Time Irreversibility in Consumers’ Expenditure: An Analysis of Disaggregated Data

The literature on testing for the presence of cyclical asymmetry in consumers’ expenditure is extended via the application of tests for time irreversibility to UK data subject to a higher degree of disaggregation than considered in previous studies. The empirical findings reported provide support for a positive relationship between the durability of goods and the asymmetric, and specifically time irreversible, behaviour they exhibit at a fine level of disaggregation. Further investigation of the underlying causes of such time irreversibility exhibit pronounced difference according to the degree of durability, in that nonlinearity in the underlying data generating process is a prevalent feature of highly disaggregated durable good expenditures, but is a less marked feature of semi‐durable and non‐durable expenditures. Prominent among the durable and semi‐durable good expenditure categories exhibiting such nonlinearities are expenditures relating to housing fittings and communication equipment. These findings are consistent with threshold effects in inventory control as well as the effects of credit rationing, such that these expenditures are more likely to be made at times when those constraints are eased by income windfalls or by the easing of credit availability, possibly associated with mortgage (re‐) financing.     

Chinese science and technology — Structure and infrastructure

This paper identifies and analyzes the science and technology core competencies of China, based on a sampling of approximately half of the total Chinese publication output in the Science Citation Index/ Social Science Citation Index (SCI/SSCI) [SCI. Certain data included herein are derived from the Science Citation Index/Social Science Citation Index prepared by the Thomson Scientific®, Inc. (Thomson®), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: © Copyright Thomson Scientific® 2006. All rights reserved. [1]] for 2005. Aggregate China publication and citation bibliometrics were obtained and a hierarchical research taxonomy, based on document clustering, was generated. Additionally, bibliometrics and thematic trends were tracked over the past two decades.The key findings were that China's output of research articles has significantly expanded in the last decade. In terms of sheer numbers of research articles, especially in cuting-edge technologies, such as nanotechnology and energetic materials, it is among the leaders. Compared to the USA, the bulk of China's articles focus on the physical and engineering sciences, while the USA articles (compared to China) focus on medical, social, and psychological sciences.     

Identification and classification of problems associated with evaluating social marketing efforts

The social, cultural, and economic climate of the 1980's present real pressure on social program administrators to evaluate their marketing efforts. Evaluation of social programs presents an array of problems or obstacles about which the social marketer must be aware. This paper identifies and categorizes these problems within a meaningful framework. The typology presented classifies social marketing program evaluation problems as being conceptual, macro- and micropolitical, and methodological. An understanding of the nature of these problems should assist the social marketer in overcoming their effects.     

The Borrower's Perceived Risk in Mortgage Choice

We investigate how borrowers perceive the risk in the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) versus fixed rate mortgage (FRM) choice. We develop a mortgage choice model where the coefficient on the long‐term bond risk premium is conditional on the borrower's perceived risk. We show that the perceived risk fluctuates over time according to the short‐term interest rate level and housing market conditions. We find that when the short‐term rate level is high (low), the borrowers perceive low (high) risk of a short‐term rate rise, thus opting for ARMs (FRMs). Also, during a down housing market they become more risk‐averse perceiving higher risk in choosing ARMs. The perceived risk level alters the borrowers’ sensitivity to the long‐term bond risk premium.     

Interest rate trees: extensions and applications

This paper provides extensions to existing procedures for representing one-factor no-arbitrage models of the short rate in the form of a tree. It allows a wide range of drift functions for the short rate to be used in conjunction with a wide range of volatility assumptions. It shows that, if the market price of risk is a function only of the short rate and time, a single tree with two sets of probabilities on branches can be used to represent rate moves in both the real-world and risk-neutral world. Examples are given to illustrate how the extensions can provide modelling flexibility when interest rates are negative.     

Growth,expectations and tariffs

We present a growth model of international trade in which expectations about profitability and growth influence innovation and investment. Adaptive learning dynamics determine transition paths for countries with differing structural parameters. Countries limiting trade by tariffs on imports of capital goods can experience gains in growth and perceived utility for a finite time, whereas the rest of the world is adversely affected. Asymmetric gains persist longer when structural advantages of the country applying tariffs are larger. Substantial differences in levels of innovation, output and utility can appear within our asymmetric country setting.     

中国少数民族地区政府经济治理能力综合评价研究

笔者认为正确认识少数民族地区政府经济治理现状,为提升少数民族地区政府经济治理能力指明方向,实现少数民族地区经济高质量发展。本文从经济发展、经济效益、人民生活3大维度构建少数民族地区政府经济治理能力评价指标体系,分别选取西藏、广西、内蒙古、宁夏和新疆五个自治区2008-2019年12组数据13个经济类指标,运用熵值法进行测度。结果表明:少数民族地区政府经济治理能力整体水平不高,省际差异大;政府经济治理能力体系结构性问题突出,三大维度指标的治理能力不均衡。未来应该结合少数民族地区经济社会发展现状,扩大经济对外开放,优化消费结构,增加经济发展强度,构建平衡的政府经济治理能力体系。     

The Life and Works of Luca Pacioli (1446/7–1517), Humanist Educator

Accounting has few heroes, but one that most acknowledge as worthy of that accolade is Luca Pacioli, the man who published the first printed exposition of double entry bookkeeping in 1494. This was the publication that led to the development of the accounting systems we use today. However, if we consider our literature on Pacioli, it is found to be not just confusing and contradictory, but undecided as to who he was and what he did, or did not do. This paper addresses this ambiguity and uncertainty by adopting a critical hermeneutic analysis of the literature in order to present a more authentic perception of the life and works of Luca Pacioli. Archival discoveries of the past 20 years are embraced with Pacioli's own writings, and those of others who have sought to identify the man and his ambition. The view it reveals shows Pacioli as far more than the peripatetic friar and journeyman teacher of mathematics described in our literature; and it fills a much larger gap than the contradictions and confusion implied in our knowledge of the man who many consider to be the ‘father of accounting’.     

A shared boundary object: Financial innovation and engineering in Islamic financial institutions

This paper explores the way in which ethico-faith-based rules act as a boundary object in constraining the process of financial innovation and engineering (FIE) in Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs). The paper examines how this faith-based approach is enacted in the FIE process amid different social worlds and groups that cooperate without consensus within IFIs. We contribute to studies of governance in faith-based organizations, by identifying the plasticity of faith-based rules that act as boundary objects in the governance of the FIE process. The plasticity of ethico-faith based rules allows coordination among local and global actors with intersecting faith-based values, logics, and interests. IFIs ensure that the products of FIE become an integral part of and as compatible as possible with the logics of global financial markets.