Dodd–Frank's impact on community-bank investment models: A Bayesian structural time series analysis

We use Bayesian structural time series (BSTS) methodology to test whether the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (DF) caused changes in community bank business models. The BSTS methodology uses the pre-DF period to create synthetic counterfactuals for community-bank dependent variables of interest. In the post-DF period, the counterfactuals become predictions of the dependent variables had DF not been enacted. Comparing post-DF predicted versus actual dependent variables allows us to estimate the causal impact of DF on these variables of interest. We find that relative to assets, community banks significantly reduce their lending activities and significantly increase investment in securities and excess reserves.     

Investigating the value of information sharing in multi-echelon supply chains

Under the structure of multiple business entities, supply chain management (SCM) offers the external and internal integration of business processes in enterprises. The most important objective of SCM is to enhance the supply chain performance such as reinforcing the service level and increasing profit as well as reducing order cycle time and inventory. In recent years, due to the advancement of information technology, enterprises can manage the product flow and the information flow via economical and efficient mechanisms. The well-organized information sharing can enhance the supply chain performance and allow enterprises to refine their strategies of supply chain in order to maximize their profits. The previous studies pointed out the positive effect of information sharing on the efficiency of supply chain. However, relatively little literature focuses on the performance analysis for multi-echelon supply chain with various information sharing scenarios. By using the simulation technique, this paper models different scenarios of information sharing, and further analyzes the impacts of information quality on multi-echelon supply chain performance. In addition, this paper employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to integrate multiple performance measures to ensure the information sharing scenarios with enhanced performance.     

Determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption in Malaysia: an ordinal system approach*

We examine the socio‐demographic determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption using household survey data from Malaysia. A bivariate ordered probability model is developed by the copula approach. Results for a system of fruit and vegetable servings per week indicate that education, age, ethnicity, income, location of residence, smoking status and health conditions are significant predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption in Malaysia. Policy implications are suggested.     

The Demand for Vices in Malaysia: An Ethnic Comparison Using Household Expenditure Data

A trivariate Tobit system is estimated to investigate the demand for vices (tobacco, alcohol, and gambling) in Malaysia. Estimation results, segmented by ethnicity, suggest that years of formal education, occupation type, and household head’s age negatively affect both the likelihood to spend and the overall amounts spent on tobacco by all Malaysians. Additionally, while higher income Malay households are more likely to spend and have higher tobacco expenditures, affluent Chinese and households of other races are more likely to spend and to spend more on smoking, drinking and gambling. Male-headed households of all races are more likely to spend and also spend more on smoking, drinking and gambling than female-led households.     

Quasi- and Simulated-Likelihood Approaches to Censored Demand Systems: Food Consumption by Food Stamp Recipients in the United States

A quasi-maximum-likelihood estimator is proposed and applied to a censored Translog demand system for foods, using a sample of food stamp recipients in the United States. The procedure produces remarkably close parameter and elasticity estimates to those of the simulated-maximum-likelihood procedure. A two-step procedure is also considered but it produces different elasticities. Demands are found to be price elastic for pork and fish but price inelastic for all other food products. Gross complementarity and net substitutability are obvious but these cross-price effects are much less pronounced than own-price and total food expenditure effects.     

Information Uncertainty,Earnings Management,and Long‐run Stock Performance Following Initial Public Offerings

We examine how information uncertainty surrounding IPO (initial public offering) firms influences earnings management and long‐run stock performance. For low‐information‐uncertainty issuers, at‐issue earnings’ management is positively related to subsequent unmanaged earnings and has no relationship to market reaction to earnings announcement and long‐run stock performance following the offering. For high‐information‐uncertainty issuers, however, at‐issue earnings’ management is unrelated to subsequent unmanaged earnings and negatively related to market reaction to earnings announcement and long‐run stock performance following the offer. The evidence suggests that, on average, managers in low‐information‐uncertainty firms tend to engage in earnings’ management for informative purposes, while managers in high‐information‐uncertainty firms engage in earnings’ management for opportunistic purposes.     

Proxy contest,board reelection,and managerial turnover—yes,the proxy contest outcome matters

In a previous study based on a matched sample analysis, it is found that in Taiwan top management turnover rate for the listed firms in the presence of a proxy contest is much higher than the ones without a proxy contest. In other words, the hypothesis of job security has gained empirical support. Taking account of the proxy contest outcomes, the present study extends the sample years, i.e. 1994–1999, to further examine the impact of proxy contest on managerial turnover. In conformity with expectations, the major empirical findings can be summarized as follows: the highest turnover rate of top management is observed in the firms of which the dissidents win majority seats; the second highest turnover rate is observed in the firms of which the dissidents win some seats; whereas the lowest turnover rate is observed in the firms of which the dissidents win no seats. Empirical findings of this kind provide further support to the view that proxy contest has played an effective monitoring role in disciplining incumbent management. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of nutritional labels on obesity

This study examines the relationship between nutritional label use and obesity using switching regression. Results for treatment effect show that nutritional labels play a role in reducing obesity among users of nutritional labels, notably among women. The average body mass index (BMI) for men who read nutritional labels is 0.12 point lower than men who do not read them, while women who are users of nutritional labels have 1.49 points lower BMI than women who do not read labels. These findings imply that health education campaigns can employ nutritional labels as one of the instruments for reducing obesity.