Do foreign exchange fund managers behave like heterogeneous agents?

This paper estimates an Heterogeneous Agent Model (HAM) on currency trader indices to explain the large shifts in profitability in currency styles surrounding the global financial crisis. In the model, fund managers allocate capital conditional on recent performance to a value strategy, a momentum strategy, and a carry strategy. Subsequent estimation results reveal that (1) a large part of the behavior of currency managers can indeed be described by these three simple strategies, and (2) currency managers shift capital from recent winning styles to recent losing styles, and hence apply a negative feedback strategy. We finally show that a negative feedback strategy is indeed optimal, but currency managers could improve performance by applying it less aggressively if they were able to.     

A flexible model for actuarial risks under dependence

Methods for computing risk measures, such as stop-loss premiums, tacitly assume independence of the underlying individual risks. This can lead to huge errors even when only small dependencies occur. In the present paper, a general model is developed which covers what happens in practice in a realistic way. Moreover, it is also flexible, in the sense that it allows application in practice. Accurate and transparent approximations are presented, and the results obtained are illustrated through explicit examples.     

Bank liquidity,the maturity ladder,and regulation

We investigate the liquidity management of 62 Dutch banks between January 2004 and March 2010, when these banks were subject to a liquidity regulation that is very similar to Basel III’s Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR). We find that most banks hold more liquid assets against their stock of liquid liabilities, such as demand deposits, than strictly required under the regulation. More solvent banks hold fewer liquid assets against their stock of liquid liabilities, suggesting an interaction between capital and liquidity buffers. However, this interaction turns out to be weaker during a crisis. Although not required, some banks consider cash flows scheduled beyond 1 month ahead when setting liquidity asset holdings, but they seldom look further ahead than 1 year.     

The scientific case for system of rice intensification and its relevance for sustainable crop intensification

Over the past decade, considerable empirical evidence regarding the relevance of the system of rice intensification (SRI) to pro-poor development has become available. However, concrete leads into the potential of SRI and its scientific foundations have not been adequately pursued. Instead, a few individuals, with very limited funding, have taken on the task to validate and provide a scientific basis for SRI, an approach that has been spreading at an increasing pace, particularly among smallholder farmers in India. This paper reviews the information currently available that provides the scientific, agronomic and plant physiological foundations of SRI and explores its significance for the wider future orientations of agricultural research and development in general.     

Pitfalls and Challenges for Trust and Effectiveness in Collaborative Networks

Abstract

Collaborative networks in the public and non-profit sector face challenges that are typical for their institutional context. The typical characteristics that might impede the functioning of networks and, in particular, the development of trust and network effectiveness, are related to type of instigation, network flexibility, and power in the form of unbalanced influence and the vertical character of networks. In a sample of 52 networks, the effects of network flexibility, mandatory and vertical networks, and influence on trust and network effectiveness were studied. Findings indicated that particularly flexibility in networks was important and that cognition-based trust played a central role in obtaining effective networks.     

A meta-analytic review of effectuation and venture performance

Though much research in entrepreneurship makes the fundamental assumption that opportunities are found, new work is emerging which questions this core tenet. Effectuation, for example, positions the entrepreneur as co-creator of opportunities, together with committed stakeholders. In this study, we conduct a meta-analysis of the articles published in the Journal of Business Venturing, summarizing data on 9897 new ventures to connect three of the principles of effectuation positively with new venture performance. In so doing, we offer both specific insight into precisely measuring effectuation and a general method for extracting variables from prior work to measure new constructs.     

Robust Policy in Times of Pandemic

Intereconomics - The pandemic exposes policymakers to fundamental uncertainties about future economic scenarios. While policymakers have to act forcefully to mitigate the impact on the economy,...     

Thinking critically about critical thinking dispositions in technology education

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - While much research has been done on Critical Thinking (CT) skills, the disposition toward CT has not been adequately investigated. The...     

AN APPROXIMATE CONFIDENCE INTERVAL FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUANTILES IN A BIO-MEDICAL PROBLEM

In this note it is described how two distributions arising in a bio-medical investigation are compared by means of a confidence interval for the difference of appropriate quantiles. It is briefly indicated how an approximation for such a confidence interval is derived.