Seasonality in asset returns: Evidence from the gold market

In this paper we test monthly mean daily returns to gold over the period January 1975 to December 1984 against three definitions of seasonality. Weak evidence exists for seasonality under the second of the three definitions. However, this is not prima facie evidence of market inefficiency, as the pattern is consistent with seasonality in Eurodollar interest rates reported by other authors. Differences in the time pattern of returns between on- and off-shore rates raises further questions.     

TOP INCOMES IN NEW ZEALAND 1921–2005: UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF MARGINAL TAX RATES, MIGRATION THREAT, AND THE MACROECONOMY

Using taxation statistics, we estimate the income share held by top income groups in New Zealand over the period 1921–2005. We find that the income share of the richest fell during the 1930s, rose again after the Second World War, and steadily declined from the late-1950s until the mid-1980s. From the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s, top income shares rose rapidly, particularly at the very top of the distribution. We present evidence that top marginal tax rates and changing top income shares in Australia and the United Kingdom may have contributed to fluctuations in the income share of the richest 1 percent. Past economic growth does not seem to have a strong effect on the income share of the top percentile group.     

Knowing and doing: the value of intelligent application in local government improvement

Little is known about what distinguishes managerial thought and practice in successful councils, as opposed to poorly-performing or failing organizations. Managers in high-performing councils in England were interviewed about their improvement practices. Their responses highlighted the importance of an in-depth understanding of customers, staff and the organizational environment; coupled with an inspiring vision of a better future. A commitment to learning was fundamental, forming the basis for an ‘intelligent application’ model of the improvement process.     

‘‘Isn't it time you were finishing?’’: Women's Labor Force Participation and Childbearing in England, 1860–1920

Abstract

This contribution examines the relationship between women's labor force participation (LFP) and fertility in three industrial towns of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century England from a feminist economic perspective. The study augments existing statistical approaches to demographic history by discussing women's motivations. Women's LFP influenced their likelihood of family limitation (via effects on both age at marriage and marital fertility). Where women were most likely to be in paid work, they were most likely to limit family size. It is further argued that the diversity of LFP patterns is the principal explanation for the varied patterns of fertility decline in different parts of Britain.