The cultural affinity hypothesis and mortgage lending decisions

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the cultural affinity hypothesis put forth by Calomiris, et al. (1994) in the mortgage lending market. This hypothesis implies that white loan officers, because of a lack of familiarity with minority applicants, will rely more heavily on characteristics that can be observed at low cost (e.g., objective loan application measures) in evaluating the creditworthiness of minority applicants relative to white applicants. Using a cleansed sample of 1,991 loan applications drawn from data collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the results of the analysis were consistent with the cultural affinity hypothesis. In particular, we found that marginal black and Hispanic applicants appeared to be held to higher quantitative standards on such objective factors as credit history and debt obligation ratios than were similarly situated marginal white applicants.     

The Seasoned‐Equity Issues of UK Firms: Market Reaction and Issuance Method Choice

Abstract:   This study examines the seasoned equity issues of companies traded on the London Stock Exchange. Recent regulatory changes have allowed UK firms more discretion in choice of issue approach, and this has led many firms to issue through placing in preference to a rights issue. Having first documented the trend towards increasing use of placings, we go on to identify an interesting subset of placings that are less likely to be anticipated by the market, and find a significant positive market reaction to such placings, which contrasts with the significant negative reaction we find for issues by rights. We also examine the choice of seasoned equity issuance method, focusing on the choice between placings versus rights issues. We develop a model to explain the choice of equity issue method that achieves a high level of predictive accuracy.     

Trust-Based Relationships in Local Government Contracting

This article examines issues of trust and competition as they relate to a number of services provided by British local government. The first section outlines the changing policy context of competition for local authority services and is followed by a discussion of the nature of trust under contracting, drawing on elements of (primarily) economic theory to identify the features of contracting which we would expect to find in a 'low trust world'. The authors ask whether these features appear to be present in contracting and point to some features of the CCT legislative framework which may help to explain this. After reviewing private sector practice, the extent to which it could be replicated under CCT is examined.     

A proposed method for the analysis of public health policy in less developed countries

The study of public health policy in the less developed countries (LDCs) is handicapped by both lack of adequate data and gaps in conceptual apparatus. A new conceptual model is proposed that would be used for future policy analyses to assess what changes in health status of population in LDCs can be expected as direct functions of increased health service resources, and of improved environmental and econosociocultural conditions.While direct policy analysis is ill-advised at this time due to data inadequacy, the model is illustrated using data presently available for twenty-five relatively homogeneous sub-Sahara African countries. Within the limitations of available data, the findings suggest that reductions in mortality in the region might best be achieved by making appropriate health resources available to the populations. Study findings also suggest that physicians contributed more during the study period to the variance in physical health status than did medical assistants.     

The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard – linking sustainability management to business strategy

The Balanced Scorecard of Kaplan and Norton is a management tool that supports the successful implementation of corporate strategies. It has been discussed and considered widely in both practice and research. By linking operational and non‐financial corporate activities with causal chains to the firm's long‐term strategy, the Balanced Scorecard supports the alignment and management of all corporate activities according to their strategic relevance. The Balanced Scorecard makes it possible to take into account non‐monetary strategic success factors that significantly impact the economic success of a business. The Balanced Scorecard is thus a promising starting‐point to also incorporate environmental and social aspects into the main management system of a firm. Sustainability management with the Balanced Scorecard helps to overcome the shortcomings of conventional approaches to environmental and social management systems by integrating the three pillars of sustainability into a single and overarching strategic management tool. After a brief discussion of the different possible forms of a Sustainability Balanced Scorecard the article takes a closer look at the process and steps of formulating a Sustainability Balanced Scorecard for a business unit. Before doing so, the basic conventional approach of the Balanced Scorecard and its suitability for sustainability management will be outlined in brief. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

IDENTIFICATION AND ESTIMATION OF EXCHANGE RATE MODELS WITH UNOBSERVABLE FUNDAMENTALS*

This article is concerned with issues of model specification, identification, and estimation in exchange rate models with unobservable fundamentals. We show that the continuous‐time model proposed by Gardeazabal, Regúlez, and Vázquez (International Economic Review 38 (1997), 389–404) is not identified and that this property is characteristic of the discrete‐time representation of the model that they used as the basis for estimation by simulated method of moments. We briefly discuss the implications of this result in the context of the asset‐market model of exchange rates with unobservable fundamentals.     

Prolonged gestation: Energy efficiency and renewable energy businesses

Life cycle theories suggest that businesses evolve through a number of stages: from an embryonic stage of introduction to growth, maturity, and decline. The force that propels their development is consumer acceptance. Industries pass through life cycles as well. However, not all industries pass through each stage of the life cycle, and the duration of stages varies across industries. Some industries skip the slow introductory phase; others avoid the decline stage and are continually revitalised through technological innovation. Still others continue to show substantial promise, but fail to take-off. It is this industry condition, persistent promise without corresponding growth, that we characterise as extended gestation. We believe that energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE) businesses in Minnesota face the challenge of extended gestation. In this paper, we review the literature on the traditional stages of industry development, explore some of the factors that may lead an industry to remain in a state of extended gestation, and report the results of a study undertaken to better understand the factors that affect the growth of EERE businesses.