述评新中国成立以来的林权制度演变,考察了林权确认的习惯法与国家法之间的冲突。基于法的价值论,认为林权确认的习惯法具有较之国家立法更优位的价值,更能满足解决林权纠纷的需要。指出对其进行立法完善的两种方式及相关法理思考。     

黑龙江省城市土地利用效益时空差异分析

城市土地利用效益是衡量城市土地利用水平的一项重要指标.文章从经济一社会一生态三个方面构建适合黑龙江省城市土地利用效益评价的指标体系,运用最优组合赋权法和协调度对黑龙江省12个地级市2002-2009年间城市土地利用综合效益水平进行分析比较;以评价结果为样本点,通过聚类分析得出全省城市土地利用综合效益水平的空间分布差异.结果表明:在时问上,12个地级市的土地利用效益水平呈现不同变化趋势;根据评价结果将12个城市分为土地利用高效益地区、中等效益地区和低效益地区三大类;在空间上,城市土地利用效益水平呈现"T"型的分布特征,"T"型区域内城市用地效益水平高于其它地区.     

Toxic hazard reduction with passive mitigation systems

A major component of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's 112(r) Risk Management Program Rule is the evaluation and control of potential public exposures to toxic chemicals. The rule requires identification and evaluation of a worst case accidental toxic release scenario, but provides for the inclusion of passive mitigation systems in modeling the dispersion hazard zones that are to be communicated to the public. These passive mitigation systems can be taken into account in the consequence modeling if they will withstand the initiating event that causes the accidental release and function as intended. This paper discusses several passive mitigation systems that can be designed as an integral part of storage or processing of highly toxic chemicals. These include, but are not limited to, optimizing storage conditions, design of secondary containment, toxic vapor generation control, and enclosure design. The effectiveness of various passive mitigation systems is evaluated using consequence modeling for case studies involving highly toxic chemicals such as phosgene, chlorine, and ethylene oxide.     

SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT: THE MOBILE HYDROGEN FUEL CELL

Sustainable technology development implies large changes in technological systems. The illustrative process ‘hydrogen fuel cell in a boat’ is used here as an example of a learning process concerning a transition towards a hydrogen economy. Theoretically the concepts of constructive technology assessment, back-casting and social niche management are combined in this approach.