PRICING CRB FUTURES CONTRACTS

This study provides a valuation model to price Commodity Research Bureau Index futures contracts, now traded at the New York Futures Exchange. An empirical analysis suggests that substantial mispricing was exhibited during the early months of trading in an unseasoned Commodity Research Bureau Index futures market.     

Shopping patterns: An exploration of some situational determinants

Given the importance of specific behaviors, particularly choice behaviors, to marketing decisions, researchers have focused much of their attention on investigating determinants of choice behavior. Broader units of analysis, namely patterns of consumer behaviors, however, may also be useful in shaping marketing strategy. In fact, some research demonstrates that definite consumer shopping patterns exist. The present study goes beyond previous research by investigating the situational influences of time pressure and gift/self shopping on prestore and store visit shopping patterns.     

Review of Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets: A History of the International Accounting Standards Committee, 1973–2000

This review of K. Camfferman and S. A. Zeff, Financial Reporting and Global Capital Markets: A History of the International Accounting Standards Committee, 1973–2000 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) provides an overview of the work, comments on the authors' approach to the history of the IASC, and comments on the book's contribution to our understanding of the IASC and its place in global financial governance.     

Estimating Euler equations with noisy data: two exact GMM estimators

In this paper we exploit the specific structure of the Euler equation and develop two alternative GMM estimators that deal explicitly with measurement error. The first estimator assumes that the measurement error is log‐normally distributed. The second estimator drops the distributional assumption at the cost of less precision. Our Monte Carlo results suggest that both proposed estimators perform much better than conventional alternatives based on the exact Euler equation or its log‐linear approximation, especially with short panels. An empirical application to the PSID yields plausible and precise estimates of the coefficient of relative risk aversion and the discount rate. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

You can't always get what you want: The impact of the UK Jobseeker's Allowance

In 1996 the UK made major changes to its welfare system for the support of the unemployed with the introduction of the Jobseeker's Allowance. This tightened the work search requirements needed for eligibility for benefit. It resulted in large flows out of claimant status, but, this paper concludes, not primarily into employment. The movement out of claimant status was largest for those with low levels of search activity. But, this paper finds no evidence of increased job search activity as a result of this change.     

Distinguishing market segments to assess price responsiveness

Economists and marketers have developed theoretical constructs which suggest that effective market segmentation can be used to identify differences in price sensitivity among market theory in the industrial marketing literature by using marketing research to distinguish market segments that are useful in industrial pricing decisions. Both macrosegmentation, using characteristics of customers (that is, end-use and usage level), as well as microsegmentation (using behavioral variables) were utilized in a survey of natural gas customers to determine if segments of the industrial market differ in price sensitivity.     

The impact of public investment in medical imaging technology: an interagency collaboration in evaluation

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) allied to analyze the impact of their investments in medical imaging research. The CFI funds capital and operating programs for research infrastructure, and CIHR's mandate concentrates its funding on research activity. It happens that CIHR-funded research consumes CFI-funded infrastructure as an input in the innovation process. Apart from a few partnered programs, by design there is no coordination between CFI and CIHR funding decisions. Together, these agencies invested $916 million over a 14-year-period. In this paper, we evaluate the economic and health benefits from advancements in one funded area, namely computed tomography perfusion (CTP). CTP is an imaging technique that uses computed tomography to measure blood flow in organs and tissues. It is mostly used to assess acute ischemic stroke. The net social benefits attributable to these investments are substantially positive: the benefit-to-cost ratio is estimated to be between 6.66-to-1 and 9.99-to-1. We review how public investments from multiple funders comingle in the innovation process to deliver social value and improved health outcomes.