Predicting long-run risk factors of stock returns: Evidence from Australia

This study utilises the stock market data provided by the Australian Equity Database to analyse the long-run relationship between Australian stock returns and key macroeconomic variables over the period 1926–2017. To measure the diverse risk factors in the stock market, we examine the possible determinants in four main categories: real, financial, domestic and international. Our results reveal that historical stock returns are strongly connected to financial and international factors as compared to real and domestic factors. Both the 1973–1974 OPEC Oil Price Crisis and 2007–2008 Global Financial Crisis had dampening effects on stock returns. There is a positive association between the US and Australian stock markets in the long-run. These findings on stock market dynamics and their linkages with domestic and international macroeconomic policy changes in the long-run have important implications for traders and practitioners.     

Financial competence,overconfidence, and trusting investments: Results from an experiment

Financial transactions sometimes occur in an environment where third-party enforcement is lacking. Behavioral explanations typically allude to the social preferences, where an individual’s utility is directly affected by another’s outcome, as the driver of the trusting investments and reciprocal returns. We hypothesize that, in part, these decisions are determined by an individual’s financial literacy and overconfidence in one’s knowledge. Experimental evidence is coupled with an innovative financial literacy assessment, which measures general competence, numeracy skills, and overconfidence in one’s knowledge. Results indicate that overconfidence is a significant determinant of behavior. Specifically, overconfident individuals make larger contributions in the investment game. We also document that there is an escalated effect in overconfident individuals who are also exhibit risk loving preferences.     

The evolution of scale economies in US banking

Continued consolidation of the US banking industry and a general increase in the size of banks have prompted some policymakers to consider policies that discourage banks from getting larger, including explicit caps on bank size. However, limits on the size of banks could entail economic costs if they prevent banks from achieving economies of scale. This paper presents new estimates of returns to scale for US banks based on nonparametric, local‐linear estimation of bank cost, revenue, and profit functions. We report estimates for both 2006 and 2015 to compare returns to scale some 7 years after the financial crisis and 5 years after enactment of the Dodd–Frank Act with returns to scale before the crisis. We find that a high percentage of banks faced increasing returns to scale in cost in both years, including most of the 10 largest bank holding companies. Also, while returns to scale in revenue and profit vary more across banks, we find evidence that the largest four banks operate under increasing returns to scale.     

Calibration Weighting Methods for Complex Surveys

This paper presents a careful investigation of the three popular calibration weighting methods: (i) generalised regression; (ii) generalised exponential tilting and (iii) generalised pseudo empirical likelihood, with a major focus on computational aspects of the methods and some empirical evidences on calibrated weights. We also propose a simple weight trimming method for range‐restricted calibration. The finite sample behaviour of the weights obtained by the three calibration weighting methods and the effectiveness of the proposed weight trimming method are examined through limited simulation studies.     

Smile,Dictator, You're on Camera

We investigate the degree to which people in a shopping mall express other‐regarding behavior in the dictator game. Whereas many studies have attempted to increase the social distance between the dictator and experimenter and between the dictator and recipient, we attempt to minimize that social distance between random strangers by video recording the decisions, with the permission of the dictators, to display their image on the Internet. Offers made by dictators are high, relative to other experiments, and a nontrivial number give the entire experimental windfall away. However, a nontrivial number of people keep everything as well.     

Imperfectly Mobile Households and Durable Local Public Goods: Does the Capitalization Mechanism Work?

A complication in the decision making of local governments is that a community's residents may move before the future benefits associated with current tax and expenditure policies are fully realized. It has been argued that the capitalization of these benefits into current property values can induce local governments to behave efficiently. This paper drops two assumptions behind the capitalization hypothesis: perfect labor mobility and the absence of uncertainty about the future benefits. It is shown that these benefits may be overcapitalized or undercapitalized, depending on a critical aspect of the uncertainty. Consequently, there is underinvestment in some projects, but overinvestment in others.     

Ghanaian school-going adolescents’ self-perceived barriers of access to quality education: A qualitative study

Social equality has emerged as one of the important ideals of human society, especially for development. Moreover, education has featured prominently among the many key drivers of equality. However, in developing nations like Ghana, education represents one of the areas in which gross inequality has eroded the country’s potential for attaining equality and development. The aim of the current study was to explore adolescents’ self-perceived barriers regarding access to quality education in the Northern Region of Ghana and provide suggestions on the way forward. A sample of 18 school-going adolescents from six secondary schools within the Northern Region of Ghana was purposively selected to participate in face-to-face interviews. The barriers identified included limited resources, gender disparities and a multi-dimension nature of poverty. Implications for policy and research are discussed.     

An analysis of the profitability of businesses of diversified companies

This paper presents empirical evidence on the relationship between diversification and profitability. The data set used in the analysis includes data on 55 U.S. corporations who participated in phase II of the project on Profit Impact of Market Strategy (PIMS).Following upon the pioneering work of Carl Kaysen, complex indices of diversification are developed. Cross sectional regression analyses indicate a statistically significant positive association between measures of corporate diversification and measures of business profitability (return on investment or profit margin on sales). These relationships are insensitive to variations in the treatment of outliers, and do not appear to be accounting artifacts.     

意法半导体大手笔重组

2005年初,当Pasquale Pistorio在担任意法半导体公司首席执行官18年之后退休时, Carlo Bozotti接过了这一重任。Pistorio帮助这家法意合资的芯片制造商一跃成为充满平衡感、精妙之处和多样性的全球半导体工业巨人。接替Pistorio将面临极大的困难。现年53岁的Bozotti要面临重建公司增长、削减公司成本和鼓励公司创新营销等接踵而来的重任。简而言之, Bozotti的工作就是重组这家欧洲最大的芯片制造商,使其在比以往更加以消费者市场为导向的半导体行业中抓住更多的机会。