An evolutionary explanation of the value premium puzzle

As early as 1934 Graham and Dodd conjectured that excess returns from value investment originate from a tendency of stock prices to converge towards a fundamental value. This paper confirms their insights within the evolutionary finance model of Evstigneev et al. (Econ Theory 27:449–468, (Evstigneev et al. 2006)). Our empirical results show the predictive power of the evolutionary benchmark valuation for the relative market capitalization and its dynamics in the sample of firms listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index in 1981–2009.     

Investment behavior under Knightian uncertainty – An evolutionary approach

The ‘as if ’ view of economic rationality defends the profit maximization hypothesis by pointing out that only those firms who act as if they maximize profits can survive in the long run. Recently, the problem of arriving at a logically consistent definition of rational behavior in games has shown that one must sometimes study explicitly the evolutionary processes that form the basis of this view. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of genetic programming as a tool for generating hypotheses about rational behavior in situations where explicit maximization is not well defined. We use an investment decision problem with Knightian uncertainty as a borderline test case, and show that when the artificial agents receive the same information about the unknown probability distributions, they develop behavior rules as if they were expected utility maximizers with Bayesian learning rules.     

Exploring interorganizational conflict in complex projects

This article focuses on how the phenomenon of conflict between buyer and seller in complex projects can be approached from a theoretical and a methodological angle. Two paradigms for approaching conflict are discussed: conflict as a problem to be removed and conflict as a resource and tool for improvement. Constructs to be used include conflict events that indicate traces of conflict. It is further argued that the conflict events should be related to formal and informal governance mechanisms in order to understand how conflict can be used to strengthen the business relationship between the parties.     

A linear demand system within a seemingly unrelated time series equations framework

A seemingly unrelated time series equations framework for the linear almost ideal (AID) demand system is considered. The framework is applied to a consumer demand system covering nine non-durable commodities. Within a specification where the static linear AID system is augmented by latent variables representing stochastic trends and seasonality, demand homogeneity is tested; both in each equation and in the system as a whole. Income and own-price elasticities are calculated under homogeneity restrictions. Although the homogeneous model is formally rejected by statistical tests, it performs well with respect to interpretability, parameter stability and forecasting.     

A framework for selection of strategy for management of security measures

In this paper, we present and discuss a framework for security risk management, focusing on the selection of a management strategy for decision-making on security measures in particular. The framework provides guidance on the selection of a suitable type of management strategy for various types of decision-making contexts. An Information and Communication Technology case study is used to illustrate the practical implications of the framework.     

Four Drivers of Effective Sponsorship: A Case Study of the Birkebeiner Race in Norway

The aim of this article is to undertake an empirical examination of some selected drivers of effective sponsorship of sporting events. We examine four drivers of effective sponsorship. The proposed relationships were tested in a survey in which 200 spectators participated. Data collection was carried out during the Birkebeiner race, a mega sporting event in Norway. The findings reveal that “sponsor–event fit” is the most powerful driver of effective sponsorship. However, a key general managerial implication from the study is that one should avoid narrowing sponsorship focus to just a single driver. To achieve effective sponsorship, one should take into account all drivers suggested by the present study.     

The effects of removing the Trondheim toll cordon

This article presents the effects of removing the Trondheim toll cordon, which was closed after nearly 15 years of operation on December 31, 2005. The traffic levels, measured as vehicles per hour, in 2006 are compared to traffic levels in 2005. The evaluation also covers the effect on the retail market and possible environmental effects. We also seek to investigate what the traffic levels would have been today if the cordon had still been in operation. We find that the closing of the Trondheim toll cordon has lead to increased traffic levels in the peak hours, with an average increase of 11.3% in the former charging hours of 06:00–18:00. On an average, the hours between 14:00 and 18:00 experienced an increase in traffic of 15.5%, whilst traffic in the evenings and nights decreased. Model results suggest that the removal of the toll cordon has caused the private car to increase its modal share at the expense of passengers per car, public transport and cycling/walking. The increase in the total number of trips would have been more uniformly distributed among the alternatives if the toll cordon had still been in operation.     

Lumpy investments, factor adjustments, and labour productivity

This paper describes firms’ output and factor demandsbefore, during, and after episodes of lumpy investment. By usinga rich employer–employee panel data set for two manufacturingindustries and one service industry, we focus on simultaneousvariations in output, capital, materials, man hours, labourproductivity, and the skill composition and hourly cost of labour.Investment spikes are followed by roughly proportional changesin sales, labour, and materials, and significant increases incapital intensity. The changes in labour productivity that areassociated with the investment spikes are small, which indicatesthat productivity improvements are not related to instantaneoustechnological change through investment spikes. Focusing onsectoral differences, capital adjustments are found to be smootherin the service industry than in the two manufacturing industrieswhich may be related to differences in labour intensities betweenthe industries.     

Derived Demand and Relationships between Prices at Different Levels in the Value Chain: A Note

In this paper we note that when there is only one variable factor in the intermediaries' production technology, prices at different levels in the value chain will move proportionally to each other over time. This is also the only general condition under which the elasticity of price transmission is equal to one, so that retail price signals are perfectly transmitted to primary product producers and vice versa. This allows a test of whether derived demand elasticities contain information about consumer elasticities using only prices. An empirical illustration is provided using data from the Norwegian cod sector.