In Praise of Rising House Prices

The recent rise in the price of houses is highly controversial. Dr Barry Bracewell-Milnes argues that it may have some unexpected advantages.     

Factors Determining Net Interest Margins in Australia: Domestic and Foreign Banks

This study tests the application of the Ho and Saunders (1981) model of bank net interest margins (NIMs), and its subsequent developments, using Australian data. The core elements of this model apply in Australia. Bank market power is found to increase NIMs, consistent with McShane and Sharpe (1985) , with evidence of bank buying market share and mispricing for risk. Operating costs also have an important role in determining NIMs, together with implied payments and management quality. Bank NIMs are found to have fallen over the study period.     

Issues in Growing a Family Business: A Strategic Human Resource Model

The conceptual literature on family businesses suggests that family businesses have difficulty managing their human resources, especially when it concerns a family member or the transition from the founder to the successor. The authors empirically examined the assumptions raised in the conceptual literature regarding whether family businesses were experiencing human resource problems in growing their business and what factors enabled or constrained the ability of their businesses to grow. The authors used in-depth interviewing to collect data in order to emphasize the depth of the issue. Using content analysis with subject matter experts coding the data, the authors sought to mine the richness of data. Finally, the authors analyzed the data using Elliot Jaques' Stratified Systems Theory as a model to examine the strategic human resource issues and to draw some tentative conclusions.     

A Simple Duality Model of Production Incorporatin Risk Aversion and Price Uncertainty

Proceeding within the framework of a linear mean-variance utility function, this paper outlines a duality model of production that incorporates risk aversion and price uncertainty. In contrast to risk models based on an expected utility function, this model provides a practical alternative to standard duality models for econometric research.     

Is UK Vice Chancellor Pay Justified by University Performance?

The pay of university managers (vice chancellors, VCs) in the UK has risen sharply in recent years. This paper considers the extent to which VC pay awards are related to university performance measures based around institution mission and financial probity using an individual fixed effects strategy based on data covering academic years 1998–99 to 2008–09. In contrast to earlier studies on this theme, we find evidence that VCs are rewarded for observable mission‐based performance measures. Specifically, our results suggest that success in widening participation for students from comprehensive schools and those from areas with low university participation exerts a positive effect on VCs' pay. Securing income flows from university funding council grants also impacts positively on their remuneration. However, even after controlling for a rich array of observable and unobservable factors, there have been sizeable increases in real pay in recent years that cannot be readily explained.