On the Validity of Veblen's Criticisms of Economic Orthodoxy: An Analysis of His Positions in the Light of Current Conditions and Economic Thought

A bstract . Thorstein Vehlen has received his share of brickbats and bouquets over the years. Rather than add to them, this study examines the validity of some of his criticisms of economic orthodoxy in the light of contemporary economic conditions and currents of economic thought Attempt is made to understand the ways in which orthodox theorists have viewed this heterodox thinker and to delineate the influence Veblen has exerted on us in modifying our approach to economic analysis.     

The Role of Managerial Stock Option Programs in Governance: Evidence from REIT Stock Repurchases

This article examines the role of stock option programs and executive holdings of stock options in real estate investment trust (REIT) governance. We study the issue by analyzing how the market reaction to a stock repurchase announcement varies as a function of the individual REIT's governance structure. In particular, we examine how executive and employee stock option holdings influence the market reaction to a firm's announcement of a stock repurchase. Using a sample of REIT repurchase announcements, we find that the market reacts more favorably to announcements by firms where executives have larger option holdings and the chief executive officer is not entrenched. Our results with respect to the roles of stock option holdings of executives and nonexecutives differ from those reported for a cross-section of non-REIT firms. While we find evidence supporting the importance of executive stock options in aligning the incentives of management and reinforcing the positive signaling associated with a repurchase announcement, we find little evidence that the market views REIT repurchases as being used primarily to fund option exercise. We attribute these findings to greater dependence by REIT investors on internal governance mechanisms (such as stock option programs) as a result of regulatory restrictions that limit external monitoring such as hostile takeovers.     

Uncertainty,economic growth its impact on tourism,some country experiences

This paper investigates in a time series framework over the period 1995 to 2016, the impact of uncertainty on tourism. The paper explores the causal association of both political uncertainty and economic uncertainty between tourism and other macroeconomic variables for the countries of France, Greece, and the United States. The political uncertainty is proxied through terrorism index and the economic uncertainty is explained through the Economic Policy Index. The unit root test and the ARDL cointegration are applied for unknown structural breaks. In the long run uncertainty adversely affects the tourism industry in all the countries under study.     

Hospitality managers' importance perceptions of human resource practices related to employment of foreign workers in the United States

ABSTRACT

Cross-border labor mobility of hospitality employees has resulted in an increase in illegal immigrants in the workforce. The purpose of this study was to generate a list of top legal issues associated with the employment of foreign workers in the U.S. hospitality industry and to identify factors defined by the importance ratings of these issues. Snowball sampling was used to collect data from hospitality managers. Findings reveal that respondents perceive document verification to be important but may not perceive knowledge of various visa types and employment termination reporting procedures associated with employing foreign workers to be important. Managerial implications are discussed.     

STRATEGIC RULES ON SPECULATION IN THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET

In this article we specify the conditions for profitable speculaion in the foreign exchange market with spot and forward contracts. We derive the unique strategic rules from the initial two‐choice situations in a given environment. Finally, in a more complex structure involving covered arbitrage, speculative profits are computed with iterative plays. JEL classification: F310     

HEDGING WITH INTERNATIONAL STOCK INDEX FUTURES: AN INTERTEMPORAL ERROR CORRECTION MODEL

In this paper we extend the traditional price change hedge ratio estimation method by applying the theory of cointegration to hedging with stock index futures contracts for France (CAC 40), the United Kingdom (FTSE 100), Germany (DAX), and Japan (NIKKEI). Previous studies ignore the last period's equilibrium error and short-run deviations. The findings of this study indicate that the hedge ratios obtained from the error correction method are superior to those obtained from the traditional method as evidenced by the likelihood ratio test and out-of-sample forecasts. Using the procedures developed in this paper, hedgers can control the risk of their portfolios more effectively at a lower cost.     

The Current Account in Developing Countries: A Perspective from the Consumption-Smoothing Approach

According to the consumption-smoothing view, a high degree ofcapital mobility implies that agents are able to fully smooththeir consumption in the face of shocks. This article developsa framework to test whether, indeed, the current account indeveloping countries acts as a buffer to smooth consumptionin the face of shocks to national cash flow, which is definedas output less investment less government expenditure. Usingvector autoregression analysis, we estimate the optimal consumption-smoothingcurrent account with data from a sample of forty-five developingcountries. We find that for a majority of the countries, thehypothesis of full consumption smoothing cannot be rejected,suggesting that capital mobility may after all be quite highin this group of countries.