Pricing mortgage-backed securities in a multifactor interest rate environment: a multivariate density estimation approach

Multivariate density estimation (MDE) suggests that mortgage-backedsecurity (MBS) prices can be well described as a function ofthe level and slope of the term structure. We analyze how thisfunction varies across MBSs with different coupons. An importantfinding is that the interest rate level proxies for the moneynessof the option, the expected level of prepayments, and the averagelife of the cash flows, while the term structure slope controlsfor the average rate at which these cash flows should be discounted.     

Traumberuf oder Verlegenheitslösung?

So far relatively little is known about the situation of Ph.D. students in media and communication research. The main purpose of this study is, therefore, to shed light on the employment and working conditions for young scholars on their way to their doctoral degrees. We conducted a survey of 281 Ph.D. students in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The results show that, on the one hand, young scholars are intrinsically highly motivated to do their jobs. On the other hand, they perceive an academic career as a very uncertain venture with many obstacles. Furthermore, several types of Ph.D. students can be distinguished: idealists, careerists and waverers. It is shown that only the idealists conform to the concept of a productive and interested scholar. The results are discussed in terms of their importance for the future development of the field.     

The Grocery Shopper and Food Specials: A Case of Subjective Deception?

Advertised food specials may be deceptive to consumers who mistake the advertised prices as reduced prices. Of all the advertised food specials examined in this research, at least 13 percent and as many as 25 percent of those advertised in newspapers were not reduced in price.     

Size, technology, complexity, and structural differentiation: toward a theoretical synthesis.

This paper proposes a theoretical synthesis of the concepts of organizational size, technology, complexity, and structural differentiation. It suggests and finds that the most important determinant of differentiation in the division of labor is the scope of an organization's task, a technological dimension, and not organizational size. Neither horizontal nor vertical differentiation is thought to be determined by size while the scope of the task is proposed as a determinant of horizontal differentiation. The findings, however, support only the inference of a moderate causal connection between either size or task scope and either form of differentiation. Throughout the analysis and discussion the contrast between causal inference based on associations of levels and change rates is discussed. When dealing with the organizational processes addressed in this paper, both associations must be examined to adequately portray the complexity of the causal processes inferred.     

Antecedents, consequences, and mediating effects of perceived moral intensity and personal moral philosophies

This study uses responses from a survey of marketing professionals in a structural equation model linking antecedents and consequences of two dimensions of personal moral philosophies (idealism and relativism) and perceived moral intensity (PMI). Mixed support is found for hypothesized effects of gender, religiosity, education, experience, salary, and corporate ethical values on idealism and relativism. Idealism increases and relativism decreases PMI in four ethical scenarios. PMI increases perceptions of ethical problems, which reduce intentions to act unethically. The study tests whether relationships between variables, revealing that PMI has direct as well as indirect effects on intentions. Intentions are also influenced by gender: women have more ethical intentions than men, on average, and this effect is not mediated by other variables in the model. Anusorn Singhapakdi is an associate professor of marketing at Old Dominion University. He has also served on the marketing faculty at Lamar University, Texas, and at Thammasat University, Thailand. His papers on topics in marketing ethics and social responsibility have been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and various other journals and proceedings. Scott J. Vitell is the Phil B. Hardin Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Texas Tech University. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Business Ethics, Research in Marketing, International Marketing Review, and in other journals and proceedings. George R. Franke is an associate professor and Reese Phifer Fellow of Marketing at the University of Alabama. His research interests include ethics, public policy, advertising, and research methodology. His publications have received best-paper awards from theJournal of Advertising, Journal of Marketing Research, American Marketing Association, and Southern Marketing Association.