Understanding the Emergence of Markets: A Social Constructionist Perspective on Gay Economy

This paper sets out to explore the construction of a market based on identity. The interest lies upon the emergence and present understanding of the gay male market. To achieve this, an understanding is percolated through social contructionism in general and the areas of ideology, language, and power in particular. The first section of the paper deals with the historical external understandings of homosexuality, which fit into three overlapping phases: the moral, social, and medical. Following on from this, these three phases are then reflected through film. The second section deals with internal formation and is tied into wider social changes. The assent and naturalization of homosexuality is outlined where the possibilities of a gay market emerge. This is then also reflected through film. The final section deals with one of the present preoccupations when dealing with the gay male market, which is the aspect of identity through consumption. This is shown to tie into present wider concerns with the dominance of consumption as the mediator of identity.     

When One Size Does Not Fit All: A Problem of Fit Rather than Failure for Voluntary Management Standards

Voluntary management standards for social and environmental performance ideally help to define and improve firms?? related capabilities. These standards, however, have largely failed to improve such performance as intended. Over-emphasis on institutional factors leading to adoption of these standards has neglected the role of firms?? existing capabilities. External pressures can drive firms to adopt standards more than their technical capacity to employ them. This can lead to problems of ??fit?? between institutional requirements and a firm??s existing capabilities. We describe a conceptual model that considers the impact of an interaction between a firm??s institutional requirements and its existing capabilities on standards failure. We suggest solutions that align institutional requirements to appropriate governance forms as a means to improve standards success. We contribute to theory by describing the role of firms?? internal capabilities to the success of voluntary management standards and the reliability of self-regulation generally.     

Economics at DG Competition, 2009–2010

This paper discusses a selection of cases and important policy developments in the enforcement activities of the Directorate General for Competition at the European Commission during the past year (2009–2010).     

Analyst versus model-based earnings forecasts: implied cost of capital applications

We find that a composite implied cost of capital (ICC) estimate – based on the earnings forecasts generated by cross-sectional models – is highly correlated with future realised returns in both portfolio- and regression-based tests. By contrast, we find very little evidence for an association with future realised returns for an ICC estimate based on analyst earnings forecasts. We also document the time-varying nature of expected returns and risk premia, and provide up-to-date estimates of an implied Australian market risk premium.     

Economic conditions and the motives for multiple open-market share buybacks

We examine the impact of business conditions on the frequency of share repurchases. The results generally indicate that share repurchase programs are positive and statistically significant in HIGH economic states relative to the other economic states. Segmenting the data into frequency of repurchases, we find evidence suggesting different economic states exert influence on frequent and infrequent but not occasional repurchase programs. Further, we show that firms that institute frequent share repurchasing programs experience stronger returns across different business cycles compared to infrequent and occasional share repurchasers.     

An investigation into the measurement of graph distortion in financial reports

The Graph Discrepancy Index (GDI), which originates from the lie factor introduced by Tufte (1983), is the mechanism commonly used in the financial graphics literature to determine whether graphs are distorted and to quantify the extent of such distortion. Although the GDI is critical to the financial graphics literature, little or no attention has been paid to its robustness and accuracy. We critically examine the mathematical characteristics of the GDI and show its limitations as a measure of graph distortion. We review a number of cases to demonstrate these limitations and present an alternative measure of graph distortion—the Relative Graph Discrepancy index (RGD). Numerous simulations suggest that the RGD overcomes the problems associated with the GDI. The RGD is also tested on data presented in earlier research and the results are compared to those obtained using the GDI. In comparison with the GDI, we find that the RGD is more consistent and produces slightly stronger results. We stress, however, that this is not a best or definitive measure but is intended to start a research process that leads to a generally accepted measure.     

Cognition, Persuasion and Decision Making in Older Consumers

Older adults constitute a rapidly growing demographic segment, but relatively little is known about them within consumer contexts: how they process information, respond to persuasive messages, and make decisions. We discuss extant findings from consumer behavior and related disciplines (e.g., cognitive psychology, neuroscience, social psychology, gerontology) as they pertain to the effects of aging on consumer memory, persuasion and decision The first two authors co-chaired the workshop at the Choice Symposium and made major and equal contributions to this article. The remaining authors were participants in the workshop. They also contributed to this article and are listed in alphabetical order. We wish to thank the editor and Cathy Cole for their helpful comments on the paper. The article, including a more complete list of references, was shortened to meet the page-length constraints of the special issue. The longer version is available upon request from the senior authors.     

Credibility costs in the monetary integration game*

Euro candidates are expected to maintain the value of their currency within the fluctuation band of the new exchange rate mechanism for at least two years. This paper highlights some unpleasant macroeconomic effects that could occur during this interval. The problem is cast as a two‐stage sequential game between private agents and the government of the applicant country. The policy‐maker decides whether to devaluate the domestic currency or not at two distinct dates; it makes a last choice just before accession to the monetary union. Under an assumption of incomplete information of private agents about the government's priorities on inflation and economic activity, the game presents a hybrid perfect Bayesian equilibrium. In the pooling configuration, an initial policy of zero devaluation does not signal the final devaluation decision. As private agents cannot completely rule out the risk of a ‘last devaluation’, a premium adds to interest rates and entails a systematic output loss.